Joy Fisher Hein had been a painter for decades, but what she really wanted to do was illustrate children’s books. Only she didn’t know how to go about it. “I did it blindly,” she says. “I would submit work to publishers and it would get rejected. I made a lot of...
Overcoming Holiday Stress
It’s the most wonderful time of the year …” or so Andy Williams croons in the beloved holiday song. Starting just after Halloween, mothers everywhere start preparing for the holiday season: making phone calls to relatives near and far, planning get-togethers and...
Make the Holiday Season a Green One
What’s green, has two legs and makes soft footprints on the earth? It’s not the the Green Hornet, the Green Giant or an alien. It’s the Ecoista. “What the heck,” you might ask, “is an Ecoista?” Well, it’s a woman who recycles, is environmentally conscious and is...
The Accidental San Antonian: Elisa Chan
Although Elisa Chan’s roots are half a world away, she’s not surprised to be representing her adopted city as a member of City Council. “San Antonio is this special place to me,” she says. “Everything important in my life has happened here: I met my husband here, we...
Women in Real Estate: From starter homes to high-end estates
It may not come as a surprise to those of us who live in and love Texas and the Alamo City, but the CNBC television cable network recently ranked Texas as one of the best states for business in America, and RelocateAmerica.Com named San Antonio as No. 5 in both its...
Building Houses and a Career: Valerie Hendricks
On a hot, sunny Saturday morning, Valerie Hendricks is at work —outside in a residential neighborhood near Palo Alto College, shuttling between two home sites, one nearly complete and one still at the framing stage. Like most houses in the immediate area, these two...
Women With a Cause: They tell how life-changing events and beliefs inspire them to serve
According to the website Volunteering in America, 21 percent of San Antonio residents volunteer their time for a cause that matters to them. Annually, each resident gives an average of 32 hours, and collectively, San Antonio contributes about $1 billion of service....
Bluffview Home Was Worth the Wait: Couple had eyes on cliffside Italian palace for years
American aphorist Mason Cooley wrote, “Irony regards every simple truth as a challenge.” For Lang Glotfelty, the simple truth was that he wanted a house in Bluffview that he couldn’t have. Someone else was living in it. So he bought another house in the neighborhood,...
Frederick’s Bistro: Dependable excellence is highlight of the menu
It’s 7 p.m. on a Wednesday evening, and Frederick’s Bistro is buzzing. We’re accorded one of the last two tables in a crowded dining room, and we sit down to wonder at the activity that some restaurants would find themselves fortunate to have on a Friday or Saturday...
Life Lessons I Learned from my Mother
If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it. My mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer; invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast, to be exact. The gripping fear I felt upon hearing those ugly words was like a cold, hollow ache in the pit of my...
Give your face a touch-up
Did you have a great summer, playing in sunny San Antonio? Perhaps you ventured to the Texas coast or went tubing or boating or swimming in a nearby lake. Maybe you just drove around town, to and from work, or ran some errands. Either way, if you didn’t use a sun...
Headache Hell?
Graphic descriptions like these are common among migraine sufferers. Migraines, also known as vascular headaches because blood vessels in the brain dilate, are usually intense and incapacitating with pulsating pain on one half of the head. Often nausea, vomiting,...
Hard Work Pays Off: Restauranteur Sandy Cerna
Growing up, I never wanted to be in the restaurant business,” says Sandy Cerna, whose parents ran a small breakfast-and-lunch eatery called El Jarro. “I thought it was just too much hard work.” But it was in her blood. Despite her early misgivings, little Sandy grew...
Moving On : Three women talk about life after divorce
Divorce has unfortunately become all too commonin contemporary society. Today, women initiate as many divorces as men, but regardless of who is the instigator, family dissolution is always a major upheavalfor both the divorcing spouses and their children.Yet life goes...
San Antonio Philanthropists Put Women and Children First
The spring social season was filled with fabulous and fun events celebrating women and children — from glamorous galas under the stars to luncheons featuring inspiring mothers to one-of-a kind runway fashion shows. The ladies of the Southwest Foundation Forum started...
The Waters Ran Deep: But La Casita at the lake survived
Lake Placid meanders on the outskirts of Seguin like a lazy river. It’s lined with homes of all kinds — some are bare-bones weekend homes and others, like the one in which Jeanette West and Raul Guerra reside, are small jewels that delight the senses. Like a diamond...
Running a Business From Out of Town
San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the United States and growing every day because of our friendly hospitality, economic diversity and energetic cultural scene. Even those who haven’t made the commitment to live in San Antonio are dipping their toes in the...
Chama Gaucha: It’s a paradise for meat lovers
The first surprise was the name: it’s not pronounced as you might think. The second surprise was the popularity: the place was nearly full on a Tuesday night. The third surprise is the price: much less than you might imagine for all-you-can-eat. The fourth surprise...