THE BEST IN DINING 56 A premier list of events in Atlanta you DON’T want to miss! 65 Charities for Humanity and Children 68 Network Events for College & High School Students to make the RIGHT connections 71 Beautiful Art, Wonderful Wine, Terrific Times
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15 Profound Wisdom for Living 28 Executive Career Opportunities 30 Atlanta’s Best REALTORS 33 Atlanta’s Best Homes & Communities 38 Your Luxury Advantage 42 Gifted Programs for Children 4-12 43 Entrepreneur Programs Youth 13-18 52 Your Power Your Money Your Legacy
EVENT PLANNING 39 Wedding Planners 43 PR Firms 48 GLAM Squads 54 The Best Venues 60 Top Caterers 62 Atlanta Bands 66 The Best Event Promoters 70 Photographers to Know
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16 Lashes & Brows Where to go 29 Cosmetic Surgery 31 Dental Implants 34 Natural Skin Regiments 39 Best Beauty Sellers 43 Accessories 43 Entrepreneur Programs Youth 13-18 52 Your Power Your Money Your Legacy
FABULOUS SOIREES 56 A premier list of events in Atlanta you DON’T want to miss! 65 Charities for Humanity and Children 68 Network Events for College & High School Students to make the RIGHT connections 71 Beautiful Art, Wonderful Wine, Terrific Times
IN EVERY ISSUE
15 Profound Wisdom for Living 28 Executive Career Opportunities 30 Atlanta’s Best REALTORS 33 Atlanta’s Best Homes & Communities 38 Your Luxury Advantage 42 Gifted Programs for Children 4-12 43 Entrepreneur Programs Youth 13-18 52 Your Power Your Money Your Legacy
FASHION
39 Best Beauty Sellers 43 Accessories 48 Next Season’s Trends in Dresses 54 Trunk Shows for Your Calendar 60 Premier Designers 62 Precious Stones 66 Extraordinary Diamonds 70 Attire That Says it ALL 71 Photographers to Know
SKIN & BEAUTY
16 Lashes & Brows Where to go 29 Cosmetic Surgery 31 Dental Implants 34 Natural Skin Regiments 39 Best Beauty Sellers 43 Accessories 43 Entrepreneur Programs Youth 13-18 52 Your Power Your Money Your Legacy
“The best colors are the ones you can’t describe with a word,” says Birmingham-based Tammy Connor. And at the Buckhead home she designed for Rod and Linda Gray, it’s one big guessing game—at least to the untrained eye. A dreamy mix of blue-greens, soft ivories (more than halfdozen of them) and comfortable tans, browns and grays create a quiet cacophony of colors that makes for a subtle yet striking palette. But pinpointing an exact shade? Impossible. Working with architect Norman Askins on the home’s extensive remodel—which included beefing up all of the home’s moldings, the addition of a sunroom and scaling back the double-height foyer into something more intimate—Connor chose hues that are easy on the eyes, yet offer round after round of surprises. “We do our color schemes in a way so that rooms don’t look overly decorated or matchy-matchy,” Connor says of her firm’s philosophy. “That makes them more complex and, as a result, each room has its own personality.” What’s more, Connor’s take on fabrics is similar. “We use more subtle fabrics than big patterns,” she explains. “In general, it’s rare for me to pick a floral pattern and match the rest of the fabrics to it. The textures that we choose make it more casual.” In the Grays’ residence, for instance, bouclés, linens and velvets are juxtaposed with wallpapers that have charming prints and antiques with rich patinas. Some rooms, such as the library, are cozy and intimate while others, like the master bedroom, are light and bright. “The Grays had some great things to work with,” says the designer of her clients’ existing furnishings. Pieces from their previous residence on Tuxedo Road were used throughout this one, while Connor called upon her sources in Birmingham, Charleston, New Orleans and New York for other antiques, lighting and accessories. The resulting mix is a home that, in Connor’s words, is “soft and comfortable, yet sophisticated.” Now that’s something everyone can agree on. -Clinton Smith, Author -Erica George Dines, Photographer
LB: What's your next project? HB: There's this movie called Nappily Ever After. It's beautiful, funny, but has a deep message about women. Women slave for their hair! It's all about how we compare ourselves to other women, how we size ourselves up. It's a look at this one woman's life, and she goes through this metamorphosis when she gets rid of her hair. Not only does she feel different, but people treat her differently. She's now more like an alien than the hottest chick on the block. She's got to reboot and discover who she really is. LB: For the role, do you plan to shave your head on camera? HB: Yes. I'm scared to death. I just hope my reaction fits into the story. If it's uncontrollable screaming, it might be a different type of movie. LB: What are your guilty pleasures? HB: Very boring, but I buy baby clothes online. Nahla can't wear all the clothes I've bought, and we don't go anywhere because I can't deal with the paparazzi. Gabriel's always like, "She doesn't even leave the house! Halle, you've got to stop." LB: Nahla is a beautiful girl — amazing, given her challenged parents. HB: Let her be sweet because I believe beauty is as beauty does. My hope is that she is sweet and kind because no matter how beautiful you are, ugly ain't cute. LB: Would you ever get married again? HB: No. I'm done. Also, I happened to find a person who feels done too, and he's never even been married before. So it works. LB: More children? HB: Yes. My pregnancy was amazing. I was happy that whole time, I felt good, I had energy, I was like Superwoman. I wish I could feel like that for the rest of my life, that's how fantastic it was. LB: Last year was kind of super for women in Hollywood too. HB: It really was. As a woman, when you embrace where you are in life, then I think the struggle isn't so hard. If you're 42 and still think you're an ingenue, then you've got a problem. LB: Whose style do you like? HB: Eva Mendes. She's beautiful, and she's sexy and hot, and I love her. LB: So, what are Halle's hobbies? HB: I just want to be home for a while and swim in the pool, and I love to garden. I thought, Wouldn't it be great when Nahla can run out here and pick fresh fruit right in our own backyard? [Points to veggie patch.] We have an apple tree, a plum tree, a pear tree ...
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Formally trained as an architect, Italian designer Gianfranco Ferré launched his first signature womenswear collection in 1978, followed shortly with a men's collection in 1982, fragrance in 1984, and a couture line by 1986. Known for its crisp lines, exact cutting, and visible seams, Ferré’s label was influenced by his first trips to Asia. Defined by an East-meets-West aesthetic that vehemently rejects high-fashion trends, the house built its look on rigorously constructed, but casual, garments—like Ferré’s famously crisp white dress shirts decked with layered cuffs, collars, and ruffles. Sharply tailored dresses, suits, and structured ballroom skirts in ultraluxe fabrics and rich colors were recurring players in Ferré’s simple but elegant roster. In the nineties, the house branched out with sportier ready-to-wear, fur, and high-end accessories under FERRÉ Milano, and sportswear divisions for jeans, children’s, and lowerpriced accessories—consolidated in 2005 under the GF FERRÉ line. After Ferré’s death in 2007, Lars Nilsson was brought on as creative director for less than a year before being replaced by 6267 designers Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi in April 2008. Their first collection (spring 2009) won acclaim for honoring Ferré’s legacy of controlled femininity while modernizing the label with their stiff, geometric dresses in curve-conscious shapes
Today’s marketing is about two-way dialog; push and pull media. There are significantly more channels, everyone has access, and information flows from every imaginable source. Which means your customers have unprecedented freedom, and your strategy has to embrace that fact. Jacobs & Clevenger will make sure that it does. We’ll work with you to formulate a plan that identifies and leverages all key customer touch-points. The web has established a dynamic new standard for information gathering. Harnessing search, social media and online advertising is critical to ensure that your prospects and customers are able to formulate the opinions you want them to reach. Which means you need an agency that understands every aspect of the information and sales funnel, and how to move your customers through it. At Jacobs & Clevenger, our strategic process creates a contact strategy roadmap and aligns the most appropriate messages to the tactics. Our team dives deep to find data insights and dissect precisely what motivates various groups. We use a combination of analytics and insights to formulate the most appropriate messages. Research includes qualitative messaging research, user panels and web-based usability studies, online quantitative studies, and offer selection simulation. Then we transform those learnings into meaningful messages for different channels, tactics and parts of the contact strategy. As a result, your communications are highly targeted to move different customers through the decision cycle. Jacobs & Clevenger also specializes in finding ways to engage prospects and customers with self-directed information, leveraging online delivery channels to the maximum. For consumer marketing this ranges from well-placed social media and robust search engine marketing programs to engaging consumer games. On the business-to-business side it includes webinars, interactive quizzes and multichannel offline and online lead generation programs. The bottom line is clear. Our goal is to understand what communication outlets need to exist within your multichannel strategy, how to align every message accordingly, and above all how to ensure those tactics reach the set objectives and metrics.