We can, of course, approach cleaning tasks with dread, but if you’ve read former Grid columnist Lois Volta, you know that this work can provide more than just a tidy living space: it can double as a time for reflective meditation, a route around inertia or an opportunity for teamwork that opens a path to
More
Most of the big brother–little brother act between New York City and Philadelphia is all in good fun. Eagles versus Giants, Mets versus Phillies, international metropolis versus city of neighborhoods — regardless of who wins, the sun still rises the next day. But start scratching around about the fact that these two cities share the
More
Mayana Carter knew she wanted to create a different kind of bridal salon. Before opening Kinfolk Bride, Carter had worked in the bridal industry for 10 years in various capacities. “I found myself longing to see more designers of color, more women designers and more small makers,” she says, “and I wanted the people in
More
Bicycles continue to evolve — with carbon fiber frames and electric motors, among other newfangled components — but the machine’s design hasn’t fundamentally changed for generations: two wheels, handlebars and a diamond-shaped frame. Aaron Zucker, Leslie Lodwick and Alex Bomstein remind us that we can ride bikes made decades ago, that we needn’t buy the
More
Anyone could get bored stuck inside all day, and cats are no exception. A vast industry caters to the idle feline. A quick check at Chewy.com turned up thousands of cat toys, 140 of which are interactive, as well as 695 options for cat furniture such as trees, condos and scratching posts. Some cat owners
More
For Cassidy Boulan, the pandemic was a time to walk. Stuck inside for so long, she stepped outside each day to find some fresh air and make her way through Philadelphia on foot. Her walks began near Washington Square, one of the five public squares designed as cornerstones of the city. She would then wend
More
Building on Philadelphia’s history as the “Garden Capital of America,” conservancy groups, landscape designers, urban horticulturists and backyard growers in our region are taking part in a revolutionary shift in gardening. By incorporating native plants — the trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants that flourished here over 200 years ago — into local landscapes, these practitioners
More
At Houston Meadow it’s easy to forget the city. Grasses and wildflowers cover the hillside that slopes into the wooded ravine of the Wissahickon Creek below. Bees and butterflies dance across the flowers. Over at Three Springs Hollow in Pennypack Park hikers can walk beneath towering oak and tulip trees while wood thrushes serenade them.
More
On a Sunday afternoon in early June, Jorge Oliveras and Jackie Colon packed up their beach chairs, filled a cooler with snacks and brought their children out to Devil’s Pool. They sat amid a loose constellation of rocks at the confluence of Wissahickon and Cresheim creeks, watching their kids swim and splash around, basking in
More
The table was set, powerful people already gathered round and talking about the future, when Carol Kazeem walked in about 15 minutes late and popped the balloon. Kazeem, a first-term Pennsylvania state representative from Chester’s 159th district, has had a whirlwind of a year. When the former trauma outreach specialist and 31-year-old mother of three
More