Preston Center is congested. Invariably I find myself circling the area looking for a parking spot. So when the new Einstein Bros. Bagels opened in the tiny and awkward spot in Preston Royal Village, I was thrilled.

The problem is that the service is awful. I know it’s new, but after several months the service is not improving. Recently, I tried the Preston Center Einstein Bros. store just to see if I could figure out the problem. Maybe I could share my observations with the new Einstein’s management? Here is what I observed.

At Preston Center, you order and give your name. Then one of several people prepare your order and pass it to someone who calls your name and hands it over. Seems simple. At the new Einstein Bros., you order and give your name. Then, the first person behind the counter stands around reading the orders while the next person prepares all the orders and then a third person waits until the order is ready to call your name. The difference: Everyone at Preston Center is preparing orders, and at Preston Royal only one person is schmearing bagels. Maybe this is a nuance I need not worry about, but I just can’t figure out why buttering one toasted green chili toast bagel takes so long.

To the new Einstein Bros. Bagels management: please solve the service failures!

I know that sounds like a joke headline, but hear me out. From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Purple Cow in Preston Royal Village will donate 15 percent of your bill to Rainbow Days, a children’s nonprofit that puts on Camp Bravo and Christmas in July at Northwest Bible  Church. Just make sure to tell your sever about the promotion.

The special holiday-themed show is the culmination of a week-long performing arts camp aimed at building self-esteem and confidence in children. So hit up Purple Cow today, and catch the show at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Northwest Bible Church.

It’s been a rough couple months for the businesses at Preston Road and Royal Lane. And although the news of Blockbuster closing isn’t likely to engender as strong of emotions as Border’s shutting down, it’s still disappointing to many customers.

Every number I found for Blockbuster corporate was either disconnected, unanswered,  or a private mailbox, and Blockbuster employees at the Preston Royal location refused to speak directly to the media about closing. So the details are a bit lacking on this, but I did interview a customer who was returning a movie Tuesday afternoon.

Brandy Morelli, an Oak Lawn resident, doesn’t normally patronize the Preston Road location, but when she went to her neighborhood store on Lemmon Avenue Monday to return a movie she had rented just 24 hours earlier, they were closed.

“They told me that I needed to go somewhere else to return it,” she said. “So, I came here, and they’re closing, too.”

Blockbuster is currently selling a selection of its inventory, but major discounts haven’t taken place yet. Only returns and purchases are being processed at the Preston Royal location. No word yet on an official closing date.

If the weather isn’t hot enough for you, how about some flaming art? David Sena — a Dallas native now living in Brooklyn — will be creating “fire drawings” tonight at Gallery Interiors, which is on the southwest corner of Preston and Royal. We’re told the evening begins at 7 p.m. with light bites and cocktails; Sena’s performance will start at 8:30.

In the summer, we have a nightly routine of visiting the local yogurt shop. Last summer, we made our nightly pilgrimage to Orange Cup. Since it closed, we have been in search of the perfect spot to grab a bowl of yogurt. Well, we have struck gold. I Heart Yogurt, on the southeast corner of Preston and Royal, is the ticket. It is small, cute, and oh so clean. I usually don’t like yogurt or ice cream shops because they are sticky places where the smell makes my nose wrinkle.

I Heart Yogurt feels more like an operating room than a yogurt shop. Finding a crumb would make for a good scavenger hunt. And the toppings are perfectly full tins of colorful treats. Even the music is fun, but last night my daughter brought the iPad and we watched reruns of Modern Family as we brought down our temperature with the refreshing yogurt. Our summer nights have never been so cool.

I like to read in carpool line.  It is the only chance I get.  I could curl up with a book at home on the couch, but I would feel too guilty that I am not running errands, cooking or otherwise being productive.

The other day I headed to Barnes & Noble for a new book.  I also decided to pick up a gallon of milk at the Tom Thumb conveniently located at the same Preston Royal Village shopping center.  The problem is that I could barely fit my Infiniti QX 56 in any of the parking spaces in the lot in front of Barnes & Noble.

I circled twice and gave up on two parking places that were just too tight before squeezing into a spot.  After driving this monster car for over four years, like most carpooling, errand-running moms in the area I could thread a needle with this bad boy.  But parking at Preston Royal Village is a challenge even for the best of drivers.  Don’t parking lot planners know that this isn’t Paris where people drive Vespas and Smartcars, but Texas where cars, like my friends’ diamonds, are super-sized?

Once I parked I then struggled to get out of the car.  I practically needed Spanx and liposuction to wiggle out of my SUV without scratching the car next to mine.  By the time I got into Barnes & Noble I was in a bad mood and ended up with a book I’ll never read. On top of that, I was so annoyed I forgot the milk.

Mr. Thumb and Mr. Noble: Could you please redo the parking lot to accommodate cars real people drive?

Our Mother’s Day Makeover contest winner, Amy Westbrook, was a little gunshy about cutting her locks. But the results, courtesy of Gary D Salon in Preston Royal Southwest speak for themselves.

“Gary wanted me to go a little shorter and I was nervous,” Amy said, “so he compromised with me at this length.”

But with the helpful salon staff, a makeup session, and a $500 gift certificate from Clotheshorse Anonymous, we’re sure she’s turning heads! Congrats, Amy!

The seed has been planted in this story about the specialty grocer’s expansion into Texas.

Preston Royal Southwest is about to get a little sweeter. The Boerne-based Tootie Pie Company announced plans today to open a gourmet pie shop at the popular intersection. Tootie already has a booming Frisco location and hopes to capitalize on more of the Dallas market with its second area location.

“Our Frisco Café is doing exceedingly well and we have so many fans in the Dallas area that when the opportunity to locate in this area was presented, we knew we wanted to act,” President and CEO Don Merrill said in a prepared statement. “Preston Royal puts us right in the middle of our dream demographic, in an established shopping center and neighborhood.”

No word yet on a time frame for moving in. Stay tuned.