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There’s no job like owning and running your own small business–except maybe keeping it all in the family.”Everything is always your responsibility,” says Duncan Cole, owner of Sam’s Clothing Store...

In a recent chat with a longtime Ann Arborite, the conversation wandered to the subject of favorite restaurants, then narrowed to reflections on now-defunct eateries whose passing left a gap in a city known for gastronomic...

My manicure with Lezen Nguyen takes thirty-five minutes. He gently rotates each finger, plying the tools of his trade to ensure each of my nails is shaped just right. “Pretty color,” he always says as he deftly...

When Lynda Cole hit Manhattan after graduating from Michigan State in 1970, she dreamt of making it as a clothing designer. She got a few jobs but was glad to return to Michigan after two years. “New York is no place for a...

Buying beer at the Ark can be a cumbersome process. First you must buy an Ark membership, then wait in what can be a long line to select, order, and collect your beer from a volunteer barkeep. So it’s only natural that...

The Palmer House has found new life as a guest house.The house at 227 Orchard Hills has no TV, small bedrooms, and a galley kitchen–and it’s booked all month at $300-$500 per night. The appeal: a chance to experience...

The stars twinkled overhead with a cruel innocence, mocking my band of adventurers.We were stranded.Our shopping trip now a distant memory, my friends and I were stuck in the store’s parking lot, waiting for a bus back to...

Jay Leno, Madonna, Billy Crystal, Julie Andrews, and Whoopi Goldberg are talented, wealthy, and famous. Less known is their authorship of children’s books–some of which will be on display later this month at the...

A little before four every Wednesday afternoon, a crowd starts gathering at Maryfield Wildwood Park.Just north of Dexter Road, the small park is horseshoed by Linwood, Westwood, and Maryfield streets. It is usually quiet, with...

In mid-September, Ann Arbor artist Margaret Parker packed two semitrailers with art and rode with them to Grand Rapids. It wasn’t a one-woman show–it was a single giant structure that she built in a south-side...