Z’s is Zupendous: Z’s Café and Catering is an interesting collaboration between the Capua family and Samaritan House, and a quaint getaway for lunch in the Cultural District. Carlo Capua likes to brag on his chicken salad, which has been berry, berry good to Mr. B, but if you gorge and go without having a brownie…well, let’s just say you’ve missed out on a heaping of heaven. Be a winner of one of these four lunch treats for two –anything on the menu with a bottled drink – and, good Samaritan that he is, we’re betting Carlo will throw in a brownie.
Toad talk: Mr. B was having lunch with gal pal Kelsey, the wife of TCU football coach Gary Patterson, when Purple Reign hisownself joined us. Mr. B suggested TCU could be a Top-5 team if Coach P brought back former coach and present Chamber boss BBB (Big Boss Bill Thornton). Gary guffawed. So Mr. B suggested some plays and Coach P was piqued. Two of you can hear more & sit with Mr. B when the fortuitous Frog speaks at the Chamber’s South Area Council luncheon next Thursday at TCU.
Calling Dr. Drake, calling …: In 1981, Rick Springfield’s fledgling music career was so fledgling that he took a job as Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital. That same year, Jessie’s Girl went to No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart. And General Hospital was No. 1 among daytime dramas. Holy, instant superstar. Rick is 60 August 23 —yikes!—still playing Dr. Drake and still singing Jessie’s Girl. Princess Pam at Billy Bob’s Texas has four pair of tickets to see him there Aug. 1.
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In sticker shock over your health care costs? Members attending last week’s Minding Your Business at the Residence Inn Marriott on Museum Way talked about ways to decrease costs by keeping employees healthy, including weight loss, stress management and preventing illness.
L to R: Dr. Toby Erwin and Dr. Dorothy A. Lowe, Back to Wellness Center; Diana Dugan, Samaritan House; Trent Simmons, Texas Power; and Don Barnes, Texas Driving Experience.
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Hot, hot, hot: Used to be that you could make some salsa with tomatoes, onions, green chilies and jalapeños or chipotles. That was before Renfro Foods started experimenting with raspberry chipotle, peach and other flavored salsas. Well, success breeds more flavored salsas, including the three newest from Doug and Bill —pineapple, pomegranate and tequila. B and friends – ok, friend – overdid the tequila salsa during the July 4 freedom-mania celebration and totally missed July 5. Gal pals Becky and Jane diced up six gift packs of the flavored sensations for giveaways.
Coupon clippers: The Chamber’s online member-to-member discounts have some terrific bargains. Some are direct offers, some are coupons. One of the newer ones is a 50 PERCENT discount for certain TCU Horned Frog football season tickets. Yes, wise guy, they’re seats in the stadium. And there are two remaining Texas Rangers offers this month. Unfortunately, Yoko Ono put the kibosh on discounted Paul McCartney concert tickets.
Plus desserts: Sue Johnson of Printing Plus has picked up some business from restaurants, including Del Frisco’s. Wonder if her invoices ask for cash and steak dinners.
Lame humor: This from Reagan Ferguson, a veep at Summit Press: “If you receive an email from the Department of Health telling you not to eat pork in a tin because of swine flu, go ahead and ignore it…it’s just Spam."
Planting an idea: Too bad Seville Farms is a wholesaler, because its selection of trees and plants is superb. Maybe we can get Billy Brentlinger to offer a Chamber member or Newz-E-Letter special.
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She might be into you: Jennifer Rentfrow, the personable business development diva for Fidelity National Title Higgins & Shurtz, took an online quiz: “When Will I Get Married?” Answer: Nov, 25, 2009. Well, well. She doesn’t even have a boyfriend, so she took the “When Will I Have a Boyfriend?” quiz. Answer: Three months. Hey, that works. There’s a month in between boyfriend and marriage to plan the wedding.
Really not so bad: Those of you old enough to remember the late ’80s in these parts might find this staggering -- area foreclosures from 1986-89 were 2,070; area foreclosures from 2006-09 were 188.
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Who you calling cheap?: Forbes magazine is calling us out --Fort Worth and Arlington --calling us the most cost-effective place to live among metropolitan areas in the West-South-Central region of the United States. The magazine story was titled Where To Live Cheaply and listed Fort Worth as a bargain boomtown.
Personal branding: If your Facebook profile is an advertisement, what is yours saying about you? Vision Fort Worth is holding a luncheon for young professionals on July 29th at The Fort Worth Club. Megan DiMauro, a career consultant with Lee Hecht Harrison, will go beyond the basics of social media and explain how keep a professional and personal balance.
Condolences: With all the MJ, Farrah, Anna Nicole coverage, you probably missed out on the death of Mighty Awesome, a 17-year-old sorrel overo stallion that was quite the breeder. The American Paint Horse Association will pay Mighty an awesome tribute in its August magazine.
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What’s your beef? If traffic seems a bit “heavy” on University Drive through Aug. 2 it’s because more than 10,000 head of cattle are being transported to the Will Rogers Equestrian Center for the NCHA Summer Spectacular. Prize money is a whopping $2.1 million. Mr. B went shopping during a break in the cutting and got a cool Jeff Hooper bobblehead.
Cowboy culture: The Fort Worth Stockyards National Day of the American Cowboy is Saturday, July 25th. American Cowboy magazine called it “The best event of its kind in the nation.”
Giddyup: His two kids are into rodeo. He’s into cutting horses. Winter and 24 degrees in Illinois convinced Alex Christodulidis to move to Fort Worth in February. He owns Axioneering, a Six Sigma consulting company.
Here’s to your health: Things we learned from Back to Wellness Center at last week’s Chamber seminar:
- Every 30 seconds, a business files for bankruptcy because of owner health problems. And 75 percent HAVE health insurance.
- Your body is built for survival, not health.
- $6,280 is spent a year per person on health care.
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Picking up the pieces: The tornado that descended upon Eagle Mountain Lake last month caused $10K damage to Adley Transportation honcho Will Adley’s cabin cruiser. He’ll be lake-worthy next month. Meantime, he says business is good, except for all the ugly stares and late checks he is being asked to pick up and transport.
Be a part of it all: OK, so you make more than Mr. B’s 37 cents an hour but still can’t part with the $1 million to be a “Founder” sponsor for the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium. And you couldn’t afford thousands of dollars for seat rights to Dallas Cowboys games. There are other options. It’s not too late to be part of the Star-Telegram’s stadium commemorative special section in August or to sign up for a business or volunteer opportunity with the North Texas Super Bowl Committee.
Saluting greatness: Mr. B has been a runner-up for Chamber Small Business of the Year more times than Susan Lucci. One year, he lost out to a BANKRUPT company. At his salary, boss Miserly Mistress asks if it really can be considered a business. Maybe you’re doing better. If so, it’s time to enter your company for the competition.
Happy birthday: We sent the same greeting last year, but at 100 years old, the Fort Worth Zoo probably doesn’t remember that. Our wonderful, wild habitat has begun a two-month birthday celebration. Where were you July 16, 1909?
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Measured answer: Eagle eye Andy Nantz of Mr. Electric was shocked by a Chamber endorsement release about advertising on its regional map. Andy pointed out the map is probably 28” x 40” and not 28’ x 40,’ which might present a folding problem.
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