It’s been the summer of basketball. From Lebron James’ move to Miami to news on the Nets’ future home in Brooklyn. Now Nike has partnered with players from all over the world to bring them to the first World Basketball Festival (August 12-15) held in New York City. They’re also bringing in some entertainment. Jay-Z will perform and has also designed five pairs of Nike sneakers (which each represent a team/country playing in the World Basketball Championships). He naturally gets to keep of each style, but he's donating the only other ones in existence to his charity, the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation, which offers financial assistance to kids who want to go to college but can’t afford it. Those five pairs will be auctioned off, starting today on eBay, with all the proceeds going to the SCSF. read more

Sari Sloane has a knack for seeking out the next big thing in fashion, long before it ever goes mainstream—a skill that certainly comes in handy when you’re fashion director of the mega-designer boutique chain, Intermix. The native New Yorker joined the Intermix team back in 2002 (after a brief stint in the buying department at Bergdorf Goodman) and spearheaded the Manhattan stalwart’s coast-to-coast expansion. We recently caught up with the busy new mom to chat about maternity dressing, clothes to help stave off the summer heat and how eBay has become one of her favorite spots for antique shopping. read more

Forget "The Real Housewives." Laura Bennett is a Spanx-wearing, martini-drinking Real Mom of New York City. Bennett, who came to national attention as the ever-stylish pregnant redhead on the third season of Project Runway, is a fashion designer, trained architect, mother of six and now, published author. read more

Sibling—or better yet, spouse—shops Yoya and Yoyamart are two of Manhattan’s most eclectic, forward-seeking children’s boutiques. Located in the ever-trendy Meatpacking District, the stores are a result of two couples' frustration with the lack of local children's stores that appealed to both parent and child. read more

Sarah Gray Miller, Editor-in-Chief of Country Living magazine, is a self-professed “eBay fanatic.” She has stocked both her West Harlem apartment and her gingerbread Victorian in Athens, NY, with a unique, but certainly appealing, brew of clean lines and kitsch and is not afraid to throw down a sizable bid on a twenty-foot motorboat. read more

Lela Rose is a vintage fan, a collector of small bird figurines, and a biking fanatic, not to mention one of the most talented fashion and bridal designers working today. read more

Artist Caitlin McGauley paints cheerful, colorful watercolors of interiors, fashion and food for corporate and private clients and her blog, My NYC Sketchbook. She illustrated her eBay shopping list for us. read more

Palm Beach, a place where preppy colors and patterns meld joyously with touches of Chinoiserie and ceramic frogs that are inarguably jolie-laid, is experiencing a style renaissance. We talked with five designers who are experts at the preppy-with-a-wink look. read more

A new generation of fast food is sweeping the country and revolutionizing the way Americans dine. Mobile eateries, once designated to city streets and county fairs and dominated by easy options like gyros, hot dogs and tacos, have broken the mold with sophisticated fleets and tech-savvy chefs serving fancy foods such as crème brulee, locally sourced lamb even duck dumplings. read more

After years spent on the fringes, green designers are becoming as ubiquitous at Fashion Week as editors wearing black and bloggers sitting in the front row. We asked three talented designers, all of whom showed during February's Fall 2010 Fashion Week, to tell us about the inspirations behind their collections and to share their eBay picks. read more