Author: Heather Cassell

Emma Beno, co-owner of the Pork Chop Shop, stands at the ready at the store located at the famed West Side Market. (Photo: Heather Cassell)

The Pork Chop Shop’s Butcher Babes Bring Home the Bacon

It’s tough having good chops and the “Butcher Babes” have got the best to offer at the West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio.

Emma Beno, 24, and Alexia Rodriguez, 32, owners of the Pork Chop Shop (1979 West 25th Street, Stand E4; 216-394-0382; ThePorkChopShopWSM.com) at the market infuse the flavor of the neighborhood and their own tastes into their pork in the Ohio City neighborhood.

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Inside the historic West Side Market in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo: Heather Cassell)

Go to the Market at West Side Market

Many people oooh and ahhh over San Francisco’s Ferry Building and rightfully so, the public marketplace with its high quality organic shops highlighting some of the best of the San Francisco Bay Area’s small businesses, similar to Seattle’s Pike Place Market, brought this relic public market back to life. It’s even inspired and spawned other public markets in Napa, Anaheim and many more, but it has nothing on Cleveland’s West Side Market.

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Mongo Grubbo Cakes (a.k.a. dessert for breakfast) at Latitude 41n in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo: Courtesy of Latitude 41n)

3 Best Brunch Spots in Cleveland

What’s better than starting out a lazy Sunday? Brunch. It doesn’t matter if you are a breakfast or a lunch person all your gastronomic needs are met with brunch and it’s the perfect excuse to slow down and hang out with friends – new and old.

No matter where you are in the world, brunch makes everything better whether it’s simply to cure a hangover, hang with your favorite people, or refuel after a sporting it up.

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The Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif. (Photo: Nicole Clausing)

A Riveting Story

The words “Experimental” and “National Park” don’t normally go together, but they do at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park, (1414 Harbour Way S., Richmond, CA; 510-232-5050; http://www.nps.gov/rori/index.htm) a place not quite like any other national park or historical monument.

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LUC's famous Beef Bourguignon (Photo: Sarah Toce)

LUC Serves Up the Flavor of France in Seattle’s Madison Park

If it’s an upright decadent time you’re expecting to have when you cross fork and knife this fall, LUC (2800 East Madison Street; 206-328.6645; ; TheChefInTheHat.com) in Seattle’s Madison Park neighborhood should be at the top of your priority list.

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Missy Fuego performing at The News: New Queer Performance Series at SOMArts in San Francisco in 2013. (Photo: Mathew Schoonmaker)

Slam Girls Rhyme and Rhythm

The girls got their say when they began spitting their fierce words in a rhyme and rhythm at poetry slams at bars and cafes around San Francisco in the late 1980s.

Soon after slam poetry nights took on a life of its own spreading across the nation culminating in the first-ever National Poetry Slam! in 1990 in San Francisco.

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The women of EDEN PNW have fun digging for clams out in the sea and sand for the opening weekend of clam season in Seaside. (Photo: Girls That Roam/EDEN Pacific Northwest)

Popular All-Girl Fall Getaway EDEN Pacific Northwest Returns

EDEN Pacific Northwest is back for its all-girl getaway to Oregon’s North Coast, October 2 – 5, 2014, and the women are excited.

The EDEN PNW team is proud to bring this weekend back much to the delight of women. This is the second year women and their friends will be gathering in Seaside, Oregon for the girlfriend getaway weekend, EDEN PNW, filled with bonfires, exploring the Northern Oregon coast, laughter and music.

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Roen Ako leads Taste Seattle Food Tour’s newest tour Beach, Bikes and Bites. (Photo: Courtesy of Taste Seattle Food Tour)

Taste Seattle Food Tours Goes To The Beach

Alki Beach is where sun-seekers flock to enjoy a summer day at the beach and take advantage of breath taking panoramic views of the Seattle cityscape and the Olympic Mountains. It’s also a vibrant neighborhood with some foodie gems and rich with history and a beach culture all its own.

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Two girls enjoying a San Francisco beach picnic with chocolate and wine. (Photo: w-t-fab.com)

6 Places for Foggy Picnics in San Francisco

When visitors in other cities swelter in summer’s heat and picnic plans are abandoned for air conditioned cafes, San Francisco’s typical weather report is an invitation to gather up the picnic basket, blanket and head out. For a new take on the traditional picnic lunch in the sun, visitors can orchestrate their al fresco dining around San Francisco’s fabulous spectacle of summer fog.

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Veteran slammer Joyce Diane Moody (Photo: Cred)

Slam Nation Hits Oakland

Get ready. A fierce spat of dueling words is coming to Oakland, California for the first time ever and the city will never be the same.

It’s been 25 years since the National Poetry Slam! started across the bay in San Francisco and the poetry competition hasn’t been back to the bay since the 1990s.

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Enjoy a cocktail at The Signature Lounge atop the John Hancock Center in Chicago.

The Signature Lounge Gives a Stylish View of Chicago

There are a several opportunities to get a bird’s eye view of Chicago, but none of them beat observing the dazzling display with a great cocktail in one hand than the one we took in at the Signature Lounge inside the Signature Room at the 95th (875 North Michigan Avenue, 312-787-9596, SignatureRoom.com) on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center in Chicago.

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You wouldn’t believe that this girl’s backpack is made of paper, but it is just one of Pappeal’s demo bags that come in three styles: backpack, duffle bag, and messenger bag. (Photo: Duncan Moffat, www.duncanmoffat.com)

Pappeal’s Bags Appealing For Travelers

Searching for an inexpensive, but durable bag while traveling? You might not want to overlook Pappeal’s backpacks and duffle and messenger bags.

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