Monthly Newsletter

Can you believe it’s another year?  We hope your holidays were as fabulous as ours.  The season from Thanksgiving, leading up to Christmas and New Year’s, is the most concentrated time for parties and celebrations.  What fun to view the decorations, sample the food and, mostly, see precious family and friends.  Dallas seems to go "over the top" with outdoor home décor.  And, we have loved everyone one of the displays.  We realized that this is an amazing gift to share with the community, as we drove slowly through neighborhoods and loved the seeing the horse drawn carriages through Highland Park.  However, we missed seeing many long-time friends over the holidays.  There were several hints about missing friends along the way as we rushed around getting the last gifts for under the tree and enjoying holiday parties.  We thought seriously about Jacquliene Floyd’s editorial in the Dallas Morning News.  Perhaps you saw her column, "Are the Days of Christmas Cards Over?"  Her point that tech alternatives were missing the mark were well-taken and that Christmas cards were moving into the dinosaur category.  Her column in support of traditional Christmas cards ended with  "But, I think about you, and I honestly want you to have a merry holiday. You are in the cosmic contact list of my heart, and our connection endures."  It hit a nerve.  Our out of town list has shrunk.  Yet, it does not take too much time to send a card with "thinking of you" and our names.  As a follow-up, the author of the aforementioned article received hundreds of cards from those who still believed in the ritual of communication. 

A New Year's Resolution

A Christmas sermon reinforced the friends and family message.  Christmas is a time for family and friends.  How special to share the celebrations that create our memories and with whom we weave the tapestries of our lives.  But, during the holidays, we continued to think of those no longer part of our present circle of friends.  Somewhere along the way, with the frantic pace of our daily living, we lose track of many friends who have been important in our lives – the friends since early childhood,  friends from soccer and swimming days, fellow car-poolers, college chums, co-workers, neighbors and those who shared our passions working for charity organizations.  It seemed like a developing theme.  Our new year’s resolution seemed simple: find occasions for long-time friends who are now not part of our current close circle.  Facebook is just not the answer.

How about Lunch?

The opportunities are many for rekindling the faded friendships.  How about lunch for a few old friends?  New restaurants are  numerous.  An inviting invitation to share lunch at  Bistro 31 in Highland Park Village, The Marquee Grill in the same shopping center, or some of the other new spots such as Private/Social on McKinney Avenue (the latter two manned by Top Chef contestants).  Check out the listing in D Magazine for their list of the best new restaurants of 2011, which includes John Tesar’s Commissary and  Patrick Colombo’s Princi/Italia.  Rise in Inwood Village and Nosh on McKinney and its offspring in Plano also come to mind.  In each case, it is fun (time permitting) to take a cursory tour of the area shops, of course those who focus on table top finds, such as Madison, St. Michael's Women's Exchange, Ralph Lauren and Stephanie Anne in Highland Park Village.  Toulouse on Knox Street has neighboring shops such as Pottery Barn and the exquisite Urban Flower/Grange Hall for stylish flowers and tabletop browsing.

How about a Cooking Class?

There is nothing like a shared activity to bond friendships.  A visit to Central Market over the holiday week made it seem that the entire world would be existing on take-out for their major holiday meals.  It is a major trend, but, supposedly, so is home cooking.  There is nothing like taking a refresher cooking class to inspire new ideas and techniques.  Find a dear friend, whom you know loves cooking, to join you.  The options are great.  There are full schedules – from novice to expert -- available at Central Market and Sur La Table.  Williams Sonoma has stepped up its schedule of demonstration classes at North Park.  Duo, All Things Culinary has come on strong with its high quality and relatively inexpensive classes at convenient times.  Kent Rathbun, who teaches his own Abacus classes, and Marc Cassel, whom we remember from The Green Room and Dragonfly, are frequent teachers.  We mourn missing the class on making the delicate French macarons.  Perhaps the opportunity will reappear.  Milestone Culinary Arts Center is a magnet for eager learners and, incidentally, a great  place to host a cooking party for spring brides. Several of the top chefs also have classes at their restaurants, such as Stephen Pyles and Avner Samuel of Nosh.  Keep in mind the classes taught by Dallas’ top chefs for the Dallas Chapter of the American Institute of Wine and Food at the Dallas Farmers Market.  Last but not least, popular cheese maker Paula Lambert has a schedule of mostly evening classes at her Mozzarella Company in Deep Ellum pairing wines and cheeses as well as  Saturday classes in cheese making.  We did say the choices are many.  Surely, a foodie friend would love to join you.

Or a Visit to a Museum?

An easy impromptu get-together is a visit to one of our outstanding museums in the Arts District.  Before the Jean-Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Dallas Museum of Art closes on February 12, ask a friend or two to tour the show with you.  Stay for lunch at the Café at the DMA in the Hamon Atrium with its colorful widow display of Dale Chihuly pieces.  The Renzo Piano-designed Nasher Sculpture Center next door is another destination for world-class art and a charming café overlooking the Garden’s notable sculpture pieces.  This is a great mid-day outing for the downtown professional short on leisure time, and a welcome diversion from the work-a-day world.  Speaking of more leisurely time, a visit to any of the Fort Worth museums would be another special shared experience.

Couples Not Forgotten

This is not only for ladies’ daytime events.  Having a small dinner party and including one of your seldom-seen friends is a great idea.  It may be the opportunity to focus on more expansive ideas common to all.  It can be as simple as a pasta supper, or awesomely elegant, depending on the audience and other factors, including time. A small cocktail party would do the trick as well with individuals and couples from different circles.  The mix should be interesting and flattering to all who are invited.  Our Sources on Food, which include Take-Out, as well as Sweets, Catering, Wine & Spirits, Flowers and the Special Touches of Staffing and Valet should provide all the answers to both your small and larger events.

We hope we can check up in a year to compare notes on the success of New Year’s resolutions.  Meanwhile, best wishes for another year of savoring the entertaining scene.

Did you miss our December newsletter, Thoughts on Holiday Giving?  While Christmas gift-giving is over, there are on-going occasions for gift-giving and most of the thoughts and ideas would be applicable.

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