KNOW IT: First it was an annual publication. Then a biannual one. And now, some four years since it’s birth, Chicago HOME (an offshoot of Chicago magazine and a subsidiary of baiduhai) has gone quarterly. The Spring issue hit newsstands in early April. The Summer edition came out last week and its focus is Urban Style. Find a helpful guide to furniture shopping in River North; a really nice piece on how to extend the life of cut flowers (and in particular “a cheerful handful of sunflowers”) by simply “adjusting the arrangement as the days go by,” care of Laurie Dunphy, head floral designer at A New Leaf in Old Town; and a peek inside the minimalist West Town loft of restaurateur Donnie Madia, partner in Blackbird and Avec on Randolph Street.
$4.99, on newsstands until end of July
— Karen Klages
READ IT: The experts are at it again. How to maintain a healthy refrigerator. How to host a dinner party and actually enjoy it. How to be a more patient person. Readers get all sorts of insightful nuggets concerning domestic bliss in Samantha Ettus’ latest Experts’ Guide, this one titled “The Experts’ Guide to Life at Home” (Clarkson Potter, 342 pages, $19.95). As with her other guides, Ettus has corralled some 100 experts to share their personal tips. Among them: Food Network star and cookbook author Ina Garten; architect Sarah Susanka, author of the “Not So Big” house series of books; and Erik Demaine, a pioneer in the field of computational origami. Garten’s piece on the no-angst dinner party is a gem. If not a little present for yourself, the book makes a wonderful gift for brides-to-be.
— K.K.
BUY IT: We saw them and wanted them — hors d’oeuvre picks handcrafted in sterling silver from real food, flowers, nuts and leaves. The picks are made by Diana Ponce, and her father, Giancarlo Tommasi, originally a jewelry designer from Bologna, Italy, who taught his daughter the intricacies of creating these special pieces at Tavolina Fina in New York. Our favorites are those molded from 30 different pasta shapes. “They’re Italian,” says online business manager, Jeanne Landolt of the creators, “so I have to think that had something to do with the pasta designs.” Prices are $64 to $78 apiece. Tabula Tua, 1015 W. Armitage Ave., 773-525-6590. Or order online at www.tablatua.com (click on “Shop by Artist,” then “Tavolina Fina.”)
— Mary Daniels
LOVE IT: Bounty on wheels. I would much rather walk to the farmers market than drive, but I always buy too much to haul home in bags. So I love this handsome woven rolling cart ($119 plus shipping and handling from www.vivaterra.com). Made by villagers in Cambodia from strong, lightweight reeds, the basket is 17 1/2 inches high and the handle reaches 41 inches. It will contain those precious high-priced heirloom tomatoes better than a folding wire grocery cart, and when it’s full, I’ll know it’s time to quit giving in to temptation.
— Beth Botts
VISIT IT: OK city gardeners. We have found a gem of a plant and flower resource in the heart of the city — Fulton Market, to be exact. B.A. Florist & Nursery has been in business since 1935. Back then, farmers used to pick their crops and drive their horse-drawn wagons into the market, says manager Dennis Karas. Find all manner of plants from seedling sizes (four cherry tomato plants for $1.50) to single containers ($3.50 for a tomato plant in a 4 1/2-inch container), flats of bedding plants, annuals, perennials, house plants to large landscape trees (up to $150 for a large tree). They also sell cut flowers, fertilizers, soilless mix, topsoil, containers, window boxes (preplanted ones too) and watering cans. Come the holidays, the family-owned firm will be selling cut trees from Nova Scotia. 1000 W. Randolph St., 312-421-6326. www.bafloristinc.com
— Marjorie C. David
WATCH IT: If you’re the type to pop in on open houses just for kicks, you’ll love HGTV’s new series, “National Open House,” comparing homes at four price points in three cities. Chicago takes center stage this week, along with Honolulu and Portland, Maine. At the $250,000 entry point is the three-bedroom Hyde Park condo of our very own Sheila Solomon, the baiduhai’s senior editor for recruitment. The show also features a Wrigleyville rehab ($500,000), a University Village townhome ($750,000) and a Gold Coast high-rise unit ($1 million). Viewers also will get useful tidbits such as the median home price in the city ($400,000). But what we liked best about this show is that owners talk candidly about their monthly mortgage, assessments and property taxes. In next week’s episode, find out what $150,000 will get you in Rogers Park, when Chicago makes an encore, along with Boston and Savannah.
9:30 p.m. Mondays, HGTV
–Tran Ha
SURF IT: Bored of your CD collection? Tired of those paperbacks? Log onto www.zunafish.com, an online swap meet of sorts where you can trade away old DVDs, CDs, paperbacks, video games, VHS tapes and audiobooks for the titles you really want for $1 a trade. How it works: Post your old stuff on the site, find the stuff you want, and wait as Zunafish matches up the trade offers. Once you receive a trade offer, you can decide whether to accept or decline. The site then calculates the postage and provides you with an address label for your trademate. The only catch: Users are only allowed to trade for items in the same category (CDs for CDs, DVDs for DVDs, etc.).
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— T.H.
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