30 November 2011

Austin: JM Dry Goods

We need longer have to fly and drive all the way to Marfa for well-curated goods from Mexico.
 JM Dry Goods has opened shop in Austin.
 I first met the owner Michelle Teague while I was in Marfa on assignment for Texas Monthly, which yielded the September 2009 Street Smarts column
 Teague moved to Marfa after working as a costumer on the set of "There Will Be Blood." 
 And she opened the store and filled it with beautiful blouses, bags, hammocks, and palm frond necklaces that she picked up on her travels to Mexico.
I bought a Mexican house dress from there about a year ago and I wear it just about every night and still have it on while I fix my kids breakfast and pack their lunches (I'm wearing it now). I wonder if I look like my mother and grandmother to them as I putter about wearing it. 

28 November 2011

College Station: Joshua Bienko

Meet the work of Texas A&M professor Joshua Bienko.
 In his series, Ever So Much More So, Bienko recreated the iconic work of Warhol, Murakami, Koons, and Duchamp
on the red soles of Christian Louboutins
 It's interesting commentary, no?
 If you think that this kind of contemporary art - soup cans, balloon dogs, urinals - is bullshit, then you can literally walk all over it. 
But if you love it - that would be me - the art you'd have would be two-fold. Gorgeous shoes with a distinct image, plus having to practice the art of restraint cause one walk in these and they'd be in ruins.  

22 November 2011

Dallas: Taylor Tomasi Hill

By now you're sure to know that Dallas-born and -bred Taylor Tomasi Hill was snatched from her style and accessories directorship at Marie Claire by Moda Operandi to be their new artistic director. 
 While at MC she'd begun working on an eponymous capsule collection for Hong Kong's super luxe department store, Lane Crawford, and it's set to hit shelves in January.
 From what I've read so far she's doing a version of her ever present cat eye glasses, some lace skirts, and other TTH-inspired closet staples. Now if I can just figure out how to get my hands on some of this stuff stateside, I'll be good.
I mean, really. How fabulous is she?

16 November 2011

Dallas: Bistro 31

For about a month now I've been going to Bistro 31 a little too often for lunch. There is something about the location and atmosphere here that makes me want to linger for hours over a glass of wine. Which, btw, I really don't have the time or alcohol tolerance for. 
The last time I was there I had a three-hour lunch - I convinced myself that I was owed 3 hours to bs over crostinis and pasta because I met a deadline - and the people that walked in with the same thing on their minds made me feel totally validated. At the table next to me was super agent Jan Miller (she reps Phil McGraw, Maria Shriver, Rob Lowe, Nicole Richie, the list goes on. If you're a writer, you know her), at the table behind me was the Dallas Museum of Art's Art Ball co-chair Julie Hawes, mingling in the back was writer Eric O'Keefe, and off to the side was blogging phenoms Hanh Merriman and Nini Nguyen
 And now that Bistro is serving breakfast, my a.m. hours are about to be hijacked, too. 
But I do have a question: Is the influx of relentless traffic in Highland Park Village killing you like it's killing me? I used to pop in to HPV all the time for a coffee, to pick up flowers at Avant Garden, take my kids to Mi Cocina. Valet for coffee? No, thanks. The new restaurants are creating a bit of a cluster, no? 

14 November 2011

Dallas: Miles Fisher

I'm obsessed with Miles Fisher. Ob. Sessed.
The super talented actor/singer, who happens to be the son of the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, graduated from Harvard and was a member of the university's a cappella group, Krokodiloes.
He gained some notoriety with this hysterical Tom Cruise spoof, left over footage from the film Superhero Movie and this month you can catch him in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar.  
Love his music, too. Buy his songs here.

10 November 2011

Dallas: Jean Paul Gaultier

Just back from the media preview of the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the DMA and I'm telling you, rush, rush, rush over there this Sunday, November 13 for the opening. 
 Monsieur Gaultier has been in Dallas for the past fews days (he had dinner at Al Biernat's night before last and Al's team refused to let him pay. Gaultier then sent over a huge thank you basket to the restaurant yesterday) and there was an interesting discussion with him about his work.
 He told us about his grandmother's influence on him and how she told him about corset-wearing ladies drinking vinegar to induce contractions so every time they hiccuped they'd pull in their corset straps tighter to get the smallest waistline possible. 
 The first thing a little mind boggling about the exhibition is some of the mannequins. When you first walk in you can't tell if the faces on them are moving, if it's a real human being, or if your head is tripping.
 Then you soon realize that a video loop of a real human face is being projected onto each two dimensional mannequin face, creating an animated talking being.
 The Dallas Museum of Art is host to the exhibit's U.S. debut. Not LA, not NY, not Chicago. Dallas. This is big. 
 Olivier Meslay, the museum's interim director said it best: "The perception of Dallas is not what Dallas actually is. Dallas has many races, many cultures. The Jean Paul Gaultier exhibitions reflects what Dallas is." Well, maybe not that lady riding a man like a horse, but you get the idea. 
 For many this will be the first time they'll get to see what haute couture looks like, a chance to really examine the construction of a piece of clothing and why so many people consider it an art. 
 The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk opens this Sunday, November 13 and runs through February 12, 2012. 

Dallas: Rosson Crow

I've been watching artist Rosson Crow's career for a few years now and every time I see something written about her or see one of her new paintings my heart kind of skips a beat. 
 I like everything about her work - the big, messy brashness of it all, the crazy scale, the Keith Haring quality. I'm so drawn to it. 
 29 year-old Crow, who was born and raised in Dallas, did undergrad at NYU and got her MFA from Yale, has become a bit of an art world superstar and you can see her in the December issue of Elle.
 Click here to read a great artnet interview with her where she talks about her work and growing up in Texas. 
 "I want the viewer to be overwhelmed. I want the space to feel like it is caving in on the viewer and that they are forcibly entering the world of my paintings. I want there to be a feeling of overpowering decadence to the work, that is almost too much to take. I don't want them to be subtle." - Rosson Crow
Crow is scheduled to have a solo exhibit next spring (feb 25-mar 31) at Honor Fraser in LA and that, my friends, is reason enough for me to hop on a plane. 

08 November 2011

Dallas: Uptown Popcorn

I discovered Uptown Popcorn this past summer when I wandered by their NorthPark location and my nose led me into the store. I tried a sample or two  - omg, jalapeno ranch was so good - and promptly ordered 30 small bags of confetti colored popcorn for my daughter's 4th birthday party.
For the holidays they've introduced some seasonal flavors - think Candy Corn, White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice, and Killer Kettle - and I think this may be my alternative to eating entire pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving. 

07 November 2011

Austin: Magda Sayeg

Guess what you can buy today on Sunglasshut.com? Limited edition shades wrapped with Austin-based yarn artist Magda Sayeg's signature knit sleeves.
Be sure to pick up the December issue of Texas Monthly at the end of this month so you can see my interview with her and you can click here to read more about her Sunglass Hut collaboration. 
PS Thanks, Jordan, for the lead on this!

06 November 2011

Everywhere: Anthropologie

How gorgeously rich is this color combination on lingerie?
Who knew that olive green and navy could be so appealing? 
 I have to say that I'm a little surprised to find such pretty little things at Anthropologie

02 November 2011

Austin: Bearded Brothers

Forget Clif Bars, Kind Bars, and Odwalla energy snacks. Yesterday I had my first Bearded Brothers energy bar and flipped my lid over how good there are. 
Made in Austin by brothers Caleb and Chris, the bearded athletic outdoorsmen created a health snack that's almost entirely raw, 100 percent organic, gluten free and packaged in reusable pouches.
They are moist, chewy, and sweet and I ate two yesterday even though I was already satisfied with the first one I devoured after my workout. 
Click here to find out where you can buy them in your area. I promise you'll become obsessed.

01 November 2011

El Paso: Piamita

My El Paso friends - I have a lot of them. I'm actually convinced that the most creative Texans are from El Paso - introduced me to their childhood friend Karla Martinez several years ago. 
 At the time Karla was an editor at T Magazine, The New York Times and she was sweet enough to take me around during one of my first fashion weeks in New York.
 Martinez is now the fashion market and accessories director at W and earlier this year she debuted Piamita, a small line of clothing she designs with her dear friend Cecilia de Sola.
 The minute that I saw the lookbook I flipped out and told Jackie Bolin at VOD that I wanted everything. VOD is the exclusive retailer for Piamita in Dallas and come November 19 when the first collection of Piamita resort hits VOD, I can finally get my hands on all of this lounge-y wear. 
 It's so chic, no? Leave it to Karla to hit it out of the ballpark with her first go at a clothing line.