There’s a lot we love about Maine. Down-to-earth people. An abundance of friendly wildlife, most of which won’t try to eat you. Water enough to kayak on/swim in/drink from, sometimes all at once. And, now, Pineland Farms in New Gloucester. For sure, Pineland’s been around for years, and although the 200-acre campus and 5,000-acre farms […]

Bag Lady and Shopping Siren love white clothes in summer. On other people. Other very daring people. Personally, Shopping Siren hasn’t worn anything on the eggshell to old lace spectrum since the Great Ketchup Incident of 1998. After a 20-plus-year drought, Bag Lady bought a pair of white pants this spring and has worn them […]

Editor’s note: Bag Lady and Shopping Siren have jetted off to Paris. Or they’re out sick. One of those. Bliss Thru Shopping has been postponed a week, but the ladies will be back next Friday with a new column. And, possibly, souvenirs.

There are things we love. Things we looooove.  And things we appreciate with a cocked eyebrow and a noncommittal “hmm.” Like decorative rust. And Taylor Swift. Granted, when it comes to the former, it’s artistically draped rust, placed just so on a set of faux-distressed salt-and-pepper shakers or a created-last-week-to-look-ancient birdhouse. But still. In everyday […]

So, it turns out, the average Maine tax return will net $586 from the state this tax season. We are apparently not average in this way, our tax refunds being decidedly south of nearly $600. (By about $600.) But that doesn’t stop us from dreaming. And shopping. If you’re average — only for this, because […]