Spotted in Dallas

Maggie spies:

It's Christmas in Dallas, which means big $ at the mall and big $ in your front yard, if you have one. So imagine, then:

• A rented luxury bus, where beer and wine flowed freely and pizza boxes were plentiful, touring Dallas' best real estate under the guise of checking out their Christmas lights. (Did I mention I was on this bus?)

• Neighborhoods packed with buses and limos doing the same thing. Is this a new trend everywhere, or just in Dallas?

• Folks spilling out of our bus, drinks in hand, to pose with a front yard's toy soldiers and life-size nativity characters. Irony noted. (Did I mention I was in that group photo?)

• In one of Dallas' toniest 'hoods, an American flag made solely from Christmas lights with a phrase underneath. I steeled myself for the worst "patriotic," pro-war expression possible, but when the bus pulled around, saw this instead: "One Nation, Many Faiths." Talk about a pleasant surprise.

And for the celeb-hungry among us:

• Angie Harmon, Christmas shopping at Highland Park Village in full-length fur, as spotted by my NC best friend, who was in town to make sure I'm surviving the Texas transition.