The City Lifestylist®

What a crazy week in Dallas! This town is all about the NBA All Star Game which is this weekend, but mother nature decided to steal the show and dusted us with over a ft. of snow!

The is the largest amount we ever had so we decided to take advantage of it and declared a snow day. The Lifestylists were all out playing in it trying to outdo each other with snowball fights and snow sculptures and when it got dark out I realized I had the opportunity of a lifetime to get some really unique shots of the Home Idea Factory. Fortunately I share the factory with the very talented Lisa Stewart of L.a.S. Photography and we headed out to see what we could find. After she used her magic and skills I love what we ended up with, and to me these really capture the personality of what The Home Idea Factory is all about - Your Life. Your Style. Your Way.

Our Texas rescue babies aren't sure what to make of this white stuff, but they sure are having fun in it. We have "pods" that we put out for the feral cats to keep them warm, and they get soft food as a treat on days like to day. Yes they are absolutely spoiled and we wouldn't have it any other way.

In less than a month one of my favorite events will be in Dallas again - the 6th annual Savor Dallas celebration of wine, food, spirits and the arts. I have gone every year, and it's something I'm always looking forward to. Savor Dallas is a unique opportunity where you get to meet the chefs and wine makers one on one and really hear what makes what they do so special.

This year as part of the marketing services that Lifestylist Design offers we can help you have this experience tailored to suit the needs of you and your guests. Our concierge service can help create an experience that you'll never forget. Be sure to put March 5th and 6th on your calendar and join us!

Noted designer and retailer Alexander Julian made the following observation:
“We have to be creative about getting people into our homes and stores now. In deciding if what you offer turns them on, consumers look you over for an average of 15 seconds. In that time, you need to rock ‘em and sock‘em and give them something that moves them. And you can’t do that with anything but product that is visually stimulating and exciting.”

With the contraction of the economy, everyone is on a budget and there is a lot more thought and time spent on how they are going to spend every hard earned dollar. Consumers visiting an average of 30 model homes before they even begin to think about making a decision. What makes your models memorable and brings them back to your sales center/ community? One of the favorite models Lifestylist Design worked on was the Purple Cow model and campaign with Patriot Homes. Tying into Seth Godin’s Purple Cow book by building and merchandising something remarkable, we created a home and marketing campaign people still talk about, as well as winning a marketing award at the Nationals.

Making a model memorable doesn't have to be extreme or expensive - it just needs to be well thought out. Highlighting a local non-profit can bring interest into your home. Doing a room that displays materials from the local Boy Scout troop, a gymnastics team or the aquatic center that is part of the planned community you are building in can give the buyer a memory point to make them remember your model above the rest.

Few things are as satisfying to me as helping kids explore the culinary world. You can see how excited they get when they learn they can make and bake things themselves and the more they learn, the more they want to try. I've seen it time and time again where a child will eat things that they made themselves but you couldn't force them to try it if someone else was the chef.
I just got back from spending a wonderful weekend with my grandchildren and I was able to help Jenna plan her 8th birthday. She had very specific ideas about what she wanted to do, and my job was to execute all of the things that she imagined. Her brother decided he wanted chocolate instead of a white cake, so we compromised  and had chocolate cupcakes and a white birthday cake. When I went to the grocery store to get the ingredients I realized it would be much less expensive and just as easy to make the cakes from scratch. If you are looking for a recipe for a specific ingredient, check out the package or their website -the company is only going to share recipes that put their products in the best light so this is a great place to start. I didn't have recipes with me so I checked out the back of the Hershey's Cocoa box and there were recipes for chocolate frosting and cakes. Their grandpa has always made a wonderful butter cream icing that is a family favorite so we went with that for the birthday cake. Jenna will also never let me live down the fact that I misspelled "birthday" - that's a story she'll be telling for a long time!
The kids were so proud of what they were able to accomplish, and the chocolate recipes were fantastic - I think some of the best I've ever had. Jenna wanted a pet themed party, and that's what she got.
Don't underestimate the skills and interest of your culinary kids. Even when things don't turn out exactly as planned you can still create memories and recipes that can last a lifetime.

Today was a big day for us trend trackers - Apple officially announced the iPad which has the potential to yet again change the way we live and do business. I'm already lusting after it, because I see it as the future as in how I can run my business when I am out of town as well as a way I can hopefully cut out some of my handwritten notes that even I can't understand my own handwriting. Will it change the world as we know it? I've learned to never underestimate what Apple and Steve Jobs can bring to the table so you never know - maybe it will. And I will be the first to express my unconditional love for my "geniuses" at my favorite Apple store (Dallas - NorthPark - they are the best!) - they have made it possible for me to do things I never thought could be possible without another 5 or 10 employees and a lot of consultants.

I just got back from the International Builders Show and it was more evident than ever that we need to be open to how quickly our buyers needs and expectations are changing or we will quickly become extinct. Apple is a great success story of how a company refuses to sit on it's successes - every day they are pushing the envelope and coming up with new ways to make our lives much more interesting while listening to the customer and making the experience "all about them".

Shaw Carpets had a great event in Grapevine, TX yesterday. A pie fight that was the largest in the world with 1,200 pies and 434 participants took place on their Anso Nylon carpet to show how easily it could be cleaned. Shaw understands lifestyle, and this Lifestylist has seen firsthand how well their carpets not only hold up to pie, but to other challenges as well such as pets, toddlers, and wine dinners. The best part is that Shaw made donations to Dallas Animal Advocates and their volunteers got to do the throwing. Feeding America was also a benefactor, and Shaw's donation to the organization will provide up to 70,000 meals to people in 13 Texas counties.

Thanks to Shaw for a fun event and your support of a great organization.