weekend recap

Ahoy! So the weekend recaps now happen on Tuesdays. And who thought I'd have more time to blog when I started working from home? Ha! 

But, back to the point. We had a pretty low-key weekend since we're gearing up for a very busy March. And the weather was kind of crummy, so it worked out nicely with my plans of hibernating and napping. Here are a few photos...

Proof of the bad weather. Snow. In Texas. Bonus points for a sheet of ice on top of the snow. Lily was so freaked out trying to walk on it.

Friday afternoon I had to be downtown, so I stopped by to see Al's office. Look at that studious legal genius and his stand up desk!

For dinner we popped by Eatzi's, a deli/gourmet grocery that sort of reminds me of Eataly. We bought way too much food (and key lime pie!) and settled in for the night to watch House of Cards. We only made it through three episodes, so no spoilers please!

Saturday mornings in bed are the best ever. Is it weird that I could watch her sleep for hours?

We finally got out of bed for quite possibly the most suburban Saturday of our lives. We went to Lowes to buy patio furniture, came home to watch the KU game, and then went to Applebee's and a movie (and the movie theater was in a MALL!). Who are we? All things considered, it was actually a great time! Although, I will say that while American Sniper is an incredible story, it is not the most enjoyable film to sit through. So much shooting (duh).

Sunday started out on a productive note. We organized some of the stuff in my office and unrolled the rug. We started assembling the book case, only to find out that the book shelf came with only half of the pieces and no instruction manual. Well, the rug is better than nothing, right? I'll just leave all that crap on top of my desk for another week.

So we did what anyone would do when supposed to be building furniture, but have encountered rad block. We napped. (Well, Lily and I napped. Al worked.) I wish I could make napping my career. I'm so incredibly good at it. 

Then we got a call from our friend Carrie from New York that she was trying to fly from Vail to New York and got stuck in Dallas. Our guest room to the rescue! And a trip to Gloria's for cheese dip and enchiladas. What a delightful way to end the weekend - a surprise friend and Mexican food. :) 

And then it was Monday. Back to work and back to the rain. At least Miss Mayo sits next to me all day. Too bad I can't get her to type my emails...

Hope you had a perfectly lazy weekend too! 

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 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!

new york photoshoot

Greetings from Dallas!  We drove here Friday from Kansas City and thanks to some stern conversations Al had with our movers, our moving truck arrived Saturday (after they had told us it would be Tuesday before we'd get it due to the storm on the East Coast). We are settling in nicely to our new town home and have almost unpacked. The cable and internet guy came yesterday and I've never been so excited to be "connected" again (is that bad?). I've still got quite a few boxes to tackle and the furniture we ordered won't be here for several more weeks so while we're here, it's no where near a complete home yet. 

Forgive me for the rest of the week while I finish up stuff around the house and try to put together my new routine. I'll be back to regular scheduled posts next week, but in the meantime I have a lovely little surprise for you..

For a going away gift, several of my girlfriends got together and gave us a day with a professional photographer in New York. We spent a f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g morning before we left the city taking a photos in some of our favorite spots around the city. It was such a thoughtful gift from my friends and we will truly treasure the images. What a great way to remember our life in New York.  Take a look at a few of my favorites...

  

  

 Thanks to our friends for hooking us up with the incredibly talented and friendly Elizabeth Shrier. 

See y'all back here next week. Now off to unpack more boxes...