weekend recap

Hello! How was the weekend? We were lucky (unlucky?) yesterday and were iced in with about two inches of ice on all the roads. Al's office was even closed! We had a very full and productive weekend before the ice hit. Here are a few photos...

We had our grill delivered earlier in the week and Al was like a five year old boy about it. He would go up each night when he got home from work to look at it and asked roughly 35 times if we could grill out on Friday. So we grilled out, despite some wind and cooler temps. It was worth it for some really fantastic burgers.

^^ Homemade baked beans too! Recipe here.

Saturday the forecast was good and it was looking to be our last nice day for a week or so. We started with donuts from a local joint we discovered, followed by a trip to the dog park, a grocery store run (where we bought furniture?), a few hours at the driving range, and then dinner and out with friends. That is one busy Saturday!

^^ I can't even describe how good these were. Truly tasted homemade. Don't worry, we didn't eat all dozen in one day...we ate them all in two days. :) 

A quick romp at Mutts for Miss Mayo. I can see already see this will be our weekend spot. She just loves it. 

And then something occurred that hasn't occurred in over six years. Al went WITH me to the grocery store. We tried to go a few times together back in New York and let's just say it didn't go well. But now that he's a grilling machine he had to come along so he can "pick out his meat". But the best part of the whole grocery store adventure is that we bought a table and chairs for the patio off of our kitchen. $80 bucks and I think they are pretty cute!

^^ Notice the salad to make up for the donuts. And thanks for the photobomb, Lil.

The sun was out so we headed for the golf course to hit a few balls. I'm not too bad after a few years off, but my form is just awful. Thinking I'll take a lesson this spring.

Dinner was at Public School 214, which we learned opened just three weeks ago. They've been in Dallas as long as us! Delicious food (homemade tater tots, deviled eggs, steak, mac and cheese, fish and chips) and fun cocktails. 

Sunday was cold, rainy, and after some post-dinner drinks with friends the night before, we all decided sleeping in was a good idea. Funny how we consider sleeping until 10am sleeping in, when just a few years ago that was soooo early. 

After we finally got up, we spent the following four hours watching Parks and Rec and hanging up our gallery wall. I'll give a few tips later this week for how to make it easy (it really shouldn't take four hours, we just took a lot of breaks...for donuts). We went from this lay out on the ground...

...to up on the wall!

And then I realized it was 4pm and I was still in my pajamas...

...so I did what any normal person would do. I held my dog and picked off my gel manicure. Totally normal. 

The rain never let up, but that didn't stop Al from grilling pork tenderloin for dinner. I'd say he's hooked. It's so fun to have him take an interest in recipes and cooking. He even marinated the pork all by himself!

And what a fantastic Oscars show to wrap up the night. I thought Neil Patrick Harris did a great job, although it felt like the middle of the show dragged on a little.  Not a whole lot of "wow" moments on the Red Carpet, unfortunately. My two favorites of the night were Rosamund Pike and JLo (minus her pink eye shadow). 

  

Mighty productive little weekend we put together. Wishing you an easy week. Here's hoping our friends in the midwest and East Coast start to thaw out soon! 

weekend recap

Hello! How was your Valentine's Day weekend? I had a long weekend (my office was closed yesterday) so my mom and sister came to visit and help set up our new place. I'm sure it didn't make for a very romantic Valentine's Day for Al, spending it with his mother-in-law and sister-in-law, but we've never been very big Vday people. And we got so much done; it was incredible! We also, of course, ate a lot (of Mexican food), laughed a lot, and shopped a little. Here are a few photos...

I received this lovely photo Thursday evening as my visitors headed South. Only an hour and fifteen minute flight and they still got slap happy. 

They arrived just in time for dinner - and to serve as our first dinner guests at our new table. I foresee many long dinners with friends and family around this table.

Friday we were up at 5:15am for our Camp Gladiator work out. Al and I have been going for two weeks now and really love it. Not only is it a good work out, but we are meeting new people too. I can't believe mom and Em (okay, mostly Emily) got up that early to come with us - especially because it was so cold that morning (the class is outside). We got there early, believe it or not; so what else do you do at 5:45am other than take a selfie?

Friday morning I worked and then we went furniture shopping (as you may recall, we need a lot of new furniture). We kind of struk out, but did get some ideas for things like rugs and end tables that I want to wait and buy until after our sofa arrives.  And here's Em modeling our new chair (kidding!).

Nothing to cure the I-can't-believe-we-didn't-buy-anything-blues than some Mexican food at Mia's. We'd been before when we came to Dallas to look for town homes, and thought it was the perfect hole-in-the-wall place for Mom and Emily. It was good (but not as good as I remembered - we had sort of a terrible server) and the margaritas strong. We'll be back, especially since it is minutes from our place.

Saturday - Valentine's Day! I made pancakes for the crew and we all opened our Valentines. Tea towels for the ladies and chocolates for Al.

^^ Lily got a special Valentine's Day treat too. As if she needed more toys.

And then we spent the entire rest of the day outdoors because it was 75 DEGREES! A walk on the Katy trail, followed by more shopping, and then a picnic on our roof deck (still no furniture, but we did get a cute outdoor rug). Perfection. Especially for mid-February.

Sunday started with a huge breakfast at Buzz Brews followed by the world's longest trip to Home Depot. 

^^ Roll your own breakfast scramble. Yes, please.

^^ Totally normal to make your brother-in-law cart you around the hardware store while shouting aisle numbers we need to hit.

Back at home, we put our Home Depot goods to work - a shelf and organized laundry room, a ridiculously tidy guest closet with Christmas storage (not pictured), and new flowers for our patio. I love that kind of productivity. Felt so good. But we were exhausted afterwards! Pizza and the SNL 40 special and we were out.

^^ I should have taken a before photo of the mountain of random stuff from which this originated.

^^ Lily was so curious. Also notice the spoon. We forgot to buy gardening tools.

^^ Quite possibly the three sleepiest girls of all time.

Monday after another early morning Camp Gladiator (for three of the four of us - I'll let you guess who slept in), we cleaned up and headed for lunch and a day of non-furniture shopping. Lunch at Mia Cocina (because it had been two whole days since our last dose of queso) and shopping our way around the West Village (the Dallas version, not the New York West Village). 

^^ One last back tickle for Miss Mayo from my mom.

And then we had to say our goodbyes and they were off to cold and snowy Kansas. A million thank yous to my mom and sister for all of the work they did while they were here. Our house wouldn't have begun to feel like a home without you! 

And now it seems so quite here today. Lily is keeping watch by her window to see if Mom and Em are coming back. 

Hope you had a productive weekend. Stay warm out there kids!

weekend recap

Hello from warm and sunny Dallas! (Sorry friends in the northeast!). We are settling in nicely here and had a wonderful weekend. I can quickly see that our weekends will be spent outdoors enjoying this weather! Here are a few photos from our first weekend as Dallasites...

First of all, let's back up a few days. I went back to work (remotely) on Wednesday and am now struggling to be efficient from this position. Hoping to come up with a better solution when I set up my office in the coming weeks.  She is so needy with me during the day.

Friday afternoon I met my friend Julee and her darling new baby girl, Brooklyn, for a late lunch (at Chili's obvi). And then we strolled Brooklyn around to some furniture stores to get ideas for our place. We have to buy so much new furniture - it is nuts. It was such fun to spend an afternoon with my old NYC friend in our new city and be with her well-behaved, darling little girl. 

Al and I have come up with a new Friday night tradition and I'm so excited about it. We plan to visit a different Mexican restaurant every Friday until we find our favorite. My family went to the same Mexican restaurant each Friday of my childhood and it was such a comforting and fun tradition. The first on our list was Gloria's. We've had people rave about Gloria's to us and it's not far from our apartment so it was an easy first pick. We made the unfortunate decision to eat two (TWO!) bowls of chips before our food came so we were a little too stuffed to enjoy our meals, but they were still fantastic. Two thumbs up for their chips and famous bean dip (and queso) and two thumbs up for proximity to our town home. Dallas readers - what Mexican restaurants do we need to add to our list?

We were pumped for Saturday as it was supposed to be in the mid to high 70s! We spent the morning on the Katy Trail with Lily. For those not familiar - the Katy Trail is a large and well manicured path for walking, running, biking, and rollerblading. It stretches for 3.5 miles through Uptown, Oaklawn, and Highland Park (neighborhoods just north of the city center). There are several bars and restaurants near it (some that back up on to it) and it is the place to be when it is nice out. (Fun fact - the Katy trail follows the path of the old Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Thank you Wikipedia.) Lily loved the wide sidewalks and being out in the sunshine. We all did. 

After dinner we dropped our worn out little pup at home and headed to do some furniture shopping. Thankfully we pulled the trigger on a long farmhouse table and my desk! Feels good to finally begin putting some furniture in our rather empty place (if you recall - we left quite a bit of furniture back in New York). While Al drove, I explored the radio stations. It's so hard to set your preset buttons when you have no clue what are the "good" stations. :) Oh, and it's always best to conduct one's research on a piece of paper used previously for blotting lipstick. 

It was still so beautiful out when we got home that we went up on our roof deck to relax. Relax = reread cookbooks and eat Wheat Thins with Lily. We really need to get some outdoor furniture for the roof - the beach towel is not cutting it. 

Saturday night we met our friends Scott and Caroline for dinner at what could possibly be the best "welcome to Texas" restaurant ever - Stampede 66. Think frito pie, chicken fried steak, baked beans, corn bread, cobbler, etc. I've come to learn that Chef Stephan Pyles is a big deal around here. I'm looking forward to eating at his other restaurants. We loved Stampede 66!

^^ Chicken fried steak YESSSSS.

Sunday was a whole lot of this....

...followed by this...

... and ended at Mutts! Oh gosh Mutts just might be the best place on Earth. Two huge off-leash dog parks with a bar! Waiters come to you inside the dog park and take your orders for drinks. It's the perfect way to spend a few nice hours on a Sunday. Lily absolutely loved it. We went ahead and bought a year pass because we know we'll be back frequently. 

Sunday supper was steaks, mashed potatoes and asparagus. Because why not? It seemed like the best way to close out a perfect first weekend in Texas.

And look at that forecast for this week! I've never seen so many sun emojis in a row! It's amazing how much weather plays a part in my mood - I feel happier and lighter and more energized with all this sunshine. 

It's safe to say we're all doing well here in our new Dallas life. Things are good. And we all went to bed happy.

Check back tomorrow for some photos of our new place. Stay warm my East Coast friends!