As a Lifestylist®, there is nothing I enjoy more than hanging out with creative people and spending hours talking about a great film or an amazing experience. Every year the USA Film Festival allows me to meet amazing actors, artists, and people who appreciate great art, and it's an event I make sure that I'm always in Dallas for. Even when I was living in Tucson I made a point of coming back to Dallas every year to attend so I could emerse myself in the experience that makes this festival so special.

One of the reasons I love The USA Film Festival so much is because they seem to know what I'll like to watch even before I do. It's a wonderful blend of everything from student films to classics, and they have honored such amazing guests as Sir Anthony Hopkins, Martin Sheen, Ray Liotta, Gary Oldman, Robert Altman, Oliver Stone, Jody Foster, Glen Close... the list is so long I don't even know where to start. Plus being a member has given me the opportunity to have life changing conversations with filmmakers like Tim Hetherington about his film Restrepo. I'll never have this opportunity again because he was killed shortly after that.

Favorite memories? Getting to pick up Arthur Novell, the publicist for Henson Productions at the airport. He was easy to find - he had a leather jack on with Kermit embroidered on the back. Racing go carts with Gary Oldman and beating him! He was a great sport and I think he really enjoyed it. Having an in-depth conversation with Anthony Hopkins about factory built housing (did I mention that I'm also a Trailer Diva?) and I'd also have to say spending time with Octavia Spencer and Tate Taylor discussing The Help. Oh - and did I mention getting a huge hug from Tony Curtis? THAT is a memory I will never forget!

I have a feeling this will be another year of great memories - when I received the schedule there truly wasn't one film that I didn't want to see. As a Lifestylist® who does a lot of home design, "The Queen of Versailles" on opening night looks fascinating and is at the top of my list. Peter Ford: A Little Prince looks amazing, and the tributes to Elliott Gould and Rob Reiner will be unforgettable.

Some of the screenings have already sold out, but as a member of the USA Film Festival you can get preferred seating and invitations to meet some of the guests at some of the different levels of membership. To get more information on membership you can email the festival at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Now that The Margaret Hunt Hill bridge is open in West Dallas, The Trinity Groves community is coming alive with some amazing new stores, restaurants and original ideas. One of those is The Workroom -the brain child of curator Nick Troillo. It defies a traditional label - The Workroom is a combination of a design and floral studio, art gallery, and event space. Thursday they are going to host a very special gathering that they hope will become a regular event - A night of Wine and Chocolates.

Nick has teamed up with JR Richardson of Oak Cliff Cellars and Stephen Smith of NIB Chocolates to create some special pairings created just for this evening. Join us Thursday April 19th from 7: - 8:30pm for this very special event. Tickets are $25.00 per person, and you need to reserve your glass by calling 214-663-0857.

The last few years have been hard ones for anyone in the home business. After being involved in this wonderful industry for almost 30 years, a lot of the people I've gotten used to seeing at conventions and events aren't around any more, and the numbers have dwindled down to a few of us survivors.

As a result I just haven't had the interest in working on things that I used to take joy in at The Home Idea Factory - we haven't had a party here in ages, and last year I didn't even plant my gardens. But this year I decided it was time to enjoy what I have and remember what I love so much about gardening and having such a unique dwelling to explore my creativity in.

Thankfully, the housing market and even my neighborhood have the same positive emotions right now, and their seems to be a rebirth slowly emerging that can be a sign of better things to come. The Taqueria next to the Idea Factory is reopening and the menu sounds amazing. The International Builders Show that was just held was full of participants with renewed optimism, and the Manufactured Housing Institute Congress and Expo that will be happening next week has a growth in attendees as well.

I have gotten some herbs and tomato plants in the ground and some of my flowers have started to bloom. Tomorrow I fly out to speak at the Congress and Expo on design trends, and I'm really looking forward to hearing more about the rebirth of the housing industry.

Today was one of those once in a lifetime days when you get to experience things that move you so much you'll never forget them.

The Nasher Sculpture Center is such a magical place, and today that was the case more than ever. The gardens truly became enchanted when the mystical beasts arrived that were designed by Nick Cave - an artist in residence at The University of North Texas. This performance art was a year long labor of love by Cave and 800 students, helpers, and faculty members of UNT. I thought I was prepared for the experience when I got there, but I had no idea.

The students were dressed in "soundsuits" raffia covered outfits rich in color that made each of the beasts unique. They started in the Nasher Sculpture garden wandering through the artwork and interacting with the crowd. When I heard about this performance what I didn't expect was that the artists in the suits would their characters come to live as much as they did - the horses were grazing, rubbing against the trees and drinking in the pond just as real horses would.The children that were there were entranced by these steeds - I loved watching one come down on it's knees so the child could pet it's head.

When the drums started the horses slowly wandered through the gallery and out to the street where the choreographed performance took place. As they continued to prance and play, you forgot that you were watching a performance and just fell in love with the experience - I didn't want it to stop because it felt like one of those perfect moments in time.

Afterwards I met this cute little redhead who did just what I would have done at her age - she collected up some of the stray "horsefeathers" that would remind her always of this special day.

Mr. Nasher was such an amazing presence at the Nasher -he was always there to greet you and loved talking about art and his collections. I learned so much from him during our very short talks, and if you look carefully when you visit the Nasher next time you will see this wonderful photo of him. I just wish that I could have thanked him for special moments like today that were made possible by his vision for bringing the arts to Dallas, but I will be thanking the Nasher family for the magic and beauty that they share with all of us.

The National Association of Home Builders released their Improving Markets Index last week, and it was interesting to see which markets they see coming back. One of the hotter markets seems to be in Western NY where one of my favorite builders and developers - Riedman Development is located. I know they have been very successful with their Hammocks apartment communities and @home Builders.

It was also really exciting to see that the Tyler, TX area made the chart - that is the area that the Red Baron Companies builds in and is home to their Ruby Trails subdivision.

It sounds like it's going to be a great year for companies with Lifestylist® Designed model homes!

The Container Store is one of the great American success stories. Not only do they sell a great product, they also are one of the best companies to work for.

When I got an invitation to the opening of their newest store I was thrilled! I was really curious to see how they would incorporate their corporate culture and products into the event.

The evening was a delight -they truly thought of everything. You got a name tag when you checked in, and it was fun to see corporate and store team members identified on their tags. The way they incorporated their products into the food and beverage displays was brilliant and I now have lots of new ideas on how to serve and entertain. Using the Elfa storage to serve from was my favorite -I'm thinking I'm going to be buying some new components for The Home Idea Factory soon!

There was a live band and dance floor that never stopped and servers were always nearby to offer you a beverage or more food. On your way out there were cupcakes to take with you, and when you turned in your name tag you got a really nifty thank-you - a full size Reisenthel nylon shopping bag that folded down to a 2" x 4" size with a snap on it. It is going to be perfect to add to my travel kit to use when I'm on the road and buy too much to carry.

The opening benefited the Junior League of Arlington and they donated 10% of all sales during opening weekend.

In case you are one of the few people who haven't heard about it, Dallas has a new bridge that people seem to either love or hate. The opening festivities for the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge were this weekend and it was exciting to be able to finally walk over the bridge and enjoy the new architecture closeup.

There has been a lot of discussion about if Dallas really needed a bridge that supposed cost $180,000,000 in that location, and the media has started calling it "The Bridge to Nowhere". Proprietor Nick Troilo of The Workroom has this to say: "People said, the bridge to nowhere," he said. "But anyone in their right mind realized it would be the bridge to somewhere." Troilo's store is directly on Singleton which is one of the main roads that the new bridge connects to. He is one of the first new businesses to put down roots in this emerging neighborhood, and it's so rewarding to already see that the Workroom is being recognized as the place to discover unique art, gifts and decor items. Their T-Shirts and hats that they made with an outline of the bridge on it have become a new signature for Dallas.

The diversity that is such a huge part of the charm in West Dallas are one of the many things that make it a destination and a chosen lifestyle. I can't wait to watch this area grow and flourish. For more information on West Dallas, contact The West Dallas Chamber of Commerce.

It's a very busy weekend in Dallas! The long anticipated opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is kind of happening in West Dallas - the festivities are this weekend but the bridge won't be open to traffic until the end of the month. That gives you little more time to actually walk on the bridge and enjoy this masterpiece without being honked at.

Bridge-O-Rama is the part of the celebrations that is being hosted by the West Dallas Chamber of Commerce and the many businesses that call West Dallas home. Our client The Workroom and proprietor Nick Troilo have been busy hosting events and meetings leading up to the opening, and today is going to be a really big day - The Parade of Giants will be going on in front of the store at 422 W. Singleton! We found the secret location where they have been designing these giant puppets and can't wait to see the finished products today.

Be sure to stop into The Workroom and purchase one of the limited edition bridge TShirts and hats that Nick designed. The bridge is sure to be the new icon for Dallas, and these shirts are bound to become collectors items. You can also follow Nick and The Workroom on Facebook.

This was an interesting year at The International Builders Show - attendees seemed to be more intrigued with the factory built homes presented by Palm Harbor and Nationwide Homes than the ones the were built using traditional forms of construction.

Kevin Flaherty, VP of Marketing For Genesis and Champion Home Builders teamed up with Paul Emrath, VP for Survey and Housing Policy Research at NAHB to lead a press conference on Characteristics of Modular Homes. Kevin is also Vice Chairman for the Building Systems Council of NAHB and did a great job presenting why modular housing will continue to be a preferred way to build.

Flaherty stated that "builders are looking for new solutions in today's challenging economic climate. When homeowners choose modular construction, as they often do, they experience measurable savings in cost and time."

Emrath shared statistics on how the cost and time savings can be measured with the U.S. Census Bureau's data on housing starts. "The Census Bureau publishes characteristics of new housing, but typically doesn't show detail for modular homes. By tabulating the Census data ourselves, we can see the characteristics of today's modular homes in some detail, and compare modular to site built construction."

The data shows that average start to completion time for a modular home is 5 months currently compared to 6.9 months for a site-built (or as Flaherty called them open air constructed - love that!) home. When I asked Flaherty how long it takes for a modular home to be actually built on one of the Genesis and Champion manufacturing facilities, he said that it typically takes two weeks of plant time for the home to be constructed, but some of their facilities are capable of building 9 homes a day!

So what are the characteristics of a modular home? Expect to find a home that is:

*Green - factory built housing has a lot less waste and the facilities to extensive recycling.

*Well Constructed - modular homes tend to be a "tighter build" due to the benefits of building in a controlled environment.

*Cost Effective - modular construction can offer great cost savings when labor isn't available in an area and when it's a hard area to build in.

Mr. Flaherty also brought up the fact that more private equity companies are getting involved in modular housing because they see the potential. That to me is a great sign that this is a trend that will continue to grow.

We just got back from The International Builders Show and there were so many great things to see and do it's going to take me weeks to catch up! I like having those types of problems though, and after attending the show and having the rare opportunity to hear Ben Bernanke speak about true solutions that can help the building industry, I'm optimistic about what lies ahead.

One of my favorite seminars this year was hosted by the NAHB 20 Club Program which I think is one of the most important groups in the NAHB. Twenty non-competitive builders make up a group that gets together a few times a year to be open about their different business practices and share their successes and failures. Thermador is a major sponsor of this group and their participation has helped to make this program a vital resource for builders. They have made their amazing culinary center available for the 20 Club meetings and have been very supportive in every way possible.

David Riedman - President of Riedman Development and @home Builders has been a member of one of these groups for years, and he has always raved about how important they have been to the growth of his company. He was gracious enough to take time out of his very hectic schedule and share how this group has helped him. He was joined by three other panelists that are also very active, and are very successful in spite of the housing downturn. I think that says a lot for the value of these groups.

Being involved in his local Home Builders Association (he is a past president), the 20 Club and now having more of a national presence is one of the reasons @home Builders is so respected in the Rochester and Western New York housing markets.

If you would like to obtain a copy of his speech and find out more about the 20 Club program, it is available on MobilTape here.