Hubert Jessup's decision to hire Rory O'Connor as director of the Neighborhood News Network and its half-hour nightly telecast for Boston cable-TV subscribers.

George Wright Golf Club

Tight fairways, manicured greens, and well-marked tee boxes make this inner-city gem a pleasure and a challenge. Nestled in the middle of a residential neighborhood, this par 7 course designed by Donald Ross attracts weekend duffers and irksome weekday sneak-ons (where did that threesome in front of us come from?!). So be prepared to cool your heels and your temper: This is urban golf in the Age of Tiger, after all. Still, it's easier than you'd think to get a tee time. Love the Tudor clubhouse, and the reduced fees when you flip a Boston ID ($21 weekdays, $24 weekends). 420 West St., Hyde Park, MA .

Ocean Terrace

Sip a Cape Codder with Cape Cod Bay as your backdrop at the outdoor bar of the elegant Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club. Facing toward the Brewster Flats, it enjoys a West Coast sunset (sundowner, anyone?), making it the ideal place to toast 18 holes well played or an idyllic day on the beach. Add on any of the menu’s New England classics, including oysters on the half shell and clam chowder, and you’ve got a hole in one. 2907 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631, oceanedge.com/dining/ocean-terrace.

Community Servings

Community Servings believes that “food is medicine.” But what happens when you’re not able to give your body the right dose? That’s where this J.P. nonprofit steps in, delivering medically tailored, homemade meals to those who are chronically ill or unable to shop and cook for themselves. Not only does the valiant team of volunteers do the cooking and delivering, it also offers nutrition courses for vulnerable populations—and plenty of opportunities for those who want to lend a hand. 179 Amory St., Jamaica Plain, MA 02130, servings.org.

Amanda Johnson, Mario Russo

There are two kinds of colorists: those who will do your bidding, no matter how ill advised, and those who will save you from yourself. Mario Russo’s Amanda Johnson is the latter. She’ll skillfully steer you away from, say, a ridiculous platinum-blond dye job and offer a far more flattering alternative, whether it’s perfectly even all-over color or subtle highlighting in all the right places. 9 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116, mariorusso.com.

Natale's

Your ill-fitting warehouse suits and casual-Friday carpenter jeans are getting you nowhere fast, mister. Time to pay a visit to Italian-born custom tailor Natale Agostino, who's schooled in the ways of the well-crafted suit. Whether it's a piece in Armani or Brioni fabrics tailored to Agostino's specifications or a full-out bespoke creation, he'll make sure you leave his store looking nicely proportioned. Today, a flattering suit; tomorrow, the world! 2001 Washington St., Hanover, MA 2339, natalesofhanover.com.

The Enormous Room

While college kids and out-of-towners wait in line downtown for their overpriced martinis and bland playlists, hipsters hit Central Square for a much more appealing kind of scene. The Enormous Room is actually anything but: long, narrow, and brick-walled, full of couches and pillows. It's reminiscent of a harem (the last harem we visited, anyway), only with tasty food and DJs spinning some of the best music in town, from new wave to hip-hop to IDM. Get there early, or prepare to cool your heels outside awhile. 567 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA enormous.tv.

Lambert's Cove Inn & Restaurant

If you want a real island retreat, head to the north side, take a quiet road through the woods, and book yourself into a room at the idyllic Lambert's Cove Inn. You can stay in either the main building—a converted 1790 farmhouse decked out in English-country period style—or the carriage house, where many rooms have their own private porch. 90 Manaquayak Rd., Vineyard Haven, MA lambertscoveinn.com.

Duxbury Beach

With pristine dunes surrounded by windswept marshes, a lighthouse at its far end, public parking, and a refreshment stand that serves a mean chocolate frappe, this is one seriously idyllic place. For nonresidents, there's plenty of reasonably priced public parking. Better yet, there are still areas left where the crowds are relatively thin, so if you don't feel like enduring your neighbor's predilection for Britney Spears, you don't have to. Canal St., Duxbury, MA .

Peng Bags

It takes Meichi Peng up to 50 hours to craft one of her bespoke handbags. (For context, Hermès artisans spend about 25 hours constructing a Kelly bag.) With painstaking precision, each of her belt bags, crossbody pouches, and totes is created with top-quality leather, canvas, cowhide hair, and even lace, with color options that could fill a rainbow. The result? Timeless and creative with a jolt of jazziness. Grace Kelly would approve. pengbags.com.

Pho Bistro

Don't be fooled by its strip-mall location: Pho Bistro serves up uncommonly good soups, stir-frys, and other Vietnamese specialties. Be sure to order a bowl of pho, with flavor-rich broth that takes hours upon hours to prepare. Add whatever proteins you're craving (squid? flank steak? tripe?), and slurp it up with delight. 8 Pleasant St., Malden, MA 02148, phobistromalden.com.

Boston Coach

From the pleasant people who take reservation to the early-edition daily newspapers, reading lights and phones in each car, Boston Coach has got it covered. Forty dollars will get you from downtown to Logan in the luxury of a snazzy Volvo ($45 from Cambridge). Limos are available as well. $60/ hour for a six-seater, $78/ hour for eight to ten people. You can make international arrangements, too. 1 Airforce Rd., Everett, MA .

Kate Schnabel and Susan McEachern, Clean Sweep

Who has time to clean these days? Or do the laundry? Clean Sweep does, and for $6.50 to $7.50 an hour (for-hour minimum), it seems like a bargain. Owners Schnabel and McEachern began in 1978, and are so successful they've got a rookie camp, where cleaning neophytes are drilled in the fine points of floor-washing and plant-watering. Brookline, MA

Sully's Billiards

Cheap canned beer, microwave pizza, and straight cues—this 7-table pool hall is the real thing. Go Monday through Thursday for the special ($6 a head for five hours of play between 3 and 8 p.m.). It's $10 an hour at other times. Sully's is also a bona fide male zone—women should move in groups. 445 Cambridge Street, Allston, MA .

Kodomo

Mother of two Jasmine Punzalan knows that kids’ clothes should be three things: cute, fashionable, and, most important, durable enough to withstand hours and hours of rough-and-tumble play. That’s why she stocks her exquisite Beacon Hill and South End children’s boutiques with sunny-yellow cotton bloomers and sky-blue playsuits from ethically produced brands like the Animals Observatory, Mini Rodini, and Bobo Choses — and why over the years she’s drawn the attention of celeb clients such as Molly Sims and Leslie Odom Jr. Multiple locations. kodomoboston.com.