What if women ran Wall Street? Could the financial meltdown that was precipitated by aggressive, greedy risk-takers have been avoided? Not only those who caused it, but also those in the government who were trying to fix it were, in almost all cases, men. What...
Hot Summer – Cool Art
The best way to escape the heat and have some fun at the same time is to sample some of the cool arts offerings around town. Literally cool, as in air-conditioned, and cool-exciting, cool-wonderful, cool-cool … you get the idea. Music and dance While most arts...
Sandbar Fish House & Market
previous downtown location, Sandbar was much like a pilot fish in its symbiotic relationship to a shark — in this case, the larger and more laureled Le Rêve. Though it may have been a destination for many, it was equally likely to have been a fallback for those not...
From Bachelor Abode to Family Paradise
If you whiz up Interstate 10 toward Fair Oaks, as so many people do these days, you’ll pass a cream-colored stucco house with a red tile roof high on a hill, hidden behind brush and trees. The natural camouflage conceals a five-acre gem that is home to San Antonio...
Teaching Kids to Perform
I arrive at the Stone Oak Youth Theater (SOYT) on a hot May afternoon, as two very different classes are about to start. In the original facility, a group of 7- to 12-year-olds are gathering to learn how to make and operate puppets, while two doors down in the same...
From Cancer Survivor to Cancer Care & Screening Specialist
Anyone who has ever faced a frightening medical diagnosis like breast cancer knows the importance of having a specialist who understands the most up-to-date developments in technology, medicine, treatments and tests in the battle against the disease. But it’s also...
Anna Maria Chávez – New Ways to be a Girl Scout
There’s a lot more to Girl Scouts than camping, crafts and cookies, says Anna Maria Chávez, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. Though she is often asked if Girl Scouts still make sit-upons (homemade cushions) and cook coffee-can casserole — yes...
Flying High: Flight attendants tell why they love their jobs
There was a time when being an air hostess was considered a glamorous temporary job for the young and beautiful. But things have changed. Though flight attendants must still pay attention to their grooming, today many women and a smaller number of men make it a...
Casa de Colores
The world is not black and white for Veronica Prida and Omar Rodríguez. Pulsing vibrantly with the colors of Mexican folk art, Mother Nature and personal exuberance, their Alamo Heights home displays the couple’s love of art, textiles and living. It’s like a constant...
A Passion for Flamenco
When I arrive at the Entre Flamenco new digs on Bandera Road, Estefania Ramirez proudly offers to give me a tour. At least twice the size of the company’s former quarters, the place is handsomely set up, with two actual studios, men’s and women’s dressing rooms,...
Remembering Don Strange of Texas
Showman. Innovator. Entrepreneur. And as humble and down-to-earth as they come. Don Strange became a legend in catering, and by his side, throughout it all, was Don’s wife of 48 years, Frances. And though Frances and many friends and clients kept telling Don he should...
Silo 1604 Doesn’t Disappoint
dining room at Silo 1604 is one of the city’s most effective restaurant spaces, especially at dusk, when it’s possible to experience the change from light and transparent to inner-focused and dramatic. For all of its sleek surfaces, the place is also acoustically...
On the Road to Becoming an RN: Svetlana Descamps
At Stone Oak Methodist Hospital, Svetlana Descamps isn’t a doctor, an administrator nor yet a registered nurse, but she’s a star. As she walks through the hospital’s corridors, giving a visitor a tour, staff in different departments smile when they see her...
Planning for Senior Living
Of course, we must. Along with knowledge, experience and, hopefully, joy, for most of us aging brings with it certain changes in our health and/or mental capabilities. We can do some things to stave off or at least lessen these changes by exercising both the body and...
San Antonio women are “Stepping Out” in the face of diabetes diagnoses.
Two years ago, Rosie Perez stared down the diabetes diagnosis many of us fear. But instead of backing down, Rosie took the bull by the horns and decided it was time to change her life. “In March 2009, prior to a surgical procedure, I was told that I was pre-diabetic....
Dr. Kimberly Finder- Putting Your Best Self Forward
When Kimberly Finder, M.D., first decided to become a doctor, her present subspecialty didn’t even exist. While growing up in El Paso, she says, “My grandmother lived with us, and I used to tag along to her doctor visits with my mother or my aunt. I knew that becoming...
Leaving Wall Street and Wal-Mart Behind
Catherine O’Gorman spent most of her early adult life getting some distance from San Antonio — only to decide that home and her first-ever professional interest were right for her after all. O’Gorman, who graduated from Alamo Heights High School, went on to earn...
Divorced but Working Together: How three couples have handled the situation
Few people do it, but some couples continue to work together after their personal relationship has been dissolved. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it works only for a while. Here is how three enterprising San Antonio couples dealt with their unusual situations....