Archive for the ‘Shopping’ Category

With more than 60,000 people expected to attend this year’s Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, the event appears to be a true crowd pleaser.

The 3-day festival features music on two stages, a battle of the bands with local talent, a songwriter’s competition, and a songwriting school.

Scheduled to perform are: Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo, Bret Michaels Rock of Love Tour, America, Everclear, The Guess Who, Loverboy, Jerry Jeff Walker, Blue Oyster Cult, Kathy Mattea, Eve 6, Roger Creager, Firehouse, Seven Mary Three, Quietdrive, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Butch Hancock, The Django Walker Band, Candy Coburn, No Justice, Slaid Cleaves, Jon Vezner, Steve Fromholz, Chris Smither, and Paramount’s LaserSpectacular featuring the Music of Pink Floyd.

Other festival activities include a Guitar Hero III gamers’ station, a KidZone with lots of crafts, street performers, and shopping and food.

A one-day pass is $15 for adults.

Richardson residents get half off their tickets — $7.50 for a one-day pass.

An advance purchase three-day pass is $25 and can be picked up at Tom Thumb stores or online.

Kids ages 5-12 get in for $3.

To get there, take DART’s Red Line to the Galatyn Park station in Richardson or go to I-75 at Galatyn Crossing.

In a fantastic move, ARTFEST is returning to their roots in Dallas’ historic Fair Park over Memorial Day weekend (May 23-25). This event is an absolute must with more than 200 of the nation’s best artists displaying their creations.

Traditions continue with live bands, a Cultural Arts Stage featuring performing artists, and ARTFEST for Kids, presented by Tom Thumb, with free activities including the classic “Box City” in which children design and build a town with boxes that they decorate. Festival food favorites, such as funnel cakes, corndogs and cotton candy, will be available to purchase. In addition to Saturday and Sunday events, ARTFEST visitors can toast the weekend with a very special Wine Stroll Preview Party on Friday evening, which includes an art preview, “meet and greet” with the artists, a weekend pass to ARTFEST, complimentary wine and hors d’oeuvres.

As always, ARTFEST is a fundraiser . . . unusual for an arts festival since most similar events of such magnitude are organized by cities and communities. To date, ARTFEST has raised over $12 million, with proceeds assisting numerous musical, dramatic, visual, and other arts organizations. Past beneficiaries include Dallas Chamber Music Society, USA Film Festival, Shakespeare Dallas and Dallas Center for Contemporary Art.

ARTFEST 2008 will be held at Fair Park (3809 Grand Avenue) over Memorial Weekend, May 23rd – 25th. The Wine Stroll Preview Party, $20 per person, is on Friday, May 23 from 6pm – 9pm. Advance discount tickets for the Wine Stroll can be purchased at Tom Thumb for $15 beginning May 5th. The main event will be held from 10am – 7pm on Saturday, May 24 and from 10am – 6pm on Sunday, May 25. General admission is $6 per day for adults; children under 6 are free. Advance discount tickets can be purchased at Tom Thumb for $5 beginning May 5. Parking is complimentary on Washington Avenue. For more information, visit www.artfest500.com or call 214.565.0200.

The Cedars is the up-and-coming artist commune of Dallas’s south side. The neighborhood features artists, photographers, ceramicists, glass blowers, fragrance designers and entertainment spaces.

Anchored by the new Buzz Condominiums, the 2-story Hotel Newland is one of the oldest buildings on South Akard, featuring live/work space recently highlighted in this article from the Dallas Morning News with 3 highly artistic tenants.

Dallas Voice Entertainment Reporter/Environmentalist/Fragrance Designer Gus Klein, Eric Sachs Event Space owner of Quixotic, and highly reputable portrait artist to city officials and the social elite, David Terry, present the Hotel Newland Open House, February 10th, 2008, from 11a-5p, featuring the property owner Paul Cook the Urban Pioneer.

Mr Cook will give tours of available ground floor units for live/work/retail purposes while detailing the building’s unique history of the 1920’s architecture, and it’s past as a local Piggly Wiggly, while Gus Eric and David present their different trades in each of their respective spaces.

The day that so many girls look forward to and so many guys dread is close by!

Speaking as a girl, I can honestly say that I absolutely cringe when my boyfriend gets me roses on V-day. The reason being is that I know it’s a seller’s market for the florists and they take total advantage of the guys. A lot of guys think that’s what is expected of them and I feel for them because they usually have that dazed & confused look at having to spend 10x on a floral bouquet than they normally would.

Personally, give me something exotic instead! Why have a $120 bouquet of roses when I can have something dramatic and different and the boyfriend gets out for a lot less which means he’s more likely to splurge in another area for me! Personally, I consider that a win/win…

So guys, find out from girls what types of bouquets they honestly like…you might be surprised. Heck, they may not even really want flowers but something fun like a cookie bouquet or fresh fruit bouquet.

Right now at a pleasant 80 degrees, it hardly feels like Christmas. And tomorrow will be more of the same…however, things will chill off beginning Monday.

But to get a jump start on things, on Saturday, 8 December 07, the Miracle Dallas ice skating rink at Victory Park will officially open at 4p.

Come check out the festivities as they will have Santa Claus, Bounce Houses, Rock Climbing, Films, Stage Performances and great shopping at places like Haven .

Each night, there will also be a “miracle” as a worthwhile cause will have their most important need met. These miracles will take place daily until December 30.

Actor Peter Fonda is auctioning off some of his memorabilia from “Easy Rider,” including the American flag taken from the back of the jacket he wore throughout the film.

Fonda, who was producer, co-writer and co-star of the groundbreaking 1969 movie, “just decided it was time to share some of his treasures with collectors and fans,” said Doug Norwine, director of music and entertainment memorabilia at Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas.

The flag has an estimated value of $50,000.

Other items up for auction October 6 will include a Department of Defense pin that adorned the jacket, Fonda’s gold record for the film’s soundtrack album and his collection of six movie posters, including those for “Easy Rider” and “Ulee’s Gold.”

In one scene from 1969’s “Easy Rider,” Fonda’s character throws his wristwatch away. But it wasn’t the Rolex that Fonda wore in the movie’s earliest scenes, which is part of the auction.

“There was no way Peter was going to risk damaging the watch, naturally, so a different one was used for the scene where his character tosses it away,” the catalog listing explains.

It was a 100 years ago today that Neiman-Marcus opened it’s doors for the first time and it happened here in downtown Dallas. The flagship store opened in 1914 at it’s current location of Main Street @ Ervay Street.

One of the greatest annual events for shoppers everywhere is the Neiman-Marcus Christmas Catalogue where you can find such necessities as an imperial sacrificial robe worn by a Chinese emperor, sterling silver thermometer case for doctors, and cars galore from Mercedes-Benz to Lexus.

A popular urban legend about the store was the “$250 chocolate chip cookie recepie”. The reason it’s a legend is for the following reasons: The “complaintant” said the charge was on her Visa statement - NM doesn’t accept Visa in the stores; NM didn’t even make a chocolate chip cookie when this legend began and this rumour first began in the 1940’s except then it was the Waldorf-Astoria and their Red Velvet Cake.

So grab yourself a sterling silver bubble wand and start celebrating the 100th of the grand dame of retailing! May you have another 100 successful more!