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Whole Foods Lakewood: Opens Monday

Hybrid vehicle parking right near handicapped… minus the big truck, of course.

Whole Foods Lakewood: Special Parking For Hybrids

Vehicles, that is. I could park in this spot — not the truck. (Sorry!)

Whole Foods Lakewood: Kids Will Want To Wash And Dry Their (Germy Little) Hands

This is a Dyson sanitizing hand dryer in the ladies’ bathroom. Pop in your hands, they are dried and cleansed. Rather OCD myself, I love this concept (just ordered my sanitizing wand for hotel rooms) and will be in the bathroom over there every day. As will the kids, I’m sure — just hope they don’t go sticking little Gerbils in there — oh Lord — horrors. �

Whole Foods Lakewood: No More Excuses Not To Cook

Or, like me, let meat and poultry get freezer burn in my freezer while I doodle around with recipe books. One-of-a-kind, this tech-age scale weighs your meat choice (even venison and buffalo), prices it, then prints off three recipes so you know what the hecvk to do with it, AND serve with it: appropriate side-dishes and the perfect wine selections are also included. Will it suggest the perfect guests? Spouse? Will it do the dishes?

Whole Foods Lakewood

60-foot long timeline marking notable events in Lakewood history and important dates in Whole Foods Market History. Anyone remember the Bluebonnet Cafe?

Whole Foods Lakewood

Since this store marks the move of the famous, 22 year staple Whole Foods on Lower Greenville, WFMI went to extra lengths to make this store a significant “crunchy” showcase and take a nod to the community’s as well as the chain’s lineage, as depicted with this 60-foot long wall timeline.

Whole Foods Lakewood

Counters are made of recycled bottles and jars.

Whole Foods Lakewood

Go green: Lights in the frozen food cases are motion-activated, turn on when a shopper walks by.

Whole Foods Lakewood

The personal shopper service is free the first time, fee thereafter but get this: this store utilizes “Go Green” Concierge Service which uses only hybrid and biofuel vehicles.

Whole Foods Lakewood — Way Cool Interiors

This store will receive L.E.E.D. certification for reducing its environmental impact and improving store occupants’ health and well-being. There are 47 skylights for natural sunlight and photo-responsive daylight controls that turn off when the daylight is sufficient. In other words, strong energy savings.

Whole Foods Lakewood — Sneak Peak Inside The New Store

Whole Foods Market opens its long-anticipated Lakewood store Monday, March 2…. and Lakewood homeowners will celebrate not only what is possibly the most “green” Whole Foods store in the chain (Austin, earmuffs) but a tremendous boost for Lakewood home values. “That store,” said Realtor Scott Carlson, “is going to give us all even more of an appreciation boost.” Not that Lakewood needs any help: though there’s plenty of inventory, sensibly priced homes there are selling well, agents tell me.�

House Porn: Different Strokes For Different Folks

Most talked about home in town. Lionel Morrison, architect. Stay tuned.

Golden Parachutes, Gilded Mansions

Interesting. And you know they are NOT living in $300,000 homes.

What If There Was No Home Mortgage Deduction

For folks who earn more than $250,000 per year. How would that affect home building and sales?

The Jonas Brothers Are Coming To Town

Tomorrow night. On a private jet. Playing at a private event. Hope it’s not at Daria Place. That’s all I know thus far, but stay tuned. Hope this news doesn’t do what cute Sarah Eveans did yesterday — crash the server — with her fab post on Chef Casey Thompson.

Oh let’s do it!

Bushes Need Furniture, And Their Newspaper

The Dallas Morning News says it is being delivered, but the security detail at Daria Drive and Meaders has to intercept it and then the Secret Service has to scan it — maybe they should just read everything online? But what I want to know: if the Bushes don’t have any furniture, what was in those moving vans?

Dallas Foodie Homes

Those People are so darn smart — thanks, Miss Krista Nightengale!

What Price Home Does An Annual Salary Of $250,000 Buy?

I’m just saying here — looking ahead to how much house someone who earns $250,000 a year will be able to buy as we re-distribute the wealth. Not saying it shouldn’t be re-distributed, not saying it should. (Thain’s should.) OK, $250,000 in the 28% income tax bracket. That leaves $180,000. Or a monthly income of $15,000. Lots of money. We had a car lease of $1,000 on that Beamer, and maybe a little college loan out there. We are down to $13,000. We charge about $4500 a month — we pay that off. We donate and/or fritter another $1000. Did I forget anything? That leaves us $7500 for PITI — house payment, taxes and insurance.

I ask you: what price range home can you afford with $7500 a month?�

Real Estate Doom & Gloom… But Maybe Not So Much In Dallas

Order an extra $4 latte today because the housing headlines will give you a headache: January sales plunge to lowest levels since 1963, JP Morgan warns of upcoming problems now in home equity . Thank you, Texas legislature, for keeping our home equity at an 80% loan to value ratio, there isn’t much difference between 2007 and the days when paps gambled away the ranch at poker! Let’s see, my financial blogs say the Fed is zombified, and a $250,000 annual salary is the new max before you have to equalize society. Must see for all: House of Cards . But the sun is shining — just received word that a property I toured last week, haven’t even downloaded the photos yet, is being circled by a buyer who’s interest renewed after the agent put some time, elbow grease and love into this house. Kind of turned it from S&M Dungeon dark (do I capitalize dungeon?) to bright, fresh, light, airy… details and photos forthcoming.

Foodie Chef’s Homes

Now why didn’t I think of this? (I just love Zillow!) I’m going to go dig up some dirt on our local Dallas chef celebs. Stay tuned — Dean, Kent, I’ll be by your house in the next few days, camera in hand!

This Sounds Vaguely Familiar

Not that I have a monopoly on this subject, but it sounds a lot like my story, with a few extra quotes tossed in.

Golf Porn: Water View

Graveyard for golf balls?

Golf Porn: The Tribute

Nice and green in more ways than one.

George Bush Moves To Dallas, New Golf Course Opens

I find this highly suspicious. We know that after D.C., George Bush has got to be slightly bored — I mean, he’s going to Cooper, to his new temp office, Elliot’s, fund-raising for the new library in an economy that is sucking bad polluted air. Then this press release crosses my desk: The Tribute Golf Course is opening up Lake Lewisville. It’s a master-planned community plus course by Justin Leonard, and has a “green alliance” with the home builders surrounding it. In case you don’t know, golf courses these days, like home builders, all boast of their green-ness, not to be confused with the color of the turf. They try to minimize irrigation and hard surfaces, limit turf grass, courses by the sea actually use salt-water to irrigate. This one has all the bells and whistles and I hear Tribute has offered the former president a free guest pass just to lure him in, maybe get him out of Laura’s hair… oh Lord, wait ’till he sees that he could have paid $280,000 and had a green home on the green instead of what he paid to be on Daria Place:

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