Trend pieces

A man and a woman sit inside a wooden sauna. The man, wearing black shorts, is seated on the left side with his hands clasped and looking toward the woman. The woman, wearing a black bikini, is seated on the right side with one knee bent and her arms wrapped around it, looking toward the man. The sauna has wooden slatted walls and bench seating.
Life & Style

Wellness Hangouts Are the New Happy Hours

For years, wellness was a solitary pursuit—early-morning workouts, solo spa appointments, quiet meditation apps. Now, a more collective approach is taking hold, reframing self-care as […]

A large, dark, textured spherical object hovers low over a cityscape at sunset, with tall buildings and a body of water visible in the distance under a clear blue sky.
City Life

Is the Massachusetts Economy About to Get Wrecked?

Here’s the thing about Cape Cod potato chips: They were always about much more than the chips. They were about that low-slung building in Hyannis […]

Tall clear glass filled with a frothy green juice, garnished with a stalk of celery, set against a black background.
Wellness

Is Wellness Culture Ruining Social Fun?

When Jonathan Leary, a doctor of chiropractic medicine, opened a concierge wellness practice a decade ago, he often heard the same complaints: “‘All these lifestyle […]

City Life

The Clacking Class: How Mahjong Took over the Suburbs

It’s a weekday afternoon in Weston, and I’ve just been ushered into Jenny Seeman’s soothing lounge—a capacious oasis of sea green and lilac. This is […]

City Life

The Rise of ‘Elite Speak’: Why Do Smart People Sound So Dumb?

  The realization that a large number of well-educated, well-meaning Bostonians had lost the ability to talk like regular people crystallized for me recently, after […]

City Life

Does Boston Still Drink?

It’s Saturday night, 7 p.m. to be precise, and the temperature is going down faster than the $1 oysters at Vialé. Wind whips through my […]

City Life

No Trad Wives Welcome Here: The Identity Crisis of Massachusetts’ Stay-at-Home Moms

Meet Allison (she’d rather not use her real name—you’ll see why in a moment), who thought she was living the dream. Last summer, she ditched […]

Life & Style

Inside the New World of Luxury Kids’ Parties, Where Parents Are Plus-Ones

Forget the Met Gala—today’s soirees of the century are where VIPs still raid their parents’ closets for couture. From bubble artists to custom teepees to […]

City Life

The Really High Housewives of MetroWest Boston

Of the gazillion times as a parent that I’ve looked around and thought, Everybody else is doing this better than I am, one moment comes […]

City Life

Single By Choice

When it comes to getting hitched, more Americans than ever before are saying “I don’t.”