There’s a reason I am a magazine editor and not a TV news anchor.
Exhibit A: I am currently sitting at my desk with two-day-old hair rolled into a claw clip at the base of my neck. My jeans are freshly laundered, but my black t-shirt is slightly wrinkled and could probably use a lint brush. I have makeup on, but, if Tim Rogers weren’t working from home, he would probably gesture vaguely to the side of my face at some point during the day and note, “You, um, missed some blending or something there.”
So when WFAA graciously offered to have me on last Friday morning to introduce some of our Best of Big D winners, I outright panicked.
First I called Ukwen at Craft & Co. Salon because I couldn’t remember the last time I had a haircut. (Growing out the grays during the pandemic has meant that I take a much more laissez faire approach to hair maintenance.) Then I made an appointment for a manicure at Pink Pedi because, heaven forbid, the camera might zoom in on my ragged nails while I was handing out awards.
Then I marched over to the flagship Neiman Marcus and ran in the door shouting, “I need foundation for an outdoor TV appearance that won’t melt on my face!” They didn’t bat an eye, finding a perfect skin match and upselling me on some Sisley anti-aging eye cream that comes with a lovely little roller-massage-applicator thingy that was ridiculously soothing in my time of need.
When I finally showed up at the downtown studios for the call time at 5:30 a.m., I hadn’t had a wink of sleep but I was freshly coiffed, polished, pressed, and powdered. DJ LC was already in high gear, getting the party started in the moonlight. The winners I had contacted the day before started trickling in: Hannah Street from Oasis Plant Shop (Best Indoor Plant Shop), Sam Cade from Cades Cakes (Best Birthday Cake), Piersten Gaines from Pressed Roots (Best Salon), and Luis and Javi Villalva from La Viuda Negra (Best Agave Bar). Luis and Javi hadn’t slept either; they came straight from a long night at the bar.
There was only one snafu. “Tashara already knows she’s a winner!” said WFAA producer Melissa Jones, distressed that she’d lost the element of an on-camera surprise when I presented Parker with her award for Best TV News Anchor. “But she doesn’t know Sam baked her a cake that looks like a WFAA coffee mug with a sprinkle-covered doughnut!” I replied.
And although, much to Sam’s chagrin, the coffee mug’s handle melted off in the early morning heat, Tashara ended up being truly surprised. So much so that she even got a little verklempt.
And here’s a little secret: Tashara looks even more perfectly glamorous in person. But those leopard-print stilettos? She trades them out for a black pair of Crocs for Facebook Live.
Editor Tim Rogers will be on Good Morning Texas at the very-much-not-dawn hour of 9 a.m. tomorrow. The issue will be on newsstands later that day, and our annual event returns to the Factory at Deep Ellum on August 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. And you can watch my segments here and here.
Want to come? Buy tickets here, each of which includes a subscription to D. (A VIP ticket gets you in at 6 p.m., along with VIP-only offerings from Al Biernat’s, Scardello Artisan Cheese, and the French Room Bar.)
About that party: DJ Christy Ray, Ariel + the Culture, and the Emerald City Band will all be performing. Uchi is bringing bigeye tuna. Sky Rocket Burger will have junior cheeseburgers. Pappas Bros. Steakhouse will serve a dry-aged strip loin with wild mushrooms. Will Call Bar is bringing bao buns. Greenville Ave. Pizza Co. will offer up a variety of slices and garlic knots. Cade’s Cakes and Botolino Gelato Artigianale are on dessert duty.
It’s our first Best of Big D since 2019. You won’t want to miss it.
Author
