DALLAS DEVELOPER ENCHANTED WITH BIG BROTHERS, BIG SISTERS

Castle Hills, north of Dallas, is a “castle-themed” home development that supports children and family with every morsel and moat. (Oh to be a child in one of its many parks.) It may be two months down the road, but Castle Hills Development is hosting an enchanted fund-raising event for Big Brothers Big Sisters of North Texas on Saturday, May 19, 2007, at Castle Hills in north Dallas. Honorary chairs for the event are Mr. and Mrs. Derek Harper. Time to get out your checkbooks… (more…)

MEYERLAND DEBUTS

George Cameron Nash unveiled his Meyerland Collection at a ’60s themed party Wednesday night. Meyerland furnishings are named after and inspired by the architectural styles and furniture designs that George grew up with in this upscale Houston suburb. So, in keeping with the way George does things, (all the way,) it’s back to the ’60s we went. Daisies everywhere, turquoise cubes, fondue, and everyone wearing Pucci. Myrl Talkington brought out her original Pucci scarf from her days as a stewardess for Braniff–yes, sterwardesses were styling in those days. Guess how long it took for George to be wearing that scarf.

LIGHTS? FANTASTIC, FINALLY

D Home Editorial just got lights in our offices. Yes, that’s right folks, we’ve been producing a magazine with candlelight–almost. We have two very cool floor lamps from George Kovaks and just picked up a hanging pendant. Since our ceilings are quite high, we needed four extensions to hang it at the right height over our conference table. So, Jim Rutledge at Lights Fantastic just ordered four fixtures, took the needed extensions from the boxes and will re-order extensions for those lamps as needed. And that, my friends, is customer service.

DALLAS BLOOMS, SAVOR DALLAS, AND CERULEAN GALLERY

Triple threat weekend of flowers, food, art, and more food. Start it off this afternoon with a Wine Stroll at Victory Park and The Arts District (4-7 p.m.) for Savor Dallas. Follow it up with the Cerulean Gallery’s one-year anniversary exhibition, “Out of the Blue 2,” tonight from 6–9 p.m. Tomorrow head back to Savor Dallas for culinary seminars and demonstrations; see the complete schedule here. Then take a break and head outside to see 400,000 spring-blooming bulbs, 3,000 azaleas, and thousands of blooms spread throughout the 66-acre gardens at the 23rd annual Dallas Blooms now through April 15. Then Saturday night, return to the Hilton Anatole for the International Grand Tasting, which is not too be missed.

WILLIAMS-SONOMA DOES EASTER

It isn’t Williams-Sonoma Day or anything. I just found these new (yet old and nostalgic) bunny plates, and I couldn’t resist. They have tea towels, aprons, and ramekins in equally pastel rainbow variations. $39/set of four.

NORTHPARK WILLIAMS-SONOMA COOKING CLASSES

Let Williams-Sonoma (aka “the place for cooks”) teach you how to make Easter brunch–roasted asparagus with morels and shallot butter, hash brown frittate, and berry trifle–on Wednesday, April 4, and souffles–spinach and bacon souffle and vanilla bean souffle–on Sunday, April 22, in a new series of cooking classes. I imagine they’ll be promoting their cookware, but the classes are good price ($30). Call the NorthPark location, 214-378-6216, for more information.

CASA COLONIAL

If you’re in need of a Caribbean vacation, but are unable to break away, relax in palm-frond and floral-print pillows decorated with coral and coconut accents from Casa Colonial. Rita Vazquez Banos and Sara Vazquez, the designers behind Havana 1515, a tropical home-decor line carried at Neiman Marcus, recently opened their first retail spot on Peak Street in East Dallas. The store seems to exude nostalgia, as frames show charming black-and-white photographs of the sisters’ Cuban grandparents. It’s also a great source for beautiful shells. What impressed me most, though, was the neighborhood. It seems the Peak and Bryan area might be on the up-and-up, with new retail spots and generally cleaner surroundings.

WINE-OH! FRIDAY

Some upcoming wine events to whet your whistle this week:

Best Cellars features Kay Agnew of Design District cafe Margaux and her acclaimed Cajun/Creole-influenced cuisine at its Saturday Chef Series on March 10, 2-4 p.m. Agnew’s fare will be paired with four wines including a Blanc de Blanc sparkler from Louis Perdrier, a nice Argentine Rose, and, one of my faves, a spicy McPherson Sangiovese. Best of all? It’s free, plus featured wines are 10 percent off.

Off the Vine/Into the Glass highlights the wines of Australia at its Monday Night Tastings on March 12 at 7 p.m. Enjoy sips from such celebrated vineyards as Janz, Yalumba, and Torbreck. $35 per person.

La Cave hosts a tasting featuring wines from Rhone producer Ferraton Pere et Fils Saturday, March 10, 11 a.m.- 1p.m. The tasting is complimentary but reservations are required.

D HOME’S PARTY LAST NIGHT AT BENTWOOD KITCHEN STUDIO

We had a fun party last night for advertisers inside the cozy–but very cool–Bentwood kitchens design studio on Lovers Lane. Since guests at parties always gather in the kitchen, it made sense we all felt right at home last night. Bentwood’s Kevin Bryant had this to say about the 17-year-old luxury kitchen builder: “There are only five manufacturers in the country producing kitchens at this top level, and four of them are in Lancaster, PA, where cabinet making has been an art for centuries. Our corporate headquarters happen to be in Lancaster, TX.” Nice irony. All cleverness aside, Bentwood’s beautiful cabinets are crafted by artisans just like in PA–and did you know that Dallas boasts thousands of craftspeople who are as trained and talented as any you can find in the country? They hand craft iron, design and build furniture, weave textiles, carve wood, hand paint and gild, among much more. Read D Home’s Custom Made! issue to find out who they are and what they do, on newsstands now.

MEBOX IN MEOFFICE

Great taste, Todd–I bought a mebox two weeks ago at DWR to hold my income taxes. I DETEST income tax time and every year at about 2 a.m., when I look like a raccoon from sleep deprivation hunching over a calculator all night, I seriously consider dumping tea in the Trinity. Problem is, my tea is $20 a box, and that’s one expensive party I couldn’t deduct. So this year I bought a mebox for all the receipts and bills to give me a little design lift while I slave away over the mileage deduction. And since it holds 100 percent of my tax info, I’m going to deduct it.