Create a Cozy, Chic Look in Your Bedroom With These Simple Steps

To improve your sleep, create a relaxing atmosphere, and add a chic look to your bedroom, all it takes are a few smart upgrades. From incorporating plush textures to changing up the color scheme, these simple tips will show you exactly what to do.

  • Replace your current bedding with crisp, white bedding. If your current sheets and duvet feel drab and outdated, upgrading to chic white bedding will give your bed a timeless look that's just like a four-star hotel.
  • Create storage for every loose item and stray article of clothing. If you constantly find yourself tripping over clutter, head to the home goods store and invest in additional drawers, bins and other storage items.
  • Frame some art to dress up your walls. Choose soothing nature scenes, neutral abstract prints or framed family photos that will make you feel calm and relaxed.
  • Add throw pillows and blankets that will add additional depth to your bedding. Choose one statement pop of color or something in a fun faux fur for some soft, eye-catching texture.
  • Update the lighting by replacing the current bulbs with muted lights or bulbs that imitate natural sunlight.

Pho Kevin: Explore Vietnamese Cuisine at this Hidden Gem in Laurel

Described by patrons as a “hidden gem nestled in a shopping center,” Pho Kevin serves traditional Vietnamese cuisine in Laurel. The dishes at Pho Kevin are varied and flavorful, with a menu that spans traditional pho, grilled entrees, noodle dishes, and soups to smoothies and bubble tea. Crowd-favorite dishes include the fried spring rolls appetizer, the chicken pho, and the bun bo hue. Each dish has fresh herbs, the soups are delicate, and the grilled foods are well seasoned.

Never had Vietnamese food before? Not a problem. The owner, Kevin, visits each table and will help diners pick out an entree favorable to their taste buds!

Pho Kevin is open seven days a week. Both take-out and dine-in options are available.

Pho Kevin
3439 Fort Meade Road
Laurel, MD 20724
(301) 498-3230
www.phokevin.com

Honey Pig Restaurant: Korean BBQ in Ellicott City

Hungry for some Korean BBQ fare? Stop by Honey Pig Restaurant. This Ellicot City spot is open 24 hours a day so you can always satisfy your craving. Honey Pig is a casual, fun restaurant with lively music playing in the background. It can get a little loud, but mostly from everyone having a good time and enjoying their meal.

The tables are set up like mini-hibachi tables. The meat is cooked on the grill in the center of the table. Each meal comes with salad, kimchi, pickled radishes, pickled cucumber, and pickled tofu. Regulars recommend the spicy pork belly or regular pork belly for your entree. There are more adventurous meats like octopus and intestines for those brave enough to try them. A few Korean beers and wine are available to go with your drink as well as regular soda. Look online for coupons before you visit!

Honey Pig Restaurant
10045 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042
(410) 696-2426
http://eathoneypig.com
http://www.yelp.com/biz/honey-pig-gooldaegee-korean-bbq-ellicott-city

Don’t Skip the Venison Sausage at Ellicott Mills Brewing Company

If you've never indulged in venison sausage, you're missing out. At Ellicott Mills Brewing Company, the venison sausage sampler is sweet and subtly spiced, one of the eatery's most popular starters. The sampler also includes a tasting of either bockworst, bratwurst, or wienerwurst.

The sampler makes a perfect accompaniment to an Alpenhof craft beer brewed with the highest quality ingredients. Brewmasters craft the beer in-house according to whichever regional technique matches the type of beer in accordance with historically-backed methods. This means that beers have plenty of time to breathe and mature as needed, resulting in a smooth finish for every pour. Use it to wash down a plate of the popular crab cakes, beer-battered shrimp, or Argentine steak.

Ellicott Mills Brewing Company
8308 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 313-8141
ellicottmillsbrewing.com
www.yelp.com/biz/ellicott-mills-brewing-co-ellicott-city-2

Johnny’s Bistro on Main: A Downtown Ellicott City Spot

Located smack-dab in the middle of downtown Ellicot City, Johnny’s Bistro on Main offers a tasty array of creative sandwiches, flatbread pizzas, panini, tapas, wine and beer. Put your order in at the counter and a server delivers it to your table.

Options include some yummy entrée salads like the Atlantic Salmon Salad with seared marinated salmon, mixed greens and lemon-dill vinaigrette, and the Warm Mushroom Salad with sautéed portabella, shitake mushrooms, gorgonzola & crispy onions. The sandwich roster features the Bistro – marinated flank steak, roasted red pepper, grilled onion & horseradish aioli on rustic herbed ciabatta bread, and the California Dreaming with roasted turkey, apple wood bacon, guacamole, lettuce & tomato on ciabatta.

Be sure to save a spot for Johnny's Homemade Bread Pudding with bourbon sauce!

Johnny's Bistro on Main
8167 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 461-8210
http://www.johnnysbistro.net/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/johnnys-bistro-on-main-street-ellicott-city

La Palapa: Experience Authentic Mexican Fare Flavor and Fun

If you want the fun and festive feel of Mexico without leaving Ellicott City, La Palapa is a great place to visit. This grill and cantina serves up fresh, flavorful Mexican fare in a fun atmosphere that’s perfect for everything from family dinners to nights out with friends.

What this spot lacks in ambiance it more than makes up for in fun, friendly energy, with a knowledgeable wait staff and a bustling bar area in the front. If you come with a group for happy hour, expect large, shareable appetizers and a number of different types of margaritas. The chicken quesadilla and stuffed jalapenos are especially popular. For lunch and dinner, Mexican fare classics like enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas, and tacos come with sides like rice and beans. La Palapa also offers sandwiches for guests with simpler tastes, and the children’s menu includes smaller portions that are perfect for the little ones.

La Palapa is able to accommodate large parties with advance notice. The restaurant is open from lunchtime until 11 p.m. Sundays through Tuesdays. La Palapa stays open until 2 a.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays.

La Palapa
8307 Main Street
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(410) 465-0070
www.lapalapagrill.com
www.yelp.com/biz/la-palapa-grill-and-cantina-ellicott-city

Gunpowder Golf Course: Play Golf in Laurel, Maryland

The Gunpowder Golf Course is an 18 hole, par 70 course that’s great for people who love the challenge of a true Scottish-style green that meanders through hills, valleys and woods. Not only that, but it’s a bargain at only $22 on weekends and $17 during the week for walkers.

The course has been open for more than fifty years and it remains challenging to this day. The fairways are narrow, adding a degree of difficulty for even the most talented golfers. Of course, novices still enjoy the course too, and Gunpowder Golf Course has a couple of on-site pros to give private lessons and group lessons to golfers of all skill levels.

Visit Gunpowder Golf Course's website to learn more about this local course!

Gunpowder Golf Course
14300 Old Gunpowder Road
Laurel, MD 20707
(301) 725-4532
www.gunpowdergolfcourse.com
www.yelp.com/biz/gunpowder-golf-course-laurel?ytprail=1

Tutti Frutti: Frozen Yogurt with Mochi Toppings

Self-serve frozen yogurt shops are the latest dessert trend to sweep the country, and Ellicott City’s Tutti Frutti is one of the most popular in the area. This modern shop is decorated with futuristic white furniture and a row of frozen yogurt dispensers offering a wide variety of flavors.

Tutti Frutti’s flavors include both tart and creamy classics like almond, cheesecake, and taro, and they also include soy yogurts and sorbets for those with milk allergies. Guests can serve themselves from the yogurt station and the expansive selection of toppings, and then the friendly staff weighs each bowl and calculates the cost by the ounce. Though the shop’s formula is similar to most other frozen yogurt places, regulars appreciate Tutti Frutti because of its high quality yogurt and its late-night hours.

Tutti Frutti is open 11 a.m. to midnight every day of the week.

Tutti Frutti
9191 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042
(410) 480-1830
www.tfyogurt.com
www.yelp.com/biz/tutti-frutti-ellicott-city

Green Valley Marketplace: A Neighborhood Store in Elkridge

The Green Valley Marketplace proves that a local market can succeed by giving its customers the best products available. Located in the Elkridge Corners Shopping Center, Green Valley Marketplace is a neighborhood market offering the freshest in produce, meats, baked goods and other products. Check out the weekly flyer and you’ll always find terrific deals on fresh meats and marinated cuts that are ready to be cooked and enjoyed. The Marketplace also gets high marks for its seafood department, where you’ll also find the freshest selections. They will even steam shrimp and real Maryland crabs for you! And the Green Valley Marketplace is also a full service supermarket, where you’ll find all of your weekly produce and groceries.

Green Valley Marketplace
7280 Montgomery Road
Elkridge, MD 21075
(410) 579-4646
http://www.yelp.com/biz/green-valley-market-elkridge

Nora’s Kabob: Mezze and Other Mediterranean Cuisine

Nora’s Kabob specializes in those succulent skewers of grilled meat and veggies, plus Mediterranean mezzes, or small plates. The menu features an assortment of kabobs, served with grilled tomato, onions, sumac, pickled cabbage and your choice of salad, saffron basmati rice, bread or extra veggies.

Choices at Nora's Kabob include Barg Kabob – filet mignon strips, Kabidi Kabob – a mixture of lamb & beef, Baby Lamb Chop Kabob with five baby lamb chops, Lamb Kabob, Chicken Kabob, and Veggie Kabob with zucchini, onions, tomato, & peppers, served with eggplant dip. Seafood lovers can choose from Salmon and Shrimp Kabobs. Mezzes include Dolmades – stuffed grape leaves, Mirza Ghazzemi – smoked eggplant, tomato, peppers, & fresh garlic dip, and Pomborn Mezze – grilled filet mignon marinated in pomegranate & crushed walnuts.

Beer and wine are served at this Ellicott City restaurant.

Nora's Kabob
9338 Baltimore National Pike
Ellicott City, MD 21042
(410) 418-5911
http://www.noraskabob.com/
http://www.yelp.com/biz/noras-kabob-ellicott-city

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