MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

We will officially be off until January 2. Peace.

POOR COPPER LAMP

It still smelled of smoke just standing near the door!

A LEMONIA FOR CHRISTMAS

I just hung up with Ike Isenhour, who’s on his way to the airport to spend the holidays with Brenda Schoenfeld in Florence. She just bought a lemonia there, which is an ancient stone building where lemon trees are stored for the winter. He says it’s filled with lemon trees now, and can you imagine the smell! Ike will be renovating and decorating her lemonia-cum-villa there. It’s never been used as a house before, and Ike says converting it will be a challenge he’s excited about.

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Ike has also been hired to renovate the glorious, Spanish style house on Turtle Creek with the blue tile and cupola, which belongs to Brenda’s Ex husband, Robert Edsel, who no doubt will fill it full of his collection of Italian old masters. If that’s not enough, Ike tells me he’s recently moved into a new apartment, which just happens to be the very same apartment he helped design for Brenda years ago…..

SHOPPING FUN???

Here’s an idea for a fun, stress-free, shopping frenzy– even with your husband. Check into the Westin–special holiday rates, and free parking if you have a Lexus–we don’t, so I should have borrowed Christine’s. The Galleria has a sparkling new face-lift with skylights, very chic, comfortable seating everywhere, and the biggest tree outside Rockefeller Center in New York. Plus, we in Dallas are smart–our tree is inside, and those little ant people skating around aren’t freezing to death.

Lot’s of new stores, go to dallasgalleria.com for a complete list. My favorites are Zara, honestly affordable runway fashion from Spain, and Teavana, for tasting teas and listening to Zen-like world music.
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TRENCHES

Um Todd, I don’t about Christine, but I’m in my Missoni sweater trench today….

FIRE DESTROYS COPPER LAMP

Our precious Copper Lamp, Creative Stitches and Gifts, Preston Royal Barbers, the National Council of Jewish Women and a host of small businesses in the Preston Royal Shopping Center suffered severe fire damage last night when a car plunged through a store window, exploded and burned. The driver, an elderly man, had suffered a heart attack while driving in the parking lot of the shopping center, located on the north east corner of Preston and Royal Lanes. He lost control of his car, accidentally hit the accelerator and the car just rammed the front windows of the Copper Lamp — going all the way through the building where the car exploded. This all happened about 8:30 p.m. last night. I have just returned from the scene — spoke to a few proprietors who tell me that Copper Lamp is just gone. (However, the Blackman Mooring rep who was just arriving on the scene said “we can do miracles”.) The elderly man — age 77 I was told — died in the explosion. We are friends with the proprietor of the Radio Shack adjacent to these stores, and they are in the process of clearing and cleaning severe smoke damage.
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MICHAEL TAYLOR’S MUSE

Rebecca, I too am looking forward to Salny’s book on Michael Taylor. I had the opportunity to work with Ivy Rosequist who worked with and considers herself the late Michael Taylor’s muse. She works with the current owner of Michael Taylor Designs in designing his new showrooms. She must be a good guy because she wears all white. From her spiky white hair to white keds she sports round white glasses and a white jumpsuit. Her eyeshadow and lipstick are also white. As she ponders the furniture placement, her eyes close and she channels Michael Taylor from the dead. He directs her white Lee press-on nails as her hands hover over the plans. Ya gotta love this business!!

RE: COPPER LAMP

No, I can’t confirm or deny, but I can report that our intrepid Candy Evans is investigating as we speak…er, type…oh, whatever. Anyhow, she’s got her nose to the ground; details to come…

COPPER LAMP

I live very close to Preston Royal and heard no sirens, but I will check it out. We have these great insulated windows that keep out cold and most sirens…but I LOVE the Copper lamp and actually had a silver tray over there on layaway…back with you in a jiffy!

FIRE!

Does anyone know anything about a fire at The Copper Lamp last night? I’ve checked several news outlets and haven’t seen anything. But a concerned D Home reader emailed me this morning asking about it. Christine, can you don your Brenda Star trenchcoat? If the story is true, Dallas will have lost a true shopping treasure.

RE: SUCK UP

Now, I have Hoover envy. That vacuum cleaner is too cool for words. I might even love it more than — gulp — my cherished Dyson. (Which you can read all about here. Hello, shameless self promotion.)

SUCK UP

The new Hoover Z Bagless SUV(sport utility vacuum) is a far cry from their first vacuum, which was produced in 1907 out of a tin can, a fan, a pillow case and a broom, by a janitor in Ohio. The new SUV is called so because it travels any terrain — hardwoods, rugs, stairs — effortlessly and with gusto, like a Ford truck. But it’s cooler and more urbane, so it’s a Porsche Cayenne maybe. It goes for about $499 and is so new you might not see it yet till January in stores. I have fond memories of Hoover vacuums. My grandmother in Arkansas didn’t vacuum the floor but “Hoovered” it. The only vacuum we had when I was growing up was a squatty canister Hoover that was as ugly as it was serviceable. I thought Hoovering was a dark family secret until a few years ago when my mother was diagnosed with heart problems. Her doctor told her to take it easy, and absolutely “No Hoovering.”

THE GIFT OF GREEN

Don’t know what to get your gardening enthusiast this holiday season? Well, if the little digger is anything like me, he’ll have all the tools he needs (or he won’t want someone who doesn’t know an aphid from a white fly picking them out for him), so you’ll have to look elsewhere. How about a membership to the Texas Discovery Gardens? He’ll get ideas a plenty at the free (or reduced-price) events, and he’ll save a little green with the plant sale discounts and reduced workshop fees he’s entitled to. And yes, white flies are the white ones that leave a honeydew-like residue on the plant as they feed. Aphids are usually green or yellow, but some species are brown, black, or even red. They appear in clusters on new plant growth and feed on the plant’s fluids (just as the white flies do). Now go on, impress him at the dinner table tonight with your newfound knowledge.

MADE ‘YA LOOK

Whatever you do, do not look at the time I posted this blog. Pathetic. You looked. Anyway it’s early, and I am trolling the internet for gift ideas, which is also pathetic, and I just came across some glassware emblazoned with the image above at Fishs Eddy. Basically I am wondering who would buy this and Why. In a cosmic sense. Whatever. They also have a new line of every day plates that they’re producing with Pantone, you know, the people who own all of the colors in the universe. Good stuff. Not pathetic. Check it out.

THE G SPOT

Had to take a break from wrapping to tell you this: the most outrageous, ridiculous gift I saw this evening at Neimans was a Gucci ice tray — oh excuse me, 2 trays — for $70. So you can make little ice cubes in a “G”. Bet we’ll see those puppies on the sale table come Dec. 26.

GET LIT FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Jeff and Bridgette Trykoski — owners of the abundantly lit holiday house I posted about yesterday — thank D Home for it’s post and emailed to say that they are accepting canned goods for Frisco Family Services and the Frisco Food Bank at their home. You can find a map to their Christmas extravaganza here.

MENDING FENCES

If you’re a regular D Homey, you’ll come to realize I like to use the bad pun and double entendre for my headers. But it’s my post, not yours, so you’ll have to learn to cope. So how does “MENDING FENCES” fit in? In a recent windstorm, my fence blew down (see, now I must mend it–clever, no?). So now I’m in need of not only a fence, but also someone who can put it up and conceal my garden (my roses are very private little guys). What to do? Glad you asked. I’m reaching for my 2006 Dallas Gold Pages to find the best post-hole diggers (fence builders…geez, keep up) in the area. It’s an excellent resource, and, at $5.95, a real bargain. Ok. Shameless plug over. You can now return to regularly scheduled lifestyle.

HOT PROPERTIES: 5050 Ravine Drive

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This house, in a supreme location, is to-die-for if you are an empty nester or wish to become one, like my friends who sold their Preston Hollow home and bought a high rise because the kids kept coming home after college. And jobs. (And marriage-s. Don’t ask.) It’s a one-bedroom house, 4015 square feet, with a bar almost bigger than the kitchen – my kind of house. Private patio, lap pool, luscious .98 acres of foliage and those towering trees that signature the very heart of Old Preston Hollow.
Built in 1930 but extensively remodeled with quality materials, including a plant room and adjacent greenhouse. Best part? Home is totally hidden away, tucked behind some of the city’s wealthiest. I’m ready to tender an offer: $1,995,000 Fernando Alva, Keller Williams Realty 469.449.9879.

HO HO HO HUM

I am stuck in this frenzy called Christmas. Or Holidays. Whatever. I am uber behind, but here goes: best pet store in town, Atelier A Workshop. 6819 Snider Plaza right next to Pierce Hardware. The cutest and costliest dog beds I have seen in Country French, Rover Red, Toile (any color), hunting ducks, red-on-yellow roosters. My fave: Louis Chew-On, a square bed done up in that familar LV logo pattern, faux fur.

Back to wrapping…..

MICHAEL TAYLOR

Stephen Salny, who wrote a book about the great architect David Adler, was in town recently hanging out with local designers Joe Minton and Kevin Peavy, and stumping for his just-out book on the imcomparable Frances Elkins. I’d heard he was already hard at work on a book about Michael Taylor, so I emailed him about it. Here’s an excerpt from his email to me:

“Yes, I am currently researching for my book on Michael Taylor. Michael is a natural segue for me because his spiritual Godmother was Frances Elkins. In fact, I end the Elkins book with Michael Taylor. He was influenced by her eclecticism, and technique of complementary paired colors, as well as the influence of Frank and Giacometti. Michael arrived on the scene coincidentally a few years before Frances Elkins died in 1953. He inherited some of her clients, including Nan Kempner’s parents, Al and Irma Schlesinger. Elkins completed their San Francisco house a year before she died. I guestimate two and a half to three years before it will be out.”

EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

A recent visit to the Meadows Museum has DH contributing editor Peggy Parker reeling:
Went museum hopping yesterday and fell in love with the “Fortuny to Picasso” exhibit. The Fortuny in question is not the fabric and fashion designer whose lustrous pleated gowns were knocked off by Mary McFadden, but his father.
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STAMP ACT

So today I get a portfolio from Bernbaum Magadini Architects, and it is dazzling. You can see their work on their website and I encourage you to do so. What you won’t see is the black envelope their portfolio came in and the stamps they used to post it. Great stocking stuffer for the architect or design lover in your life.

STAR-CHITECT

Scott + Cooner hosted the Dallas Architectural Forum last week at the DMA with guest speaker James Cutler, famous now for designing a tiny little $50m compound in Washington state for Bill and Melinda Gates. But, for architectural advocates, he is known for being a true environmentalist, his web site www.cutler-anderson.com is a picture book of architectural gems in lush landscapes.
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LET THERE BE LIGHT!

And I thought my frontyard was bad. (Yes, Christine — I’m posting a photo tomorrow.) This house in Frisco puts the “Oh Mary!” in Merry Christmas. They use 50,000 lights! Enjoy. Try not to seizure. WARNING: The file is 16MB. It will take a while to download, depending on your Internet connection. You will need Windows Media Player to watch the film. Get media player here.

HUNTER FOOD

We at D Home get to enjoy a little time off between Christmas and New Year–thanks Christine–but what to do with all that free time? Well, I’m no hunter, but I like Central Market’s angle on its upcoming cooking class. If you’re going to kill it, cook it, and cook it well. This Dec. 27 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Dallas Central Market Cooking School, you can learn how to cook all sorts of game–venison, quail, duck, etc. The class costs $60; make reservations or get more information by calling 214-361-5754. Now go shoot something…quick!