Dear Friends,
Happy holidays! We thought about buying each and every one of you a special keepsake this year but decided against it. We know that this newsletter is gift enough. It’s so fun oversharing with you the many successes we’ve all experienced throughout the year. You know what they say: it’s not bragging if it’s Christmas!
So let’s start with executive editor Laura Kostelny, shall we? Where should we begin? Laura recently attended her 20th high school reunion. She had originally planned to lose 10 pounds before the big weekend, but she later amended that plan and gained 10. Even so, she had a perfectly lovely time and learned a lot, including she is one of the last women on earth to get married and/or have a baby. Laura is currently back in therapy. Her wish for everyone this year is happiness and love and the renewal of MTV’s Teen Mom.
This was a big year for managing editor Rhonda Reinhart. She enlisted the help of a Texas Ranger and a drunken, trigger-happy U.S. Marshal named Rooster Cogburn to help track down her father’s killer. Actually, that’s a lie. It’s the plot of True Grit, a novel by Charles Portis that was eventually turned into a movie starring John Wayne as the whiskey-soaked marshal. This Christmas, True Grit gets the Coen Brothers treatment in a reboot featuring Rhonda’s favorite actor Jeff Bridges. If you want to wish Rhonda a happy holiday, buy her some candy at the movies. She prefers Twizzlers, but Junior Mints are fine, too.
And what of the political aspirations of creative director Todd Johnson? That was a shocker. Fed up with poorly manicured front yards and uninspired front door colors, Todd ran for the presidency of his neighborhood association. His slogan—“Give Todd the Nod”— was a sure winner, and he took the first debate handily, speaking with fervor on such topics as Bermuda vs. St. Augustine grass. Alas, Todd’s campaign was derailed when he refused to kiss any babies. “They smell funny,” he sneered. Todd spent the rest of the year sitting on the front porch telling those “darn kids” to get out of his yard. Todd hopes Santa brings him a shawl and some fiber this year.
Real estate editor Candy Evans spent 2010 (the whole year!) recovering from her daughter’s fall 2009 wedding in Kennebunkport, Maine. Sadly, as soon as she got off food stamps, the home-buying stampede began—Scott and Gina Ginsburg snapped up 3500 Beverly Dr., Chuck Greenberg bought a home in Vaquero, and a rich guy named Kelcy Warren bought the most expensive piece of dirt in Preston Hollow. Somehow, she manages to keep up with who is buying, selling, and shorting Dallas real estate for D Home and DallasDirt.com. This Christmas, she’s asked Santa to have one of those naughty big banks’ robo-signers to accidentally sign over a Ritz-Carlton condo.
Design editor Peggy Levinson is in mourning. Shortly before leaving for a semester abroad, her college-age daughter discovered that she had lost one of her mother’s favorite boots. A cursory look around the house, a call to a boyfriend, and an extensive search on nearby roads and ditches resulted in nothing but a broken heart. Poor Peggy, left with but the one boot, had little choice but to leave the country. She and her adoring husband, Dana, set course for Prague and Budapest, where she attempted to get through this difficult period. This Christmas, Peggy would like that damn boot back. If you have information leading to its capture, please call 214-939-3636.
Jamie Laubhan-Oliver continues to battle her ADD. Our art director happily spent the year running around town, shopping estate sales, dealing with her Etsy customers, planning weddings, designing invitations, providing interior design advice, creating Lucite Christmas trees, working on her memoirs, directing photo shoots, giving advice on anything and everything, and being worshipped by her husband, Larry, and doggies Chaucer, Lola, and Turk. This year, Jamie would like Santa to bring her a Range Rover and/or a second home to decorate. We respectfully request that he add to that a prescription for Adderall.
And, finally, we come to our leader Christine Allison. As many of you know, she’s had some drama this year—she’s come out against palm trees in the Park Cities and stood up to inconsiderate builders. So what comes next? Sure, she considered the usual next moves—she thought about joining the Peace Corps or trying out for a spot on the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. In the end, she decided on another course of action: she got highlights and plans to continue kicking ass as D Magazine Partners president. This Christmas, she would like a soundtrack for ass-kicking. And peace on earth for all.
And so, dear readers, we wish you and your family all the best. Good luck getting through the next few months. Let us know how it goes.
Cheers,
The D Home Family
