Kelsy Chauvin

by Kelsy Chauvin
Lately, I’ve been daydreaming a lot. Stress from life and work, from the election, and from winter’s crazy rollercoaster weather has led many of us to think about escaping to more soothing lands. Thank goodness for daydreams, inviting us to divert to a sunny beach literally any time.

by Kelsy Chauvin
There’s a new kind of accommodation debuting in Toronto this year that may redefine the city’s hotel experience. Hotel X Toronto is an “urban resort” that’s been several years in the making, and will soon accept its first guests as the newest member of the Library Hotel Collection.

by Kelsy Chauvin
Whether you’re a New Orleans first-timer or a deep fan who can’t get enough, this city seems ever ready to charm you anew. Yes, it’s a historic place — one of America’s oldest cities, in fact — and its heritage is a huge point of pride for locals. But part of its legacy is welcoming travelers and inducting them into the Big Easy spirit. That may involve vintage dives, hidden haunts, or the next generation of cultural and culinary hotspots.

by Kelsy Chauvin
The new green frontier of travel is exciting to many, daunting to others, and confusing to some who are worried they’re doing it wrong. It’s easy to understand why. When it comes to recreational marijuana, each of the states (Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington, plus Washington D.C.) where you can now legally partake have slightly different laws, plus there are four more states joining the legal cannabis party over the coming year. Not to mention the wildly different ways dispensaries sell their kind buds and other magic merch. Here’s a weed-buying rundown of what to know, how to choose, and what not to do.

by Kelsy Chauvin
For the next few weeks in New York City, you can freely visit women in prison. Talented women, glamorous women, proud women, and regular women —they’re all there, as portraits by legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz.

The show, WOMEN: New Portraits, debuted in Chelsea on November 18th as a pop-up inside the Bayview Correctional Facility. It’s a recently shuttered women’s prison whose future will be as potent as its past when it reopens in 2020 as The Women’s Building, “a global hub for the girls’ and women’s rights movement.”

by Kelsy Chauvin
A rainbow of drag-queen feathers aimed straight, so to speak, to Atlantic City’s Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa like gay breadcrumbs on Saturday, September 24. They marked the pathway of revelers and participants celebrating the annual Miss’d America Pageant, where Mimi Imfurst won the 2017 crown as confetti fell in the casino’s Event Center.

by Kelsy Chauvin
Once upon a time it seemed like a crazy pipe dream that marijuana would be recreationally legal in the United States. But that was long ago, before the first states legalized its medical use and before Colorado and Washington voters made it legal recreationally in 2012. Today cannabis is or will soon be recreationally legal in six more states. (Not to mention legal for medical use in 28 states).

But each state differs somewhat in its laws, so here’s a rundown of how it works in each one and when the new laws are expected to take effect.

by Kelsy Chauvin

These days, the eyes of the world are focused on Canada more than ever. That’s partly why The New York Times gave Canada the No. 1 spot on its 52 Places to Go in 2017 list — because, as its editors declared, “It’s a world unto itself.” Canada marks 150 years as a independent confederation this year, meaning there are a ton of sesquicentennial celebrations, now coinciding with a favorable exchange rate with the US dollar. Here’s why 2017 is the year to discover Canada, whether you’ve been there before or have yet to drift north.

by Kelsy Chauvin
If the blustery winds and overcast skies of winter are getting you down, don’t despair. There are summery scenarios waiting to warm your chilly attitude all around New York City. Some will put a fruity drink in your hand and spin salsa beats, others will spruce up your day with rainbows of foliage and butterflies. Here’s a rundown of 10 ways to dispel the winter doldrums and summon the sunshine. Because even writer Anton Chekhov, who knew a thing or two about the coldest of seasons, admitted: “People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.”

by Kelsy Chauvin
The hotel takes its name from a local merchant and town sheriff, whose 18th-century stone house was restored and is now home to the Hotel William Gray’s spa and fitness center. Attached to it stands a chic, seven-story addition by Montreal firm Béïque Legault Thuot Architects. In that structure are guest rooms and a large open-air rooftop-terrace café and bar (open seasonally), overlooking the historic plaza and Notre-Dame Basilica.