Dana McMahan

Fixing up your home can get to become a way of life. There's always another project just waiting for your magic touch. But for those of us with a fixer-upper habit, there's a peril lurking on the other side of all those re-dos – it's the dreaded Over Improved house.
You know the one.

Stop saying "smooth," to start.

Locals may debate whether this river city is the South or the Midwest, but everyone can agree that Louisville, Kentucky, is an exciting place to be.

Crowds pack the 'Ville for the Kentucky Derby the first weekend in May, but bourbon-fueled delights await year-round.

Pick a place that's right for you, and it can be the difference in just a fun summer getaway — and a really memorable trip.

Sometimes food is about artisan ingredients, beautiful plating, and a chef's brilliance; sometimes food is about soul-soothing nourishment. That's not to say it can't be both, but the latter is one of the reasons I fell in love with an unlikely Midwestern city. In fact, I fell so hard I bought a big, old house that had plenty of soul, but needed a lot of TLC.

The first glimmer of the idea that became EDWINS came with Brandon Chrostowski's arrest. He was 18 years old, just a kid in Detroit, charged with fleeing when they couldn't get him on a drug dealing charge. The judge offered him a second chance–but only if he got a job.

Motown, the Motor City, the D. With its history and culture and great new places to hang, this happening hot spot can’t have just one name.

We learn to dress ourselves around, what, kindergarten? It's not hard. You put garments on the parts that you don't want to get cold and that's it. Back then we didn't give much thought to how we looked in our clothes — or maybe it's that we didn't give much thought to what other people thought.

Hotels are fond of plastering "dog friendly" on everything, luring pet families with promises of treats and dog bowls and beds to pamper their pooches.
I'm sure they think it makes them look good, but maybe what they're not considering is the frustration it generates when d...

Once while renovating a big, old house in Detroit, I subsisted on pizza, Pringles, peanut butter and jelly, and M&Ms. (And bourbon.) My body did not thank me. Which is why, looking ahead to my next project—a kitchen refresh in my new place in Louisville, Kentucky—I turned to Jess Dang, a professional Bay Area meal planner who recently completed a major kitchen reno herself, for tips on not only surviving, but thriving.

There's not a word in our language that's just right for the feeling when you've escaped a disaster — the sense some might call "there but for the grace of God . . ." or dodged a bullet. But even lacking a label, something definitely happens when you experience a place that's later visited by terror, something that may be critical to our survival.

The nation's inner cities are full of bright youngsters — all they need is a chance, acclaimed chef says.

Where people are creating, there is hope. And you don’t have to look far in this city to see the vivid colors of hope

We've all heard it. If you're looking to buy, you should always go for the worst house in the best neighborhood. But have many of us ever stopped to question that conventional wisdom?