The City Lifestylist®

Today many of us gathered to say goodbye to a great man - Norman Brinker. Most people know of Norman as the mind who started and refined the trend of casual dining and the founder of Brinker International, but to me Norman will always be a horse lover, polo player and wonderful father first.

In my horse days I had a barn behind Norman's equestrian center - Willowbend Polo Club. We would ride back and forth between barns and most of my horses came from owners at Willowbend that owned horses that were too much for them and wanted to unload them. Those were wonderful days and how fortunate we all were to be able to watch Norman streak across the polo field doing what he loved. Norman had an uncanny knack of knowing and remembering everyone's names from the grooms to the owners and he treated everyone equally.

When I had two very young children I decided to work as a waitress at Steak and Ale - a concept that Brinker owned and was fairly new at that time. I helped open the Plano location and Norman spent an amazing amount of time with us learning what worked and what didn't. He also wanted to make sure that we knew our jobs inside and out and we did a lot of wine tastings to learn about what we were serving. That was my first exposure to wine and it's an experience that I still enjoy. His passion about the company made us passioniate about what we were doing, and we took our jobs personally and wanted to make Norman proud of us.

Our lives continued to intertwine - my sister was married at Willowbend and went on to work at the corporate offices at Brinker International. Being a "Brinkerhead" she loved being a part of that culture and was always amazed when she would visit a Chili's and Norman would be there often by himself just enjoying a burger. He always remembered my sister and made her feel special.

What Norman and many great self-made leaders understand is that to succeed it has to be personal. Your own integrity, how you treat people and love of what you do  is not a small part of why these people have succeeded and why so many people people love and respect them in return. I wish I had taken a pen and notepad to the service because the wisdom and stories that were shared were incredible. Ross Perot and Mr. Brinker were good friends for many years and I can understand why - they are a lot alike, and both have a great, dry sense of humor that I love. Mr. Perot spoke and he was able to capture what made Norman so special. Even though he had been in a coma and had health issues from a polo incident and had other obstacles, nothing was going to keep Norman down and no matter what he did it was always with an amazing positive attitude and a love for life and everyone around him.

We'll miss you Norman, but know that you are happily playing polo on the most heavenly fields any of us have ever dreamed of.

Summer is here! I was fortunate enough to start mine off with my kids and grandbabies in Florida last weekend and it reminded me of those wonderful innocent summers I enjoyed when I was growing up. Special days of running free at my grandparents farm sitting in the raspberry patch stuffing ourselves with delectible juicy fruits, spending time on the rocky shores of Lake Erie floating under the summer sun in an innertube with not a care in the world, and evenings of family dinners featuring fruits and vegetables that we had helped raise and pick on the farm.

Spending time with the kids reminded me how uncomplicated life can be sometimes if we let it and that the more simple our lives are the more sometimes we can enjoy those special times.

I was looking thru some of my photographs the other day trying yet again to organize them and came across the amazing photos that Lisa Stewart Photography shot during the 5 years of Savor Dallas. It is such a fun event, and I swear I go into Savor withdrawal during the 51 weeks until the event.

Jim and Vicki White do such an amazing job orchestrating the event and bring some of the finest wine and spirit makers and restaurants to Dallas. The education that I get every year is amazing and it gives me a year’s worth of new wines and restaurants to try out until the next event. Plus the Savor Dallas website features tasting notes that are a tremendous resource that can be used year round.

The Whites also believe in giving back and supporting our community. HomeAid is a very special group that is very close to my heart - I’m involved in the chapter that is part of the Dallas Home Builders Association. HomeAid raises money and support to help build housing for abused children and families - it would be a dream if this type of housing wasn’t needed, but unfortunately it seems we can’t build housing fast enough to help this escalating part of our population. When I asked Jim if Savor Dallas could donate an auction item for our upcoming event he didn’t even hesitate but immediately offered whatever we needed. I know bidding is going to be fierce on this item, and if you would like to try and outbid the others on this item, please contact me and I’d be happy to add your bid.

Please also take a look at the Savor Dallas website and help me to thank Jim and Vicki for all that they do. And also be sure to mark the dates for Savor Dallas 2010 on your calendar - we’ll see you there!

So you say you want an evolution... well it looks like the Green Evolution is here, and here to stay. No matter what industry you are in, everyone seems to be getting on “The Green Train”. But what does this really mean to you, and the world you live in?

Defining Green is not an easy task, and the definition seems to be changing every day and mean different things to different people. It can be as simple as putting your trash in the appropriate container or as complex as an off-grid solar home. The important thing is that you do something and incorporate a green lifestyle into the way you live today and in the future.

I heard an excellent example this week at the Manufactured Housing Conference where we were blessed to have Mark LaLiberte as a speaker. He used the example of a green builder in Connecticut who was bragging about the great granite he was able to get inexpensively in China. Being that New Hampshire - the granite state - borders Connecticut Mark asked why he didn’t source the product there. Sometimes we have to look at issues besides price - think about all of the energy that was wasted getting the product from China as well as the jobs locally he might have saved - and those employees that might have become customers - and to me it puts a different spin on how we forgo value for price many times.

I see the greening of America as being an evolution instead of a revolution because it’s not going to happen overnight, but if everyone starts asking the question about what their choices are going to mean for ours and our families quality of life in the future hopefully we can start turning things around.

So you say you want an evolution... well it looks like the Green Evolution is here, and here to stay. No matter what industry you are in, everyone seems to be getting on “The Green Train”. But what does this really mean to you, and the world you live in?

Defining Green is not an easy task, and the definition seems to be changing every day and mean different things to different people. It can be as simple as putting your trash in the appropriate container or as complex as an off-grid solar home. The important thing is that you do something and incorporate a green lifestyle into the way you live today and in the future.

I heard an excellent example this week at the Manufactured Housing Conference where  we were blessed to have Mark LaLiberte as a speaker. He used the example of a green builder in Connecticut who was bragging about the great granite he was able to get inexpensively in China. Being that New Hampshire - the granite state - borders Connecticut Mark asked why he didn’t source the product there. Sometimes we have to look at issues besides price - think about all of the energy that was wasted getting the product from China as well as the jobs locally he might have saved - and those employees that might have become customers - and to me it puts a different spin on how we forgo value for price many times.

I see the greening of America as being an evolution instead of a revolution because it’s not going to happen overnight, but if everyone starts asking the question about what their choices are going to mean for ours and our families quality of life in the future hopefully we can start turning things around.

This has been a great week - we got 3 kittens adopted and have a wonderful neighbor that's willing to adopt a German Shepherd! It feels great to find loving homes for these animals and to educate people about adopting instead of buying pets from puppy mills and pet stores.

While I was looking for a dog for my neighbor I was shocked at how many purebred animals there are out there looking for a home - even more of a reason to get the word out about adopting.

Lily is one of our rescue pets, and she loves walking the neighborhood and seeing all of the kids. She's a big ham and is always up for dressing for the occasion!

Next week is going to be a really fun week - I'm off to Las Vegas to speak at the Manufactured Housing Congress and at the meeting for the Las Vegas High Rise and Condo Association. It's really beginning to feel like the housing market has hot bottom and people are starting to think about buying their dream home again.

The Vegas market is amazing, and I love visiting the new high-rise communities and learning more about vertical living. There are so many advantages, and I'm excited to see the latest and greatest. They are fascinated with my Lifestylist brand, and I'll also be sharing with them what the heck a Lifestylist is and how we approach the design and marketing process.