Katie Mehrer

Living in harmony with the land and your personal philosophy – many dream of it, few achieve it. The Gundersens are one of those, and they’ll tell you that it’s demanding, it’s unpredictable, and it won’t make you rich. But oh yes, it’s worth it.

Chelsea Morning is a store for girlfriends. That’s not a gender-orientation-related remark. I mean just what I say: if you have girlfriends of any kind, and they like girly things, take them to this store. Buy them gifts at this store. You really can’t go wrong. If you like hearts and flowers, little tea cups, lace and puppies, angels and English toilette water, scented soaps and romantic clothes, lacy undies, snuggly sweaters, and hilarious greeting cards that make you laugh with woman-oriented humor, this is the place.

Nob Hill’s Wearit! Boutique, with 27 years in business, was one of the pioneers of Nob Hill. Born even before The Flying Star café, Janet Moses’ boutique has been through many incarnations, and she jokes that her building has had more facelifts than Joan Rivers. All her life she had a sense of style and an eye for retail. Moses notes that as a girl she used to go shopping with her mother and within three minutes inside a store she could tell if they were going to find what they were looking for or not. “How do you do it?” her mother would exclaim.

“Me? I’m in heaven!”

That wasn’t one of the customers at Mangiamo Pronto, that was actually Chef Enrique Gutierrez, who revels in the relaxed atmosphere of this downtown Italian-style bistro. After having proven his chops at Scalo, Casa Sena, O Eating House, the Galisteo Inn and many more premier northern New Mexico landmarks, the seasoned veteran of local eateries now enjoys running his own place with partner Fritz Holland.

C’mon, you know what goes on behind the scenes: hidden at every retail counter there is a big money shredder, and as soon as you spend a dollar on something–say groceries, a CD, some clothes–the dollar is destroyed forever. No, of course that’s untrue, but isn’t it how we often think about money? After you spend it, it’s gone, so you better be economical and get things as cheaply as you can.

In reality there is no shredder, and if you spend that dollar to buy something from your neighbor, your neighbor will probably end up spending that same dollar to buy something from you, or to employ you, or to fill potholes in your street. And if you spend that dollar to buy somet...