Deer is Dead?...sometimes literaly

Was it dramatic foreshadowing that had warned me against it?

As Payan and I prepared for our holiday road trip to California, I scanned the my fav design site - Apartment Therapy - and saw that they were debating whether the "deer trend" was dead. The NY Times ran a similar article, this time declaring the whole antler thing kaput. Deer was officially Dead.



Then my beloved niece called and asked me to drive her little Honda out to Califas instead of my trusty Jeep Cherokee. I didn't think of it as a dangerous option -- plus I really liked Ashley and wanted to support her escape from muggy Houston for a West Coast Disney internship. She'd flown out the month before and told me how she was shivering now that the cold weather had set in with no car of her own or boots to wear. How could I turn her down?



So Payan and I took 2 extra days trying to pack up her little car with all our gear. Our shiztsu Poopi wasn't happy about the setup.



As a result we headed out much later than we'd planned. I knew we had to make up for lost time if we expected to work my family's annual toy giveaway the morning of the 24th, which we had promised to videotape.



Sissi cat was a trooper and settled into a comfortable position. Victor was exhausted, so I took the first shift on the road heading West. The night caught up to us pretty fast...



...and I began to see the bodies of dead deer all over the road. Driving at a 35-mile-an-hour crawl thru the Texas wilderness took forever. My eyes were anxiously straining for any live animals crossing the road...hour after hour.

Of course, Fate had other plans, and I did hit a deer...even though I swerved to miss it. It was awful. My niece's car was badly damaged. Thankfully, the engine was still running so we scattered some rose petals and said a prayer for the poor deer before continuing on.



I'll spare you the gruesome images and emotional fallout of this sad event. Payan and I were just glad to be alive. As we drove thru New Mexico, we knew we wouldn't make it to the Festival Hall event in time, but were comforted knowing we both had family in Arizona to at least share Noche Buena with.



My sister-in-law Lydia waited up for us with her shiztsu Lina. Poopi was relieved to be on solid ground when we arrived.



Christmas Eve this year for us was people and not a geographical location. We had some hot toddies, recharged and gave thanks for the best Christmas blessing of them all...health y familia.

The Most Beautiful Homes of San Antonio 2007

I know San Antonio is surrounded by acres of multi-million dollar McMansions, but these cookie cutter developments just don't float my boat. I've always harbored a soft spot for older homes with character. Maybe I've watched too many British dramas on PBS or have a secret crush on Bob Villa from "This Old House"?

Antonia's home with the charming turret and green roof

One of the great things about this town is that it has an abundance of historic homes. This isn't the disposable So Cal culture I grew up in, where yesterdays relics are regularly bulldozed in the name of "progress". Aaaand, since the holiday house parties are in full swing, I've been fortunate to receive several invitations to actually visit these gems and see what they look like on the inside.

Antonia y sus admiradoras

First off is Antonia Castañeda's house. She heads a wonderful women's group called MALCS and is one of the brave souls helping to revitalize the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center.



It was such a pleasure to see the loving attention to detail displayed throughout Antonia's home.



Everywhere one's gaze fell, there was a beautiful figurine or gorgeous vignette.



I especially loved the modern steel shelves in her traditional kitchen. It gave the whole room a chic and edgy vibe.



Aren't these Mexican tin folk hearts flanking "Que Bonito Amor" ("A Beautiful Love") just precious? And the bathroom terracotta tortoise was also a charming touch.



Later that week, I got to visit the home of Roberta Hassle, a business woman and arts patron who sits on the board of the Martinez Street Women's Center.

Roberta's cool Frida Kahlo nestled among the branches

I love Roberta's Frida glass ornament and her eclectic mix of furniture, especially the divine mid-century dining room ensemble.



Hassle's awesome art collection was an inspiration as well. My New Year's Resolution will be to get more of our artwork properly framed.



This woman has an excellent use of color throughout her home. I luvit!



My final soiree in San Anto for 2007 was at Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark's lovely Woodlawn home. She was kind enough to chat with me a bit after the party about San Antonio gastronomy. Now I know where to get the best torillas. ;-) Plus, I got to explore Ellen's lush courtyard and garden.



A bewitching moonlight walk led me to the glowing embers of a bonfire...



...and a twinkling fairy shrine. Pure magic, from deep in the heart of Tejas.

The MacArturos are coming to town, and I need a coffee table...

The MacArthur "Genius" Award is mysterious and much coveted honor. Who wouldn't want an award where you're surprised by a morning phone call announcing you've won $500,000 with no strings attached? Each year about a dozen Americans are thus honored -- the result of a secret selection process.

One of these MacArthur winners, the writer Sandra Cisneros, decided that she would host a reunion for the Latino "MacArturos." That was 10 years ago, and this weekend 18 Latino Geniuses will gather again in San Antonio for a series of lectures and workshops. My hometown hero, Ruben Martinez, will fly in along with my long lost friend, playwrite Luis Alfaro and art star Guillermo Gomez-Peña. What a meeting of the minds!

Given our arts & culture work, it's inevitable that one of these nights some "geniuses" will head over to our pad for drinks and conversation. I'm already feeling a bit ashamed about our shabby couch -- an early 60's classic sectional in bad need of reupholstering -- but what truly concerned me was our lack of a coffee table. There's this gaping hole in the center of our lovely parlour where an elegant mesa should go.

So I set off, determined to track down the puurrfect piece. My previous weeks online yielded nothing interesting. Since I'm not a fan of Ikea-type pasteboard and wanted something with character, the antique shops of San Antonio were my last hope...

The storefronts on Hildebrant offered pieces worthy...

....of a Holly Hobby dollhouse.


Funky shops on South Flores yeilded over-tha-top glamour.


Was it "Hollywood Regency" or a Hollywood Trainwreck?


And the offerings at the antique warehouse on Broadway...


....were mind-numbingly dull.

I finally wandered into a cute spot run by an earthy Latina named Dora...
...and found the gem I'd been looking for.

A perfect fit!


Now we're ready ;-) Amazing how a little home fine-tuning can feel sooo good.

Milk Crates

Milk Crate stools featured on www.treehugger.com

While visiting San Antonio last year, and teaching a youth video course, my wandering eye was enchanted by the many lovely homes there. The prices I found were just as appealing. I persueded my then boyfriend Victor to consider purchasing one these chateaus. He expressed the usual uneasiness about committing to a 30 year mortgage and concern about moving costs, furnishings, etc.

"It won't cost much more than were paying in rent now. We'll use milkcrates as furniture!" I pledged. And I meant it.

Years before, while living in a Downtown LA loft, a resourceful friend of mine had moved into a tiny room above Al's Bar. It was a temporary dwelling, bridging the gap between baby-daddy farewells and a dazzling new life in Hawaii. Nicole put her gorgeous furnishings into storage and vowed to use only milkcrates in her new home. I was amazed to see the ingenious ways she constructed these items...making floor to ceiling shelving, tables, chairs...everything out of milkcrates!



But when Victor & I arrived in Texas, we found that only 2 of our crates had survived the journey, so all hopes of creating a milkcrate wonderland were tossed out the window. I had to use more "conventional" furniture...and so began the hunt.

I researched for weeks, in shops and various sites online. After aquiring a reasonably priced selection -- see my Flikr account for details http://www.flickr.com/photos/pocharte/ -- I signed up for an on-line interior design "support group" to further refine my vision on www.apartmenttherapy.com

Of course Victor was not amused. "What happened to 'we'll use milkcrates'?" he lamented as each giant box arrived. But finally accepting the inevitable, even Payan had to admire my selections.

Thus began my burning desire to round out the collection. A coffee table quest is in the works...