Madeline Mayhood

Madeline Mayhood is the editor-in-chief of Virginia Living magazine. She has written for many regional and national magazines, including Garden Design, Southern Living, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, and more.

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House + Garden

The Best Blue Décor to Add Personality to Your Home

Blue adds personality and pedigree anywhere. With timeless elegance and versatility—from fabric to furniture, lighting to decorative accents—our carefully curated collection showcases craftsmanship and smart design, helping create spaces that resonate with both character and history. Crete trim in Palazzo adds dimension To the Trade. SamuelAndSons.com “Polka Dot Pony” fabric in blue To the Trade. […]

Culture

Elder Fraud is an Epidemic

You’re happy, healthy, and about to settle into retirement. Falling for a fraud scheme? No way. You’re way too sharp. You can spot them a mile away. Think again. Take William Webster—as in the William Webster. He and his wife, Linda, came perilously close to falling victim to an elder fraud scheme that began with […]

Culture

Outfitting Your Home in the Digital Age

If aging in your home is a priority, check out AARP’s HomeFit program that reviews ways to make your home über-intelligent. Many new home builds have options for “smart home” features, including virtual assistants like Google Home, Amazon’s Alexa, or Apple’s Siri. These assistants handle many tasks with simple voice commands, such as turning TVs […]

Culture

Booming Questions: Smart Planning is a Baby Boomer’s Must

It’s never too late to plan for retirement might be a cliché, but the hard truth is that Baby Boomers—whether they like it or not—are on deck now and for the next decade. For many of us, retirement is inevitable, and while financial planning is paramount, other considerations need sorting out, too. Where do I […]

Culture

These Virginia Cities are Tops for Retirees

The golden years are about living your best life in ways you prioritize—be it weather, cost of living, or access to amenities like restaurants, golf courses, fitness facilities, and healthcare. With proximity to the mountains and coastline, Virginia is a nature lover’s mecca. And it’s one of the few states that counts Washington, D.C., as […]

Culture

AI Tools Are Here to Stay

Are you someone who thinks AI is just a fad? If the answer is yes, experts like Walid Saad, electrical and computer engineering professor and artificial intelligence expert at Virginia Tech, suggest you reconsider. Saad likens AI today to the Internet of the 1990s: “Its adoption will be inevitable, and we should be well-informed in […]

Food

Behind the Cheese Course at The Inn at Little Washington

I remember my first bite of brie cheese. I was about 8, on a trip abroad with my parents. The extent of my culinary world had been limited up till then—and cheese-wise, a good cheddar was my equivalent of exotic—but once I sunk my teeth into that creamy, luscious wedge, I was hooked. A bona […]

Health+Wellness

Top 5 Breast Cancer Myths Debunked

In our February 2025 issue, we challenged readers with a breast cancer myth-busting quiz, where all the answers were false. Here, we dive deeper into each myth to uncover the truth and empower awareness. Myth #1: All breast cancers are the same. Myth Buster: It’s actually quite complicated, involving many factors like different affected receptors, […]

Desserts

How to Craft a Colonial Apple Pie

Put a crust in the bottom of a dish, put on it a layer of ripe apples, pared and sliced thin—then a layer of powdered sugar; do this alternately till the dish is full; put in a few tea-spoonsful of rose water and some cloves—put on a crust and bake it. *This colonial recipe appear […]

Appetizers

A Colonial Salad Dressing That Will Revolutionize Your Cooking

Dress a Salad To have this delicate dish in perfection, the lettuce, pepper grass, chervil, cress, & should be gathered early in the morning, nicely picked, washed, and laid in cold water, which will be improved by adding ice; just before dinner is ready to be served, drain the water from your salad, cut it […]

Drink

Virginia’s Wide World of Wines

Virginia’s world of wines is rich and diverse, and the 67 restaurants throughout the state that received Wine Spectator’s recently announced 2024 Award of Excellence are proof that a ticket to Napa or Burgundy isn’t necessary to enjoy outstanding food and wine. The Commonwealth has plenty of world-class options. The Wine Spectator awards extend far […]

Food

Cooking Like the Colonists with Rebecca Suerdieck

If you’ve ever wondered what it means to live to work, you need to know Rebecca Suerdieck. Her business card is humble—historian and educator provide a few hints—but the wattage of her smile gives it all away. This is a woman who absolutely loves what she does. Suerdieck grew up in Colonial Williamsburg, where her […]

Health+Wellness

Rubber Duck Research at Virginia Tech

VT’s Fralin team hopes ocean current models may inform cancer treatments. Remember that story that made international news, where thousands and thousands of rubber ducks got dumped into the Pacific Ocean? In 1992, the container ship they were traveling on was caught in a storm, which toppled the ship’s cargo and sent nearly 30,000 of […]

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Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Alexandria – 23rd Annual Alexandria Art Festival Sept. 13–14: Stroll Old Town’s John Carlyle Square Park as it’s transformed into an outdoor art gallery for this fall festival. Admire the work from more than 200 juried artisans from around the globe. VisitAlexandria.com Virginia Beach – VIRGINIA BEACH NEPTUNE FESTIVAL Sept. 26–28: The 51st anniversary of […]

by Madeline Mayhood

Where to Eat, Drink, & Stay in Staunton During Queen City Mischief & Magic

Staunton might be a small town, but during the annual Queen City Mischief & Magic Festival, the last week of September, it’s larger than life. The festival draws tens of thousands of witches, wizards, warlocks, ghouls, and more to the Shenandoah Valley—and they fill up the local hotels, restaurants, and bars quickly. To plan ahead […]

by Hope Cartwright

A Couple’s Small-Town Makeover

After a successful career in investigative services in Washington, D.C., Terri Wesselman and her husband, Julien Patterson, decided to settle down in Irvington. Initially drawn to the area by the Tides Inn, the couple had been weekending in the Northern Neck since the late ’90s. “There was something about the area that was quiet but […]

by Stephanie Ganz

Madeline Mayhood

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The Best Blue Décor to Add Personality to Your Home

Current Issue

Most Popular

Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Where to Eat, Drink, & Stay in Staunton During Queen City Mischief & Magic

A Couple’s Small-Town Makeover

Madeline Mayhood

All Posts

The Best Blue Décor to Add Personality to Your Home

Current Issue

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Most Popular

Top 10 Fall Festivals in Virginia 2025

Where to Eat, Drink, & Stay in Staunton During Queen City Mischief & Magic

A Couple’s Small-Town Makeover

Get our most popularweekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today

Get our most popular
weekly newsletter: VL Today