Say “Cheese”. It’s that time of year again, and if you’re like me, you’ve at least got it on your “to-do” list — get family picture for holiday cards.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

Spare yourself a little mama drama this year. You can book a special holiday mini-session with Coco & Peanut Photography. Owned by Lake Highlands residents Sarah and Ron Hagan, the couple recently started their photog biz after the birth of their daughter. Check out their photo gallery and learn about their holiday specials at cocoandpeanut.com.

If you’re a fan of HGTV and were tuning in to Design Star this past season, you were watching one of Lake Highlands’ own compete to win the coveted top spot in the reality show contest. Jany Lee and her husband, originally from Canada, moved to Lake Highlands in 2007. The house they purchased in Merriman Park was a “fixer upper” and perfect for Lee to rehab in her own style. Having worked at a financial institution for years, Lee decided life was too short not to be passionate about what you do. Loving to “create” since she was a child, she switched gears and threw her energy into interior design. Two audition videos and a casting interview later, Lee was selected out of 8,700 people to be a finalist on Season 4 of the reality TV contest. “[I] am constantly inspired by the beauty around me,” Lee says. “Design is just another outlet for me to create.” To have Lee work her magic on your interior design challenges, visit Jany Lee Designs at janylee.com.

Jon Robertson, a resident of the L Streets for 20-plus years, has some artwork that might just be featured in a living room or nursery near you. Robertson, owner of JMR Studios (jonmrobertson.com), is a local artist specializing in charcoal renderings and murals. Sketching is currently his “side job,” but he keeps pretty busy with it, even doing some work for actress Angie Harmon several years ago. Some of his more popular items are residential sketches, which can range from $100 to $200 depending on size and framing specifications. Robertson sketches people and pets, too.

An Aldi grocery store is under construction where the Sav-On Foods discount grocery store was located at the southeast corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams. This is one of 25 in the Dallas area expected to open in March.

Did you know that Quilters Connection (quilters-connectrion.com) at Plano Road and Walnut Hill is owned by Class of ’73 LHHS grad David Chappell and his wife, Sheryl? David is a Lake Highlands native and now has two sons at LHHS, where he is also the football team photographer. Shelley, a transplant from Washington, runs the quilt shop and has been quilting for more than 30 years. The Chappells opened Quilters Connection in September 2007 in the same space as a previous quilt shop that closed its doors earlier that year. Don’t let the name fool you — even if you’re not a quilter, you can walk in and find something you’d love, including fabrics and ribbons for pillows, clothes and Christmas stockings. And the shop offers sewing classes for beginners and/or experts.

David Ferris and Tony Doles have a pretty good thing going. Not only can you get your invites and gifts, you can mail them, too! Their latest venture, My Office, is a private mailboxes-type store offering “packing, shipping, copies, mailboxes and supplies.” This is the third operation Ferris and Dole have opened in the retail center at Audelia and Walnut Hill over the past two years. The Inviting Room opened next door to T. Hee Greetings & Gifts recently. “In order to expand our market while continuing to cater to our loyal Lake Highlands customer base, we had to start thinking a little outside the box,” Farris says. At this rate, these two will have that entire retail center filled in no time.

Erin Moyer is a Lake Highlands resident and entrepreneur who owns her own small business manufacturing original women and children’s clothes and accessories (progenyinc.com), plus a consulting business specializing in marketing and business development. Her monthly “Live Local” column features anything and everything we might want to know about some of our favorite mom-and-pop shops, as well as what’s up and coming in our neighborhood as it relates to business. Send Moyer ideas and feedback at livelocal@advocatemag.com. Not everything she receives can be published in the magazine, but check out our Back Talk Lake Highlands blog daily for more information about ways to live local in our neighborhood.