2011 How-to Guide 

If you have lived in the South long enough, some old coot has probably told you that the best way to treat chigger bites is by applying fingernail polish to your skin. He probably also told you that chiggers burrow into your skin to suck your blood and that the polish suffocates them.

The Cocktail Club's Jasmine Beck is just one local bartender who's turned drink-making into an art form. Charleston's always been a drinking town, but in recent years we've seen a surge in respect for old-school mixing methods with a modern, artisanal twist.

Few drinks showcase whiskey better than the mint julep. And the best part is it's simple to make.

Adrian Wilson and his 12-year-old business partner Shamar Wright can be found every Sunday at the City Market downtown, selling palmetto roses. In addition to the ubiquitous tourist must-have, some of their creations take the form of elaborate bouquets, heart-shaped wreaths, and lampshade decorations.

Some folks think moles are cute. And, well, they kind of are with their squinty little eyes, oversized paws, and long snouts.

There are lots of reasons you might want to change your name. Maybe you're running from the law.

Leigh Magar's hands are glittering with gold paint when I arrive at her studio. She's decorating for a Christmas open house.

So you've written your dramatic masterpiece, one that you know will one day be honored as the Great American Play. And now, like any enterprising Charlestonian artiste, you want to know how to give it the kind of spotlight it deserves — and we all know that there is no bigger spotlight on theater around these parts than during Spoleto.

In addition to cold beer in a can, an authentic Lowcountry oyster roast requires many things, the most important of which is a nip in the air. You can't host an oyster roast when it's 70 degrees outside.

As a veteran musician, promoter, and door man, Johnny Puke knows about the ins and outs of gigs.

Being in debt sucks. Owing money to creditors, banks, and other institutions can truly break your spirit, and letting your financial issues turn into a genuine credit crisis can destroy your credit score.

The Smoking Lamp's Tavner Myers and Matthew Cannon aren't teachers by trade. However, in the midst of the cigar smoke and ashtrays, along a back wall at the Smoking Lamp, they took some time to teach us how to roll a cigarette.

Do you think Charleston became Condé Nast Traveler's top tourist destination by hiring tour guides off the street? Chances are, most of us have a few friends who are fine to slug a beer with, but they're not exactly the faces of our city that tourists should see.

Growing up in Awendaw, purloo was an almost daily part of Charlotte Jenkins' diet. It's a simple dish, requiring little more than rice and whatever meat might be on hand.

The area under most people's kitchen sinks is reserved for toxic chemicals that can either get you high or kill you. Somehow we've accepted the idea that the stronger the chemical smell, the cleaner our homes are, but anyone who's gotten dizzy off of fumes while scrubbing the tub has realized the irony of the situation: a clean home doesn't necessarily equal a healthy one.

Martha Lou Gadsden's pink cinderblock restaurant has gotten quite a lot of buzz over the last year — from The New York Times to Saveur — but she's been serving soul food from her little Morrison Drive kitchen for 28 years now. With the help of her daughter Debra, every weekday she churns out a small menu of homemade Southern fare, including everything from super-salty lima beans to pork chops to macaroni and cheese with a perfectly crispy crust.

There are plenty of real-life good and bad examples of stage parenting, ways to encourage your child's professional entertaining career without turning them into nutcases or squandering their millions.

Here in Charleston, we love living near the water. Unfortunately, in many parts of town, stagnant water puddles serve as honeymoon destinations for the frisky gnats and biting no-see-ums that lay their larvae in damp locations and reproduce like tiny, flying, infuriating rabbits.

For many artists, achieving gallery representation is a milestone in their careers, while others would rather take care of the exhibiting themselves. A growing number of local artists are planning or taking part in underground exhibits in restaurants, coffeeshops, and alleyways.

FroYo ceases to be a low-cal treat once it's been spruced up with Butterfinger bits or if it's more cookie dough than cup, so don't for a second think you're pulling a fast one on your scale if you skip over Ben and Jerry's for 32 Degrees. Or maybe your problem is with a different scale: You think you're being conservative with the weight of your serving, only to find yourself dishing out $7 for no more than a couple spoonfuls.

First of all, that lease you signed is a contract, and if the landlord isn't holding up his end of the deal, you can take his slummy behind to magistrates' court.

Once upon a time, a man and a woman fell in love, or so it's told by another man (who happens to be the previous man) to that same woman now that they're both elderly and in an old folks' home and about to die. And thusly, Nicholas Sparks made thousands of teenage girls weep, and then swoon when his story The Notebook became a movie with Ryan Gosling even before he was the Sexiest Man Alive runner-up everyone swoons for today.

Who doesn't want a spot on the roster at Academic Magnet High School? Ranked No. 15 on Newsweek's list of America's Best High Schools in 2011, this school is the cream of the public-school crop in South Carolina, and if you live in Charleston County, your little scholar has a chance to get in.

Warning! Dressing a deer is not as cute or as fun as it sounds.

Happy sweet 16. Welcome home from Iraq.

Anybody can run for office at a certain age. That simple truth is at once an essential component of American democracy and the reason why local politics can bear a striking resemblance to a middle school Beta Club.

Whether you're sipping mint juleps at the Charleston Cup, attending Sunday worship service in a 300-year-old church, or running for City Council, a dapper bow tie will give you a sure boost on the Holy City social ladder. But unless you think you can dupe the blue bloods with a clip-on — and you can't — you'll have to learn to properly tie one on.

Rickshaws, bike taxis, pedicabs — call them what you will, but these three-wheeled chariots are without a doubt a Charleston trademark. If you've spent any amount of time downtown, you've witnessed the tricycle taxis barreling down King Street or setting up shop on street corners in the Market, waiting for their next fare.