Staying Home

Beat quarantine boredom with virtual classes and at-home activities from these Dallas pros

From offering quarantine kits to streaming workout classes and movie screenings, local businesses have proven their ingenuity in the face of the COVID-19 crisis. Similarly, as North Texans grapple with their new normal — and an unprecedented amount of together time — they’re searching for creative ways to beat quarantine boredom and even learn a new skill or two.

Whether you’re looking for a new hobby or ways to decompress, here are seven ways to fill your time over the next few weeks.

Make a mask with Kathy Fielder
Dallas designer Kathy Fielder has joined efforts to supply those in need with non-medical face masks. She created a unique pattern designed to be fitted, functional, and washable. Visit her blog for step-by-step instructions and a video how-to, so you can create your own masks with materials found around the home.

Touch up your roots
Your hair color doesn’t have to suffer just because you’re homebound. Stylists have gotten creative with at-home emergency hair coloring kits featuring specific formulas mixed for you and step-by-step instructions for how to apply. Dear Clark, The Songbird Society, and Figueroa are just a few of the salons offering this service. Kits start at $40.

Take a cheese class
Scardello Artisan Cheese is offering virtual classes with themes ranging from “Chocolate and Cheese” to “Old World vs New World.” Experts will share their knowledge on the night’s theme and walk you through various pairings via Facebook Live. To participate, reserve your seat online — there are a limited number — and pick up your cheese plate and accompaniments from Scardello on the day of the event. Classes start at $30 with the option to add a bottle of wine.

Build your own terrarium
East Dallas’ Jade & Clover has created DIY Terrarium Kits to help locals stay busy while social distancing. Pre-made kits are $25 and include one mini glass terrarium, one succulent, sand, and gravel. For a one-of-a-kind creation, you can build your own kit with your choice of terrarium, succulents, and up to three sand colors. Kits are currently available for pickup only, but local delivery will be added soon.

Master meditation
If there were ever a time to give meditation a try, it’s now. Breathe Mind and Body opened its ultrachic Highland Park meditation studio last year and has been popular with mindful Dallasites since. Typically, the studio offers guided meditation classes for $26 each. Now, Breathe is hosting free guided meditations multiple times a day via Instagram Live. Daily schedules are posted to the website.

Learn a new skill
From Intro to Comedy Writing to Photography 101 and The Art of Super Smash Bros., North Texas Performing Arts truly has something for everyone. Classes are taught online through ZOOM by performing arts instructors across Dallas and offered a la carte, starting at $9.99 for open classes and $14.99 for exclusive classes (limited to 10 participants). Recordings are available to registered participants after each session.

Experience Dallas Blooms
It’s peak season for the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. And though you can’t enjoy the garden’s annual Dallas Blooms festival in person, you can experience it virtually, with informative video tours led by Dave Forehand, Vice President of Gardens. Video tours are free, but donations are welcome.

Kathy Fielder is teaching everyone how to make face masks.

Photo Courtesy of Kathy Fielder

Kathy Fielder is teaching everyone how to make face masks.

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Coworking News

New coworking space to open in Dallas' Oak Lawn neighborhood

Office Evolution

A coworking space is opening in Dallas in a central location: Office Evolution, a Louisville-based coworking chain, will open what a release says is a "state-of-the-art coworking space" at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. #360 in Dallas at the southeast corner of Lemmon Avenue.

No details on what makes it state-of-the-art, but construction is ongoing and an opening is anticipated in mid-October.

Office Evolution was founded in 2003 as a shared workspace-coworking environment, cultivated on the principles of "Ohana," the Hawaiian tradition that references family working toward a common goal. (The founder was from Hawaii.)

The company started out in Boulder, Colorado, then relocated its headquarters to Louisville. It's an affiliated brand of United Franchise Group, and is part of The Vast Coworking Group, which specializes in franchising within the coworking industry. All of their locations are franchised.

The Dallas location is owned by franchisee Michael Pickering, a Dallas native who runs a family-owned indoor soccer facility in Dallas. (There are two other Office Evolution locations in the DFW area in McKinney and Southlake, owned by different franchisees.)

They're describing the Dallas location at 3500 Oak Lawn Ave. as "Turtle Creek," although its location at Oak Lawn and Lemmon really puts it at the epicenter of Oak Lawn. (To further complicate matters, the building previously and incorrectly described its address as "Uptown.")

It's a seven-story building in which the majority of tenants are doctor and medical offices.

Office Evolution rates include a coworking day pass for $25, plus "flex" office options starting at $200 a month for 20 hours, up to $550 a month for 80 hours.

Amenities of the building that are also accessible to Office Evolution customers include a front desk; a 1,000-square-foot fitness center; covered parking; and on-site security six days a week.

According to a spokesperson, Pickering and his team put $1.2 million into the renovation to transform the space, which occupies most of the fourth floor where it will span 9,240 square feet of space with 41 total offices — one of which is earmarked as an "on-demand office" for the professional on the go.

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