WHAT WE DID: JANUARY 6TH

Instagram apparently hates us now, y'all. They won't let us see all of the lovely photos you tagged #WDDI with for some reason. We can only see the ones you took over the weekend or tweeted when you 'grammed 'em. Our apologies, but that means this week's edition of What We Did is a tad on the lean side. That said, it's still packed with all sorts of goodness from the past week. After all, a week with both a big game for our requisite home team and a new year springing forth has to be represented visually. Our New Year's resolution is to bring you more content and get our friend Gabe to open up a barbeque food truck because we're hungry. Howsabout it, Gabe? 

We hung out at Rubber Gloves for Av the Great's New Year's Eve Party. Here's AV above. We'll have a Lyric Leak column featuring the prince of southeast Denton later on this week. 

More of AV. 

Stu Brootal at Rubber Gloves last week. 

We also trekked over to the Heart of Dallas bowl game to watch UNT take down UNLV. 

The ladies at The DIME Store brewed up some mulled wine for First Friday last week. Have you stopped by and written your resolution on their wall yet? 

Kendall Bales and lots of other Dentonites checked out the game, too. 

Christopher Walker rang in the new year window side at Paschall's. We think that's a pretty decent way to start 2014. 

Big Mike's, Denton's only 24 hour coffee shop, is open again and ready to serve Denton's nocturnal. Photo by Autumn Espinoza. 

The view from LSA's roof top bar on NYE! 

Whoa, y'all. Banter now has honest-to-goodness crepes made by an actual Frenchman now. While we haven't been there in a while, we could go out on a limb and say these are better than the crepes they're crepe-ing out at Cups and Crepes (another one of our resolutions for 2014 was to say the word "crepe" four times in the same sentence. Check.). Above is a simple butter and sugar crepe that was good enough to get us to make plans to come back next week. Both savory and sweet crepes are available at Banter until 2pm daily. 

@wekeepexploring got some stickerage up at The Abbey Underground this weekend. 

Michelle Bradley shared her baked French toast, but didn't let us know what beans she was brewing. 

Let's all go get a cucumber jalepeno margarita at Mulberry St. Cantina and pretend that it's not 13 degrees outside. That looks pretty good. Photo by Todd Spigener. 

Spiderweb Salon put on another great showcase last week at Dan's. Here's a shot from Bess Whitby of Forever and Everest.

This week instead of taco pictures, we're featuring cat pictures. Search #CatsofDenton on Instagram sometime. You won't be disappointed. Above is a photo by Nathan Williams of Sunday Print Shop. 

Shaina Sheaff either threw her cat in the trash or purchased a bag of cat food with some sort of a three-dimensional cat on the package. Either way, kudos. Wait - if you threw your cat away, we take our kudos back. That's not cool, Shaina!

 Another Brutal Juice reunion rocked Dan's this past weekend. Photo by Denton, Dallas and Beyond.

CROWDFUNDING: A LOOK BACK AT 2013

Last year we took a look at several Denton locals that took the leap of faith and put their plans in your hands with crowdfunding campaigns. Some were successful, some are still hard at work raisin additional funds through other means, and some didn't work out super well. Whichever it may be, we wanted to check back in and see where a few of them are now. Read on to see what your hard earned dollars and support helped with.  

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Splash Park 

The Denton splash park efforts were seemingly everywhere this summer. One of the biggest fundraising efforts though was their Indiegogo campaign that started back in August. Of the $100,000 they were asking for, they've raised just over $6,000. However, through all of their efforts they've gotten the attention of the city and the parks department. Apparently the group behind the efforts has plans for more fundraisers in the spring as weather heats up and we are quickly reminded why a splash park would be a great addition to our city's landscape. They are also looking into neighborhood empowerment grants and a few other options for raising money. They are working on putting together a website, getting t-shirts printed and collecting more in-kind donations to help spur on the effort. It's good to know that there may still be a day in the not-so-far-off future we may just have a splash park to add to our cooling down strategies in the heat of the summer. 

Soma Massage 

Soma, a local massage company owned by neighborhood powerhouse Amber Briggle started an Indiegogo campaign to help expand her business. She had outgrown the space in her home and was ready to relocate to an office, hire a few more staff and watch her small business grow beyond the four walls it had previously been in. After her campaigning she was able to move that business into a new address, just a mile away from home. She has also doubled her staff, hiring four therapists, a part time office admin, and a web guy. Way to go local business! 

Robert Gomez, Earth Underfoot

Talented local musician Robert Gomez asked for funds through Kickstarter to help record his fourth album. After a successful campaign, he recorded the album "Earth Underfoot" in September at Redwood Recording Studios in Denton, TX. A few days ago the album was mixed and hopefully will be released soon. We can't wait to hear it Rob. If you want to follow the progress of the project, updates are posted regularly on his artist page here. 

Explorium Children's Science  

Explorium Denton is a proposed interactive children's science museum for our city. A place where our kid's minds can be expanded and challenged with a range of interactive exhibits. The campaign is being led by Anyah Martinez, a local mom who is incredibly active in the Denton community. The campaign hasn't raised the funds it needs, but since it's through GoFundMe there is no end date. Anyah is working on making more promo videos in hopes to get the support of potential donors in the future. We're hoping to see more action on this project as we believe that an interactive science museum for our kids would be a pretty cool thing. 

Rabbit Hole Brewing 

Local brewers Rabbit Hole launched a campaign to help fund their beer brewing efforts. Never a city to turn down more alcohol, especially craft beer, we weren't surprised when they exceeded their fundraising goals. They recently launched their first two beers at Oak Street Draft House and East Side Social Clube. They Mike Modano's 561 Kolsch and the Rapture Brown Ale. They are now available at 20 different locations across the Metroplex and have more on the way. 

Bookish Coffee  

2013 was an exciting year for Bookish. After reaching their goals on Kickstarter, they were able to purchase a 12 kilo roaster, thats four times larger than the one they had been roasting on. Since then owner Clay Rozell has been learning and tweaking roast profiles with the new roaster, trying to extract the best flavor from the beans. Because of his new production capabilities he is better able to leverage his position with other companies to get his product onto more shelves. Right now he is working with Natural Grocers to get Bookish into more stores around the metroplex and he is working hard to get into a few other grocery stores in the area. Alongside being available in more stores, he is stocking beans in Big Mike's coffee rotation and into the Cyber Cafe in the UNT library. The growth of Bookish hasn't only been great for Bookish, it's also allowed them to give back to the Denton community a good bit. They were awarded the "Top Adopter Best Adopter in 2013" by the Denton Independent School District and Chamber of Commerce. They are also committed to supporting the Denton Area Younglife and their mission in Denton. According to Clay they success of the Kickstarter campaign really gave Bookish the boost it neeaded to become a more viable business and a bigger part of the community. 

2013 YEAR IN REVIEW: PHOTOS

As we continue to take a glance back at all that happened in 2013, one thing we can't ignore is the fact that we have a bunch of talented photographers running around to capturing some incredible moments. That, plus we eat too much. As we were scanning back through posts from the past year, we couldn't help but be caught by some of the great photos that were taken and shared with us. If you ask us, a post full of big pretty photos is one of our favorite kind. We figured you'd dig it too. 

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MUSIC

From our 35 Denton coverage. Photo by Dave Koen. 

Sarah Jaffe playing city councilman Kevin Roden's living room. 

Bad Sports. Photo by Dave Koen.

Brutal Juice

Thurston Moore of Chelsea Light Moving at 35 Denton

Jenny Seman of Shiny Around the Edges playing a Spiderweb Salon showcase at J and J's Pizza. 

Hares on the Mountain at Canned fest. 

FOOD

Rusty Nuts at The Irish Boozer. 

Nachos etc... from La Sabrocita

We baked some French toast during an ice storm once in 2013. 

Coffee at Yogurt Fusion

Some Armadillo Ales beers at Canned. 

A sliced sandwich from From Tha Heart BBQ.

From our coverage of Lucky Star Pies back in February of last year. 

PEOPLE

Bartender and mustache-haver Thomas Paessler enjoying a "pink pearl." 

Mandy Hampton

Artist Anna Conner. Photo by Courtney Marie.

Shelley Cristner and Rachel Aughtry, co-owners of The Dime Store. Photo by Dave Koen.

Conner Wallace and Courtney Marie of Spiderweb Salon. 

From that time we threw an Election Party. Photo by Amelia McBride. 

Tex Bosley. 

MISCELLANEOUS

2013 was a big year for signage stuff. 

East Side Social Club's 89 (and counting) beers on tap made us happy in 2013. 

From our Coffee Wars post back in November. Photo by Becky Gates. 

The original Subway sign that made people mad and isn't all that different from the new Subway sign. 

The men's room at Paschall's from our Jive Five on local public restrooms. 

A photo from Lauren Apel from our interview with her back in February. 

A portrait from Shaina Sheaff from our interview with her in December. 

From this year's coffin races at the Day of the Dead festival. Photo by Kimberly Flanagan. 

UNT Football had us actually attending games this year. 

Demolition for a future food truck park. 

Mulberry Street Cantina was a welcome addition to the downtown bar scene. 

The new pedestrian bridge. 

The new Redwood Recording Studio. 

A quiddich match! 

The giant tree in the middle of Rose Costumes... 

Fun at this year's Holiday Lighting and Wassail Fest 

Photographer Thorpe Griner's travels to Pompeii Italy. 

Jade Winter watches the storm roll in during the Ice Storm of 2013. Photo from Jade Winter Chessman. 

2013: A YEAR IN QUOTES

Happy New Year, y’all. As part of our end of the year coverage, we thought we’d read back through the past years worth of #WDDI content and pull out the best quotes, captions and one-liners that the blog had to offer this year. Below is a bunch of stuff we wanted to highlight along with links to the parent post, if you feel like being nostalgic about 2013. Do you have personal favorite quotes from the past year? If so, tell ‘em to us in the comments! See ya in 2014!

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“It makes you scroll slow.” 
-Lauren Apel on what makes a successful photograph

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/14/lauren-apel

 

“These restrooms smell of stale urine and a flavor of Doritos that hasn't been invented yet. We wouldn't want it any other way, though, Rubber Gloves.”
-Us on the best and worst restrooms in town

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/13/poop-goes-in-the-potty

“Judson is Son-Ju. It’s his name backwards without the ‘d’.”
-Alex Lucas of Chambers on one of his fellow bandmembers nicknames.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/12/chambers-make-it-so

“I can make cinnamon rolls blindfolded.”
-Joey Hawkins of Royal's Bagels and City Council

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/17/preview-royals-bagels

“Ask the sound guy questions about World of Warcraft such as, ‘Does a cylon outrank a White Walker in Cataclysm?’"
-Wiseguy on dealing with soundguys

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/20/hey-wiseguy-sound-guys

“Recently [a friend] told me that Denton was the new hot spot for creatives.”
-Valerie Warren on why she brought Authentic Yoga Life to Denton

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/17/authentic-yoga-life-interview

“We are just a handful of funerals away from being a really amazing city.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/22/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall

"Caitlin Crawford is incredibly talented at keeping our lips from being chapped, our hands from being cracked, and our faces from looking anything but glowing."
-Us discussing Austin St. Apothecary

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/2/26/austin-street-apothecary

“Low Art No Match for High Winds”
-Our headline when the "YOU" part of that art thing fell down from Dan's Silverleaf during this year's 35 Denton.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/5/low-art-no-match-for-high-winds

“...think about temporarily changing the name to ‘THE Mexicana.’”
-Wiseguy giving advice to a local restaurant on how to avoid the festival crowd

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/7/hey-wiseguy-miffed-at-mexicana

“On the docket to be created is a hand-sewn sculpture of a giant hamburger.”
-Courtney Marie on Ana Conner's upcoming art. Wonder if this ever got made.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/19/artsy-anna-conner-unedited

“Get on it, y’all. We peeked over your shoulder and saw Youtube, not Rails.”
-Us on Denton's tech-heavy population

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/21/applification

“I use this ridiculously small 4 haired brush to outline the edges of a sweater, the tip of a dogs nose and everyone’s tiny eyes.”
-local artist Mandy Cave

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/26/dime-featured-seller-mandy-cave

“Anyone who owns a business in Denton will be the first to tell you that there are some silly rules on the books, whether at the federal, state, or city level.”
-Rachel Aughtry, co-owner of The DIME Store

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/27/dime-store-preview

“There is no other choice for late night tacos but La Estrella. Not only do you get great tacos, you often can pair them with live music from the Super Estrellas and a hug from Gracie.”
-Kevin Roden

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/27/city-council-candidate-interviews

“The University of North Texas and Texas Women's University made a joint announcement Monday morning that they would be merging their two colleges together in the coming months.”
-Our April Fool's joke

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/1/twu-and-unt-to-merge

“We don’t have to demonize big box retailers, but we must support our local businesses so that they can help help keep Denton authentic and independent.”
-Dalton Gregory

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/27/district-2-city-council-candidate-interviews

“Get off your ass and do some work on something you care about.”
-Josh Berthume

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/3/28/josh-berthume

“Heck, the bass-lines and barks here were probably the cause of those little earthquakes DFW has been experiencing over the past year or so.”
-Us on local loud band, Terminator 2

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/11/three-songs-april

“Subway is about halfway through their construction and will be opening at the bottom of the Texas Building before you know it.”
-What started that whole sign debacle

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/12/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall

“I still insist on starting every design with a sketch on paper with a pencil.”
-Sean Starr of Starr Studios

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/16/sean-starr-and-starr-studios

“Wait for the sound of freshly popping kettle corn and then wait in the long line for it. It’s worth it. You can go home and forget about the jazz after that.”
-Us on how to best do the Jazz Fest

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/27/jive-five-jazz-fest

“Denton Thrift is hit or miss with their massive clothing selection, but it smells like diapers.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/24/jive-five-thrifting

“Don't be the guy checking the date on his phone when the Mexican cultural festivities roll through downtown this Sunday.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/5/2/the-den10

“Edmond Franklin Bates paints a rosy romantic portrait of a harmonious community that’d make Andy Griffith’s idyllic Mayberry Hulk-out green with envy.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/22/back-in-the-day-ghosts-of-elections-past

“Put that in your press and print it.”
-Laura Drapac of Triple Threat Press

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/5/6/dime-featured-seller-triple-threat-press

“There's the way the sun hits the square in the summer that makes it smell like even the dust is getting a sunburn.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/5/14/the-den10

“They'll be able to accommodate all of those brand new fancy-sch'mancy seats because they will also have a rooftop patio. To get there you'll have to hop up some new stairs designed by UNT students that look like piano keys and make music as you go up.”
-Us getting the scoop about LSA back in May. Where are those musical stairs, by the way?

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/5/15/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall-may

“I’ve seen some people come in, and think they understand who Dentonites are, and they really don’t.”
-Ken Willis of Beth Marie's

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/4/26/ken-willis-interview

“But it’s also saying you don’t have to fight for this. We’re going to hand this to you. Just be quiet. Don’t drink out of the toilet. You’ll always have a home because I chose you.”
-Tony Ferraro on freedom

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/6/10/lyric-leak-tony-ferraro-and-the-satans-of-soft-rock

“Rusty Taco Denton had the highest grossing opening week of any Rusty taco.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/6/18/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall-june

“Tragically, I think art in many forms has been dominated by men in the past, and seeing proof that this can change in the future is inspiring to me.”
-Connor Wallace of Spiderweb Salon 

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/6/26/interview-with-spiderweb-salon

“We only used four "prop pizzas" during shooting because we knew the editing would be so fast.”
-Eric Michener AKA Fishboy on the creation of a music video

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/7/15/imavolcano

“We’ve lost the tantric-sex factor that made the all-chorus We Will All Be Changed a mainstay on KXT, but retained the harmony-filled “Whoooa” and “Whoooa-oohhh’s” that are so difficult to ignore.”
Our take on Seryn's new song, "Ivory Black," back in July.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/7/25/3-songs-july

“Goldmine BBQ opened their doors at the beginning of the month. We stopped by and tried a few things. We'll do so again and hope to have a review in the future.”
-Hmmm. Intriguing.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/7/24/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall-july

“That line references espionage and research into mind control techniques and ESP during the cold war, all of which is now detailed in a new documentary focusing on Uri Geller; bridge is often played in the afternoon; and some may find another’s lips the start of a landslide they can’t see or quite escape.”
-Mike Seman of Shiny Around the Edges on the line “spoon bending, afternoon, sub atomic, landslide lips" from the song "Robinwood Must Burn"

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/7/29/lyric-leak-shiny-around-the-edges

“I've found Denton photographers to be fairly open to share and collaborate with.”
-Photographer Thorpe Griner

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/5/photographer-interview-thorpe-griner

“I think the point of Denton is to leave it.”
-Comedian Ron Lechler

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/12/interview-comedian-ron-lechler

"You get me 10,000 volunteers, and we'll make a difference in our schools.”
-The quote reportedly said to Kevin Roden from DISD Superintendent, Jamie Wilson, that begat Mentor Denton.

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/18/mentor-denton-video

“Go to house shows. Also, if you decide to host your own house show, talk to your neighbors beforehand and make sure to find the best spot, soundwise, in your humble abode. While we’re on the subject, please try not to make people older than 22 feel “old” at your house show. We’re tired of that.”
-From Secrets of Denton County 3

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/25/secrets-of-denton-county-2013

“It would be in the downtown area for sure, and more than likely on East Oak St.  I’ve got a few ideas in mind. Stay tuned…”
-John Williams of ESSC and OSDH&CP

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/22/interview-east-side-social-club

“The “Red Dwarf” pizza at Si’z on Teasley in S. Denton is arguably better than the TV show from which it gains its namesake (and the skutter inside of us loves that show).”
-From our pizza-centered Jive Five column during "Back to School Week"

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/25/jive-five-pizza-in-denton

“People here are passionate, have a thirst for knowledge, and are driven to express themselves creatively. I have no doubt that national recognition is on the horizon for Little D.”
-Joey McClellan from our interview with the folks at Redwood Recording Studio

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/8/28/interview-redwood-recording-studio

“Not only did they have the visual appeal of dog food (covered in a syrupy sweet sauce, even), but they weren't even actually burnt ends.”
Haha. That's more like it. 

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/9/8/what-we-did-september-9th

“I like the idea of starting the song off with the bummer of a statement that your youth is not going to last forever, and you are going to get old and die.”
-Kaleo Kaualoku

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/9/5/lyric-leak-kaleo-kaualoku-of-spooky-folk

“Bury a time capsule and then forget to dig it up.”
-Fishboy

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/9/20/video-see-you-at-the-time-capsule

“Hypnotic Donuts and Cultivar Coffee are teaming up to bring us hand-crafted coffee, tasty donuts, and chicken biscuits. Even better, they're rumored to have hours that keep them open until 2am.”

http://wedentondoit.com/blog/2013/9/13/mr-farris-goes-to-city-hall-september

WHAT WE DID: DECEMBER 30TH

It's Monday already? That was quick. Seems like we just wrote this post yesterday, but it's already been seven days. Hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas last week. By the looks of your photos, you certainly did. This week, we're going to try and highlight some of the best of what Denton had to offer in 2013 in a couple of different ways. The last few days of 2013 are bound to be exciting, too. - don't get us wrong. We're gonna head on over to Rubber Gloves Tuesday evening to catch us some AV the Great and Fabdeuce and we're already excited about seeing all of the photos you guys throw #WDDI on next week! See ya then!

Let's start off this week's What We Did with our new favorite Monday morning game, Guess the Graffiti. Here's a piece of graffiti we shot late last week somewhere in town. We can't really tell what it is, what it says, or even if it's offensive. It's certainly not the best piece of graffiti we've seen and we doubt it will even be here by next week, but either way, can you tell us where in town you can find this graffiti? 

Last week was Christmas, of course. We loved seeing all of the photos of your trees and decor. Here's one from Shaina Sheaff. 

Paschall's always just looks a little Christmas-y to us, but a tree always helps, too. 

The trees at the top of the steps of the courthouse always make for a good backdrop. Photo by Haley Caulfield. 

We aren't the only ones who like to hit up Paschall's in the winter. On a side note, when did they start serving moscow mules in copper mugs again? We heard they stopped a while back due to theft, but we're happy to see them back! Photo by Haley Caulfield. 

We had a Tears for Fears and scotch break. The week between Christmas and New Year's always needs such a break. 

Work in Progress, local teen guitar prodigy Justin Weed's band, played down in Ft. Worth last week. How have we not interviewed this kid yet? We need to get on that. Photo by @DruCruz32. More info on Justin Weed here. 

Growing up in Denton has its perks. Drum lessons at Ghost Note on the square are just one of 'em. Photo by @HollyinTexas. 

Requisite food photo for the week. Here are some delicious cookies from photographer Shaina Sheaff. 

We still haven't had the time to make it down to Nathan Williams' Sunday Print Shop yet. We want to, though! Have y'all? If so, what'd you think? Did you get one of those #WDDI shirts they were making? More here. 

WHAT WE DID: DECEMBER 23RD

T-minus two days until Christmas. We really do hope y'all have a good one. We're gonna lay low for a few days and celebrate with our family and friends. If you're in town during Christmas and feeling generous, there are many places you can lend a helping hand by volunteering or making a donation. In the meantime, this past week has been a good one. Instagram says you guys had a great time. We drank a few gallons of coffee, ate a bunch of La Sabrocita, and went to a lot of meetings. Y'all apparently hula-hooped at Big Mike's and watched cats kiss each other. We love y'all so much. Thanks for hashtagging #WDDI and we look forward to seeing your Christmas photos next week. Until then, Merry Christmas, everybody. 

We stopped by Yogurt Fusion & Coffee to check out their new coffee setup and were mighty impressed. Expect to see hear more about the shop and their thoughts on coffee in a future Coffee Wars column. In the meantime, stop by sometime and enjoy a pourover of some of the best beans in the nation. 

Some of the beans behind the counter at Yogurt Fusion and Coffee. 

Aside from the caffeine, we also learned that Yogurt Fusion & Coffee actually makes their yogurt in-house. 

White wine and roses at Banter. Photo by @autumnlynn10. 

A bunch of folks got lowercase "d" "Denton tattoos" at a tattoo party. Now we're thinking we might need some WDDI temporary tattoos. Photo by Camille Green. 

Denton got some badass sunsets last week. This was just one of 'em. Photo by Jessica Hume. 

Shaina Sheaff is always good at finding excellent photo ops in town. Can y'all guess where this is? 

Video above by @janglypangolin. 

Peter Cuomo drew an awesome owl on a chalkboard for reasons unknown. 

Here's @Natalieohhhh in front of The DIME Store's Christmas chalk Christmas tree. Photo by Bryce Olcon. 

The building beside East Side Social Club that was scheduled to be demolished was torn down this past weekend. This is currently the view at ESSC. Soon it will be an excellent food truck park. 

If you want to feel like you're drinking whiskey or beer in a futuristic dystopia, hurry over to ESSC before they clear all of the destruction away!

Some leftover icey courthouse shots from Icemageddon courtesy of @autumnlynn10. 

Billiards and friends from @drcruz32. 

Some goodies at Mulberry St. Cantina shindig. Have you tried any of their 12 drinks of Christmas yet? If so, what did you think? Photo by Mary Jane Raymond. 

Kitty love photo by @drcruz32. #catsofdenton, y'all. 

Nachos and tacos at La Sabrocita on Dallas Dr. Hungry yet? 

Civic duty makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. 

The binders for the 2014 Citizens Bond Advisory Committee are ginormous this year, y'all. 

Ninja Turtle ornaments from Todd Spigener. 

Startup Weekend Denton is giving away a Chromecast for sharing their status that you can register for early bird tickets for their event until Christmas. Check out their Facebook page or their Twitter. #SWDenton

DIME FEATURED SELLER: ANNA TOVAR

Interview by DIME, Photography by Matt McElligot and Anna Tovar 

This month, DIME sat down with Anna Tovar to chat about her playful, whimsical, and 
oh-so-sweet line of prints. Not only are her calligraphy prints totally adorable, she is too!  Read on to to learn more about this talented gal.

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First of all, we love that you work under the moniker “Anna Tovar | Fine Artist”. It gives you the option to continually learn and work with new mediums. What is your all time favorite medium?

Oh, man! That’s really hard for me to pin point. My gut instinct is to say that oil paint is my all-time favorite, even though I don’t use it very often anymore. It’s my first love, and the real reason I gathered the courage to pursue art as a career. I went to UNT to study art, but wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in. It wasn’t until I took my first Drawing and Painting class that I fell in love with oils. I later took a couple of watercolor classes that also had my heart skipping beats, which makes it very hard for me to declare a favorite. 

Your Etsy shop was originally heavy on the watercolor illustrations, but is now 
largely filled with sweet and quirky calligraphy prints. How did you go about 
making this change in your line? 

I really enjoy change! I like to challenge myself by learning new mediums/crafts on a pretty regular basis. Some I just dabble in for a bit and some stick. Calligraphy stuck. I think it’s because I am still naturally coming up with new ideas, and inspiration is readily available and applicable. It’s not something that I have to force, so as long as I am coming up with fresh and new ideas, I will be creating new calligraphy pieces!

How do you decide what phrases you want to use on new calligraphy prints?
I keep a sketchbook that I write down all of the ideas and inspirations that float into my brain. The list gets pretty long, so every 2-3 months I’ll look over my design ideas as well as all of the quotes that I’ve collected, and see which ones match up the best. 

Anyone who’s seen your work or your Etsy shop can immediately tell you have a great eye for design. In fact, we heard from a little birdy that a room in your house was recently featured on Apartment Therapy. What was that like?

Great! I am really into interior design, so having my son’s room featured was pretty fantastic (and validating)!

As you have a lot of your own art in your home, several pieces were highlighted in 
Apartment Therapy’s feature. What has that done for your brand?
From what I can tell, not only did it give me greater exposure to a wider range of audience, but it also gave me more credibility. I think my brand instantly became more trustworthy in terms of quality, which has been a tremendous blessing. I wasn’t really anticipating any effects on my business, so that was just an added bonus!

What kind of work are you hoping to add to your line in the new year? 

I have more ideas than I can realistically produce! I’m going to start experimenting with 
combining calligraphy and watercolor. I love both mediums, so it only seems natural to combine the two. I also just came out with a new style of calligraphy with my “grow where you’re planted” piece. I don’t feel like I’m done with that yet, so I will be working on some more variations of that, as well!

How did you become involved with DIME?

I’ve been participating in the DIME shows for several years now. I started out selling oil 
paintings and hand-made journals, and with each show I would introduce a new product. I benefited greatly from being in those first few shows since I was able to get immediate feedback from customers in that face-to-face environment. That is a big part of what helped shape where I am today. Rachel and Shelley were able to witness first-hand the evolution of my brand, so when it came time to open the shop, I was one of the vendors that they contacted. I am so incredibly grateful for their encouragement and support!

Do you have any advice for aspiring Etsy sellers or other local makers?

Done is better than perfect. If you are waiting for the perfect time, the perfect photos, the perfect anything, you will never get started. I believe that it’s better to just get started and get your name out there, and tweak things as you go. There is a lot to learn, and it can become overwhelming if you feel like you have to learn all of it before you open your shop. You can learn as you go!

You can shop Anna's beautiful work here, here and here. 

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The DIME Store is a shop and artist collective in downtown Denton that features art, craft, and vintage from 40+ local makers. Rachel Aughtry and Shelley Christner act as the "curators and purveyors" of the shop. When they're not at DIME, you'll find them behind their sewing machines or enjoying a margarita at The Greenhouse.

THE DEN10: DECEMBER 18th

After last week's ice tornado hurricane storm of events that seemingly never ended, this week is going to be a piece of cake and next week you should all be nestled in with your family and friends around a fire or a laptop streaming The Newsroom to celebrate the winter holidays just like Krampus intended. Things really slow down and traffic really thins out as the students head home for a month but these are the times when you learn who the true townies are.

Questions, comments or stocking stuffer ideas? Email glen@wedentondoit.com

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Wednesday December 18
Bourbon Barrel Beer Week | OSDH & ESSC | 7PM 
This amazing week continues today with Oak St. Drafthouse Lakewood Bourbon Barrel Temptress, Firestone Walker BB Velvet Merkin bottle, East Side Social Club Oskar Blues Bourbon Barrel Ten-Fidy and a Woodchuck Bourbon Barrel Cider (Bottle). Well that was a mouthful.

Thursday December 19
Amanda Shires / Sydney Wright | Dan’s Silverleaf | 8PM | $12
Here’s a classic Dan’s show. The ever talented Amanda Shires takes the stage with her violin tomorrow and this is a thing you don’t want to miss.

Merry Chrisfits / Half Truths / Special Comedy w/ Clint Werth & Scott Crisp | Rubbergloves | 9PM | $5

Friday December 20
Miracle on 34th Street | Campus Theatre | 7PM | $20
We will never stop loving our community theatre.

Go Shop for Gifts! | The Downtown Square | All Day
C’mon folks, time is really running out at this point so make a point to grab a nice bag of coffee from Yogurt Fusion or Shift Coffee or a giant metal letter from Serendipity. Check out our gift guide for ideas. 

Savage & The Big Beat / Danny Rush & The DD’s | Dan’s Silverleaf | 9PM | $5

Denton Guyer Wildcats Sate Championship Watch Party | Mulberry St. Cantina | 7PM
Go support those fightin’ Wildcats as they battle on the grid iron for the State Championship. GO SPORTS!

Saturday December 21
A Very Shirty Solstice: Bashe / Botany | Rubbergloves | 9PM | FREE
We see what you did there, Pan Ector and we like it. Our favorite local print shop decks the halls with a free show at Gloves with giveaways and fun stuff. 

Brave Combo | Dan’s Silverleaf | 9PM | $10
The classic Denton show where you’ll find a room full of Combo-heads doing the chicken dance. It never gets old.

Sunday December 22
Queen For A Day | Dan’s Silverleaf | 5:30PM | $10
A very convincing Queen tribute is never a bad way to end the weekend.

BEST NEW BUSINESSES: 2013

This year we've seen a lot of businesses come and go. We did our best to try and keep up with everything. We reviewed a few restaurants and highlighted some of our favorite new businesses through any way we could. We took a minute and looked back to the many new businesses that opened their doors in Denton in 2013 and argued about which ones were our favorites. Below is a list of our top five new businesses of 2013 along with a couple runner ups. Feel free to argue with us in the comments!

The Georgie Boy burger from Lone Star Attitude. 

LSA

There’s a place for organically grown businesses - little mom and pop shops that slowly come together over time and eventually become powerhouses of local business. Beth Marie’s was like that. We see that in the future of South Locust with The DIME Store and Shift both opening this year. LSA is basically the opposite of that situation. LSA is what happens when businessmen and restaurateurs throw tons of money into an awesome old burger place. Denton normally doesn’t embrace these types of things. LSA, however, somehow hit the nail on the head. Apparently, one of the things the square was missing was an almost Hard Rock Cafe-like, family-friendly burger place. We ran down a list of the reasons we dig LSA last month. You can check that out here. It's more of an fun atmosphere place than anything else, but they do have a nice, solid burger. Since our initial preview, we've always seen at least a 15 minute wait to be seated every time we've stopped by, so a lot of others must be diggin' it, too. 

A cinnamon roll from Royal's

Royal’s

Royal’s would’ve made this list if they were just opened for one hour a week, every week and they only sold those gosh-darned cinnamon rolls. They’re that good. However, on top of that, Royal’s also offers all sorts of bagels, bagel sandwiches and we’ve recently discovered that their salads are delicious, too. We were bummed when Jupiter House: Europa closed up shop. We always like seeing interesting businesses on the northern side of town, but we never knew Joey Hawkins would soon open up an even better spot. He probably owes his entire city council-ship to those cinnamon rolls. If you're still interested in Royal's you can check out our preview from last spring here. 

The taco special from Viet Bites. 

Viet Bites

Can y’all believe that Viet Bites hasn’t been open for a year yet? Seems like we’ve been munching on their banh mi and slurpin’ their pho for years now. We raved about this little spot a few months back. While Denton has it’s fill of Thai food, it was welcoming to see a Vietnamese restaurant open up in town. While they had a bit of a slow start, they've quickly established themselves as a go-to spot for locals - we imagine they’they've stolen a large portion of the Mr. Chopsticks crowd. We still stand by our claim that the specials at Viet Bites are some of the best food you can get in town.

The DIME Store

The DIME Store was a shoe in for this. Owners Rachely Aughtry and Shelley Christner,  have brought together some of the best artisans of hand-made goods that Denton has to offer under one roof. Handmade furniture, vintage goods, prints, beauty products and jewelry are only a little bit of what The DIME Store has to offer. In addition, these ladies put on classes to help people sell their goods online and have catered parties in the store quite often. South Locust is quickly becoming one of our favorite spots in town - can we all take a minute, and agree to never start calling it SoLo or something like that, though? That may ruin the whole thing. 

Shift Coffee

Shift

Denton really upped it’s coffee game in 2013. We even started writing a column about it. Shift better exemplified that than any other coffee shop this year. While the place may not look like much, the methodology and craftsmanship that you’ll find inside are impressive. While we’ve seen third wave coffee done in Denton before, it’s never been done to quite the degree that Angelo Fesperman and his crew of merry baristas are doing at Shift. These guys have absorbed coffee knowledge from some of the best spots in the metroplex and are putting it on display in town. They even had their first art show this past weekend that was actually quite well attended. Suffice it to say, we have high hopes for this little shop. If you haven’t found Shift yet, that’s okay. It’s located across Locust and down Prairie from The DIME Store. Go there soon and see if you can get yourself an inverted Aeropress brew.

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Runners up to this year's list: 

• Authentic Yoga Life
• East Side Social Club