Halloween 2012 - Big D Style

Halloween isn't just for little kids. This past weekend, Big D held some spooktacular parties to treat us big kids. Here's a look at how some of Dallas' most colorful characters and notable names celebrated Halloween 2012:

Big Rich Texas vixens Connie Dieb, Melissa Poe and DeAynni Hatley at Sambuca
photo Plano Pete/Pete Wynne Photography

Robert Mondavi takes Dallas on a Private Selection Wine Crawl

A few weeks ago Robert Mondavi Wines passed through town to host a wine crawl which featured food and wine pairings at several Uptown locations. The event was an opportunity for a select few to taste and experience California’s Central Coast, the area where Robert Mondavi Private Selection sources their grapes.  I couldn't attend, but I am ALL about wine, so I sent my trusty assistant, Brittany Husted, in my place to scope out the scene and report back. Here's her recap:

Stacey Lynn and Brittany Husted

Reality Bites at The Quarter bar

The Quarter* bar and the Dallas Observer partnered last week for a "Reality Bites" Halloween celebration on Thursday, October 25. They were looking for Housewives, Master Chefs, Survivors, American Idols, and Dance Moms from the Jersey Shore to enter their reality star costume contest. The winners were selected by Bon Blossman and Whitney Whatley, stars of Big Rich Texas!!  How perfect is that!  Fingerless Ghost provided a rockin' live music performance and despite a bit of drizzle, everyone had a great time partaking in the Honey Boo Boo shot specials.  Here are some scenes from the evening - because why use a thousand words when I can just show you photos...

Whitney Whatley with the winner of the contest, Miss Honey Boo Boo, and Bon Blossman

Oh So Tasty: Burgers and Burgundy 2012

Debra Nelson, Greg Haynes Johnson and Anne Stodghill

Celebrity chefs and philanthropic foodies joined Chef John Tesar at the estate of Anne and Steve Stodghill on Friday, October 19th for the fourth annual Burgers & Burgundy event benefiting The Dallas Chapter of DIFFA (Design Industry Foundation Fighting AIDS).

“I was very excited to bring my fellow chefs together for what has become an annual event for DIFFA/Dallas,” comments Chef Tesar. “I have had the honor to work with DIFFA for four years to put on this event. The best part, though, is that it’s for a great cause.”

Each chef was tasked with the challenge to serve up the best burger sliders and compliment them with the burgundy of their choice. I was a bit leery of attending this event, since I am not a fan of red wine (or I should say, it is not a fan of ME!) but thankfully, there were plenty of other libation selections from which to choose if burgundy wines weren't your thing.

Jim Duran launches BLKLN for men

Jim Duran
photo: John Conroy

If you frequent the Dallas fashion/social scene, you know Jim Duran. Even if you don't know him personally, you've noticed him for his amazing ability to stand out in a room with his creative sense of style.

Duran is the ultimate fashion multi-tasker. His experience in the industry spans public relations, styling, writing and design. He has worked with notable members of the fashion industry, including Jean Paul Gaultier, Fern Mallis, L’Wren Scott, Joe Zee, and famed Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field.

Duran is moving out of the shadows and into the spotlight with the debut of his own fashion-forward line of contemporary menswear aptly named BLKLN (Black Line).  His debut collection is comprised of fifteen pieces inspired by music, art and the male form.

Modern Luxury celebrate is 8th Anniversary

Alberto Lombardi and Blake Stephenson
photo: Danny Campbell Photography

Modern Luxury magazine celebrated its eight anniversary on October 16 with a stylish soiree at the new Cafe des Artistes in One Arts Plaza. There were savory bites, smooth cocktails crafted by Maestro Dobel and a sensory lounge featuring scents by Givenchy and Acqua di Parma. Among the notables in attendance were Modern Luxury Publisher Blake Stephenson and her husband, Tom, Neiman Marcus' Check Steelman, Rhonda Sargent Chambers, Green Peridot salon owner Daniel Lewis, Northpark Center marketing mavens Angie Milton and Kristen Gibbins and Christopher and Rachel Trowbridge. Here are some scenes from the night:

Larry Hagman proves that good can come from evil

Lisa Blue Baron with Larry Hagman

The Larry Hagman Foundation, founded by the actor Larry Hagman, supports and promotes creative arts education for economically disadvantaged children in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area.  A Texas native, Larry Hagman is back in Dallas for his second-act as J.R. Ewing, the character that everyone loves to hate. Hagman is filming the second season of TNT’s hit “Dallas” TV show and he wanted to do something extra to give back to the city that has contributed so much to his success over the years. He founded The Larry Hagman Foundation to promote the educational benefits of theater, visual arts, dance and music and to fund organizations providing these instructional programs for low-income children.

Adam Richman cleans up in Dallas and talks about Texas women

Adam Richman with Butch Benavides
Image distributed for Bounty

Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food Nation” and “Best Sandwich in America,” made an appearance at the State Fair of Texas® grounds this past Saturday in search of the “Tastiest Messes in Texas.”

Partnered with Bounty Paper Towels, Adam is making the rounds to food festivals and State Fairs around the country to talk about the "quicker picker upper" power to clean up messes.

State Fair employees were polled about which fried foods they thought were the messiest. Adam surveyed the top food vendors and took a behind-the-scenes look into the making of the tastiest messes. He then rounded up the Top Five and encouraged fair goers to help him crown the “Tastiest Mess in Texas.”

The ladies of Big Rich Texas head to Los Angeles to tape a reunion show for Season 3

Cindy Davis, Connie Dieb, DeAynni Hatley, Shay Hatley, Melissa Poe, Maddie Poe and Alex Davis
at LAX Airport (photo: Melissa Poe/DeAynni Hatley via Facebook)

The gals of BRT (minus Wendy Walker) flew to La-La land this weekend to film the reunion show and talk about the drama that was Season 3 of Big Rich Texas and I can't wait to see what comes out since they are NEVER all in one room together. We are only 2 episodes into the season and already the blogs and social channels are buzzing over the "slap heard 'round the world" from last week, courtesy of DeAynni Hatley. (Personally, I think Style loved the attention the slap got last season and "encouraged" DeAynni to keep the drama going... but I could be wrong. Just a guess)

Dallas mourns the loss of Big Tex

[Photos: lostintexas / Twitter, ihatecomedy / Twitter]

Let today be forever known as Black Friday, for today is that day that Dallas lost one of our most iconic citizens, State Fair host Big Tex.  Big Tex was a man of mythic proportions, standing 52-ft. high, with a 31-ft. chest, 10-ft. neck, and shoulders measuring 12-and-a-half feet.

According to State Fair of Texas representative, Sue Gooding, "Around 10 a.m., smoke was noticed billowing from Big Tex’s neck and he was ultimately consumed by an ensuing blaze. The figure’s hands and cage-like skeleton, which consists of 4,200 feet of steel rods weighing three tons, remain from the fire. At this point, investigators believe the fire was caused from an electrical short that started in his right boot."

Gene & Julie Gates help make Rankin Hobbs Halloween Carnival a sweet success

LuAnn Hobbs, Julie Gates, Rankin Hobbs and Gene Gates

Earlier this week I told you about 14-year old EDS student Rankin Hobbs who had the idea to create a Halloween Carnival and donate the proceeds to Texas Scottish Rite Hospital.

My pals Gene and Julie Gates over at 103.7 Lite FM read my post and were also touched by Rankin's desire to help those less fortunate. They had us all in Thursday morning to their CBS studios and interviewed him on their morning show.

I asked his Mom if he had been a patient at Scottish Rite at one point or had a family member there - what drew him to that particular charity? I was shocked when she responded with, "He went on a field trip in 4th grade (he's now in 8th grade) and it just made a tremendous impression on him."  Whoever led that tour should get a gold watch... Just sayin'.

Adam Richman Takes on the State Fair of Texas this Saturday

Photo credit: Travel Channel

The State Fair of Texas closes on October 21 and in case you needed incentive to get over there, I am so excited to share with you that Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food Nation” and “Best Sandwich in America,” will be on the State Fair of Texas® grounds this Saturday in search of the “Tastiest Messes in Texas.”

Adam will survey the top food vendors and take a behind- the-scenes look into the making of the tastiest messes. He’ll round up the Top Five and encourage fair goers to help him crown the “Tastiest Mess in Texas.”

Emmitt Smith gets some love this week - Big D style

Mellon, Lincoln, Smith and Cloutier

I hope that you have all been supporting Dallas' own Emmitt Smith with your votes on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars: All-Stars" this season.

Emmitt had a large cheering section in the studio this week when Dawn Mellon, Jennifer Cloutier and Dee Lincoln traveled out to Los Angeles to make some noise for Team Emmitt! 

Mellon is a local fashion stylist who told me she "began styling Emmitt's wife, Pat Smith, six years ago when Emmitt was on DWTS the first time.  Cloutier is my business partner, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and currently runs the UNT dance program. And Dee has known Emmitt and Pat forever."

One Arts Plaza's Fall Block Party Goes to the Dogs

One Arts Plaza hosted its third annual Fall Block Party on Sunday, October 14 from noon-4 pm as part of the Dallas Arts District’s Art in October Celebration. The Plaza was closed off for pedestrian-only traffic and guests enjoyed food demonstrations from foodie favorites Tei-An, Fedora and Jorge’s along with newcomers The Greek and Café Des Artistes.

Oh So Tasty: Jack's Southern Comfort Food

Scott Jones with portraits of his parents

The press release I got started like a fairytale, "It all started with a biscuit. But by the time that Scott Jones got done making the world’s absolute best, can’t-beat-this-if-you-tried, shut-the-front-door kind of biscuit recipe, it was also the basis for the sandwiches. And the chicken pot pie and the breakfast casseroles. Even the desserts.

One biscuit took Scott Jones back to his roots, and the result is Jack’s Southern Comfort Food, a new restaurant and market that pays homage to this culinarian’s humble roots and his momma’s home cooking."  

They had me at biscuit...

Local 14-yr old creates Halloween Carnival to benefit Texas Scottish Rite Hospital

Normally, my schtick is to recap events after they occur. But, I received an email last night about an upcoming Halloween Carnival and I couldn't help but want to do my part to make Rankin's Halloween Hoe Down event a success.  What Mother wouldn't be proud of a 14-year old who wants to give back to his community.  If you have children between the ages of 3 and 9, check out this family-friendly event. After all, you need to get some use of that costume!

Neither rain nor cold could dampen the success of Mission Ole

Brian and Shay Geyer

The sixth annual Mission Olé, an evening benefiting Trinity River Mission, took place on Saturday, October 6th, 2012. This annual fundraiser was an intimate evening at a beautiful private residence in Highland Park, featuring a casual ambiance, Latin-style music, delicious food, amazing auction items, and casino.

It was also held on the heels on this year's rain-drenched Cattle Barron's event and guests were water-logged from all the rain! Mission Ole‘s Co-chairs Kristi Bare and Nancy Gopez sprung into action and had tenting set up (with sides for wind protection!) on the beautiful estate of Laurie Sands Harrison. The show would go on...

Sandra and Henry Estess served as this year’s Honorary Chairs and sassy Steve Kemble was the evening's emcee. "nuf said about the fun factor.  The temperatures had dipped and the ladies were giddy about the prospect of puling out the leather jackets and fur coats.

Spotted at this event were mama's-to-be Maggie Kipp and Cary Deuber, Betsy and Richard Eisemann, Cathy and Tommy Vieth, Angela Choquette, Katy Bock, Jill Tananbaum, Cindy Stager and D'Andra Simmons (who looked amazing in leather shorts and a mink jacket!)

The Trinity River Mission's slogan is TRM: Tutor, Read, Mentor.  Funds from this event will go to help build the foundation necessary to support and encourage high school graduation and post-secondary studies.  For more information about this wonderful charity and how you can get involved, visit http://www.trinityrivermission.org.

Join Oh So Cynthia at One Arts Plaza's Fall Block Party this Sunday

 

 

The Big Read wants Dallas to pick up a book

I was a kid who lived in my head a lot.  I escaped the boredom of life in a small town by burrowing into books.  The hours and hours I spent in these stories had me yearning for the adventures, excitement and drama I read about it books. Today, I still escape the chaos and stress of my life by slipping into a good love story or travel adventure.  I also think my insatiable appetite for books has given me superior vocabulary skills and infinite literary references that I can whip out to win any game of Trivial Pursuit or just make myself sound smarter than I really am.  That's why I am happy to share with you the endeavors of The Big Read.

Laura Bush will serve as the Honorary Chair for The Big Read in Dallas
photo: Essilor Vision Foundation

Maggiano's seeks to Feed America in October

For the past three years, Maggiano's guests who order a Classic Pasta in-restaurant have received a second Classic Pasta on the house to take home, compliments of the chef. Expanding the breadth of this generosity platform to “Buy One, Take One, Give One”, participating Maggiano's restaurants nationwide will make a meal donation for every Classic Pasta ordered in October to Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief charity.

Big Rich Texas: Episode One

BRT stars Melissa Poe, Bonnie Blossman and Connie Dieb at Prime Bar

Last night was the premiere of Season 3 of Big Rich Texas. The cast (sans Leslie and Kalyn) held a private party at Prime Bar in Dallas to celebrate with family and friends.  Personally, I do not recap episodes on this blog like other sites do. If you are interested in the show, I'm guessing you've already watched the episode? I do, however, love to take to Facebook and Twitter to see how fans and the stars are reacting as the show airs. Here are some of the highlights from the social networks about last night's debut episode:

Get Out and About for the week of October 7, 2012

One of the things I love about Dallas, is that there is no shortage of things to do. Educational, cultural, culinary, charitable, fashion-oriented, spiritual... you want it, Dallas serves it up! Every week there are literally dozens of options to entertain and enlighten yourself or create moments that you'll carry with you for a lifetime. Here are my highlights for this week:

Fall is all about football and one of the nation’s biggest rivalry’s will be battling it out on the football field this next weekend in the Texas/OU Red River Rivalry!

The Addams Family brings their wacky family drama to Dallas

I invited to attend a performance of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, presented by Dallas Summer Musicals last Friday.  I am always looking for new experiences to share with my son, so we headed off to get spooky-ookey with America's wackiest family.   I thought it was kind of fitting that this show is in town for the month of October.  If you've seen the old TV show or even the movies, you know all you need to know about this kooky family. And, even if you've never heard of the Addams family (like my 12-year old) you will still enjoy this rowdy musical.

The Coolest Tweeters in Dallas

Sisu brings the sexy sizzle factor to Uptown

Located in a 5,000-square foot historic home that has been completely renovated with modern design and eclectic details, Sisu Uptown Resort encompasses a total of 16,000-square feet of beautiful seaside luxury, albeit landlocked and smack dab in the middle of Uptown, Dallas.  It is not only a restaurant with a distinguished menu of “local worldly” food but also offers fresh cocktails and local brews. The back patio area is accompanied by a new lavish saltwater pool surrounded by palm trees. Guests can enjoy a variety of "rooms" for their dining experience: kitchen, living room, family room, or private upstairs dining room with bar. A hand-carved door imported from Thailand greets guests. Whimsical eccentricities, such as the peacock wallpaper, cacti wall, and fuchsia color theme, provide a funky atmosphere with all the comforts of home.

I sent the uber hip, Brittany Husted over to check this place out for us and here's her report:

Get social with the cast of Big Rich Texas, Season 3

Set your DVR's!!  The third season of Big Rich Texas will air this Sunday, October 7 on the Style Network. Here's how you can Tweet, Follow, Fan, Like, interact or just follow along to learn more about the "stars" of this soft-scripted Dallas-based docu-drama:

Big Rich Texas

Website

Official Facebook Fan Page

Twitter

Ladies Who Luxe for KidneyTexas 2012

LeeAnne Locken, Cathy Vieth, Phyllis Comu, Kelly Stafford and D'Andra Simmons

Jan Strimple

On September 17, KidneyTexas held a "Ladies Who Luxe" luncheon and fashion show at the recently renovated Dallas Country Club.  Luncheon Chairmen, Emilynn Wilson and her committee played hostess to several hundred guests there to support KidneyTexas in their fundraising efforts raising funds for this year's beneficiaries, Camp Reynal and Children's Medical Center.

Turns out the only problem with choosing CBS 11 anchor Karen Borta as the emcee for this event, was that she couldn't stay for the entire show, having to scurry back to her news desk for the afternoon news! The always elegant Jan Strimple stepped out from behind the catwalk to take over the live-auction duties and she did a skillful job of sweet-talking money right out of the pocketbooks of these ladies!

Among those taking in the fashions and the auction items were Leigh Bailey, Nancy Gopez, Dee and D'Andra Simmons, Kelly Stafford, Carmaleta Whitely, Barbara Daske, Faye Briggs and Doris and Teffy Jacobs.  

The only moment that gave me pause, was when we sat down for lunch. The first course was the DCC's famous vichyssoise soup, which was delicious. But the main course had everyone perplexed. It was chilled marinated beef tenderloin tips, roast beets, and green beans over arugula with blue cheese crumbles and a balsamic vinaigrette.  Beets and green beans? In a salad???? While it looked pretty, every single person was picking at it, shuffling the beets to the side and asking for the bread basket. I went through McDonald's on my way home.

Overall, despite the snafu of the menu, it was a fantastic, well-executed event raising much needed funds for victims of kidney disease in our community. To learn more about KidneyTexas, visit http://www.kidneytexas.org/

Scenes from The 4th Annual Red Party

Front row is performer Alexis Jordan behind her, following from left to right, is Nick Boyer, Jeff McKnight, Jeff Alley, Beaux Welbourn, Michael Tijerina, Eryn Ball, Jared Pearce.

In 2009, a group of friends decided to put together an event that would attract hundreds of attendees from the local LGBT community while raising money for Legacy Counseling Center & Founders Cottage. In its first 3 years, the Red Party has drawn over 2,000 individuals to fabulous venues such as the ilume (the premier apartment complex in the Dallas LGBT community) as well as the amazing Frontiers of Flight Museum, raising over $18,000 to benefit Legacy.

This year the fourth annual Red Party held on September 14 at F.I.G. (Fashion Industry Gallery) was a red-carpet-chic-but-casual event benefiting Legacy Counseling Center and Founders Cottage. R&B-pop singer Alexis Jordan took the stage as the evening’s special guest artist, and visiting DJ Corey Craig brought his signature disco-funk mix from New York City. Guests enjoyed an open bar and complimentary vodka cocktails featuring Hudson Ferus Premium Vodka. VIP guests had access to a private reception and private bar, hors d’oeuvres, dessert bites and free valet parking.