MBR Nanny Network
Finding someone to come into your home and take care of your kid is as personal as it gets, which is exactly why Marissa Rosen's nanny biz has taken off: She meets with each family in person, vets each nanny and sitter herself, and is always available by email, text or phone. mbrnannynetwork.com.
Hush Salon Philadelphia
Chances are you've passed this year-old salon nestled upstairs inside Old City's Sweat gym without even knowing it. No more. The former Bang is now home to Adrienne Rogers, longtime color instructor for Product Club, and her husband Carlos. The duo, recent migrs from NYC who have celeb heads like Rachael Ray on their joint rsum, are turning out some of the best, most natural-looking color jobs in the city with sleek cuts to match. And they're doing it in a bright space worth finding, without the pomp or painful prices of some higher-profile spots. 45 North 3rd Street, 2nd Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106, hushsalon.com.
Baked Sunless Tanning
Consider a perfectly bronze, all-natural spray tan your reward for all those sunny days down the Shore spent slathering on SPF 100. Feeling lazy? They'll come to you. In-store spray tans start at $35, at-home treatments at $55. 815 South 4th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, bakedtanning.com.
Linvilla Orchards
You get pizza, lemonade or cider, cake, coloring books, a hayride, animal feeding, and an entrance to Linvilla's all-wooden playground. Season allowing, ask for a pick-you-own add-on, so each kid gets to go home with some handpicked fruits and veggies. 137 West Knowlton Road, Media, PA 19063, linvilla.com.
Philadelphia Pet Hotel and Villas
You can rest easy leaving your precious Precious at this kennel/spa/playhouse when you're off to the Shore, but here's fair warning: She may never want to come back home. Do you throw her birthday parties? 7401 Holstein Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19153, phillypethotel.com.
Humpty's Dumplings
Get the Buffalo chicken, cheesesteak and roast pork, and some apple pie dumplings for dessert. You can order and eat your dumplings right there, sure, but the smart move is buying them frozen and taking them home. They cook up so well, no one will ever know they came out of your freezer. 277 North Keswick Avenue, Glenside, PA 19038, humptysdumplings.com.
Style by Blain
Aside from being one of the best-dressed and best-named business owners in the city, Voltaire Blain has an unusually welcoming store — a historic Chestnut Hill home where the shoes are displayed not on racks, but on a pool table — and an equally impressive collection: Styleshoes by Alden, Paraboot, and Gaziano and Girling, some of which he designed himself. 8433 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118, stylebyblain.com.
The Velvet Lily
If Condom Kingdom is Walmart, The Velvet Lily is Bergdorf's. (Note: All purchases come packaged in discreet black bags, so you can buy-for, you know, your "friend"-without letting your freak flag fly on the way home.) 1040 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19123, thevelvetlily.com.
Philly Typewriter
This no-frills shop is the place to buy, trade and repair Remingtons, Royals, Olympias and Smith Coronas – or to indulge in the sweet, simple thrill of click-clacking on some old-school keys. 1439 East Passyunk Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19147, phillytypewriter.com.
The Brownsville Antique Centre
Exploring this rambling old house might actually feel as if you’re on an archaeological dig – you have to sift through a lot of kitsch before you get to the good stuff. But the treasures you’ll eventually unearth, like a 1930s barrister’s cabinet, vintage Louis Vuitton luggage, and a Victorian marble-topped table, make the hunt more than worth it. 1918 Brownsville Road, Trevose, PA 19053, brownsvilleantiques.com/index.html.
Thunderbird Salvage
The tchotchkes here — German handbemalt candles, a Mork & Mindy doll, a taxidermied raccoon, a ceramic turtle ashtray — may be a random mishmash, but they’ll add gravitas to your bookshelves in a way nothing from Target ever could. 2441 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19125, instagram.com/thunderbirdsalvage.
DIY workshops at Karen Singer Tileworks
At this master tile artist’s workshops, you can craft your own address plate, in your choice of styles and colors, so you get exactly what your house longs for. 90 East Church Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19144, karensinger.com.
Golf Science Center
Homing in on your tee game is probably the last thing you thought you'd ever be doing near Chinatown, but the HD simulators in this inconspicuous building allow you to "play" some of the world's most prestigious courses, while the high-tech swing analysis, private lessons and beginner workshops keep the yips away no matter the season. 211 North 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, golfsciencecenter.com.
Triple Tree Flowers
The King family doesn't go in for fancy arrangements or bells and whistles. (No surprise there: They're Amish.) These growers, who come from Lancaster every Saturday to sell their flowers at the Rittenhouse and Clark Park farmers' markets, put together simple but stunning bouquets so vivid that the kiosk literally stops passersby in their tracks. And you can take one home for as little as $5. Rittenhouse and Clark Park farmers markets, .
Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center
Tired of spending your time and money schlepping to Home Depot? There’s an alternative. City residents are entitled to 30 gallons of free organic materials every year from Fairmount Park: screened leaf compost, mulch, wood chips, and whatever “other organic materials” means. If you happen to own a chain saw (though — why do you have a chain saw in the city?), you’re welcome to break some felled trees down into firewood, too. 3850 Ford Road, Philadelphia, PA 19131, phila.gov/services/trees-parks-the-environment/get-organic-materials.