Tis The Season

Top Dallas pastry chefs bake for bragging rights in second annual GingerbreadStroll

Cold weather has arrived, and the holidays are fast approaching. So naturally we have gingerbread houses on the brain.

We have a soft spot for these festive miniature houses made of edibles, because they combine two of our greatest loves: food and design. Gingerbread Stroll founder Christine McKenny knows exactly how we feel. "It's a happy event that crosses with my previous experiences [in nonprofit work and real estate]."

The second annual charitable event in Highland Park Village takes place November 16-30. Top Dallas pastry chefs — from Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, Chocolate Secrets, Fine Arts Confections, Four Seasons Resort and Club, Cafe on the Green, Hilton Anatole, Hyatt Regency Dallas, Northwood Club, Remington College Pastry Arts Program, Rosewood Crescent Hotel, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Royal Oaks Country Club, The Hospitality Sweet, Ritz-Carlton and Tom Thumb — build elaborate gingerbread houses, which go on display in participating stores.

The chefs donate their time, ingredients and all of the resources they need to create the houses. Holiday shoppers then can bid in a silent auction to take home one of the masterful edible creations.

If you don't want to take any chances in the silent auction, you can "buy now." But you still have have to wait until November 30 to take home your gingerbread masterpiece.

"Every year we give 100 percent of the proceeds to a local children's charity," McKenny says. "Last year it was Children's Medical Center. This year, the proceeds will go to Community Partners."

The public also can vote on their favorite creations by picking up a ballot at participating stores Beretta Gallery, Billy Reid, Calame Jewelers, Carolina Herrera, Cole Haan, Deno’s of Highland Park, Escada, Haynsworth Frames, Kiehl’s Since 1851, Robert Talbott Carmel, Scoop NYC, Trina Turk, Tom Thumb and Village Barber Shop.

After a stroll through the village, shoppers can drop off their ballots at Celebrity Cafe & Bakery, which is donating proceeds from the sale of gingerbread cookies to Community Partners for the duration of the stroll.

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happy go lucky plano

Dallas neighbor dazzles on new list of happiest cities in America

Photo courtesy of Visit Plano

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A new happiness study has ranked Plano one of the happiest cities in America this year, and it once again landed on top as the happiest city in Texas.

Plano has moved up on the list and ranks as the 16th happiest U.S. city in 2026. Last year, it was 17th.

WalletHub determined the happiest cities in America based on 29 relevant metrics based on "positive-psychology research" across three main categories: emotional and physical wellbeing, income and employment, and community and environment. As with most WalletHub studies, it compared the 182 most populous U.S. cities.

Fremont, California claimed the top spot as the happiest city nationwide for another year. Bismark, North Dakota and Scottsdale, Arizona, respectfully, rounded out the top three.

Here's how WalletHub ranked Plano across the three key dimensions:

No. 15 – Emotional and physical wellbeing
No. 22 – Community and environment
No. 72 – Income and employment

Plano and its residents have continued improving their city year after year, whether its through opening new bakeries and restaurants, inviting fun pop-ups for locals, or having a strong job market.

Plano's happiness far outshines the rest of North Texas; according to WalletHub, Irving is the 70th happiest city in the country, the third-happiest in Texas, and the second-happiest city in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro. Garland ranked farther behind as No. 92 nationally, and more DFW cities ranked even lower: Grand Prairie (No. 106), Dallas (No. 111), Fort Worth (No. 113), and Arlington (No. 119).

The report additionally found that Dallasites spend the third-most amount of time at work in the nation. The city ranked No. 180 in the national analysis of U.S. cities with the "fewest work hours."

WalletHub also emphasized that money doesn't buy happiness — after a certain point.

"For decades, researchers have explored the science of happiness and identified several core factors, including mental well-being, physical health, strong social ties, job satisfaction, and financial stability," the report said. "Still, income has its limits — studies show that earning more than $75,000 a year does not lead to greater happiness."

Six-figure earners in Plano aren't necessarily as happy as those who don't make as much, as a separate financial study from SmartAsset revealed these big earners are only taking home about $72,653 after taxes and adjusted for the cost of living.

This is how other Texas cities ranked in the report:

No. 39 – Austin
No. 128 – Houston
No. 135 – Lubbock
No. 137 – El Paso
No. 140 – Laredo
No. 143 – Amarillo
No. 150 – Brownsville
No. 154 – San Antonio
No. 155 – Corpus Christi

wallethub plano reports