Charm Magazine - January/February 2019

A P R I L L B R A N D O N | P I C T U R E T H I S ! | FA S H I O N JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

COVER STORY

PAT GEORGE MITCHELL

WITH TONI ERSKINE & COURTNEY ARMSTRONG

Hometown Dreams

ALSO INSIDE

beauty

FOTO FACIAL delivers results

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Beauty: Foto Facial Delivers Results

Feature: Wanda Minx, Evan’s World Travel

8

Fashion: A Night at the Ballet

Beauty

Features 10

Cover Story: Hometown Dreams

20

Women in Business: Wanda Minx, Evan’s World Travel

24

Aprill Brandon: How to Survive a Road Trip With Your Family

8

14

A Night at the Ballet

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NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018

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4 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

On the Cover

Fashion

A P R I L L B R A N D O N | P I C T U R E T H I S ! | FA S H I O N

COVER STORY

24

Foto Facial Delivers Results

22 28

MIETTE WELLS

14

20

Feature: How to Survive a Road Trip With Your Family

Not many people get to live their dreams; even fewer revel in them for 50 years. In March, Pat George Mitchell, founder and artistic director of Longview Ballet Theatre, will punctuate 50 years of teaching the graceful and dramatic art by guiding a performance of “The Sleeping Beauty” featuring one of her proteges.

Spot the Charm Charm experienced a technical issue with the November-December edition and the hidden Charm symbol inadvertently published on two pages. So, we have two winners this time! Congratulations to Kathi Elzner and Terri Williams.

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Hint: It’s not in the Picture This! logo or in one of the advertisements.

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HEALTH & BEAUTY

FOTO FACIAL DELIVERS RESULTS Words by AMY MCHANEY

W

Jennifer warned that a photofacial was no walk in the park; she likened the sensation to being burned with a light bulb. Ouch!

After three C-sections, I feel like I have a high tolerance for pain.

Surely I could handle a little face burning, right?

I made my appointment with the wonderful Mandy Faughn at Cherry Hill Med Spa, and on the day of my appointment I arrived late. I am a stickler for being on time, and I nearly rescheduled, not wanting to throw off anyone else’s appointments. Mandy assured me she could work me in — we would just reduce the

elcome to January – the month when my skin is at

amount of time to numb my face. ACK! More on that in a minute.

its fairest, making discoloration most noticeable.

Mandy explained the Foto Facial procedure to me as she

Whether freckles on my legs or sunspots on my

applied the numbing gel. She moved a handheld device over the

face, they are more easily disguised with a sun-kissed glow. But

surface of my face to deliver a hot pulse of light to the areas to be

not so much in winter.

treated. The pulse makes a zapping or snapping noise, almost like

My friend Jennifer has long been a fan of a Foto Facial – also known as a photofacial or Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) treatment.

The Foto Facial’s claim to fame is reducing sun spots, age spots and brown spots; in addition it can improve rosacia, sun damage, wrinkles and skin elasticity. It can also help with scarring from acne. And guess what? Wintertime – when you tend to spend less time in the sun – is the ideal time to have a Foto Facial.

To prepare for a Foto Facial you need to abstain from spending time in the sun for a few days prior to treatment, and you will be

a rubber band popping, or a bug zapper. The light is very bright; Mandy and I both wore protective goggles for the treatment.

We spent some time talking about the problem areas on my face. My biggest concerns were brown spots, especially on my left cheek. Mandy and I both feel like the spots are a result of the sun hitting my face while driving my car. I had spots on my right side, but not as pronounced. The spots on my forehead were minor, possibly because I nearly always wear a visor when in the sun.

advised to stay in the shade for a period of time following the

Another problem spot was a tiny red capillary on the edge

treatment as well. In-office prep immediately prior to treatment

of my nostril. Easily covered with concealer, it was not a huge

is the application of a topical numbing gel.

problem, but Mandy said it would be easy to eradicate.

8 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

Next, Mandy got started on the treatment; I ended up numbing for about 15 minutes, which was completely adequate for me.

The numbing gel took the edge off the pain, which felt something like a rubber band popping me on the face. It smarted, but was nowhere close to excruciating.

The total treatment time, including numbing, was 30 minutes.

And as you can see from the accompanying photos, there was no noticeable redness; nobody would know my face had just

Photos taken immediately following Foto Facial

been zapped. In fact, the only visible change to my appearance immediately following the Foto Facial was that the tiny capillary on my nostril was completely gone!

Over the next few days my skin felt tighter, but it was not uncomfortable. Over the following week the pigment from the brown spots on my cheeks was drawn to the surface – it looked as if I had pepper sprinkled on my face. Those dark spots began to flake off and were mostly gone within 10 days. The flaking was just that – flaking. My whole face did not peel, just flakiness where the Foto Facial device was applied.

I feel like it is important to note that more significant peeling does occur sometimes; in fact, a number of reviews I read

Photos taken one week after Foto Facial

mentioned peeling. If you do try a Foto Facial and you do peel rather than flake, try to resist the urge to help the process along by peeling your skin with your fingers. Peeling the skin before it is ready to come off can leave you raw and scabby. C

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COVER STORY

hometown DREAMS Words by ANA P. WALKER | Photos by MICHAEL CAVAZOS

From left. Courtney Armstrong, Toni Erskine, and Pat George Mitchell of Longview Ballet Theatre 10 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

Left: Longview native Beckanne Sisk and Chase O’Connell, principal artists with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, will dance the lead roles in “The Sleeping Beauty.” Photo by Beau Parson Right: Longview Ballet Theatre members will dance in the upcoming performance of “The Sleeping Beauty,” including: top row, left to right, fairy attendants Riley Seidel, Abby Hattaway and Abby Cox and lilac fairy attendant Reagan Armstrong; and bottom row, lilac fairy attendants Emma Rose Osburg, Allison Reed, Kylie Fredricks and Hannah McCrory. Photo Special to Charm

N

in them for 50 years.

A graduate of Longview High School, she continued to dance as

In March, Pat George Mitchell, founder and artistic

a Kilgore College Rangerette and then went to Texas Christian

director of Longview Ballet Theatre, will punctuate 50 years of

University, the first university in the country to offer a bachelor

teaching the graceful and dramatic art by guiding a performance

of fine arts degree in ballet. There, she met one of the greatest

of “The Sleeping Beauty” featuring one of her proteges, Beckanne

challenges of her life and encountered some crucial allies.

ot many people get to live their dreams; even fewer revel

Sisk, principal artist with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, dancing the lead role of Aurora.

The Longview performance is the fourth collaboration between Longview Ballet Theatre and Ballet West and the first created

She credits the sacrifices of her parents that paid for the lessons.

She recalled going to TCU as a junior, confident in her abilities, and being met with classes filled with already classically trained and experienced dancers, some already with the Fort Worth ballet. She just knew she would fall short.

specifically for both companies. It will include original costuming by

“I go to the back of the room and get behind a piano,” she said,

David Heuvel of Ballet West and Mitchell. It is a living, breathing

describing her first experience in the class taught by Fernando

embodiment of the dreams of a once-bullied little girl from Longview

Schaffenburg, a fierce coach who eventually became a beloved

who has set up a dance kingdom right in middle of the Piney Woods,

mentor. He was chairman of the dance department and co-

more known for hunting, fishing and football than for the arts.

founder of the Fort Worth Ballet.

It is not exactly as she would have it, but it’s close.

Schaffenburg broke the news to her that she would never be a

“I’ve always prided myself in being professional. I want to

professional ballet dancer. The training she had received in early life

prepare (my students) if they want to dance professionally,” she

was not the type necessary for that career path, but he also told her

said. Classical ballet is much more than just “games on stage,” she

that her gift was to teach, along with choreography and design. She

said. It is demanding physically, mentally and emotionally.

listened. It was hard not to when he called her out from behind the

“Every time my students step on stage with the world-class

piano to the front of that first class and he praised her hard work.

artists from Ballet West, I am reminded of the talent found in

“Don’t tell me can’t,” she remembers him saying to her when

my own backyard, and that my decision 50 years ago to return

she would became discouraged. After all, she had wanted to be a

home and build a company here was the right one. I could not

dancer, but she listened.

be prouder of these students and all the ones that came before them,” she said in a recent edition of the LBT newsletter.

Eventually, he and another TCU mentor Jerry Bywaters Cochran, who taught modern dance at TCU, took an active part

Mitchell began dancing at age 2, taking dance classes daily

in helping Mitchell with her Longview studio and productions,

after school. The classes not only taught her skills but offered her

with sets and auditioning her students. They put her in contact

a safe place where she could escape the teasing and bullying she

with the ballet world in New York.

experienced in school. She trained in tap, jazz, acrobatics, ballet and other classes from 3:30 to 9 each day, she said.

She took groups of her dancers to New York City for training at the School of American Ballet, exposing them to the possibilities in

continued on pg. 12 

mycharmonline.com 11

the world of dance and helping them learn lessons about communal living, managing money and navigating in a strange place.

One of her former students is working to produce a television documentary about the ballet company housed in a studio in

Also through her TCU connections she studied with many

central Longview, not far north of Marshall Avenue. Mitchell

ballet luminaries including Arthur Mitchell, founding director of

is still writing the story on which it will be based. It’s called “It

Dance Theater of Harlem and a dancer with the New York City

Happens on Third Street,” referring to the studio’s location.

Ballet in the 1950s and 1960s.

Mitchell is often described as having a flair for the dramatic and that quality emerged early upon her return to Longview when she made radical changes at the studio she bought. Classes there were in a variety of dance styles, but she was committed to training classical ballet dancers. That change cost about 75 of the studio’s 100 students. It was a daring move but one that has paid countless dividends.

“I knew there was talent here,” she said in the newsletter. “And I knew the only way to teach classical ballet technique the way I wanted to teach it was for ballet to be my only focus in the studio.”

She founded the Longview Ballet Theatre two years later.

“It’s been a great ride. My expectations are high,” said Mitchell reflecting on her past and future. She estimates that about a dozen

As students trickle in to the studio for afternoon classes, Mitchell talks about having taught more than one generation of dancers. Her face saddens as she talks about how she misses them when they leave but brightens as she recalls the former dancers who “come home” and the ones who bring their own children to learn from her, like grandchildren.

“They share their families with me,” she said and often return to talk about the memories and the lessons they learned. She’s sad when they leave and overjoyed when they return whether for a performance or a visit. She recalls the student who told her she keeps all her performance bracelets in a box. Mitchell creates a unique bracelet for each dancer to commemorate each production.

“You can give them a piece of you, a piece of memory,” she said.

“This dream is not how I dreamt it, but it’s better.”

of her proteges have achieved principal status in ballet companies

And now it’s time for class and Mitchell must return to her charges.

around the country. She has created 130 ballet productions in that

“That’s how I look at life. What’s the next production?” she said.

time, but it is her students that are her heart.

Her eyes soften as she talks about them. “I know I have something that changes them and that changes me,” she said, “a belief in the magic of the work.”

And after five decades, is retirement on the horizon? She smiles but her answer is firm.

“I hope I’ll always be producing something. I hope I go to my grave dancing.” C

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HELPS SHAPE LONGVIEW BALLET THEATRE

J

an. 1 will bring new leadership to Longview Ballet Theatre as its first executive director Toni Erskine hands the baton to Courtney Armstrong.

Both women have had a daughter in the company founded and

directed by Pat George Mitchell. Both express devotion to the arts and both cite its crucial role in the development of students and in the life of the community. Mitchell praised the work that Erskine has done on behalf of the ballet company and looks forward to working with Armstrong.

“She really turned it around,” Mitchell said of Erskine. “There are not a lot of people who would work this long for no pay.” She From left. Courtney Armstrong, Toni Erskine, and Pat Mitchell of Longview Ballet Theatre

12 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

credited Erskine for helping raise the funds necessary to bring the LBT vision to the stage and helping formulate plans for the

future while Mitchell concentrated on current projects. And she remembered how the executive director position came to be when Erskine asked her, “What can I do to help you?”

Fourteen years later, Erskine is leaving the job she helped create, but she isn’t going too far.

“I will be there for Courtney,” she said, “but will give her space

Isabelle Howerton and the Longview Ballet Theatre rehearse for the upcoming production of The Sleeping Beauty.

to define herself, to decide what’s next.”

Until the executive director post was created, Erskine said Mitchell “did it all,” including teaching, costume design, set design and choreography.

In 2001, Erskine and Mitchell had teamed to raise money to bring in three professional ballet dancers from New York City to dance in an LBT production. By 2004, the ballet board had been restructured and expanded. In 2007, the 2000-seat Belcher Center at LeTourneau University opened. The larger, grander venue gave a tremendous boost to the ballet because it offered a much better showcase for the dancers than the former high school auditorium, site of previous productions, ever did, Erskine said. Along the way, a partnership with Ballet West resulted.

“Since 2008, 55,000 people have seen one of our ballets,” Erskine said when reviewing her tenure. That number not only reflects interest in the art, but dollars for the wider community.

She estimates the economic impact on the city of Longview over the past 10 years at $2 million as people come here to view performances as well as to perform in them. Erskine says she is most proud that over the last few years, LBT performances sold tickets to people in 90 Texas cities and 20 states.

A favorite project is hosting local schoolchildren at the final rehearsal of ballet productions. Sponsors enable the viewing, she said, that offers children a chance to see an art form most would never have a chance to see in a building that many of them have never visited.

“My heart really sails. We’ve brought over 20,000 area third graders to the final dress rehearsal.” The school children get an

that support forward. “That is part of our responsibility as part of the world.”

Erskine tells the story of a Forever Friend participant who saw the Swan Lake dress rehearsal as a young girl and began to save money and take lessons at other studios. Finally, having saved year after year and juggling two or three jobs, the girl, now a teen, was able to take lessons at LBT for an entire summer. She auditioned for Peter Pan and performed with the ballet.

“That one really still gets me,” Erskine said of the girl. “She fell in love with ballet and worked and worked not dreaming that she could perform but just knowing she needed more rigorous training.”

Armstrong said she wants to grow student numbers at LBT. She loves the performances but was also drawn by how the dancers are affected.

“That character building that goes on inside the classroom that you don’t see on stage,” is how she describes it. Her daughter has experienced “how to grow as a young woman (and) discover a work ethic and a passion to step out of her box.”

Armstrong not only wants to promote the ballet but all the arts in Longview.

“I love what the arts bring into all of our lives,” she said, and she admires Mitchell.

“How many people can say they have lived in their life’s passion for 50 years,” she said.

“Courtney is not afraid of work or getting her hands dirty,” Mitchell said. “She is just ready to jump in and get the job done.”

Armstrong has helped organize ballet parents to keep up with events, raise money and welcome newcomers, Mitchell said.

added benefit of the ballet’s partnership with Ballet West, she said.

“She helps me create the family environment I feel sets LBT

“Every child looks up on that stage and sees someone that

apart … She has gotten other parents involved in helping organize

looks like him or herself,” she said.

and catalog my costumes of 48 years.” C

Part of the student program involves Mitchell having the schoolchildren stand and join her as she teaches them ballet foot and arm positions. The performance is also open to nonprofit groups such as the Forever Friends mentoring program for girls, East Texas Literacy Council, Habitat for Humanity and Hope Haven shelter for women.

“That’s something I’m proud of,” she said, adding that the ballet as a nonprofit organization that asks for support in turn pays

if

you go

“THE SLEEPING BEAUTY,” PRESENTED BY LONGVIEW BALLET THEATRE AND BALLET WEST II When: 7 p.m. March 1, 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. March 2, and 2 p.m. March 3 Where: LeTourneau University’s Belcher Center, 2100 S. Mobberly Ave., Longview Cost: $18 to $48 Information: www.longviewballettheatre.com

mycharmonline.com 13

Ballet FASHION

A Night at the

Photos by MICHAEL CAVAZOS

Do you need a reason to get dressed up

for a night out? Longview Ballet Theatre

has your motivation with its upcoming performance of “The Sleeping Beauty,” in

collaboration with Ballet West II from Salt Lake City, March 1 to March 3 at LeTourneau University’s Belcher Center.

Charm magazine found ballet-worthy elegance on the racks at Barron’s and, for our younger friends, at Lollipops & Lace in Longview. We thank our models, Ryleigh and Dr. Sonja Edmonds and Emma Cate and Amy Williams, and host, the Belcher Center.

These ballet beauties and their mothers were “on pointe” in these fashions they modeled inside the Belcher Center.

CHARM FASHION SPONSORED BY

Emma Cate Williams wearing an ABS pants suit, $119; Echo stole, $59; and Treasure Jewels earrings, $32; from Barron’s

14 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

Amy Williams wearing an ABS dress, $89; pearl lariat with tassels, $357; Treasure Jewels earrings, $32; with an Inzi purse, $143; from Barron’s;

mycharmonline.com 15

Dr. Sonja Edmonds, left, wearing an ABS sequin dress, $129; and Treasure Jewels earrings, $32; from Barron’s; and Ryleigh Edmonds wearing a Luli & Me dress from Lollipops & Lace, $88

16 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

See more Fashion on

Dr. Sonja Edmonds wearing a Fabulous Fur, 100 percent Faux Fur coat, $262; an ABS sequin dress, $129; Treasure Jewels earrings, $32; and with an Inzi purse, $106; from Barron’s

Emma Cate Williams wearing an ABS pants suit, $119; with an Inzi purse, $77; and Treasure Jewels earrings, $32; from Barron’s;

Ryleigh Edmonds wearing a Luli & Me dress from Lollipops & Lace, $88;

mycharmonline.com 17

F EATURE

WOMEN in business: WANDA MINX Evan’s World Travel

Words by MEGAN BYRD | Photo SPECIAL TO CHARM

Y

our little sister is getting married and

just took a leap of faith. I thought we could do

“I call her ‘Wonder Wanda’ because she goes

you volunteered to help plan the big

something really great with (the company), and

above and beyond for all her clients, and she is

wedding. She deserves the best, so you

I think we have.”

always working to make someone’s special trip or

decide to take the ceremony to Europe. But

Six years since taking over, Minx has grown

vacation simply marvelous,” Elliot said. “Wanda

after weeks of sifting through travel destinations,

the staff to seven people who specialize in

Minx is good to all her clients and good for

airlines, and worrying about mishaps ruining the

different areas around the world, and she moved

Longview, Texas.”

trip, you’re ready to break down. You’re lost in a

the office to a bigger location in Longview. But

sea of information.

That’s where Wanda Minx and her travel agency, Evan’s World Travel, come in.

Minx faced many challenges in her business and personal life and overcame them with dedication, hard work, and a love for the community, reflected through her business.

“As a travel agency, my commitment is to make dreams come true, to sell an experience,

it wasn’t easy. Minx battled Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma from January 2017 to April of this year, taking time away from her dream.

Jeannie Hammer and her husband also have been repeat clients for more than 12 years.

“She doesn’t treat you like a client, but like a friend who has made wonderful memories

“Going through the cancer and the chemo,

together,” Hammer said. “We love her, and

she never quit working,” client and friend Shanna

would never trust anyone else with planning

Reeves said. “It’s very touching. You never saw

our dream vacations. You won’t be disappointed

her down during that time. She fought through it

when you pick the best.”

all, she beat it, and she rose above it.”

Online booking lacks travel agents’

Now she is working hard to get back on

experience, knowledge and ability to provide

track to continue growing her company and

greater opportunities. Having won several

encouraging young people who are willing to

awards for East Texas travel agencies, Evan’s

learn and train to consider working for travel

World Travel helps clients plan leisure and

agencies. She also focuses on helping the

corporate trips to anywhere around the world,

community by donating trips and gift certificates.

from group high school graduation trips to

“As long as we’re giving back (to the

African safaris. The agency doesn’t charge a

the previous owners of Evan’s World Travel

community), then we’re extremely happy,” Minx

service fee, and it helps with mishaps such as

frequented. She later worked for the company

said. “If there are smaller shops around East

flight delays, missing passports and more.

for five years before taking over.

Texas that are locally owned, that’s who we work

“It can be very stressful, but I still think

with. If we don’t support our local businesses,

it’s worth it,” Minx said. “When you get that

then there goes our city.”

experience and hear from your clients about

and to make our customers stay with us for a lifetime,” Minx said.

Raised in Longview, Minx didn’t start out as an entrepreneur. She first worked at a bank in Arlington and a temporary staffing company for more than a decade. When she moved back to Longview, she worked in a camera shop where

“I always wanted to be a travel agent,” Minx said. “I didn’t get to travel much growing up, but I was able to dream about it and read books and enjoy that. It seemed like a great opportunity. I 20 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

Client and friend Tamara Elliot enlisted Wanda’s help to plan a special vacation.

how great their trip was, that’s what it’s all about right there.” C

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Snuggly, sparkly, warm, feminine, casual or elegant. Charm magazine found everything you need to stay warm and stylish this winter while shopping close to home. Enjoy these looks from Merle Norman in Longview Mall, River Outfitters in Longview and De Rigueur of Kilgore.

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F EATURE

Road Trip how to survive a

with your family

Words by APRILL BRANDON | Illustrations by MICHELLE LAVERELL

S

poiler alert: You don’t.

wipes. Extra diapers. Tissues. The night-night book. Dramamine

Sure, you’re still alive. Technically. But you come back

because last time the back seat looked like a scene from “The

changed. Different. Hardened. You are not the same person

Exorcist.” Two coats, per person, because it is likely to be 70

who optimistically climbed into that tiny Hyundai Accent with your

degrees one day and a blizzard the next. AND DON’T FORGET

husband, two kids and elderly dog, all bright-eyed with dreams of

THE CHARGERS. ALL THE CHARGERS. DID YOU PACK

adventure and bonding and Instagram-worthy shots of the highway.

YOUR CHARGER? WELL, CHECK AGAIN. WE ARE NOT

You are now a survivor. You have been through all the circles

BUYING ONE FROM A GAS STATION. YOU HEAR ME?

of hell and back. And let me tell you, Dante had it easy. He never

Even the dog gets his own bag. Dog food. Dog treats. Rawhide

had to help a toddler with diarrhea in a dirty rest stop bathroom. I

bones. A bottle of water and an empty bowl. His favorite toy, Lobstah

can still hear the screams. “DON’T TOUCH ANYTHING...NO.

Killah. His second favorite toy, Mr. Disemboweled Stuffed Squirrel.

STOP. WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? DID YOU JUST STICK

His arthritis medication that you can never get him to take but bring it

YOUR HAND IN THE TOILET? NOOOOOOOO…”

with you so that you can more confidently lie to the vet at his next visit.

And the torture isn’t just limited to the road. In fact, it begins

Do NOT mistake this as a position of honor. It is not. It is the

long before the road trip opening ceremony of stomping from

quickest way to destroy your brain without the help of illegal drugs.

room to room looking for the lost car keys. (Because why would

But take heart. If this position falls to you, just know that

the car keys be where you left them? That would be silly. Then

someone else (hint: your significant other) will be designated as

you would actually leave on time.).

the Master of Luggage Tetris. This is the person who has to take

No, see, for every road trip there is a person who is designated

the various shapes and lumps that all your Very Vital Vacation

as the Carrier of the Mental Load for the group. This is the

items have been stuffed into and fit them into a tiny car trunk.

unfortunate soul who is responsible for remembering everything

This is also not a position of honor, which is why cursing is allowed.

that everyone could possibly need for every single possible

(Please note that the same person can’t do both jobs without

eventuality. Clothes for every weather scenario. Favorite toys

permanent brain damage. Don’t be a hero and take it all on yourself.)

and blankets. Second favorite toys and blankets in case the first

Once you are finally in the car, the typical rules that regulate

ones get lost. Swimsuits for the hotel pool. Sippy cups. Extra

our lives no longer apply. For example, you can never have

24 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

enough snacks. Let me repeat that. YOU CAN NEVER HAVE ENOUGH SNACKS. Buy ALL the snacks. It doesn’t matter if they don’t all get eaten. They won’t. You will waste so much money on these snacks that never get eaten. Hundreds of dollars.

Thousands, possibly.

But it doesn’t matter. You would pay double, TRIPLE, that amount for any object that can stop multiple children who all decide to have meltdowns at the exact same moment. They will eat three Doritos out of that family-sized bag and then dump

Did you pack your charger? Well, check again. We are not buying one from a gas station.

You hear me?

the rest on the floor and you will still spend the rest of your life thanking the God of Doritos for his divine intervention. You will

But it’s all worth it when you are forced awake again at 5 a.m.

get to a point where you are hurling SnoBalls like grenades into

by your child’s creepy ghost face breathing heavily a mere half

the backseat just for one moment of peace. You’ll let them snort

inch from your face, and then you have to immediately deal with

straight sugar through a straw on the back of their Dr. Seuss

the fact they don’t understand live TV.

book. And at every stop you will buy more snacks. Because snacks

“Momma! Turn on the TV!”

are the dam holding back the raging river of your kids’ “BIG

“(sleepily) mm-kay.”

FEELINGS” that you do not want unleashed in that tiny tin can

“What is this?”

you call a vehicle.

“A commercial.”

Of course, snacks does not mean liquids. Do not, under any

“Can you fast forward it?”

circumstance, give liquids to anyone in that car. If you do, no one

“No.”

will be on the same pee schedule.

“Can we watch a different episode?”

Actually, scratch that. Even if you purposely dehydrate

“No.”

everyone, giving out one capful of bottled water every four hours

“Can we watch a different show?”

like you are stranded on a desert island, you will still have to stop

“Only if you want to flip through 40 channels three times to find

every 14 minutes. Yup, that’s right. They can’t even make it 15

something else with no guarantee of finding something better.”

minutes. The good news is that this gives you plenty of opportunity

“Well, this isn’t fun.”

to buy an overpriced charger on your way out of the gas station

“You never would have survived the ‘80s, kid.”

(that, it will turn out, doesn’t work with your phone).

I really shouldn’t complain, though. The end result of all

Luckily, all of this will be forgotten when you reach your first

this was that we got to spend a wonderful week with my family,

destination, the hotel right off the Interstate. Because that’s when

doing exotic things like napping while someone else kept our kids

the real nightmare begins.

alive, and eating homemade food someone else made that our

Have you ever been unfortunate enough to sleep in the same bed as your child? What am I saying? Of course you have. You’re a parent. Which means you already know there is nothing children love more than sleeping with one foot up a parent’s nose and the other shoved in-between some parental ribs. And you also already know they’re big fans of the game Musical Bed Positions. Because if they don’t move every three minutes while sleeping they die. At least that’s what I’m assuming based on the evidence.

kids refused to eat, and thoroughly enjoying those little moments where someone else yelled at our kids.

It was like a Norman Rockwell painting. But with more screaming and hitting.

Except I am going to complain. Because when it was all over... we had to come back.

I was determined though, DETERMINED, to make the best of it this time. Even with the awful surprise snowstorm we drove

And then there is the 2 a.m. stage whisper of “Momma! Is

through for three hours. And the windshield wipers that started

it morning yet?” Which wakes up their sibling, who also stage

malfunctioning. And the unsalted road before us that became a

whispers “It’s morning! Can we get up? I need juice! And a

super fun slippery asphalt coil of death!

cookie!” Which makes the other one go “I WANT A COOKIE TOO!” Which results in a dual meltdown after they are both informed by a gruff parent voice that NO ONE is getting a cookie and everyone needs to go back to sleep.

Hahahahaha! Road trips, man! Such a great American tradition!

Right!? RIGHT!? They’re just the best! Hahahahaha!

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go stress eat some floor Doritos and cry for a bit. C mycharmonline.com 25

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PICTURE

This!

CHARM/VIEW

COVER REVEAL PARTY

CATHY & CHELCEA CACE

LONGVIEW | HENRY & MOORE JEWELRY | 10/18/2018 Photos by JO LEE FERGUSON

Henry & Moore Jewelry, owned by sisters Mamie Henry

KAREN REED, COURTNEY ARMSTONG, KATHERINE MCCRORY

and Sondra Moore, hosted the November/December cover reveal party for Charm and View magazines.

The Cace Kitchen provided tasty hors d’oeuvres, and Heritage Wine and Spirits provided refreshments. The November-December magazines featured Miette Wells and Bob Graham on the covers.

Join us for the next cover reveal party, from 5 to 7 p.m. Feb. 21 at the new Tempest Golf Club, 568 E. Wilkins Road in Gladewater. The club’s full-serve restaurant, Neptune’s Grille and Bar, will provide food and beverages for the event.

SONDRA MOORE, JAMES ROBERTS, MAMIE HENRY

KAREN FRANKLIN, BRENDA BROMLEY, SONDRA SCALCO

28 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

CAROLYN NORTHCUTT, JILL & FRANK CHANEY, SONDRA MOORE

P ICTURE THIS

MONSTER’S BALL:

JO POPMA, PAM O’BRYAN

MAGIC & MAYHEM 2018

LONGVIEW | THE SUMMIT CLUB | 10/27/2018 Photos by BAIRD MCDANIEL

The Longview Museum of Fine Arts celebrated its 60th anniversary during its annual costume party — Monster’s Ball: Magic and Mayhem 2018, held on Oct. 27, at the Summit Club.

The sold-out fundraiser featured dinner, dancing, a costume contest and auctions. Also, event chairs Darren and Niki Groce added a new element to this year’s ball — a tequila tasting that featured Tequila Fortaleza, a distillery CHAD & OMA CARGILE

in Mexico that has been in the Sauza family for five generations.

The Longview Museum of Fine Arts’ next exhibit is “2019 Focus on Photography — A Juried Exhibition,” Jan. 12 to Feb. 16. The exhibition sought entries from regional photographers, with well-known local photographer and author O. Rufus Lovett as curator and judge. Winners will be recognized during the opening reception, at 6 p.m. Jan. 12.

RICHARD MANLEY, JILL CHANEY

CHIP HALE, TIFFANY JEHOREK, ROBERT STEVENS

RUSS & KELLY COLLINS

mycharmonline.com 29

P ICTURE THIS

LMFA HOLIDAY TEA ROOM AND MARKET

POLLETTE KEMP, CAROL GREER

LONGVIEW | LONGVIEW MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS | 12/4/18 Photos by LES HASSELL

The Longview Museum of Fine Arts kicked off the holiday season in style with its Holiday Luncheon & Market.

During the annual event, diners sat at specially decorated tables for the Tea Room luncheon. The Tuscan Pig and Lori’s Eats & Sweets catered the lunch on alternating days of the four-day event. Local artists and crafters offered unique gift items for shoppers working to mark off their Christmas shopping lists.

MARY ELLEN & CINDY ANDREWS

The Holiday Luncheon & Market is just one way the art museum helps ring in the holidays. The museum also hosts a popular Breakfast with Santa each year.

VICKIE BLUNDELL, DONNA LAYMAN

KATHY & MICHELLE MOORE

30 CHARM | J A N UA R Y / F E B R UA R Y

ESTHER SKEETE, ANGIE YOUNG