Leaving Tamarindo And Flying Home

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Time to leave beautiful Costa Rica and return to the reality of St. Louis (is that what it is?). We have a connection in Miami and will be home late tonight. Our transportation should be more comfortable than the ultralight aircraft flying over Playa Langosta, shown below.

The older couple above, in beautiful sunset light, is a good farewell image. However, I guarantee you that Carolyn would never dress like that and street photographers like me don't wear red. I've still got lots of Costa Rica pictures on the hard drive and will run with that until I get more material at home.

We leave you - and here - with a shot of moonrise over Playa Langosto Saturday night. Many additional pictures from Costa Rica on the Flickr set here.

Our sincere thanks once again to Dave Selden of Tamarindo Daily Photo and Julie Pace of Scottsdale Daily Photo for the chance to rent their gorgeous beachfront condo. Go to Dave's blog you can find out how you can stay here, too.

Home, With Memories

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Greetings from American Airlines flight 1665, en route from Miami to St. Louis. Two hour mechanical delay coming out of Costa Rica. We barely made the connection.  I decided to buy some exorbitantly-priced airplane WiFi time to get this posted.

There won't be any new STL material until the weekend. Lots still to show from our trip, though. These are several views of our tree house hotel room in Monteverde, both very special places. Worth the journey if you can find your way to this part of the world.               



 



 

UCR 5th Annual 'Retail as Art' Contest

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Calling all Dallas-area high school students! United Commercial Realty (UCR), Texas’ largest retail real estate services provider, is currently accepting applications for their fifth annual “Retail as Art” photography scholarship contest. The contest is free to participate and open to all Dallas Independent School (DISD) and local area private high school students. 
Students are encouraged to capture the true essence of Dallas retail - submit photographic interpretations of “Retail as Art” which will be judged by local photographers, tastemakers and industry professionals. The top three winning entrants will receive a UCR “Retail as Art” Scholarship.
“Retail as Art’s” Kick-Off Party, an informative orientation, will be held on March 6 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Design Within Reach where guest speakers including industry professionals and photographers will provide helpful advice to the students, and the UCR team will review contest details and answer questions. Participation forms, available online at www.ucrrealty.com/retail-as-art  are due by March 13, 2013, and artwork submission is due by April 5, 2013. After the judging process concludes, the winning images and other notable submissions will be exhibited at the “Retail as Art” Exhibit on May 8 at Three Three Three First Avenue Studio where the winners will be announced.

Soup's On Luncheon A 'Souper' Success

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The fifth annual Stewpot Alliance Soup’s On! Luncheon and Art Sale was held Tuesday, January 29 at the Omni Dallas. Co-chaired by Kay Lunceford and Trish Weigand under the encouragement and guidance of honorary chairs, Joan and Elvis Mason, the annual luncheon which raises money for the services and programs offered by The Stewpot and soon-to-open 508 Park had a record attendance and moved total donations from the five-year history to over $1.2 million.

Honorary chairs Elvis and Joan Mason

Author Wes Moore, Kay Lunceford, Steve Blow, Trish Weigand and Dr. Joe Clifford

Performances by the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts Varsity Choir and Ensemble and Dallas Wind Symphony greeted guests who mixed and mingled between original pieces of art by artists of The Stewpot Open Art Program and dining packages donated by participating chefs. Dallas Morning News columnist and Stewpot supporter Steve Blow emceed the event while New York Times best-selling author Wes Moore offered an autobiographical keynote lecture inspired by the ‘other’ Wes Moore who remains in prison for the murder of an off-duty Baltimore police officer and is the subject of Moore’s The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates.

Christy Coltrin and sculptor Brad Oldham

Luncheon guests received handcrafted pewter coins as a token of appreciation from renowned sculptor Brad Oldham in collaboration with the Stewpot artists. Each coin was handcrafted by Oldham and the Stewpot artists and features West Wind, an architectural detail found on the 508 Park building.

Chefs Omar Flores, Jason Weaver, Bruno Davaillon and Brian Luscher

Participating chefs included Randall Copeland, Restaurant Ava; Bruno Davaillon, The Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek; Omar Flores, Driftwood; Keith Hanks, The Capital Grille; Al Havens, Salum; Jason Maddy, Oak; Danyele McPherson, The Grape;  Chad Kelley, Café Pacific; Janice Provost, Parigi; Anastasia Quiñones, Komali; Abraham Salum, Salum; Nathan Tate, Boulevardier and Jason Weaver, Omni Dallas.

Artist Leon Pollard

The 508 Park Project has acquired the historic building located across the street from The Stewpot and is transforming it into a multi-use facility to include a music academy, recording studio, concert amphitheater, rooftop terrace, community garden, and the Museum of Street Culture. In addition, The Stewpot's successful Open Art Program will be located there and a gallery for the homeless artists will be opened. The Project seeks to bring together people of all cultures and faiths through dialogue, education, music, and art.

Simmons' Gift to SMU Will Fund New Building

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SMU announced yesterday that Harold C. and Annette Caldwell Simmons have committed a gift of $25 million to the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Their donation will fund a new building for the expanding programs of the school and support three new endowed academic positions. The new facility will be named Harold Clark Simmons Hall, in honor of Mr. Simmons, at Mrs. Simmons’ request.

Thursday's gift announcement was celebrated with the ringing of school bells. (l. to r.) David Chard, dean of the Simmons School; Annette Caldwell Simmons and Harold C. Simmons; Caren Prothro, chair of the SMU Board of Trustees; and R. Gerald Turner, president of SMU.

"We are truly fortunate to count the Simmons as partners in our academic mission and greatly value their leadership and generosity,” said SMU President R. Gerald Turner. “They have established an enduring legacy of service and generosity benefitting SMU and show great foresight by supporting education. Since its creation less than a decade ago, the Simmons School has made significant and rapid contributions addressing the challenges facing schools and educators.”

The UNICEF Experience Dallas

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ENGAGE - SUPPORT - SHARE
Join fellow global citizens for an experience that will transport you to the field to learn about UNICEF's lifesaving work. By participating in new, interactive exhibits, you can help UNICEF get closer to the day when ZERO children are denied clean water, health and nutrition, education, protection, and emergency relief.
Friday, March 1, 2013The Goss-Michael Foundation1405 Turtle Creek Boulevard7:00 PM
Vern Yip for HGTV, UNICEF Ambassador - National ChairRich Moses - ChairJoyce Goss - Project Chair  Cocktail Attire   Click here to purchase tickets

Cara Santana and Jesse Metcalfe at last year's event

HEARTSTRINGS A HUGE SUCCESS!

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"HEARTSTRINGS" The 29th Annual Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Saint Valentine's Day Luncheon and Fashion Show by Stanley Korshak was a HUGE success!

The Meyerson Symphony Center proved to be the perfect venue to showcase Stanley Korshak's favorite spring picks and a sneak peak of Monique Lhuiller's spring line! Missing was the usual bouncing, clubby beat of most fashion shows. Instead, the svelte models sauntered to a fabulous mix of classical favorites. There were plenty of other surprises during the show. Before the Monique Lhuiller line was revealed, the crowd was held in suspense while a conductor ascended his rostrum. As he waved his baton the guests were treated to a "symphony" of the Lhuiller designs.

BUT....Before all of the fashion fun began, two deserving gentleman graciously accepted awards. Crawford Brock received the 2013 "Heart of Gold Award" for his continued support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Also in the spotlight, was Joshua Cobler who was given the "Spirit of Tom Landry Character Award" for his courage and inspiration to others. He bravely donated bone marrow to help his younger brother fight cancer. Joshua is also co-editor and co-founder of "The Sibling Times." Both recipients are well deserving leaders in Dallas!

Joshua and Jude Cobler

                                      Co-Chair, Paige Slates and Honorary Co-Chair,          Co-Chairs, Maggie Kipp and Angela Choquette                             Bob Schlegel   

Jackie Nugent and Linda Ivy
AND...After all the fashion fun, it was time to gush over all of the gorgeous clothing and enjoy the fabulous food. Luncheon guests were treated to a delicious salad sampler including a divine caramelized pecan chicken and cranberry salad. To finish the fun the tables were set with adorable heart shaped strawberry mousse angel food cakes!

Morgan Vaughn

Lisa Petty, Cynthia Smoot,
and Rhonda Seargant Chambers

Noelle Getty and Casey Kennington

Jean Lattimore and Carolyn Lupton

FINALE...

Tamara Bickle and Julianna LeBlanc

  
      Last but not least, the bubbly patrons were given a little extra chance to dish over all the fun while a small mix-up wassorted out at valet. Everyone seemed grateful for a few more minutes to chatwith friends and recap the amazing fashion show!

Megan Filgo and Destin Shore

A BIG congratulations to Co-Chairs,
Angela Choquette, Maggie Kipp, and Paige Slates
AND

Honorary Co-Chairs
Myrna and Bob Schlegel!