One of my favorite seasons has arrived. I don't celebrate fall, winter, spring and summer. I celebrate the seasons of football, bazaars, holidays, yard sales and gardening!

I've included a list of local bazaars and I hope you'll find time to visit a few of them. One of my favorites is the Trinity Lutheran bazaar that includes the annual pan sale. Pan sale? Yes, the school cooks buy their...read more

Hey, if you are a Dan Vickery fan — the finalist from Design Star — you won't want to miss Sandra Lee's HGTV special on Saturday, Dec. 12.

Sanda Lee, host of the Food Network's Semi-Homemade Cooking and Money Savings Meals, has cooked up four one-hour primetime segments for the holidays, and Dan Vickery will be on one of them!

In each of the four Sandra Lee Celebrates segments...read more

Dan's new online videos are at HGTV. There are four. There are four videos and you can watch them at the main Design Star page. They are halfway down the right side.

Listen up, Dan Vickery fans. Design Star's "fan favorite" has posted four short videos at HGTV and he's revealed plans for his upcoming HGTV.com show.

Remember that awesome nursery for Jason Priestley? And...read more

Fu For Thought raves about Antonio's special. Fans of Reality TV

Hey, did you watch Antonio Ballatore's first show after winning Season 4 of HGTV's Design Star earlier this month?

I did, and so did a couple of my fellow Design Star fans. Antonio says he won't deliver the typical HGTV fodder.

"It's going to be shot different. We're going to go about it...read more

I'm expecting to hear any day that you can watch a vlog from Dan Vickery at HGTV.com. The "Fan Favorite" already taped a few, sharing some insights to the whole nine-week Design Star competition. Dan's online show will start after the first of the year, but these are special segments so you can get to know Dan a bit more. I'll have to ask Dan who did the editing. : )

After...read more

Do you remember the house Dan fixed up for the final challenge on Design Star? The owner's name was Gail. She contacted me the other day to say how great her house is — even four months later — and how great Dan is. I asked if she would answer questions for me, and she did. Gail sent them back in the wee hours of the morning. I hope you'll find it as interesting as I did.

How much time did you actually interact with Dan for the redesign?

We...read more

Consider Dan Vickery a member of the HGTV.com family. Catch his design magic sometime next week if all goes as planned.

After a disappointing - and oh-so-close winner of Design Star Sunday night - the Vale native begins immediately making videos to air very soon - maybe next week.

"After generating millions of page views and votes, we know that HGTV Design Star viewers and online community...read more

Yes, Dan Vickery won the fan vote and he will host the first-ever online show for HGTV.com.

"I just want to say thanks to everyone for voting and supporting me," Dan said minutes after he was notified. "I especially want to thank my sister, Karen Vickery, for rallying the troops."

Dan doesn't have any details yet, but he promised he would let me know as soon as he knows...read more

Fu for Thought's interview with Antonio. It's interesting. Let me know what you think.

Also, HGTV closed fan voting at 5 p.m. ET. A winner is supposed to be announced sometime today. I guess they got 3 million votes. Hope Dan Vickery wins. Antonio says Jany or Jason would make great hosts for the online show.

Vern Yip says Antonio Ballatore won Design Star because of his "distinctive voice"

By...read more

Hey, here's a great interview with Dan Vickery. As always, Fu for Thought, who conducts weekly interviews with the most recently "canceled" finalist, she does a great job pulling out some interesting tidbits. Check it out.

Also, voting ends TODAY at 5 p.m. Eastern time. That's 3 p.m. in Mountain time and 2 p.m. in the Pacific time zone. So don't delay if you want Dan Vickery...read more

New from Active rain: "We arrived early to get a good table (and had a cocktail before ordering a delicious Irish dinner) and soon a big white limo pulled up outside and out popped Dan Vickery with some of his family & friends ... when Dan walked into the pub, everyone cheered and he happily posed for photos with his "fans" and even signed autographs. Dan was accompanied by a gorgeous, tall brunette who he later introduced as his girlfriend, Rose. Dan is extremely gracious and about the nicest, most humble person you could meet. Not to mention what a talented designer he is!"

Read the whole post and see photos. Thanks, Michele Rose!

From Fu for Thought:...read more

Words escape me. Dan Vickery and Antonio Ballatore both did amazing jobs with the final challenge on HGTV's Design Star, but in the end, the judges decided that Antonio would have his own show. We'll see his first on HGTV next week when he makes over his own home.

Want to catch up with what others are saying? See my roundup in today's post and check back for more of my own thoughts...read more

It seems like yesterday when I got news that Dan Vickery, my nephew and godson, was going to be one of 11 finalists for HGTV's Design Star. The first challenge aired Sunday, July 17. Week after week, friends and family gathered at the home of Dick and Bev Vickery in Willowcreek, Ore. One week, family watched from McCall.

But it's become a ritual. Who will bring what for dinner? Who's...read more

Here are a couple of interesting posts about the upcoming final Design Star Episode and don't forget to read my preview. I interview both Dan and Antonio for the final episode.

A preview blog at HGTV: It all comes down to this! We started with 11 talented designers and now Antonio and Dan will go head-to-head this week to design an ENTIRE house.

Daniel and Antonio created T-shirts...read more

From the beginning, it was predicted. Dan Vickery and Antonio Ballatore would meet for the final challenge.

The men have two things in common: They love design and they both know their stuff. But only one of them will be declared the Design Star and awarded his own television show on HGTV on Sunday night. Dan and Antonio each redo a house for the final challenge. They get their own teams of carpenters...read more