Weekend Plans - NYE Edition

Here's your weekly dose of what to do in Dallas this weekend - a little early since New Year's Eve is tomorrow.

1. Pretend you are in NYC and head down to Victory Park to ring in 2009. There will be live bands, fireworks and your favorite Channel 8 personalities. Info here.

2. If sports are more your thing, grab a ticket to the Dallas Stars hockey game then head to the Victory Park party.

3. If you want to stay casual and cheap, I say hit the Old Monk. Their doors open at 4pm.

Angela Adams Tunic

Angela Adams is now selling apparel in her online shop. This is a top you could layer with a long sleeve tshirt for the winter months and thenwear it on its own in the spring.

Get your own here.

Picture from www.angelaadams.com

A History of Bauhaus

The architecture movement, not the band. Although, that would be a pretty interesting documentary as well.



Tip of the hat to Grassroots Modern where I first watched the video.

Weekend Plans - Holiday Edition

1. Go see the Santaland Diaries - this is an adaptation of David Sedaris's story about his job as a Macy's elf during the Christmas Season.

2. If Dickens is more your thing, the Dallas Theater Center has A Christmas Carol.

3. Bring your favorite child (human or furry) to the Plaza at Preston Center this Saturday from 11am-4pm and get a picture with Santa.

California Dreaming

This week's miserable weather has got me thinking about sunny California, specifically Palm Springs. So for your viewing pleasure, some shots from my trip to Palm Springs last May. Enjoy!

Visitor's Center designed by Albert Frey












Kaufman House designed by Richard Neutra












Wexler Steel Homes by Donald Wexler

























House of Tomorrow designed by William Krisel












Frey House II designed by Albert Frey












Coachella S&L by E. Stewart Williams












Assorted MCM houses around town.

























Seriously, how cool is that orange wall!

























Swiss Miss A-frames

























And if you want to look at some interior shots of a Palm Springs MCM home, check out this Apartment Therapy home tour here.

Making Dallas more pedestrian and bike friendly

KERA 90.1's lunchtime show Think discussed potential plans for making Dallas more pedestrian and bike friendly. Specifically, recommendations that were recently made to the city to add bike lanes and sidewalks to streets downtown that will ultimately link the Katy Trail downtown to the future Woodall Rodgers park.

Listen to a podcast here.

Weekend Plans

Want an excuse not to go to that office holiday party? Check these out:

1. Polyphonic Spree Christmas Show at the Granada Theater- one set will be all Christmas tunes, the other set will be their hits.

2. City of Dallas Tree Lighting at Fair Park - the Dallas Wind Symphony, lights, and outdoor movies under the stars.

3. Winnetka Heights Home Tour - tour 8 craftsman style homes all dressed up for Christmas.

Modern Gift Giving

Looking for something unique to give to that special someone? Try these websites:

Etsy - Give the gift of handmade. You can find everything from jewelry to dog collars at this online marketplace.

Greener Grass Design - This place is based out of Houston with items from baby to adult.

Delight - A new item on special everyday. Sign up for their mailing list to be the first to know about new items.

Angela Adams - Not just rugs anymore. She now has tableware, pillows, textiles and purses. A girl can always use a new purse!

Hive Modern - Looking to spend big bucks on an iconic piece of modern furniture? This is the place to get it.

20x200 - Want to add to a friend's art collection? Check out 20x200. Limited edition of 200 prints at 20 bucks each.

Happy shopping!

Urban Re:Vision Dallas

Re:Vision Dallas is a new website dedicated to the City of Dallas's efforts to create sustainable urban areas in Dallas.

From the website:

"Re:Vision is a diverse group of people focused on changing the urban landscape by re-imagining all the components that make up a city block. From energy to transportation to commerce to community, we believe that by finding innovative, healthy and sustainable ideas to help revitalize one urban block, we can create a blueprint for better cities everywhere."

More specifically, the City of Dallas will be holding a design competition in January 2009 where architects and designers will be tasked with creating a "fully sustainable city block" in Downtown Dallas. Last Friday there was a design charrette where ideas were gathered to form the basis of the design competition.

Now I love my city Big D, but I am seriously skeptical about whether the city of Dallas would or even could execute a sustainable (green) city block downtown. The city of Dallas has enough problems paying its bills and is now building its own convention center hotel. With other issues facing Dallas, I don't know if it is in the position to take a project like this on.

Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what some of our local architects come up with in the design competition. Hopefully, the competition will be open for all and allow some of our up and coming architects (some who are my friends) an opportunity to shine. I would hate for the competition to be invite only or hijacked by outsiders.

More info about Urban Re:Vision Dallas here.

Pictures from the Trinity River Audubon Center

The Architect and I recently explored the new Antoine Predock designed Trinity River Audubon Center. The building is designed to look like a bird in flight.

The "head" and "wing" of the bird. The core-ten steel wing houses an exhibit area and creates a covered outdoor space.







One of the "wings."












Detail of the head, body, and wing.











The other wing consists of concrete walls with a relief pattern of leaves.











The other "wing" which houses the cafe, gift shop, offices and meeting spaces.






View from across the pond of the back of the "wing" that houses meeting spaces.






Bird blind for bird watching.

































View of the green roof atop the concrete "wing."







The "tail" of the bird creating another covered outdoor space leading to bridges across a pond and to multiple trails.







This wall of windows overlooks the pond and trails. This wing houses meeting spaces and class rooms.










Detail of the windows overlooking the pond.











Underneath the wings.

Weekend Plans- Trinity River Edition

The Architect and I are going across the River and you should to!

1. Art Conspiracy 4 - 10 bucks gets you music and the opportunity to purchase art from local Dallas artists. I am partial to Hal Samples and Jayme Nourallah. Hal shot our wedding and Jayme shot our engagement pics. Info about Art Conspiracy here.

2. Jingle Bells on Bishop and the Urban Street Bazaar - Head down to the 'Cliff to tour galleries Friday and Saturday nite. Saturday, pick up handmade Christmas gifts at the Urban Street Bazaar. Info here.

3. The Tom and Judy Show - more handmade crafts, here its quilts along with live music.

Shobac Cottages in Nova Scotia

The Shobac Cottages are perfect for the person who wants to get away from it all, but in modern style.

This would be a great Christmas present for that someone special or a great getaway with like minded fans of modern architecture.

Check out pictures and info here.

Metropolis Magazine on Saarinen

This month's Metropolis Magazine is dedicated mostly to Eero Saarinen.

Check it out here.

Posting may be light this week. My computer's hard drives is having issues. But fortunately the lovely people at Dell will be sending me a new hard drive this week and a nice person from tech support will be coming out later this week to install is for me. I am busy backing up everything on my computer before the new hard drive is installed. But I hope to be back later in the week with more postings.

First look at the Renzo Piano addition to the Kimbell Art Museum

Renzo Piano, architect of the Nasher Sculpture Center, has been tapped to design an addition to the Louis Kahn designed Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth.

Check it out here.

Posting to resume next week

I am out of town this week for work, so it will be a little quiet around here. Posting will resume next week.

Ciao!

The American Look

For those of you killing time at work before the weekend starts, take some time to watch this video. It is chock full of MCM goodies. Thanks to the Lushpad blog where I first watched this.

Weekend Plans

1. Bond, James Bond. Go see Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace. My theater of choice - Studio Movie Grill.

2. Lone Star International Film Festival - my pick is Visual Acoustics, The Modernism of Julius Schulman.

3. Lakewood Home Tour and Market. Check out some beautiful homes built in the 20s and 30s in addition to a juried art fair. Info here.

Addition to Kimbell Museum

Renzo Piano to design the new addition to the Kimbell Museum. The kids over at FrontBurner have the details.

Check it out here.

Lushpad

Just happened across this website. It's like craigslist, only better - it is completely devoted to modern furnishings!

Check it out here.

Julius Schulman Film

Julius Schulman is one of my favorite photographers and most famous for his architectural and interior photography of iconic MCM homes (think Case Study Homes, Neutra, Palm Springs MCMs). On November 15 and 16, 2008 the Kimball Art Museum will be screening Visual Acoustics - The Modernism of Julius Schulman by Eric Bricker as part of the Lone Star International Film Festival.

If you love MCM architecture and photography this is a must see film.

Information about the festival here.

Pinon House - MCM Renovation

Jetson Green has a nice review of a MCM renovation. My favorites are the pivot entry door and the galvalume ceiling in the kitchen.

See the pics here.

Austin AIA Homes Tour Re-cap

About a month ago the Architect and I roadtripped down to Austin for their annual homes tour. We hadn't been there in a few years, but enjoyed our past visits. Homes tours such as the one in Austin, this weekend's Dallas AIA Homes Tour and the White Rock Homes Tour are great ways to get ideas for your own home. Usually the architects and designers are at the home and there is always lots of reading material to pick up. So without further adieu I give you my re-cap of the Austin AIA Homes tour:

Biggest disappointment: 2708 Rae Dell by Barron Custom Design. I was really looking forward to this house because it was an MCM redo. I was sorely disappointed. The front of the original house looks fabulous. I love the siding and frosted glass garage doors.

But Whisky Tango Foxtrot on the addition that landed on the back of the house! It was way to big and overwhelmed the rest of the house. The back yard is huge and goes back quite a ways. If they felt they needed that much space they could have made it a one story addition. Instead, when you are in the back yard there is some very nice landscaping but a huge dead area behind the addition. And the views were not that great from the addition - no downtown view or lake view that I recall.

The other thing that disappointed me was the lack of continuity inside the house when it came to floors and fixtures. The entry way was an arts and crafts style door with a ceramic tile floor mosaic entry in mutued colors seen from houses in that period. You wander to the kitchen, you have cork floors, then wander into the bathrooms and other rooms finding slate, other ceramic and the pine floors in the addition. I'm not saying you have to use the same flooring throughout but at least think about texture, color, and how they will all flow together.

BTW, the house is for sale, more interior shots and this image are here.

House I would like to go to a party at: This is a condo in downtown Austin right near UT. The interior was designed by Anthony Alofsin. Hello LCDs! LCD lights are mounted in the floor allowing you to change the colors of your walls. Although, I am curious to see how often these LCDs are used in real life. The spaces were nice, but with so much white lacquer I kinda felt like I was in a nightclub. Actually, it reminded me a lot of Supper Club in San Francisco. A nice place to visit, but I don't want to live there. That being said, there was some nice use of built-ins to hide media equipment, etc. The Architect especially liked the built in wet bar.
More shots and this image here.

My favorite home on the tour: Clayton, Levy, Little & Maier + Zelter House in Westlake Hills. Yeah, I know the picture is tiny, but this was the best one I could find at the moment. This is a renovation of I believe a 70s contemporary home. It is situated high on a bluff that overlooks the river. With a view like that, all you need to do is create spaces that focus on the view. What was great about this house is there was a theme throughout the house in regards to flooring, counter tops, and millwork. Polished concrete floors throughout and concrete counter tops along with a unified color scheme pulled the entire house together. There was also good usable outdoor space. In many of the homes we toured and I didn't discuss here, had great outdoor spaces but in places you wouldn't naturally gravitate to. Here, almost all of the rooms open up onto balconies with views of the river where you could really see yourself enjoying a cocktail, grilling or reading a book.

More about Clayton, Levy, Little here. They executed the renovation. More about Maier + Zelter here. They did the actual renovation design.

Current trends seen on the tour:

1. Horizontal slat fences.
2. Sliding panel doors - almost every house we saw had at least one.
3. Outdoor living spaces - ranging from the small intimate garden to full blown outdoor kitchens with fireplaces.
4. Rock/gravel landscaping
5. Gratuitous fixtures - I'm talking about over the top faucets and basins, LEDs, put there to be showy and say "I'm cool."

We are off to the Dallas AIA Homes Tour this weekend. Re-cap to follow in the next few weeks.

Weekend Events

1. The Architect and I will be going to the 2nd Annual Dallas AIA Homes Tour on Saturday. Ticket info and list of homes here.

2. This Saturday learn about the future of the environment, American cities, race, law and global issues at the Festival of Ideas at the Myerson Symphony Center. It also happens to be an I.M Pei building. Probably the best Pei building in Dallas (there are approximtely 3). Ticket info and speakers here.

3. Check out Olafur Eliasson's exhibition at the DMA.

Obama the architect?

The kids over at Prairie Mod are talking that at one time in the past Obama wanted to be an architect.

Read about it here.

Winspear Opera House Pt. 2

Yesterday on KERA 90.1, Jerome Weeks gave an update on the Winspear Opera House. In this installment he talked about the large solar canopy currently being constructed around the opera house.

Watch a video and listen to the radio spot here.

Weekend Plans

This weekend is all about Halloween!

1. Stay home, open a bottle of wine, curl up with a scary movie and hand out candy to the neighborhood kids. I suggest a bottle from here.

2. A Wickedly Wonderful Halloween at the Belmont Hotel. Prizes for best costume include a free night's stay, dinner for two at the Cliff Cafe and tickets to the Barefoot at the Belmont concert series.

3. For those of you looking for some interesting people watching, head on down to Oak Lawn for their annual Halloween parade. Info here.

A new addition

Ever since we moved into our house, we have been looking for a new dining room table. Our living/dining area is essentially one large room and could accommodate a pretty large dining table. After months of searching we finally found a table last March that we both could agree on. We decided on a custom built table from Bruce Marsh Designs in Brooklyn, NY. In August while we were in NYC for a wedding, we met with Bruce and picked out the wood, style, and dimensions of the table. The result is below.

This is the crate the table came in. The crate was so large it would not fit through our front door.






Here's the top of the table.







Wait, this is suspiciously looking like an IKEA project...







The legs are joined to the top of the table with the bolts you see above. Very simple and easy construction.






Grain detail of the table top.







The finished product! The table is 10 feet long and can sit up to 4 people per side. It is made out of solid walnut with a tung oil finish. The chairs are vintage Eames fiberglass shell chairs that I purchased on Craigslist.

Weekend Plans

I had to shell out some dough today to keep my car running so this weekend is all about cheap things to do.

1. Did you know that Raymond Nasher (i.e. Nasher Sculpture Center) also owned Northpark Mall? Take a stroll through the mall and check out the art and sculpture throughout the mall. They also have some of the best modern landscaping I've seen. The best part? Looking is free!

2. Taste of Uptown is this Friday. Try out foods from many upscale restaurants in the Uptown area. Tickets start at 10 bucks. Info here.

3. Saturday venture outside the loop and go see Celtic rockers The Killdares at Levitt Pavilion in Arlington. It's a free show!

The perfect accessory for your modern home

Seriously, how cute is this dog? Picture from LA photog Sharon Montrose of her dog Squeak. See more on her website here.

The Shade Store

The Shade Store now has Maharam, Chillewich, and Dwell Studio fabric shades.

A shade like this would look perfect in a MCM or modern home.

Find out info about The Shade Store here.

Early Voting Starts Today in Texas

Avoid the lines and hassle of election day voting by voting early! Early voting starts today in Texas and runs through October 31st.

Find an early voting location in Dallas Co. here.

Weekend Events

Need something to do this weekend? Try these events:

1. Friday is Late Night at the Dallas Museum of Art. This Friday is all about mummies, ancient rituals and Egypt as the DMA celebrates the opening of the King Tut exhibit. Read more about the scheduled events here.

2. Celebrate the Nasher Sculpture Center's 5 year anniversary with free admission this Saturday.

3. Relive the 80s and find your inner teenager when those no longer "New Kids on the Block" (NKOTB to those in the know) rock out at at the American Airlines Center this Sunday. Tickets available at Ticketmaster,

Trinity River Audubon Center

On October 18, 2008 the Trinity River Audubon Center will open to the public. The Center, which is part of the long delayed Trinity River Project, was designed by Antoine Predock. The Center will have hiking trails and will eventually be accessible by kayak via the river and by bike via the Katy Trail. This weekend the Center will have events for the whole family to celebrate the opening.

Read more about the center here and here.

Read more about the architect, Antoine Predock here.

Weekend Plans

1. Walk like an Egyptian - The King Tut Exhibit opens this weekend at the DMA. If you are not lucky enough to get to Egypt, get yourself to this show. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity.

2. Autumn at the Arboretuem - Check out fall events now through November. Events include concerts, food tastings, and all things pumpkin. Info here.

3. Need a new sofa? Crate & Barrel has got 25% off all custom upholstery. I suggest checking out the Petrie sofa. It would be the perfect addition to your MCM home.

4. You know you secretly love the songs "America" and "Sweet Caroline." Go see Super Diamond at House of Blues.

5. CD World may you rest in peace. Now go support your local record store so another one doesn't bite the dust. My favorite is Good Records on Lower Greenville Ave.

The Architect and I are road tripping down to Austin this weekend for the AIA Homes Tour. Full re-cap of what I liked and didn't like next week.

Have a great weekend!

Times Ten Cellars Wine Sale

I've mentioned Times Ten Cellars as a place to hit on the weekends for jazz and a glass of wine. This month they are having a huge sale on their wine. From the Times Ten newsletter:

"This month we are putting all times ten cellars wines on sale for 20% off our take home price. Our biggest "stock your cellar" sale ever, plus an additional 10% off on 6 bottles or more."

Times Ten makes all their wine at their Lakewood location. Originally they purchased grapes from California. But they now have a vineyard in Alpine, TX from which they have begun to harvest and make their wine. This is a great time to pick up a case and give out the bottles as hostess gifts for all those holiday parties you will be going to.

More info about Times Ten here.

You must go see this

The Bend Yoga Studio periodically has concerts at their studio with local artists and traveling indie musicians. Now they have concerts at the Belmont Hotel on Thursdays called Barefoot at the Belmont. On October 2, 2008, David Garza will be playing. This is a show not to be missed. Plus you get to enjoy wonderful music within in the confines of the Belmont Hotel, designed by local Dallas architect, Charles Dilbeck. My suggestion is show up early and grab a cocktail on the patio or have dinner at the Cliff Cafe.

Tickets for Barefoot at the Belmont here.

Info about the Belmont Hotel and Cliff Cafe here.

Listen to David's music here.

Learn about the architecture of Charles Dilbeck here.

Things to do this weekend

1. Break out the lederhosen and head to Addison for Oktoberfest. There will be yodeling, dacschund races and more beer & brats than you can shake a stick at. Find all the info here.

2. Friday check out Rhett Miller and Sarah Jaffe at House of Blues. It should be a crime for a man to have such gorgeous hair!

3. CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas) Art Lab Gallery opens Saturday in Downtown Dallas. Listen to a review about the Art Lab Gallery here.

Thursday Night Lights

Curious about what those uber-expensive condos look like at One Arts Plaza? Now is your chance to check one out and get some free wine. One Arts Plaza was designed by local modern architect, Lionel Morrison.

From the One Arts Plaza blog:

"Join us and Briggs Freeman Real Estate Brokerage for Thursday Night Lights from 8 to 10pm. Guests can enjoy a complimentary glass of wine and enjoy the view of the Dallas night sky from a twenty-second floor residence. Then treat yourself to dinner and live entertainment in the Plaza, or take a serene walk through the Arts District.

“With only sixteen condos remaining at One Arts Plaza, it’s a critical time for buyers to come down and see the opportunities that are here.” Says Becky Frey of Briggs Freeman Real Estate Brokerage, the exclusive broker for One Arts.

Thursday Night Lights will run tonight through the fall."

Architecture Discussion on Think

I am a NPR junkie. I listen to it in the car and it is almost always on at work. It helps to drown out the noise at my office since my walls are paper thin. Actually they are made of plastic, but that is a whole other discussion.

Today on KERA 90.1, Krys Boyd on Think talked with Edward Keegan & Thom Powell about architecture and how it is transforming Dallas. From the KERA website:

"Everyone's buzzing about architecture in Dallas these days. And appropriately, the new Dallas Center for Architecture officially opens October 7th. We'll discuss the trends and happenings this hour with Edward Keegan, Editor-At-Large for Architect Magazine and Thom Powell, chair of this year's AIA Dallas Design Awards."

Listen to a podcast of the show here.

Things to do this weekend

1. Dallas Art Dealers Association Gallery Walk - Spend the day wandering galleries around Dallas and maybe pick up an art piece or two. Find a map and info here.

2. Spend the day outside the bubble at Grape Fest.

3. If hard liquor is more your thing, check out the bourbon tasting at Victory Tavern.

4. Find a new furry friend at Highland Park Village's Dog Walk.

5. Or stay in and watch 24 hour news coverage about Hurricane Ike while drinking one of these.

Cheap and Easy Modern Updates for Your Home

Here are four ways I updated my MCM home on the cheap:

1. Upgrade your house numbers



I purchased these numbers from Home Depot for less than 10 bucks each. They look very similar to the Neutra house numbers from DWR but I was able to purchase all four numbers for less than the price of one number at DWR.

2. New outdoor lighting





I do have to admit the Architect scored this light fixture for free from one of his lighting reps. But it does add some polish to an otherwise nondescript doorway and ties in nicely with the house numbers. Now if I could only get rid of the metal grating...

3. New indoor lighting



This light hangs in our entry way. It is the fl/y pendant lamp from Kartell. We purchased ours from Lights Fantastic here in Dallas but you can see the colors and purchase on line here. We got ours in sage to match our turquoise brick floor in the entryway and the turquoise tile of our fireplace. While the light is not exactly the cheapest around, compared to renovating your bathroom or kitchen, this is a nice instant gratification upgrade. An electrician put in both the interior and exterior lights and new light boxes for around $300. I do think we might have been overcharged, but it sure beat one of us electrocuting ourselves.

4. Get a new rug! I love Flor carpet squares. You can create any size rug you want. If one square gets dirty, you pick it up off the floor and rinse it off in your sink. If you get tired of them you can send the squares back to Flor and they will recycle them for you. We have a nice MCM mix of Toy Poodle squares in our living room.

Things to do this weekend

1. Saturday Night in the City at the Nasher Sculpture Center.

2. Live jazz Sunday afternoon from 3:00-6:00pm at Times Ten Cellars in Lakewood.

3. Go see The Who's Tommy at the Dallas Theater Center and check out the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Kalita Humphreys Theater.

4. Grab your bike or your dog at hit White Rock Lake.

5. Savor the last patio friendly days with a good book and a cocktail. I'll be poring over this while drinking this or maybe that.

Wine + Design at DWR this Thursday

While I think Design Within Reach is a bit deceptive about their furniture being "within reach" they do host many design events throughout the year. This Thursday the Dallas DWR Studio on McKinney Ave. will have the following event:

Wine + Design
Thursday, September 4, 6–8pm
DWR Dallas Studio

Drop into the Studio to sample wine, chairs, stools and tables from around the world to kick off our Seating and Dining combination sale. Taste test a variety of fine wines while our knowledgeable staff assists you in mixing and matching the right set of chairs and tables in plenty of time for the holidays.

RSVP to dallas@dwr.com by September 2

They have never had a guest list at the door, so don't worry if you fail to RSVP. I think the RSVP is more of a guide on how much food and wine to buy. See you there!

Find the mid-century home of your dreams

MCM houses are the "in" thing right now. So where can you find your little patch of MCM heaven?

Here are some areas in Dallas and some tips for finding the MCM house of your dreams:

1. A nice collection of MCMs can be found on the "Disney Streets." These streets named after Disney characters (think Cinderella, Pinocchio, Dwarf Cir., etc.). These streets are bordered by Midway Rd., Royal Lane and Northaven Rd. in North Dallas.

2. Another collection of MCMs can be found in Lake Highlands. The first area is bordered by Walnut Hill Ln./Kinglsey Rd., White Rock Trail and Audelia Rd. You can also find MCMs, specifically Ju-Nel homes off of Easton Rd.

3. In East Dallas you can find a nice little collection of Cliff May homes in "urban pioneer" territory off of Andrea Rd.

4. Realtor Mark Milikan over at Dallas Mod also has listings for MCM houses and a nice overview of neighborhoods that have many of MCM homes.

5. When the Architect and I were looking for a home we used Zip Realty. This website allows you to set up searches based on year the home was built, location and amenities.

6. Go to the White Rock Homes Tour or the Dallas AIA Homes Tour. The White Rock Homes Tour focuses on MCM houses in the Lake Highlands/White Rock Area and the Dallas AIA homes tour focuses on new modern construction. Both are excellent opportunities to see renovations of MCM homes and get ideas for renovations to your existing home or for your new dream home.

Winspear Opera House

Yesterday KERA 90.1 had quite an informative review on the progress of Norman Foster's Winspear Opera House in Downtown Dallas. Jerome Weeks talks about the red glass that will be used to clad the outside of the auditorium. Listen to the story and view a video about it here.

Where to find MCM furniture and accessories in Dallas

Here is a list of my favorite places to scout and new MCM furniture:

1. Century Modern in Deep Ellum - We have bought a couch, two club chairs, some bent plywood chairs, and Eames lounge chair and a Danish style teak credenza. The owners are extremely nice and their prices are quite reasonable.

2. Lula B's Antique Mall on Lower Greenville Ave. - Be prepared to spend some time picking through stuff and go back often. Not a lot of "designer" furniture, but they do have a selection of furniture and accessories from the time 50s-60s.

3. Collage on Industrial Ave. - This place has some beautiful pieces. Mostly high end and in pristine vintage condition. I like to browse through here, but unfortunately I can't afford much of what they sell.

4. Smink in Inwood Village - You will find new editions of classic MCM furniture. Think Saarinen tables, Knoll credenzas, Eames lounge chairs.

5. Design Within Reach on McKinney Ave. - You will also find new editions of classic MCM furniture here, in addition to new modern designs. Get on their mailing list - they periodically will have evening receptions with wine and food to introduce new furniture lines or have speakers talking about architecture and design in Dallas.

6. Craigslist - I troll craigslist a few times a week. I have picked up the Case Study bed from Modernica, 6 original Eames fiberglass chairs, and a 50s dinette set. My favorite search terms: Eames, mid-century, Danish, teak, Herman Miller, Saarinen, Knoll, Heywood Wakefield, art deco.

7. Ebay - When looking for furniture I use the advance search function to limit my search to my local geographical area. This is where I pick up my Viking glass vases and search for Blenko glass.

8. Metro Retro Furniture in Pasadena, TX - This place is near Houston. I haven't been to his warehouse yet, but just from browsing his website, he has one of the largest inventories of MCM period furniture I have seen.

Does the internet really need another blog?

Probably not. So why did I decide to populate the internet with another blog? The reasons (in no particular order);

1. I am a fan of mid-century modern architecture and modern design.

2. I think there is a lack of design blogs that focus on architecture and design in my corner of the universe - Dallas.

3. I need a hobby that is completely unrelated to my profession (law).

4. I wanted a place to share the renovations my husband (The Architect) and I are doing on our MCM home.

5. Some people might actually care what I have to say on things affecting architecture and design.

This will be a place for me to share with you interesting things concerning architecture and design, hopefully with a Dallas slant. You will also get my musings on other things such as music, cocktails, and whatever else might catch my interest at the moment. Occasionally, I will update you on the renovations I am making to the MCM home I share with the Architect. I hope to post daily, but if I am absent it is probably because I am traveling for work. Fridays will be devoted to the art of the cocktail and what your weekend plans should be.

One more thing. You might be wondering why I called this Quadrille. Squares are my favorite shape. End of story.

Welcome!