There's a new e-letter in town.

Minneapolis Picks, Life + Style in the Twin Cities is published the first Friday of each month (next up: Jan. 4) with suggestions for designs, crafts, shops and salons that are local and small, as well as restaurant and entertainment finds. Managing editor Kara Gonos researches, writes and photographs the free newsletter-- see www.minneapolispicks.com. -- aimed at women 25 to 55. Her description? "It reads like it's from your sassy, albeit a bit crazypants, BFF."

Gonos said the format is based on similar ventures in Portland, Seattle and Phoenix, started by business partner/pal Kathi O'Neil.

KIM YEAGER


Let's make a deal Bjorling & Grant owner Ian Grant hopes viewers will tell the Travel Channel what they positively think about his foray into cable television, "The Deal Hunter With Ian Grant."

Travel Channel's Pilot Week pits this and seven other shows against each other to compete for a series slot, to be determined in part by viewer feedback. "Deal Hunter" is premised on Grant's travels to mostly exotic locales to seek out antiques, artifacts and other pieces for his home store in St. Louis Park. The Minneapolis office of Edelman Productions edited footage from Grant's recent trip to Fort Cochin, India. That four-minute video helped secure the green light for a pilot, said John Kitchener, Edelman's director of development. Grant chronicles his long road to the small screen with an equally lengthy post to the store's blog, www.bjorlingandgrant.com/blog.php. You can see the video there, too.

The show, which premieres at 7:30 p.m. Friday, reveals Grant dashing from the burgeoning design district beneath the Manhattan Bridge overpass to the house sale at Christie's. Viewers can share their thoughts at www.travelchannel.com/pilot-week.

About that competition? Best working title awards might have to go to "Hamburger Paradise" and "Feasty Boys Eat America," which made their dash for glory earlier this week.

KIM YEAGER


Bunny's bests In "Bunny Williams' Point of View: Three Decades of Decorating Elegant and Comfortable Houses" (Stewart Tabori & Chang, $60), the reigning New York society decorator shares a melange of design inspiration, memories of an idyllic childhood and resource lists for services, additional reading and even her favorite museums.

Instructive type balances yummy pictures. Even those who strive for a less tony aesthetic will find useful suggestions for creating harmonic surroundings. Design devotees will especially enjoy Williams' memories and observations about her early employers, Sister Parish and Albert Hadley.

KIM YEAGER