Jennifer Stavros

The Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Massachusetts—where Borden's parents were murdered, a crime for which Borden was tried and acquitted—is now a bed and breakfast.Photograph: Jonathan Wiggs/Getty Images
During the month of October, many folks get into the spirit of Halloween by putting themselves in scary situations, like going to see a horror movie or visiting a haunted house. However, some travelers seek that feeling all year round by engaging in “dark tourism.”
Dark tourism is the act ...

From the best taquerias to the best taco stands.

Southern California has a known love affair with its taco connections. You don’t have to be Latinx to appreciate taco culture here, though. Films and shows like Letterkenny have openly embraced our famous taco culture in comical ways. Outside Hollywood, Latinx people are passionate about our culture and delicious ancestral foods. The food here tells rich stories made with sweat and sometimes tears (I mean, onions also do that a bit) that have b...

Fluxx is a game that has been around almost as long as I’ve been alive (it first came out in 1997). It’s been a quirky family favorite board game for decades, created by a hippy couple who formerly worked for NASA. While you’ll see some touches of those “looney” personalities within the Fluxx series of games, Fluxx is relatively easy to learn, leaving it open for mass appeal.
That said, board game communities tend to either love or hate Fluxx due to its chaotic nature. Unlike most games, wher...

Ever want to blast off to another planet? In Nemesis, you get to do that… but of course there’s a catch, because why would something so inviting not have a twist? There’s always got to be something to ruin a fantasy, right?
Fans of the franchise Aliens will likely enjoy Nemesis, as the monsters in the game are reminiscent of that series. These aliens create a lot of chaos, and you and your fellow players will do everything possible to escape alive in this semi-cooperative board game.
Wait, se...

Too soon?

I know what you’re thinking. We’re already surviving a global pandemic, so why would anyone consider playing a game with that name literally in the title? Because, my friends, the co-op board game version of fighting this big thing is all about coming together for the sake of the greater good. I mean, who doesn’t love a superhero tale, right?

While the game and its many iterations do not involve superheroes with capes, they involve superheroes of different kinds: scientists. Each pl...

Your guide to all the expansions and offshoots.
Are you looking for an intensive game for your board game night, made by a renowned game design team that has created several popular tabletop games? Scythe may be just that for the dedicated and patient board game crew. The design team at Stonemaier Games has created multiple other games my board game group has played, including Wingspan, Wyrmspan (the dragon version of Wingspan), and Viticulture.
Like some of their other games, Scythe is aimed...

The data is in. Officially, homelessness did not increase over the last twelve months in Los Angeles County, and many in government are celebrating, for the first time in years, what seems to be progress on the issue.
According to the results of the 2024 Los Angeles Homeless Count, the number of people experiencing homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County dropped by a quarter of a percent, from 75,518 last year to 75,312.
These numbers are sourced from data gathered over three ni...

Growing up in the suburbs of Illinois, I remember bringing my dad to and from the train station to get to work in the big city of Chicago. When Ticket to Ride came out later in life, it brought a lot of nostalgia for those big-city dreams in one of my other favorite memories with my family: playing board games.
Ticket to Ride: Paris
Experience the glamour of 1920s Paris in this fast-paced Ticket to Ride edition, racing to visit iconic locations.
See it at Amazon
Family board game nights invol...

Clank! is a deck-building adventure that's very much worth your consideration. The game is for 2-4 players, and while the recommendations say that it takes 30-60 minutes to complete, matches go about double that or more, especially with more players. So sit down and get ready, because it’s time to deck-build your way out of a dungeon before the monsters get you.

Clank!, made by Dire Wolf Digital and Renegade Game Studios, is a competitive game that integrates a base board game with cards and ...

I was a single mom when I met who would become my husband.
We met at our job and when we started dating he made me quit my job and become a housewife.
It's been 15 years since we got divorce and I'm still making up for leaving my job and school.
Years ago, in what feels like another life, I elected to trade my freedoms to be a housewife because my then-husband said it was the right thing to do.
Growing up in the Midwest in a conservative Catholic family, the ideas of marriage and the importan...

When you host a weekly in-person board game night, or you run a digital board game server, choosing the game of the evening (or which to start) can often be a dizzying endeavor. Deck-building games can be a solid choice for the evening--especially ones with multiple versions and expansions to change up the game for seasoned and unseasoned players. It’s what made Dominion and its tapestry of different expansions one of my absolute favorites for game night… and pretty much any night, as you nev...

Once upon another time, the movie Back to the Future Part 2 gave us a world with futuristic forms of transit: flying cars, and a skyway above the 405 in Los Angeles. The year? 2015. Now, in the real world, nearly a decade later, we are taking baby steps toward that fantasy: with self-driving cars. That’s why when I learned that Waymo, formerly known as Google’s “Self-driving car project,” announced that its self-driving cars were now live in Los Angeles for folks to experience — on the road, ...

Summer brings holiday travels and staycations into focus. Whether you're catching a flight or riding around on your fancy electric bike, you'll want to be prepared with a power bank that'll keep your devices charged while you're on the go. With early Prime Day deals, you can get 23% off this tiny but powerful Anker Zolo power bank
This 10,000 mAh 30W portable charger with built-in USB cable by Anker is just the friend you need to keep you company. Since the cord is already there, you won't ha...

Smart lights are a fun way to brighten up your home, and right now many of our favorite options are on sale ahead of Amazon Prime Day. While Prime Day doesn't officially kick off until July 16, there are a plethora of early deals available to shop now, including deep discounts on Govee smart lights and other smart tech from the brand. Whether you're looking for outdoor lights to brighten up your yard or a smart meat thermometer for your summer cookouts, there's huge discounts to be found on G...

Summertime is here, and with it comes the urge to be poolside. One of the best pool accessories you can invest in just might be a robot pool cleaner -- but they don't come cheap. Thankfully, there are some big early Prime Day sales, and we've found a great deal on Beatbot's robot pool cleaners on Amazon right now. You won't even need to get your hands dirty while checking "clean the pool" off your to-do list.
This story is part of Amazon Prime Day, CNET's guide to everything you need to know ...