Articles for November 16th, 2005
HARRY POTTER SNEAK PEAK
Want a sneak preview of the latest Harry Potter film, HP and the Goblet of Fire? Cozy up to Keller Williams Realtors Donna Parker, Monroe and Holly Carr send them a client FAST and you will be invited to this weekends private screening room at the Studio Movie Grill Beltline owned by that darling Brian Schultz, on Friday November 18. Indulge your HP fantasies, and darling, we do not mean Highland Park: prizes for best theme and character costumes. A great way to build referrals and I cannot wait to see what they are serving as food frog leg stew?
HAWK EYES
Roger, we have a pair of Red-tailed Hawks living around the Preston/Royal area. I discovered this when our Yellow-naped Amazon Parrot, Josie (she was a down-payment on a hysterectomy) made blood curdling cries one Sunday. I fled to her exterior cage to see if a squirrel was eating her. Alas, the hawk had swooped her cage and was watching from the tree. They are beautiful birds and so romantic to think of the two of them courting along Preston Road. As for Josie, for Christmas shes getting a camouflage coat so the hawks wont see her bright green feathers. Its like living in the country in the middle of the city!
NOW BUY IT
Ditto on the beds: The Westin La Cantera in San Antonio sports the same fabulous beds and I almost bought one last spring when we stayed there. It’s about time hotels got the message that when we pay good money for a hotel room, we want cleanliness and a decent bed. (I still travel with Clorox wipes no matter how many stars.) Besides, this way you get to TRY the bed and pillows before you buy. Bed obsession has hit Real Estate as well: Realtors tell me the second place they spruce when putting a home on tour is the master. (First is the kitchen.) Fresh new bedding, fluffy pillows and voila — the bed looks so inviting, as if you want to buy the house and jump right in.
BIRDS!
For those who hope to sneak a peek at some of the great birds that visit our area in the fall and winter, but don’t want to attract them to the yard, try Cedar Hill State Park. You’ll find annual visitors such as the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Gold Finch, American Kestrel, and Cedar Waxwing (a beautiful, chipper, Cardinal-like bird). And don’t forget to be on the lookout for year-round residents, which include the Red-tailed Hawk, Great Horned Owl, and the Greater Roadrunner (yes, they are quite fast). Get there at sunup or sundown and you’re sure to enjoy the mostly empty park with your fellow (and quiet) birders. Good luck!
YOU MADE YOUR BED. . .
Noted international hotel designer Deborah Lloyd Forrest tells me that one of the biggest trends in hotel design is bedding. Because of the attention to detail, comfort, and presentation of their hotel bed, guests are placing orders for their exact mattress and bedding from the Ritz-Carlton or Four Seasons upon waking up in their four star room. These mattresses are built to last longer and made specifically for the hotel company using the latest technologies. Also, the finest linen companies like Frette and Porthault manufacture for the different hotel groups. The high thread count sheets are regarded by many as a hospitality industry phenomena and are referred to in many big box retailers as “hotel sheeting’. When in fact, luxury hotels have just taken the softness and comfort of fine sheets from wealthy residences and made consumers aware of them. Thread counts just getting higher, but if the cotton is not fine pima or Egyptian, its not going to make a difference.
I JUST LOST MY APPETITE
At last month’s Tabletop Show, more licensing. Kenneth Cole introduced a full tabletop line and David Rockwell presented a bar ware line. Thomas Kinkade introduced a dinnerware line. Somebody. Please. Stop. Him.
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