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Westcave Preserve Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel
Only one in several dozen benefits actually inspires your social columnist. That’s because we hear so many similar stories about helping those in need. Nevertheless, the Westcave Preserve gala — part...
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Women's Symphony League Luncheon and Fashion Show at Palmer Events Center
Sometimes, the best fashion shows are simplest, cleanest and most straightforward. The luncheon runway expo for the Women’s Symphony League was all that and more — smart, musically evocative and I dare...
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Ballet Austin Fête and Fêt*ish at Driskill Hotel
I don’t know why it happens. The most curious conversations bloom at the Ballet Austin’s Fête. They last for hours. And they linger in one’s memory for years. Paul and Natalie Bardagjy Years ago, we...
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The Art of Giving for American Diabetes Association at Hilton Austin
Some parties come in colors. The Black and White Ball. The White Party. The Red Gala. Christina and Michael Jaouni Color the Art of Giving for the American Diabetes Association beige. This is not meant...
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Untold Austin Stories: Mayfield Park and Preserve
Few great gardens are the product of one gardener. In the case of the Mayfield Park and Preserve, located just east of Laguna Gloria, the grounds grew out of a partnership during the 1920s and ’30s...
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Profile: Science Educator Karen Ostlund
At a recent party, innovative Austin educator Steve Amos overheard guests talking about books they had written. Amused, he asked Karen Ostlund aloud how many she had dashed off. Ostlund: “More than...
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Topfer Theatre Grand Opening with Bernadette Peters
Wow. Wow. Wow. Christina and Louis Messina Austin social and theater history was made on Thursday night. The Topfer Theatre opened grandly with an intimate concert from stage star Bernadette Peters and...
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Profile: Forager Tink Pinkard
Few parents dream that their son will grow up to be a forager. What would that mean anway — outside of a Stone Age culture? For Austin forager Tink Pinkard it translates into hunting, fishing, farming,...
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Jewel Ball for Austin Symphony at Palmer Events Center
It wasn’t as scary as I had feared. No really, I was frightened of the Jewel Ball, a debutante affair staged by the Women’s Symphony League for decades. All the talk of queens and princesses, knights...
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Texas Monthly BBQ Festival at the Long Center
Some things don’t change. The longest line at the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival? Austin’s own Franklin Barbecue, which generates epic waits every day it opens. Can’t get enough of that brisket! Lynn...
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Real Magazine: Crestview profile
A little taste of the Crestview profile I wrote for Real magazine — and a link. Any initial stroll through Crestview should begin at the Wall of Welcome. From a distance, this low barrier along Woodrow...
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The Big Give for I Live Here I Give Here at Driskill Hotel
The news that, in one year, Austin zoomed from 48th to 33rd in per capita giving among big American cities — that according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy — didn’t get much play here. Perhaps we...
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Austin Gives to the World
Here’s a snippet — and a link — from my story today on Austin’s new charitable focus on the rest of the world. Experts estimate that, in the past 15 years, Central Texans have given more than $1...
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Topfer Theatre Grand Opening 2 with Brian Stokes Mitchell
If Bernadette Peters broke in Zach’s new Topfer Theatre, Brian Stokes Mitchell consecrated it. The second Broadway star to sing during the grand opening weekend talked about the sacred nature of...
View ArticleReal Magazine: Austin socializing in October
This appeared in the Friday edition of Real magazine. October, socially speaking, is festival month in Austin. Beyond the exalted thrills of the Austin City Limits Music Festival (Oct. 12-14, Zilker...
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Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at Crown Plaza
Small businesses earn a lot of attention from politicians. At least in theory. And some of the more charismatic small businesses are regularly lionized in the press. Rudy Colmenero and Estella Galan...
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Untold Austin Stories: Old Bakery and Emporium
Nowadays, few people would consider demolishing a truly significant old Austin building. While preservationists remain rightly vigilant, the era of wholesale “urban renewal” is but a memory. Give some...
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Tribeza Public School Pop Up Shop at Revival Cycles
Rarely does a party surprise me. The Public School Pop Up Shop at Revival Cycles, part of Tribeza Style Week, did. Big time. Koli and KC Hurst It took place at a familiar artist studio complex in a...
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Retired Officers' Wives Club of Austin Luncheon at Green Pastures
Here’s somebody to interview at length: Martha Kirby. “Michael Barnes has written more than 9,000 articles,” intoned Kirby, 90, as she nodded in my direction from the dais during the Retired Officers’...
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Urban League Dinner at AT&T Center
I’m just getting to know the Austin Area Urban League. Of course, I was aware of the group’s leadership during the fight for civil rights. But I didn’t know its origins in finding work for African...
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