Now I know why; she is charming, funny, warm and very entertaining. It’s no wonder “5280” Magazine recently named her one of Denver’s most watchable singles. Nor was I surprised to learn she was a runway model, a little tidbit she rarely mentions.
Dahlia’s journalism career began in South Beach, Florida, where she wrote for “Fashion Spectrum Magazine.” This was a great opportunity, combining her interests in fashion, design and writing. At some point, Dahlia would like to start her own publication.
Dahlia has been at the News for two years. Her column appears Monday through Thursday.
Favorite Clothing Stores:
Believe it or not, I am a bargain girl. I love Ross, TJ Maxx and Marshalls more than any specialty boutique. There’s nothing like walking out of a store with ten new outfits having spent around $300.
What gives a woman/man style:
Style is completely subjective. A man or woman in blue jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket can be just as stylish as someone dressed in Armani. It’s really about being comfortable with yourself whatever you are wearing and looking “put-together.” (A great personality and good hygiene doesn’t hurt personal style either.)
Interests:
Fine wine and fine food, fashion design, alternative music, Harley Davidsons and horse cutting. (Pretty eclectic, huh?).
Favorite Restaurants:
Sacre Bleu, Hapa Sushi in Cherry Creek and the Cherry Cricket are my regular haunts.
Saturdays are likely to find you in:
…My laundry room, the grocery store, the dry cleaners and the office during the day and in an evening gown covering a society event for the Rocky at night.
Favorite Books:
I am really a magazine junkie rather than a book reader, however, when I do read a book, it is usually a biography about somebody I admire or a book about photography, interior design or fashion.
Pets:
Two incredible cats, who took the 2,000-mile road trip with me from Miami to Denver when I moved. “PITA” (which stands for Pain In The Ass – and he is!) and “SoBe” (because I found her on South Beach when she was just a kitty.)
Favorite Quote:
If you truly love your job, you never work a day in your life.
What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?
Ready-made four-cheese tortellini, fresh goat cheese and almond-flavored coffee mate creamer.
What’s your favorite comfort food? Junk food?
Cherry Cricket’s “Little Cricket” burger, medium rare, with smoked cheddar cheese, well-done bacon and barbecue sauce (of course, with French fries and ranch dressing for dipping on the side.)
What food can’t you live without?
There are a few: steak, burgers, sushi and any kind of cheese.
Where do you go in your home to feel completely relaxed and just think?
My bedroom because it is so cozy and there are photos of my family and friends everywhere in my room.
If money and time were no object, what dream project would you do (to your home).
I would knock down the kitchen wall to open up into my third bedroom, which is now my home office, and then convert the space into a sunroom with French doors that lead out to the backyard’s slate deck. I’d put an old-fashioned claw-foot tub in my bathroom and I’d hire a full-time gardener to bring all of my flowers, plants and trees back to life. (I’m the worst black thumb.)
What was the most unusual thing you’ve ever decorated your home with?
I bought about 50 old-fashioned glass canisters and bags and bags of candle-making sand at a garage sale for $10. I poured all of the different colored sands into the canisters and spread them out as accents on bookshelves, in my bathroom and in my bedroom and they look like they are expensive little works of glass art.
What tool have you purchased that you’ve never used?
I have used every tool I own. (I am a regular “Miss Fix-it.”)
What have you lost in your home that you never found – and would love back?
Are you kidding? I am so anal I know where everything is in my house.
When you move, what will your home tell its next owner, about you?
I love warm earthy colors and I’m very clean.
What one word describes you best?
Vibrant
What word would you like others to use to describe you?
Sincere
If your life were a movie, what movie would it be? Who would play your part?
I don’t know about a movie, but most people think I could play a role on HBO’s “Sex and the City.” (I could tell you which character – but then I’d have to kill you!)
Who is your hero? Why?
I have a few, but the first person that comes to my mind is Charlene Parsons, director of the fashion department at the International Fine Arts College. She is one of my former teachers and certainly a mentor. She taught me that hard work and dedication always pay off in the end and that any goals I set for myself can be met as long as I stay true to my heart and do what I love to do.
What is your pet peeve?
Fake people.
Where can you be found at midnight?
Sipping lemon-drop martinis at Sacre Bleu.
What was your first job?
I was a freshman in high school and I worked as a salesgirl at a high-end women’s retail boutique called “Mile High” in the Aventura Mall in North Miami Beach. How ironic that I would wind up in Denver the Mile High city.
What would you do if you were king of the world?
I’d make sure that everyone in the world had food, shelter, health, and happiness – your basic Utopia.
What word or expression do you use too much?
Whatever.
If there were one thing you would change about yourself, what would it be?
I believe that everything in life -good or bad- makes you an individual and that everything that happens to you takes you to the next phase in your life so I would like to believe I wouldn’t change anything. (If I have to pick one thing, I’d reject some of the men I have dated, but wouldn’t we all!)
What is your greatest indulgence?
Shoes and handbags.
Best gift you ever gave?
Shortly before I moved to Denver, my roommate, Avra, became engaged and I wrote a poem about her and her future husband and submitted it along with their photograph to the Sun Sentinel, our local newspaper. It ran on Valentines Day, which was also the day of her engagement party, in a special section about the best love stories ever told and when she woke up that morning and opened the paper she couldn’t believe it. Her mother called me in tears and pretty soon the phone was ringing off the hook with people who had seen the poem and picture. We bought every copy of the newspaper we could find and passed them out at the engagement party. She got lots of incredible gifts that night, but to this day, she insists mine was the best. It meant a lot to both of us.
If you could have a no-holds barred shopping spree, where would you go?
Oh my! I’d start in New York and hit every shop on 5th Avenue and then head to the Village for some edgy funky duds from some young, hip undiscovered designers. I’d hop on the Concorde and fly to Paris to continue the spree and then head off to Italy and London for more. I figure a few months later I’d return to Denver with trunk-loads of incredible stuff and then I’d have to look for a new home with larger closets so I could keep it all.
What is one thing nobody knows about you?
I am an old-fashioned romantic when it comes to true love. I really do believe in soul mates.
Which social event is your favorite?
This is a tough question. Actually, it would be politically incorrect for me to answer this. So to be fair, I won’t.
If you could be something other than what you are, what would you be?
A dancer on Broadway.
What is a favorite childhood memory?
I vividly recall sitting on my father’s shoulders as we walked down a stream in upstate New York where my Grandparents lived. It was so beautiful.
Who is the most interesting celebrity you ever met?
Elsa Klensch from CNN’s “Style With Elsa Klensch.” I admired her for so many years and wanted her job. I had the opportunity to meet her and interview her for the magazine I worked for in Miami and she was so kind and told me she’d be happy to have me as her replacement someday when she retired.
