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A Daily Conversation About Dallas

D Magazine once again wants the cutest candid pet shots you have in your camera roll. The Cutest Pets in Dallas competition is back for 2023. So show us your dog, cat, bunny, turtle, horse, goat, or mini-pig. Your four-legged friend just might win this year’s prize: a professional photo shoot and a page in the magazine dedicated to your pet. You can submit right here, right now.

There are two categories in this competition: editors’ choice and readers’ choice. The pet who receives the most votes from the public will be our readers’ choice winner. As for editors’ choice, the 20 pets that receive the most votes will be considered by our voting panel, which consists of D’s most esteemed in-house pet experts.

Voting begins June 20. You can vote all day, every day, and you’ll have a custom link to share with family and friends. Voting will close on July 9.

Lifestyle

It’s Always Sunny in Dallas

Melissa Chessher
By |
Kellers
Chloe Zola

The window lowered, and the Keller’s Drive-In carhop leaned in on my brother’s passenger side and announced, “Your truck looks weird.” 

I possessed no energy to respond to this critique of my 2022 Ford Maverick, which, thanks to prompting from the Ford Pass app, I had named Boots in honor of my late grandmother’s favorite poodle. The setting sun cast an orange, vintage-California-postcard hue across the rows of cars and trucks full of families, couples waiting for burgers on that summer Sunday evening. The temperature in Northeast Dallas still clung to its three digits of heat. 

After I’d spent a day opening enough moving boxes to fill half of an 18-wheeler, the Keller’s burgers served as a reward for that sweaty work and as an emotional balm for me. I’d lived for two decades outside of my home state, and unpacking that life brought two conflicting realizations: a human can acquire a ridiculous amount of stuff, and that stuff can deliver a sucker punch of sadness when you open a box and see it shattered (my huge, vintage neon Speak Easy Club sign from a dive bar in Binghamton, New York; the wingback chair from my dad’s bedroom; the first imprint of my daughter’s hand captured in a circle of clay in a kindergarten project). 

And as strange as it sounds, Boots helped lighten the weight of all I’d left, all I carried as I returned to Dallas, the city where my professional career had started, where my daughter had been born, where my marriage had begun and ended. This “weird” truck reminded me that new, different and yet old, familiar could be a good thing, a message I needed on the regular.

Starting Wednesday, Texas businesses are able to operate at full capacity. They can require customers wear a mask or not. It’s now up to them; the governor is allowing the state’s mitigation efforts to expire, shifting much of the onus onto businesses.

For small business owners who are barely staying afloat, an influx of customers might be an exciting prospect. For others, the possible repercussions of welcoming dozens of patrons at once–especially those without masks–are terrifying. They worry about being caught in the middle: there is almost no way to please everyone, especially if businesses choose caution and follow science.

We asked owners of Dallas-based retail shops and fitness studios to share their updated safety protocols, their concerns for the health and safety of their staff, and their predictions for the small business community’s ability to face yet another COVID-related challenge.

Readers, I hope you have a free hour or two on your hands. Voting for Cutest Pets 2020 is now open, and it’s all too easy to spend your day scrolling through the 1,000 adorable entrants. We hope it will be a nice, easy escape from the the last two months.

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For most 14-year-olds, this year’s biggest milestone will be graduating from middle school. Local students Stella Wrubel, Quinn Graves, Isabella Dickason, and Trevor Godkin have their sights set on a bigger goal–raising $10,000 for the North Texas Food Bank’s COVID-19 relief efforts.

The four friends developed a Chalk4Change challenge as a creative and simple way for kids and their families to make a difference during the pandemic.

Participants challenge their neighbors, family, or friends to donate $20 or more to the Chalk4Change GoFundMe page. In return, participants will decorate the donor’s sidewalk or driveway with colorful chalk drawings and inspiring messages.

All of the donations go directly to the North Texas Food Bank; each dollar provides three meals to families in need. To date, the GoFundMe has 65 donors and has raised $9,742 of its $10,000 goal.

Whether you’re a dog person, a cat person, or even a rodent or reptile person, today is your day. Our annual Cutest Pets competition is live and ready for your submissions.

Over the years, we’ve seen some tough competitors. (For a refresher, check out last year’s winners and the Top 20 entrants here.)

Some pets have memorable names, like Roo Paul the rooster. Some are stylish, like Bubbles the mini pig, who had a penchant for pink accessories.

Some competitors are trim and toned and could spend hours running and playing. Others are pleasantly plump thanks to their love of table scraps and napping in the sun.

Each year, D Magazine has the privilege of helping our readers celebrate Mother’s Day. Our dining guides showcase the best brunch options in town, while our gift guides feature locally-sourced products that Mom is sure to love. You support neighborhood businesses and make your mother feel special. Win/win. In past years, we’ve even rounded up family-friendly events, creative classes, and outdoor activities.

This year, though, we’re faced with unprecedented challenges. Texas is slowly reopening, but many of us aren’t ready to return to normalcy. Shopping for Mother’s Day gifts feels daunting. Going out to eat requires careful consideration. Simply paying family members a visit poses risks.

Even so, mothers deserve to be celebrated, and we want their loved ones to stay safe as they do so.

That’s why our 2020 Mother’s Day Guide was reimagined with you, the reader, in mind. You’ll find dozens of gifts from stores with curbside pick-up and local delivery. We determined which florists still deliver, and which bakeries can bring sweet treats straight to her door. We threw in a few Mother’s Day cards and specified which stores offer gift wrap. Most importantly, we curated a list of to-go brunch options, cocktail kits, and more, so you can toast to Mom from home. Cheers to that!

View our 2020 Mother’s Day Guide here.

A special thank you to our Mother’s Day Gift Guide sponsor, Mozart Chocolate Liqueur.

Yesterday, Neiman Marcus Group announced that it would be furloughing most of its 14,000 employees. Those remaining will take temporary salary reductions.

Says CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck, “I have decided to waive 100% of my salary to do my part to support our company, and my direct reports have also decided to waive a significant amount of their salary as well during this temporary furlough.”

The decision is subject to review on April 30. Neiman Marcus Group stores (Neiman Marcus, Neiman Marcus Last Call, and Bergdorf Goodman) are tentatively scheduled to re-open at that time. All have been closed since March 18.

“While these are the most difficult decisions to make, our focus is on ensuring our business is protected over the long-term so we can continue serving our associates and customers,” says van Raemdonck.

Neiman Marcus Group’s previous response to COVID-19 has been both commendable and questionable.

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BEFORE

I am going to look so pretty, is what I tell myselfand the chorus of posturing macho jocks, a gang of grizzled Clint Eastwood types jeering at me from an adolescent and outdated corner of my imaginationas I head into Blushington on a Monday afternoon for a skin peel, some eyebrow maintenance, and a little light contouring.

Well-groomed men are in. This magazine told me so. Old notions of masculinity, reinforced by an unjust patriarchal society and oppressively limiting gender roles, are rightfully crumbling. Men moisturize now. Peels and, sure, a touch of concealer, aren’t that much further down the road of chemically assisted beauty. Give me fat glittering gobs of makeup, while you’re at it. Why would I want to be dusty Clint Eastwood when I can be radiant David Bowie?

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