The Best & Worst of Dallas

We have officially been in Dallas for an entire month (Mitch has been here almost two months) and we are beginning to love Dallas.  Here is what I have discovered so far, the best, the worst, and everything else in between.

The Worst:
1.  It's so hot here.  I thought DC was hot, but it's different here.  I think it's hotter.  The high on Thursday without humidity is 104.  Awesome.
2.  There are stores every where called "Condom Sense", does that make anyone else nervous? (It's also slightly humorous.)
3.  The traffic.  There is horrible traffic here.  Who would have thought?

The In-Between:
1.  We live in an apartment building.  One day we will no longer be apartment dwellers.  One day.
2.  Everyone in our building is either a "hipster" or has big hair and wears "bejeweled" jeans.  (Not that either of these are bad, but maybe not totally our style.)
3.  We live on the edge of the ghetto.
4.  Dallas is a large city, but so different than DC or NY.  The city just goes on forever and ever.

The Best:
1.  There are parks everywhere, beautiful parks.
2.  It's green.  I was expecting Dallas to be really similar to El Paso (not that El Paso is bad), but I thought Dallas would be a desert.  It's not.  Right now there are beautiful dark pink and purple flowers blooming everywhere, they must love the heat.
3.  The Food.  Yep, it's delicious.  And there is everything in the world here.  Every chain your heart ever desired (except Noodles & Company, but there is a Potbellys), along with unique delicious restaurants.  And the tacos.  So many varieties and all equally delicious.
4.  White Rock Lake and the Arboretum.  This might be my favorite part of Dallas.  It's a beautiful lake right in the middle of the city perfect to run or bike around.
5.  We live about two minutes away from a Sonic, I have a slight addiction to the Happy Hour, $1.13 Large Diet Cokes with Lime, their ice is amazing.
6.  The Katy Trail.  My favorite place to run.  It's a 7 mile (round trip) trail and there is water along the trail and even ice cold water.
7.  Highland Park.  It's amazing.  I have never seen anything like it.  Most beautiful houses, lawns, and parks I have ever seen.  In fact there is a house there that Mitch and I though was a church.  No joke, it's that beautiful.
8.  The Lily Pads.  The largest lily pads I have ever seen.
9.  Did I mention that we live next door to a grocery store and target, super convenient.
10.  We have covered parking and don't have to pay for it.  It's a miracle.
11.  You don't have to pay to park here.  Pretty amazing.
12.  The Dallas Art Museum.  It's free, right downtown near the freeway and has some truly remarkable pieces.

Overall, I think Dallas is slowly winning us over.  I miss (more than I would have thought) running in DC on the Mount Vernon Trail past all the moments with my running partner Beth.  And I always miss the majestic mountains in Utah.  They hold a very special place in my heart.  But Dallas is good.

Happy Friday.

Happy Birthday Mitch!

We finished celebrating Mitch's birthday this past week, here's how...

Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream.  First of the season.

Trifle,  Mitch's favorite dessert.

Happy Birthday Mitch.  I love him so much.

Mitch turned 29 on Wednesday, we are getting so old!  We celebrated by eating at Pupatella, it's just as delicious as Punch in the Twin Cities, and ended the night with Trifle.  I love Mitch so much and I can't imagine my life without him.

 Our weekend update:

DC Temple.
(We don't know the people in the picture, just happened to be standing there.)

Baby Sam and Shelley.
We are going to be so sad when Shelley leaves this week.
We are obsessed with Baby Sam.

Weekend project #1.
I finally recovered our chairs with the help of Shelley and Abby.
Can you tell which one is new?

Project #2.  Still working on hanging up pictures 13 months after we moved in.

Besides projects and holding babies, we had a sleepover with Abby, Jason, and Shelley - I felt like I was 10 and loved it, ate a lot of food, and got caught in an awesome/terrible/typical DC rain shower.  We are really good at eating, we went to eat brunch at the Carlyle in Shirlington and I took Abby and Shelley to the Dairy Godmother in Del Ray.  It was a fabulous weekend.

Happy Monday.