Mary Berman 409 Windcrest Dr.

San Antonio, Texas 78239 210-930-7836

www.fleurdelightflorals.net Artistic Design—Pamela Stephens

FLEURISH Volume 09, September 2019

Inside this issue:

Grandparents Day 1

Texas Toast 2

DSloan Hall 3

September Birthdays

4

WE ARE ON THE WEB!

WWW.FLEURDELIGHTF

LORALS.NET

The aster and the morning glory parade through September

as a duet of birthday flowers.

Asters, named for their star-like quality, self-centered with yel-

low, trade on their color spectrum of white, red, pink, purple, lavender, and blue and custom-

ize their appearance with grandeur and delicate grace. Portents of love and forbearance they

make the cut in floral arrangements. Medicinally, they find favor in Chinese curative agents

and in healthy salads.

According to mythology, the aster first appeared when the Greek god Virgo regretted the pau-

city of stars in the firmament, and as a bewitching charm could expel snakes by way of its per-

fume emitted once its leaves were burned.

The aster’s counterpart, the morning glory, favors the climate of

Mexico and North America. Its flower bursts forth and then succumbs

all in one day thereby hinting at ephemeral life and transitory existence.

As vines, morning glories mask ugliness in the landscape and spill

out from denser stems with horn-shaped flowers and heart-like leaves.

Carrying connotations of amorousness and devotion, morning glories

also mark 11th wedding anniversaries.

Acknowledgements: https://theflowerexpert.com/content/growingflowers/

flowersandseasons/aster

https://www.teleflora.com/meaning-of-flowers/aster

https://www.proflowers.com/blog/september-birth-flower-aster

https://www.hunker.com/12321582/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-morning-glory-flower

Birthday Flowers for September

H a p p y b i r t h d a y t o t h e V i r g o ( A u g u s t 2 3 — S e p t e m b e r 2 2 ) a n d t h e

L i b r a ( S e p t e m b e r 2 3 — O c t o b e r 2 2 ) w h o a l o n g w i t h t h e s a p p h i r e ,

r e c e i v e b e a u t i f u l A s t e r s a n d t h e M o r n i n g G l o r y .

Fleurish Issue 09 September 2019

Grandparent’s Day – September 8, 2019

Grandparents often are heralded in the family as matriarchs and

patriarchs, dispensing wise advice, giv-

ing solace, and offering a safe harborage

for family. The force behind initiating a

special day for Grandparents began with

Marion McQuade, from West Virginia.

Her initial sympathies lay with elderly

nursing home residents and eventually

grew to embrace all grandparents in the

“autumn” of their lives, but President

Billy Carter declared Grandparents Day

a national holiday in 1978 to affirm “the

strength, information, and guidance”

these progenitors propound.

In turn, gifts, time sharing, family history, in-

quiries, and outings with grandparents mark

this special time. Appropriately, forget-me-

not flowers have come to quantify this hon-

ored occasion.

Acknowledgements: https://

www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/national-grandparents-day

https://m.wilihow.com/Celebrate-Grandparents-Day

“If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk

forever in my garden.” – Claudia Adrienne Grandi

Texas Toast

Restaurant

Breaking bread means staking the sweet

culinary taste of success on Texas Toast

one slice at a time for Danny Romo and

Raymond Zalapa.

A re-done bungalow, formerly a taco café,

houses their new restaurant on a wide

swath of south Zarzamora Street framed

by modest houses, a tire shop, hair sa-

lons, car lots and insurance agencies. But

enter the restaurant and be greeted by a

cordial staff who seats customers at cus-

tom planked tables centered with fresh

roses. Another surprise awaits patrons

who order Texas-shaped waffles—these

arrive accompanied by humming-bird

butter delicately fused with fresh hibiscus

blossoms, and if a client looks around,

perhaps he will covet one of the ham-

burger plates where taste and presenta-

tion vie for attention with items placed

according to the meticulous artistic preci-

sion of a Swiss jeweler and where French

fries appear as plump curls turning

somersaults.

This eatery developed as the brain child of both Danny and Raymond over an eight year period. Both attended Lanier High School in the late 1980’s, but after high school Danny entered the food in-dustry while Raymond founded his com-pany Sign Stop 16 years ago just up the street on Kirk. Danny trod the corporate track first with Taco Cabana and then with the Cheesecake Factory, including a stint with the prestigious Galleria loca-tion in Houston. Meanwhile Raymond often provided corporate printing and graphic needs for Danny as their friend-ship developed.

While the men tossed the Texas Toast concept

back and forth, it eventually jelled. The restau-

rant became the missing link between Freder-

icksburg Road and Military Drive—a place

where customers could get five-star comestibles

(its rating on social media) at reasonable prices.

Currently, omelets, burgers, fruit, and breakfast

choices comprise the menu, but soups and a pie

gallery will follow soon.

“I learned by observing,” Danny said as he told

his story of getting into the food industry, “out of

necessity. I was surrounded by guys who wanted

to do it right, who had high expectations. What

we offer here is a good experience.”

As mentors, on his journey, Danny credits both

Chef Jorge Lora of Courtyard Café in Leon Val-

ley and retired Cheesecake executive Patrick

Crowe of Houston for their expertise.

Now adding to the affable atmosphere of Texas

Toast are Danny’s four cousins, a niece, and a

sister, who invite a hungry public to “get toast-

ed,” and savor the “well bread” classics that rise

from the kitchen’s, intriguing inventive turns of

a whisk.

To reach Texas

Toast call:

(210) 332-9684

Page 3 Volume 09, September 2019

Known as a “life style

store,” Sloan Hall is

stamped with the impri-

maturs of such powerful

business titans as Stanley

Marcus of the Neiman

Marcus empire and Rei

Kawakabo, a Tokyo high

fashion designer and

founder of two stores

Comme Des Garcons (CDG) and Dover Street

Market that exhibited her revolutionary looks and

helped cement her standing as a high fashion

priestess in the late 20th century.

Now Sloan Hall, in catering to its base of women

30 to 70 years of age, displays an array of inspired

designers. The sun streaming through three sides

of the building highlights gowns by Emile Gimpe,

an Austrian living in Los Angeles. Customers also

can select pattered wrap skirts made in Uganda;

Cesar Galindo short caftans bearing colorful west-

ern art; and vintage Diane Freis 30-year-old, nev-

er worn, beaded evening gowns ($250-$600) in

sizes 8 to 10. Similarly tempting, scarves by Yves

Saint Laurent, Ann Klein, and Albert Nippon

(among others) have assumed a new life as tops

and skirts. Shoppers likewise can savor Nance

Chapman’s embellished tops and handbags from

Jaipur as well as Noon by Noor’s sportswear clas-

sics from two female cousins, part of the royal

family in Bahrain.

Jewelry abounds as another option. Local artisan

Nancy Billups reinvents vintage pieces; Sherry

Fotopoulis uses a torch to produce her sterling

silver granulated necklaces; and a jeweler in Jai-

pur interprets images of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Similarly, footwear strolls in as Enji celebrates

African tribal images and a designer in India slips

in some bejeweled slip-ons.

Thus, at Sloan Hall, Texas entrepreneurs Marcus Sloan from San Saba and Shannon Hall from Jas-per have scoured the corners of the world to make wearable art a signature shopping experience in the Alamo City.

Sloan Hall Sloan Hall may bear the same name as an

Elon University dormitory in North Carolina,

but there is nothing sleepy or scholastic about

this San Antonio women’s boutique that nev-

ertheless earns top grades for its

geographically diverse inventory assembled

by Marcus Sloan and Shannon Hall, owners.

About to celebrate 25 years in business in

December in San Antonio, Marcus and

Shannon developed the store’s initial concept

four years after receiving their Master’s

Degrees from the University of Dallas and

Southern Methodist University, respectively.

They initially located the shop in the same

plaza that is home to Bird Bakery, but now

preside over the architecturally significant

85-year-old stand alone building bearing a

winged horse that flies above the structure at

the corner where the Austin Highway flows

into Broadway in Alamo Heights.

Then two decades ago, they expanded to

Houston at a shopping center at Kirby and

Westheimer, and now are welcoming a

satellite shop at the C. Baldwin Hotel in

Houston’s theater district.

At first Sloan Hall catered to the client who

could grab a gift and a card for $25 and be on

the way. Yet when Sloan Hall relocated to its

current site under the aegis of Pegasus (only

one of two such horses extant in the U.S.---

the other in Dallas at the Magnolia Hotel),

Marcus and

Shannon added

ladies’ apparel

from New York

and Paris mar-

kets. Today they

display jewelry,

cards, slippers,

fragrances, and

small home

accessories.

Marcus with his dog, Carolina.