Maggie Downs

2 weeks ago | mcsweeneys.net | Maggie Downs

3:45 a.m. – Wake naturally to the soft sigh of a ghost. Or maybe it’s the hum of the Amherst wind through the shutters. Either way, it’s a Sign. Do not question the Sign. 4:00 a.m. – Lie completely still and compose six hauntingly perfect quatrains in your mind. Refuse to scribble them down. Let them ferment in the silence like forbidden knowledge. 4:45 a.m. – Tape mouth shut. This is not for health. It’s a vow of silence to preserve the sanctity of unspoken verse.

3 weeks ago | palmspringslife.com | Maggie Downs

Golden hour spills across Marrakesh Country Club like molten honey,  coating  the façades of  the villas and casting long, languid shadows over the clubhouse terrace. The air feels thick with anticipation, as if the desert itself is holding its breath, waiting for the night to unfold. Inside the clubhouse, the bar hums — glasses clink, gossip tumbles, and debates unfold with the urgency of  a  Jeopardy!  lightning  round, or a last-call confession.

4 weeks ago | palmspringslife.com | Maggie Downs

Palm Desert Food & Wine’s Sunday Brunch unfolded like a love letter to Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo, as chef Felipe Meneses Pelayo invited guests on a sensory journey through Palm Desert’s sister city — places separated by geography but united in spirit. For Pelayo, the executive chef and visionary behind Angustina Mezcal y Cocina in Zihuatanejo, this was an opportunity to share a story through food.

1 month ago | yahoo.com | Maggie Downs

The first thing that hits you isn’t the sight of the steam rising in ghostly tendrils from the mountainside, nor the warning signs advising visitors of the area’s volcanic activity. It’s the scent. A thick, mineral-rich fog clings to the air, an unmistakable reminder that the earth here is very much alive. Welcome to Owakudani, one of the most otherworldly destinations in Japan.

1 month ago | nationalgeographic.com | Maggie Downs

The first thing that hits you isn’t the sight of the steam rising in ghostly tendrils from the mountainside, nor the warning signs advising visitors of the area’s volcanic activity. It’s the scent. A thick, mineral-rich fog clings to the air, an unmistakable reminder that the earth here is very much alive. Welcome to Owakudani, one of the most otherworldly destinations in Japan.