April’s parents sent their daughter a subscription to Gulfscapes at their California address.  Frances knew they wanted to build and decorate a coastal style home, and Gulfscapes was full of great ideas and photographs.  A story about award winning jewelry designer Peter Barr and the gorgeous ads picturing his custom pieces caught April’s eye.  While her engagement ring was beautiful, she felt it simply did not go with her wedding band.  She began to think of having the ring redesigned, and Peter Barr was the artist she wanted to do the job.  As far as April was concerned, a meeting with Peter Barr was going to be her first task once their move to Texas was complete.

A quick sale of their California home brought the Mladys to Texas faster than anticipated.  They settled into an apartment on the mainland and began to research builders for their home on the Island.  With dozens of ideas from Gulfscapes in mind, they met with the builder and finalized a plan for their home.

April hadn’t forgotten that meeting with Peter Barr.  She wanted to redesign the ring to go with her wedding band of diamonds.  She took one of the ads she had carried around with her to show Peter what she wanted. According to Peter Barr “About 50 to 60% of our business is redesigning jewelry.  Factors in choosing a piece for redesigning include wear ability, fashion, and what stones the customer has to work with. The process in creating a new design starts with seeing the stones and gold… Then we look at the different styles of my work in the showcases and pictures of other pieces I have done while listening to what is being said.  From the information gathered, I start sketching, keeping function and beauty in mind along with the meaning of the new piece.  When we are locked in on an idea, we review the design.  Next, I carve the design out of a block of wax.  The client can see from the wax model the shape and placement of stones for the finished piece.  If I haven’t captured what they were asking for, I make the adjustments at this time.  Next we cast and complete the piece of jewelry.”

“That was it.  It was just perfect,” says April.  “It was exactly what I wanted.”  The ring was crafted and the house was underway.

Frances Colling had shopped at Tropical Home Furnishings in Rockport and on the Island and suggested that Carol Albrecht might be just the right decorator to help them realize their dreams.  “Carol was right there to advise on everything from furnishings, window treatments, art work and accessories to the style of faucets.”  The master bedroom and dining room furnishings were chosen at Buddy Walker, another of the Gulfscapes advertisers whose beautiful vignettes inspired April and Craig’s dreams of a beachside home.

While Carol Albrecht, whose own store My Coastal Home opened in the fall of 2005, was giving advice on decorating, Craig and April Mlady were giving advice to Carol and fiancé ROC.  Carol and Robert O. Curry of Legacy Estate Planning in Rockport and Padre Island were engaged, but she didn’t have an engagement ring.  She didn’t really want an engagement ring.  Since everyone including the Mladys kept asking her when she would have one, she started to research.  She asked jewelers for some ideas and told them her own. They continued to supply stock pictures from catalogs.  If she was going to have a ring, she certainly wanted it to be something special and unique and meaningful, not one ordered from a picture in a catalog.  She had seen Peter Barr’s award winning work in Gulfscapes, and had seen her friends and clients wearing his creations.  She loved his work, but was worried that it would be terribly expensive.  As luck would have it, she met Peter at a party and they started to talk about the ring she might want.  “The customers give me more input than they think.  As they talk about what they like and don’t like, I listen.  I hear the words and the emotion.  They are giving me the direction in which the piece will go. It is up to me to interpret what they are asking for, evaluate the mechanics of construction, design, comfort and wear ability,” Peter suggests.

Peter asked questions and listened to her answers and Carol knew they were on the right track. He got it! She gave him a copy of a poem ROC had written for her.  Using the poem as inspiration and some family gold jewelry to incorporate into the design, Peter creatively combined the two to form an engagement ring and two wedding bands that met Carol’s standards of perfection.  “They are the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen,” says Carol.  “And the greatest surprise was that they were so affordable.  I have jewelry designed just for me by an award winning artist, and it was just so affordable.”

Carol’s latest recommendation to the Mladys was a landscape designer and pool contractor.  They are happily settled into their new home and have welcomed another new family member.  Son Eddie was born in December.  And April is looking ahead to another redesign by Peter Barr.  For their tenth wedding anniversary she wants to use the stones in her engagement ring as part of a new wedding band.  As Peter’s wife Jo would say, “That is the ultimate in recycling.”

Mesmerizing Moments Photography
5830 McArdle Dr.
Corpus Christi, TX 78412
361-944-8480

Serving as an Army helicopter pilot in Afghanistan can really change your outlook on life. It certainly changed Denise Mesmer’s.

“When I got back from Afghanistan, I looked at my husband, Scott, and said, ‘Life is too short.’ We were living where we didn’t want to be, commuting to the jobs we weren’t as thrilled with anymore,” said Denise. “It led me to realize the value of family and how fleeting time is. I decided then I’m going to go live where I want to live, and I’m going to find a job there,” she said.

So after twenty two years as an Army pilot, Denise decided to retire. She found the place she wanted to live . . . on the Texas coast at Corpus Christi. She didn’t have a problem convincing Scott to move to Corpus Christi. It turns out that Scott is a pilot also, and has a seasonal job – he flies the Dallas Mavericks team plane. During the NBA season, he just has to catch a flight to Dallas every now and then.

After choosing Corpus Christi as their new home town, the Mesmers turned their attention to finding that job that would thrill them. They found it in photography. So in 2008, after training under such masters as world-renowned photographer Doug Box and leading wedding photographer David Ziser, they opened Mesmerizing Moments Photography. Business went well enought that they recently opened a new studio, equiped with cutting-edge equipment that enables them to shoot their clientele and print photos all in one visit. No waiting around, no return visits, and, most importantly, no visiting a web site to proof your pictures. “A lot of studios you will visit online, and what you’re going to see online isn’t what you’ll see when you get your printed photos,” Denise said. This is because computer monitors vary greatly on how they display color and brightness. According to Denise, “Depending on monitor resolution, color, it could look a lot different.” In the Mesmer’s system, what you see is what you get.

Why did they choose photography? Both Denise and Scott had a long-time interest in the medium. But it was, as Denise put it, “the fleeting nature of time” that inspired them. “We have a great love of family,” said Denise, a mother of three, “and have built wonderful family memories throughout the years. Portraits have a way of taking you back to a particular point in time, whether it is a wedding, or a look back to a child’s first year in school. Certain events have a definite impact and help define our lives. Through understanding the importance and brevity of the moments, we began developing our photography style and developing the goals for our company. Our goal for our customers is to work hard to help them capture and preserve these defining moments in a beautiful photograph that will last generations. We want them to look at a portrait 20 years from now and remember how they felt and what life was like for them at that moment.”

Denise recalls that “French Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson talked about the ‘decisive moment’, as being, ‘that instant when a shutter click can suspend an event within the eye and heart of the beholder.’  We work to see these decisive moments so our customers can relax knowing we will capture and suspend these life defining events.”

There are certainly moments that are life defining. And life altering. Denise’s just happened to occur in Afghanistan. She and Scott are glad it did.

Don’t be surprised if, while attending a social event in Corpus Christi, you find Yolanda Specialty Cake on the dessert menu. The cakery regularly donates to charity events, such as the March of Dimes and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life. Last year, Yolanda’s donated around $8,000 in cake to Corpus Christi’s March of Dimes Signature Chef Auction, which is held to raise funds toward improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.
For the 3rd Annual Diamond Dash, Yolanda’s contributed 150 cupcakes and 150 petit fours. But that’s just a bite-sized sample of what they have to offer.
Yolanda’s Specialty Cakes was founded in 1993 by Yolanda Amaya, and has now grown to include four full-time decorators who specialize in anything from a five-foot long birthday sheet cake to 3-D wedding sculptures with hand-painted frosting moldings and sugar ornaments. From large cupcakes to exquisite petit fours (mini-cakes perfect for popping in your mouth), Yolanda’s has cake for every occasion, for every expertise. With a quick trip to the bakery, home-decorators can choose from several aisles stocked with frosting, molds, utensils, and hundreds of toppers for any event that requires cake, whether it is an Over the Hill birthday party or a newborn celebration. Strawberry, chocolate chip, red velvet, crème filling; they do it all, big and small.

The three-day event centered on a high-tech, city-wide treasure hunt where competing couples scavenged the city for the grand prize: a $25,000 diamond ring donated by Corpus Christi’s Fine Jewelry Outlet, the main sponsor of the event. Clues were delivered to the couples’ mobile phones, and the entire game was played via text message.

Diamond Dashes happen across the globe; but never before has it taken a form like that of Corpus Christi’s own.

Three years ago, when Fine Jewelry Outlet’s Adam and Fred Hinojosa decided to host a dash, they brought a vision to it that has outshined even its grand prize.

“The whole goal is to join business owners who can help the community,” said Adam Hinojosa, FJO’s Executive Vice-President and General Manager. “In the end, we’re promoting the city.”

Their model is to attract visitors and show them what Corpus Christi has to offer.

“If you plant that seed, you’re going to reap the harvest,” Adam said. Suddenly, that $25,000 donation becomes an investment.

Take the winners of the 3rd annual Diamond Dash, Travis Mangum and Jessica Banfield, for example: on the Sunday following the event, Mangum proposed to Banfield with the ring the couple won. They now plan to utilize many of the vendors who volunteered services for the event, and others may even host their family at the Dash’s location: the Arboretum Ballroom and Courtyard.

With over 5,000 square feet of space, the Arboretum is a spacious venue perfect for anything from a large corporate dinner gathering to a holiday reunion.

Yet, it eludes a softer atmosphere, as well. For the Diamond Dash, to illustrate the versatility of this space, the ballroom was cordoned off into three themes: Marilyn Monroe’s famous “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”; Diamond Jim; and James Bond 007’s “Diamonds are Forever.” Mingled with gem chandeliers and elegant drapery, the ambiance of the multi-purpose ballroom spans anything from high-class to intimate.

“We are a flexible venue that does not try to be all things to all people,” said Arboretum owner Diane Gardner. “Rather, we focus on quality and value for our services, an affordable rental space, and different types of spaces that others don’t have.”

Their signature gem is what is called the “Black Box.” Opening in the fall, the Black Box is a welcoming theatrical space featuring a large, open-ceiling, black walls, and a black floor, all lending itself to creativity, experiment, and new ideas.

Finally, the Arboretum courtyard offers a lovely bay-side wedding and reception venue along Ocean Drive, Gardner said. Its nautical vista and natural setting paints a picturesque backdrop for a variety of get-togethers, such as the collaboration of vendors for the 3rd Annual Diamond Dash.

“We want to show the community that we are committed to collaboration in the Corpus Christi business community,” said Gardner, “and to providing a real ‘home away from home’ for the young couples here in the area.”

2010 Copyright Gulfscapes Magazine

Stroll through the doors of family-owned and operated Butler Signature Events, and let 26 years of experience speak for itself: less a conventional rental warehouse and more a boutique showroom, the services at Butler are unique, specialized, and high-class.

Janice and Skip Butler have been at the service of coastal South Texas for years, and the ambiance of their showroom feels like a signature event in itself. Upon entering, clients are greeted by one of the experienced event professionals, whose one-on-one consultation is intimate and custom-made on the spot.

Butler recently hired an in-house wedding planner, Amy Canterbury, whose 7 years of experience is one of three additional options recently to Butler’s list of stellar services: Event Planning, Event Management, and Event Design.

Brides have array of choices to consider: Butler’s seasonal displays include event tents in a widevariety of sizes and styles fit for a birthday party, corporate party or elaborate wedding. Party accessories, such as dance floors, lighting, staging, catering equipment, tables, linens and chairs are also available. The options go beyond the standard: also available for rent is anything from Tiki bar to a 6’ LED lighted bar, from a portable air conditioner and heater to any number of margarita machines. The only item not for sale: the humorously ghoulish, life-like butler statue that greets everyone who strolls through the door.

http://www.butlersignatureevents.com/

4501 S Alameda St.
Corpus Christi, TX
(361) 723-0547

Muñoz has been photographing since 2003, when his first gig was a wedding portraiture for a good friend. His wife, Tonye, having seen his natural talent, pushed him to take his work to the next level by opening his own studio. Today, Muñoz is well known in the Corpus Christi community as a lead wedding and portrait photographer whose quality of work is traditional in the sense that it requires no special blazing graphic, and no custom editing. Muñoz’s photography speaks for itself.

“Everyone needs a good portrait they’ll cherish throughout the years of their life,” said Muñoz. Portraiture is one of his specialties. Every year, Muñoz enters state and national photography competitions with his favorite portraits, one of which is of his grandfather bent over folded hands in prayer. The lighting, angle, and focus of the picture is stunning. The thousands of wrinkles on his hands, the gentle closure of his eyelids, and his lightly sealed mouth force all who look at it to pause in a moment of silent, solemn wonder. It is a piece that every photographer hopes to add to his portfolio.

Fonzie Muñoz Photography