Happiness and Its Causes conference
Katherine Seligman, Special to The Chronicle
It would be hard to find a better time to talk about happiness, something you can't buy even if you still have good credit. Next week, in the midst of the biggest economic meltdown in more than a quarter century, more...

Savvy Swiss Railways watch by Mondaine
Aaron Britt
Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean last month, as I twisted the tiny knob on the side of my watch, physically subtracting the 17 hours between Seoul and San Francisco, I started to think about what men want from a watch....

La Toque in downtown Napa
Michael Bauer
One problem with opening a high-end restaurant in the Napa Valley is that it will inevitably fall under the shadow of the French Laundry. For a decade, Ken Frank operated his La Toque restaurant in Rutherford, only a...

Finding love despite the setup
Louise Rafkin, Special to The Chronicle
These days, no one gets married within less than a year of knowing each other. It's just wacky, or something from a fairy tale. But then you meet these two - down to earth, hilarious and the kind who finish each other's...

JEFFERSON AWARD / Presented to Elana Rosen / Training a skeptical eye on the media
Shelah Moody, Chronicle Staff Writer
As founder and executive director of Just Think, a nonprofit media literacy program, Elana Rosen teaches young people how to think critically about the media. She also brings together youths from different cultures...

Locals rate in designer Cole's book of heroes
Sylvia Rubin, Chronicle Fashion Editor
Activism usually takes a backseat on the runway, but not on Kenneth Cole's catwalk. For years, he's opened his shows during New York Fashion Week with a witty, pointed video about AIDS awareness. To mark the 25th...

Returnista: a binge-and-purge shopper
Beth Teitell, Boston Globe
Gabrielle Mancuso adores shopping. American Eagle, TJ Maxx, H&M, those are her haunts. But with bad economic news bombarding her daily, there's something that brings the stylish Mancuso more pleasure than buying jeans...

PiX / A patchwork of Bay Area parties & personalities
Project Inform hosted a condom fashion show to raise funds for more effective treatments and a cure for HIV/AIDS. 1 Jack Mackenroth ("Project Runway") with a model in his condom wedding dress. 2 Donna Sachet (left) and...

Andrew Freeman's picks for pets, pampering
Aidin Vaziri, Chronicle Staff Writer
As president of his namesake restaurant consulting company, Andrew Freeman has helped market and brand such hot spots such as the XYZ Restaurant, Westin St. Francis Hotel and New York's famed Magnolia Bakery. He told us...

Golden Gate Express gala
This week Ice Dreams The San Francisco Zoo Auxiliary is sponsoring a day of skating at the opening celebration of the Holiday Ice Rink. Includes skating instruction, animal encounters, live music, entertainment and more....