12 Editor Picks for the Summer

Among the deep green of a botanical garden, a hint of color peeps through, bending, curving, contorting. But something about this specimen is different: It's glass. The twisting, organic sculptures of world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly naturally fit into an outdoor setting. And now, with the arrival of Chihuly in the Garden 2023, 20 of them are installed around the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. (That's on top of the Chihuly pieces that are always here.) Larger-than-life flowers, fiery spiralized clusters and tropical "plants" burst with vibrant energy. The exhibit just opened and will run until October 15. Book early for night viewings with live music. 

Related: St. Louis is Home to a National Park, Imaginative Museums and Incredible Restaurants

Chicago artist and wallpaper and fabric designer Cathy Lancaster was playing cornhole at a block party when she realized her tan plastic set was a bummer. "I love putting my patterns on interesting things, especially if they involve entertaining," she says. "So when I found a supplier who could make cornhole sets with my patterns, I had to go for it!" She grouped her most popular prints into coordinating pairs (like Watermelon St. Thomas, pictured) and added matching beanbags. On sunny days, she puts the sturdy wood sets outside her Wrigleyville gallery and watches passersby play. They'll prove just as irresistible in your own yard. $440.

A number of years ago, Tamekia Swint taught hair-braiding on mission trips to Poland, but the University of Illinois grad had never considered doing hair as a career. Then she met a mom who'd transracially adopted two African American girls. "I'd never seen a parent so desperate for help and wanting to learn but not having the training or resources available," Swint says. She founded Styles 4 Kidz in 2010 to provide compassionate hair care and education for parents of kids with textured hair in biracial and transracial adoptive and foster families. A salon in Oak Park, Illinois, offers one-on-one lessons in cornrows, braids and twists, while an online program includes monthly training sessions and product recommendations. "We are focused on empowering parents to be able to learn how to care for their kids' hair," Swint says. "The connection between hair and culture is a big deal." 

As part of our Good Neighbors program, highlighting unique Midwest nonprofits and individuals making our communities stronger, Midwest Living has donated $500 to Styles 4 Kidz.

Each summer, just as irises bloom, a little festival pops up at St. George Greek Orthodox Church in my Des Moines neighborhood. Outside, it's all sunshine, spanakopita and ouzo-soaked folk dancing. But in the cool, quiet basement, you'll find buttery cookies baked by the congregation and a wonder they call a Baklava Sundae—crumbled baklava over coffee or vanilla ice cream. The marriage of nuts, honey, pastry and java rocks my world, every time. If a road trip to 35th and Cottage Grove on the first weekend in June isn't feasible, make your own, using baklava from a Mediterranean bakery or restaurant. (Don't have one close by? Get your phyllo fix from Sedara Sweets and Ice Cream—a metro St. Louis biz owned by a Lebanese American and Iraqi couple. They ship dozens of varieties.)—Hannah Agran, Executive Editor