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Sarah Doggett Evenson has seen a lot in five years of owning and designing her women’s clothing line, Marie Oliver. But nothing quite prepared her for COVID-19. “It’s been a rollercoaster,” says the Greensboro, North Carolina-based designer. “If you had told me in March that come mid-October, we’d still be here and wearing masks, I would’ve told you you’re crazy.” Now, Evenson designs and sells masks in fabrics that complement her own collection....

Sorry, Internet, this will not be the year I Marie Kondo my life. But everyone has time for a quick cleaning tip that takes about a minute, right? Right. That’s why I enjoyed reading this sage advice from Gretchen Rubin’s new book, Outer Order, Inner Calm, on lifestyle site PureWow: “Do any [cleaning] task that can be finished in less than one minute, without delay,” Rubin, who also wrote the New York Times best-selling book, The Happiness Project, pens in her new book....

Bringing a dessert to a party requires some forethought. It needs to be easy to transport, easy to put on a platter, and easy to grab. Luckily for you, we have just the recipe. It’s sweet, buttery, and packed with decadent flavor. Oh, and did we mention that its main ingredient is just a can of sweetened condensed milk? Somewhere between a gooey dessert square and an ultra flavorful cookie is the Hello Dolly Bar....

Houston, Texas is home to many beloved events from the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to the Houston International Jazz Festival. But one lesser-known shindig in Space City this spring has got us ready to pack our bags: The seventh Annual Hermann Park Conservancy Kite Festival presented by Houston Public Media. On Sunday, March 29, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Miller Hill and the Jones Reflection Pool, thousands of kites will fly over head, making a beautiful panorama of different colors and shapes in every direction you look....

The cooler days of autumn tend to usher in all things pumpkin, and why not? Varieties such as Jack O’Lantern, Cinderella, Sugar, and Amish Pie pumpkins not only add interest to our fall décor but enhance our fall menus with warm, spice-filled pumpkin breads and pumpkin cheesecakes. When it comes to pie, however, the pumpkin takes a back seat to the South’s favorite tuber, the sweet potato. The classic sweet potato pie is a must-have on holiday sideboards throughout the South....

We love Ina Garten. Melissa McCarthy is our go-to actor when we’re in need of a laugh. What happens when you put this celebrity chef and one-time Stars Hollow chef (Sookie, how we miss thee!) together? A whole lot of laughs and tasty beverages, it turns out. As we first learned from a recent Instagram post from the Barefoot Contessa herself, Garten will be joining McCarthy for Zoom cocktails and conversation on the new discovery+ streaming platform....

Blue Bell knows exactly what we need to get us through the last months of 2020. Today, the beloved Texas-based creamery announced one of its most indulgent flavors to date: Fudge Brownie Decadence Ice Cream. Arriving in stores next week, Fudge Brownie Decadence is a luscious chocolate French ice cream with fudge brownie chunks and a whipped topping loaded with chocolate flakes. It will be available in the half gallon and pint sizes for a limited time....

Kenny Chesney is honoring the memory of his late dog Ruby with the release of a charitable single. Available for the first time today, “Da Ruba Girl,” is about his beloved rescue pup who passed away Sunday. Chesney has pledged to donate all proceeds from the fan-favorite track to one of the nation’s largest pit bull rescue shelters. “Da Ruba Girl,” which aired regularly on Chesney’s SiriusXM station, No Shoes Radio, has been a longtime favorite of Chesney fans....

In hard times, the people of Houston, Texas, can always count on Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale. The famously philanthropic businessman who first made headlines for turning two of his furniture stores into makeshift shelters during Hurricane Harvey, has sprung into action yet again, this time amid the historic winter storm gripping the Lone Star state. McIngvale is currently using two of his Gallery Furniture stores as warming centers for hundreds of his neighbors without power due to the deadly cold snap....

A suit worn by Jackie Kennedy and Mary Lincoln’s capes are among the priceless pieces included in “Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States,” a new exhibit at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. The show, which opened in Washington D.C. and online this week, is the museum’s first-ever foray into the stories of the presidents’ wives. The exciting new exhibition spans nearly 250 years and explores the lives of everyone from Martha Washington to Melania Trump....

In the 23 years he worked as a bagger at the Harris Teeter in Raleigh’s Glenwood Village, Tim McCloud made an indelible mark on the neighborhood. For Julie Caviness, he was her part-time therapist. “He’s just incredible. He’s legendary here, I don’t think he even knows it, that’s what makes it so beautiful,” she told WRAL’s Keenan Willard. “He does not have a clue what a great impact he’s had within our community....

Today was an extra, extra special day for Aberli and Hank Spear. The couple from Burlington, North Carolina, welcomed their first child on February 22, 2022 at 2:22 a.m. in delivery room #2 at Alamance Regional Medical Center. The first-time parents met their healthy baby girl, Judah Grace, after 26 hours of labor. “I heard all the nurses screaming in excitement and I was like what is happening,” Aberli told WFMY....

Life just keeps getting better for Ethan the dog. The mastiff first made headlines in January 2021, when he was left in the Kentucky Humane Society (KHS) parking lot more than 50 pounds underweight and on the brink of death. Unable to walk or even lift his head, vets estimated that he had a less than 10 percent chance of survival. Despite the odds, Ethan recovered as tens and thousands of fans followed his journey on social media....

What does a Disney Princess do in times of trouble? She sings. That’s precisely what real life Disney Princess, Kristen Bell has done for those anxiously awaiting Irma’s arrival in an Orlando hurricane shelter. Bell was on a trip to Ft. Lauderdale when reports of Irma’s impending wrath caused her to evacuate to Orlando. Along the way she rescued the real life family of her Frozen co-star, Josh Gad. He took to social media to thank her for alleviating his worries and saving his family....

When you live in the South, summertime is synonymous with a slew of well-loved traditions. There are backyard picnics, drive-in movies, tomato sandwiches served lakeside, and sweet tea sipped on Grandma’s porch. And then there’s the inevitable wrench that gets thrown into each of these alfresco situations: the mosquitoes. As unwelcome as these pesky party guests are, their presence is practically a summertime tradition in itself. And every Southerner has found their own way of coping....

House hunting skewed more toward window-shopping for designer Taylor Hill—at least when it came to the 1920s Greenville, South Carolina, bungalow she purchased with her husband, Durham. It was the original windows that hooked the designer (who holds a master’s degree in historical preservation) on the 2,000-square-foot gem. So with one eye on the past and the other on the present, she homed in on a plan that suits the couple now while allowing for changes in the future....

Residential designer Mark Beard drew up a popular modern farmhouse with practical proportions for growing families. His Cary, North Carolina-based firm, LifeStage Home Designs, specializes in house plans for multigenerational living. With four bedrooms and three and a half baths, the 3,559-square-foot Deep River Farmhouse can comfortably welcome aging parents or boomerang children. “With this concept, we all want to be under one roof, but we still want to maintain a sense of privacy,” says Beard....

Scrambled eggs are a dish that almost everyone, even the most reluctant and befuddled cooks, is willing to tackle. It’s easy to make decent scrambled eggs, but giving them a bit more attention elevates them into excellent eggs that are creamy and luxurious. Low heat is key. Yes, it’s tempting to crank up the heat when trying to hurry things along, but it does the eggs no favors. Adding only one to two more minutes to the process improves the outcome and isn’t a deal-breaking delay to a quick meal....

Since the world collectively hit pause when the coronavirus pandemic took hold last year, we’ve all had to find ways to stay entertained while staying at home. Some of us took up baking bread or cooking our grandmother’s classic comfort dishes. Others took on DIY house projects and home gardens. Southern Living recently caught up with one of our favorite Hallmark faces, Tyler Hynes, and he shared that just like the rest of us, he’s taken up a few hobbies to keep busy in the past year....

Regina Keller was watering her flowers when a large male bear wandered into the backyard of her home in rural Fort Valley, Virginia, last weekend. Keller’s yard, which backs up to the George Washington National Forest, sees its fair share of wildlife. In fact, she’s spent the last 12 years photographing her furry visitors. But this wasn’t an ordinary bear. “This was the biggest one I’ve seen this year,” Keller told CNN....