Charlie

The Best of CHARLIE

Count ‘em: 1…2! We are over the moon excited to celebrate CHARLIE’s 2nd birthday today! It has been an amazing ride and we have you to thank, dear readers, advertisers, contributors, subscribers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, Foursquare friends, Gowalla fr…you get the picture. To celebrate our extraordinary city and her people is a dream come true. Please enjoy the top 10 most popular stories over our last year. In no particular order, they are:

1. Oh, What a Party! Lata Style

After the best Bubbles & Sweets in the Festival’s five year run, where event designer extraordinaire, Mitchell Crosby, whimsically introduced furry handcuffs into the “adult candy” theme, it’s surprising that the night could get any better.

But, of course, where there’s Mike Lata, there’s a way.

What is it about Lata? Chefs love him. Married women admit to having dreams about him. There isn’t a guy who doesn’t have a man crush on him. Whether its respect, envy, lust or just a good ‘ole swooning sensation, you can’t not have a feeling about Lata when you meet him. Yet, even with all this frenzied attention, reaching a pinnacle this weekend with the auction bids on a massive mosaic of Lata’s head, he doesn’t let it go to, well, his head.

Meaning that average folk can still get into his Wine + Food Festival after party at FIG, thank goodness…

2. Paradise, S.C.

We love our Sullivan’s. We love our Folly. But sometimes you just need to get away. From people, from the norm, and yes, even from Charleston.

Lucky for us, we don’t have to venture very far.

Less than an hour’s drive from downtown Charleston sits a “hidden” beach so stunning that you won’t dare tell anyone about your undiscovered sanctuary…

3. Intoxicating Husk

Everyone and their mother is talking about the new Husk restaurant so we’re going to be really different and not.

We are going to talk about the bar, though.

You may feel like a genteel Southern aristocrat or an avant-garde modernist (or both) while sipping a cocktail at the newly opened watering hole…

4. Nesting: Charleston Style

The weather is finally getting warmer, thank goodness, but what is a local to do during a not-so-rare-this-winter cold snap or rainy day? Lucky for many a home owner or renter, Charleston is filled with some of the most incredible private spaces imaginable. Here are some of our favorite hidden spaces in our city’s homes. Clearly these aren’t your average rooms, but the beauty of hidden spaces is simply that they’re hidden from the outside world. So whether it’s playing dress up in your jewelry box closet or sipping coffee in your favorite little kitchen nook, hide away Charleston.

Just don’t hibernate during boating season…

5. L.I.M.E. Enters the Limelight

We love an “underground” dining experience.

There is something so cool about an off-the-radar supper club that turns dining into a full-fledged giddy adventure.

There’s our widely loved Guerrilla Cuisine put on by the one-of-a-kind jimihatt. There was a Fork + Brush stint at Eye Level Art with collaborators Mike Elder and Iverson Brownell. And now, a new act is born.

Enter L.I.M.E…

6. A Big Worn Welcome

It’s that kind of store. The kind where clothes are neatly pressed and hang smartly on hangers. Where you sip bourbon, poured neat in your tumbler. That rare find of a store, where the clothes are designer and the prices are so unbelievable you’re speechless. Although, maybe that’s just the bourbon.

Don’t call it a thrift store. We hesitate to even call it a consignment store. Just think of it as a mecca for lightly worn and still immaculate apparel.

Oh, and it’s a boys only club…

7. Dumpster Diving

It’s just another evening. Your tummy starts growling at you for dinner. Time to hit the dumpster.

Yes, the dumpster. As in the giant green trash can. Now, don’t turn that nose of yours up just yet. It may not be as bad as you think.

The folks who have mastered the skill of “recycled” food finding, known as Dumpster Divers, are alive and well in Charleston and here to educate us on a few things…

8. Dreaming in Cookies

We’ve all been there. Caught red-handed with your grubby little fingers in the cookie jar, staring like a deer in headlights at your mother. Busted.

But what if instead of “you’ll ruin your appetite,” you got, “yes you may!” Lucky for us, Ashley Swider is giving us all permission forevermore – one cookie at a time…

9. From Tyler to Crowfield

If you’re one of the 2,500-plus fans who follow popular local band Crowfield, you know that Tyler Mechem could be on his way to making it big. Earlier this year, the group signed a deal with Universal Republic Records.

But did you ever wonder how the guitarist and singer wound up pursuing a record deal from Charleston?

We did. So we asked…

10. Long Live the King

A year and a half ago, we did a story on the evolution of King Street. We only knew then that the recession would reconstruct King Street, but we didn’t know how. The likes of Halls, Shine and Butterfly were just new to the scene, and one of those has already closed its doors. We talked about the impact King Street Marketing Group was trying to make with events, and they’ve since added Second Sundays on King to the line up. We asked what you wanted to see King Street become.

Today, yet another metamorphosis is taking place. 2010 saw the fall of Saks, King Street’s flagship department store. And we will soon see it replaced by Generation Y’s Forever 21. Banana Republic consolidated and the cheap footwear find, Rack Room Shoes, waltzed in. Friends, or foes?…