And the Eat Goes On

Shiitake Mushroom Flatbread at Dish



Wine Tasting at Dish

Yesterday's food tour continued with an epic evening that included stops at three Dallas restaurants. (Lucky me, again!) First, Dragonfly at the Hotel Zaza. Though the restaurant is between executive chefs right now, the kitchen seamlessly pulled off three of its most popular dishes: fried wonton tacos filled with raw ahi tuna, crispy calamari served on a bed of sweet chili vinaigrette-tossed greens, and a sampling of steak and beurre rouge that was unanimously deemed excellent (I didn't try it of course). Most people know Dragonfly for its cocktails, so it's no surprise that each course came paired with a drink - peach jalapeno martini; a Za Collins, made with Hendrick's gin; and my personal favorite, some delicious concoction that combined Belvedere vodka and tequila with grapefruit juice and basil. (I have to figure out the name of this - I will order it the next time I'm here...)

Next up, a wine-paired tasting at Dish, the posh spot on Oak Lawn whose "deliciously simple" fare is served in a sexy modern dining room. First up, a trio of flatbreads (the one topped with Denison, Texas-sourced shiitake mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, pesto, local goat cheese, and arugula was my favorite); an appetizer of prosciutto, parmigiano reggiano, mandarin oranges, and fennel; and finally, a miniature surf and turf - barbecue braised short rib and a sea scallop served on a bed of roasted corn, cous cous, bacon, and poached egg. Dish's desert course was a petite tasting of four favorites: the smoked pecan brownie, warm banana cake with salted caramel sauce, chocolate mousse, and lemon ice box pie, served with a Hungarian dessert wine called tokaji.

Nonna

Though my body would have been happy to end there, we had one more stop to make - Nonna, winner of D magazine's Best of Big D 2010: Best Italian Restaurant. Here, the food took center stage in this simple, cozy restaurant in Highland Park. Silky burrata cheese with panzanella and caponata (a grilled eggplant salad) was served with garlicy grilled toast points, followed by lobster ravioli in a bowl of lobster broth. A lobster ravioli to please purists, the delicate pasta pillows were so soft you barely had to chew, and the generous hunks of lobster meat inside weren't hidden amongst any form of cheesy, chewy filling. Pappardelle bolognese, a seafood stew, and papperdelle with braised rabbit -- all served family style --followed. A small glass of Negroamaro provided the perfect partner to this deliciously handcrafted Tuscan meal. I ended the night blissfully satiated, with a promise to myself that I'd come back with my sweet, deserving, husband.

A Food Tour of Dallas

The spread in Kent Rathbun's kitchen

Lucky me! This morning I got to have breakfast with one of Dallas's most lauded chefs, Kent Rathbun, at his family's personal, 19th-floor home inside the Heights at Park Lane. It's the first stop of many I'll be making this weekend during a food tour of the city organized by Texas Toast Culinary Tours. After feasting on Kent's freshly prepared buffet of Moet mimosas and breakfast tacos (scrambled eggs, pork stew, three types of salsa, cotija cheese, and seranno chile-infused sour cream), we sat around on the Rathbuns' sprawling terrace and chatted about his role in the upcoming Super Bowl. Being Dallas's culinary representative for the Taste of the NFL for the past ten years, he's of course highly involved with Super Bowl XLIV's event, taking place right here in DFW. Some of the country's best chefs will get together to prepare an unwieldy feast to raise money for the North Texas Food Bank and the Tarrant Area Food Bank. (At $600 a head, that shouldn't take too long.) Chef Rathbun also talked about his upcoming tailgate cookoff in New York - he'll be traveling there with Fort Worth chef Tim Love when the Cowgirls play the Giants on November 14 to go head-to-head on the grill with celebrity chef Bobby Flay.

Chef Rathbun, on his balcony

The group enjoying an al fresco breakfast

From there, the tour took me on an escorted jaunt through the new Whole Foods on Park Lane, where executive chef Sam Dickey treated us to a sampling of raw food and fresh-squeezed juice from the store's impressive raw food bar. A brownie dipped in pureed cashew cream wholly proved that there's really no need for an oven when preparing "baked" goods. And I could almost feel the last remnants of my cold magically dissipating with every sip of carrot-cucumber-apple juice. Yum Yum.

Raw food at Whole Foods, Park Lane

Heirloom tomatoes at Whole Foods, Park Lane

Apple season at Whole Foods, Park Lane

The wall of beer at Whole Foods, Park Lane

Weekend Getaway: The Natural State

As we drove away from Dallas and officially became "en route to Arkansas," Dan and I wondered out loud, What is Arkansas known for? We'd never met someone from Arkansas, and the only claim to fame we knew of was Bill Clinton's upbringing. (It must be tough to broadcast a state identity when your downstairs neighbor is Texas.) A little mobile Googling provided some insight: Arkansas is known as The Natural State. Great news for us, as our Jeep was loaded with camping gear, and we were headed to Hot Springs National Park and picturesque Lake Ouachita.

Five hours and one Taco Bell stop later, we arrived at Lake Ouachita State Park to check into our $11-per-night campsite. This being Labor Day weekend, it was completely packed (lucky for us, Dan had thought ahead to make a reservation). After setting up the tent, we walked to the park's beach and the on-site Three Sisters Springs - said to cure everything from diabetes to dysentery. (Scout sipped all three cold streams of water and experienced some pep in his step, but that was probably due mostly his newly found freedom in the wild.) We made it back to camp just before sunset to heat up two cans of Amy's vegetarian chili on our kerosene stove, sit around the campfire, and be blissfully free of all distractions.

The next day's adventure led us too Hot Springs National Park. If you think breathtaking canyons and peaks when you think national park, think again. A tourist town has been built around this preserved plot, and it all started some 200 years ago when word got out that these steamy waters had healing powers. Bath houses and hotels were built at a frantic pace, and folks came in from all over. While most of that kind of tourism has died off (though you can still take a hot spring bath), the town remains - and has been filled with shops and restaurants. The preserved Fordyce Bath House on Central Avenue, which now houses the Park's visitor center, is a great place to get a backgrounder -- and see how these things were set up. Not settling for a visit to a national park without at least some out-of-the-car, off-the-sidewalk- exploration, Dan found us a nice hour-and-a-half hike through the woods. We even stopped by a cold spring-fed spigot to fill our gallon water jug.

On our last day we rose early to score a lumberjack breakfast at the closest diner, the Home Plate Cafe (holy heavenly hash brown casserole!) before tackling the four-mile Caddo Bend Trail which weaves a circle around Lake Ouachita State Park. It was our first hike with Scout, and after battling the leash for all of three minutes, we lit him free. Being the perfectly well-behaved beast that he is, he made a habit of running 30 feet ahead, stopping to look back, and then doing it all over again. Our city dog even got his feet wet when we took a detour to a secluded shore.

That's One Huge Notepad

Check our latest DIY project (and yes, I have to admit, Dan did most of the work on this one)! It's a huge chalkboard we made out of a piece of smooth plywood and molding we cut and stained to make a frame. It measures 4' x 2'9" and we hung it in the hallway between our kitchen and back living room.

I'm a big note taker and to-do list maker. And I couldn't be more thrilled to have one huge surface to write down all my thoughts (most of which, at this juncture, are places I want to go and restaurants I want to try).

All you need is a smooth piece of plywood, some chalkboard paint, and a frame. We made our frame but you can easily use an old picture frame and make any size board!

Dallas's Best Kept Secret

We've figured out that to survive August in Dallas you have to a.) stay inside, b.) travel to high elevation on the east or west coast, or c.) situate yourself in a swimming pool and stay there. Having done both a and b in recent weeks, we opted for option c last weekend. Dan had heard about a public pool tucked into the woods of Dallas's Lakewood neighborhood. It was called The Fraternal Order of Eagles. The name alone got me. The FOE is a national nonprofit that raises money for local causes. Rumor has it members like to party. For an admission price of seven dollars each, we we were in!

The best way to describe this place is a VFW with a big freaking pool. I can't tout the merits of FOE enough: well drinks served in big red solo cups for $3.25, ice cold Lone Star cans for $2.25, and fresh-grilled burgers and deep-fried French fries for the amount of spare change you have in your pocket right now. If you've ever been an apartment complex pool in Uptown, this place is the opposite. Everyone is sipping a cold one and having a lovely time, but there's no parade of teensy bikinis, gelled hair, and stilettos on the pool deck. You'll see lots of couples, lots of tattoos, and a handful of kids. Music plays on a loudspeaker and the selection is beyond eclectic: think Viva Las Vegas followed by Rhianna.

I borrowed this photo from a reviewer on yelp.com. Read the full review here.

Follow Me Here

Big News! As of today, I'm a guest blogger for LHO Design and Consign, a great new shop in Dallas's Design District. LHO stands for Lake House Outfitters, so if you know me, it's a natural pairing. I'll be writing about being new to Dallas, adventures in homeownership, and most importantly, discovering the best spots to snag great deals on furniture and decorations for the home in and around Dallas. Check out my first post:

http://www.lakehouseoutfitters.blogspot.com/

Great Art, Great Friend, Great Cause

I've always taken issue with the generic, mass-produced prints you can buy at Target and Michael's. Sure, they look pretty on the wall, and they can totally bring a room together, but wouldn't you rather hang something in your house that tells a story?

Back in June, Dan and I went to the wedding of one of Dan's former roommates, John W. Tomac, in New York. In addition to working as an illustrator at Barron's, the financial magazine, he's also an accomplished long-distance runner. And on September 22, 2009, he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia. If you've ever met John, you know that not even cancer would get in his way (he got married on June 18, just got back from a honeymoon in Spain, and will be running the New York City Marathon this fall). In addition to running 26 miles to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, he's selling prints of his own illustrations on imagekind and donating 100 percent of the profit to the Society.

It was a no-brainer for us to purchase a couple—a personal friend, a great cause, and lots of empty walls in our new house. Plus, they're a little nod to our New York roots. We particularly love the Ebbets Field one—before we moved to Dallas in October, we lived just a few blocks away from where the historic baseball field once stood.

You'll get a much better view of these two prints—and many more—here johnwtomac.imagekind.com Or, support John's marathon efforts by donating here  beatcancer.johnwtomac.com

My Home in the Catskills

Since last Tuesday, Dan and I have assumed the role of doting innkeepers at Catskill Lodge, the bed and breakfast in Windham, New York, that we co-own with Dan's brothers. (The front-porch photo above was taken on our wedding day last September.) While I have to admit that after six days of egg-frying, pancake-flipping, and laundry, we're ready to be free of the chores that come with a seven-room house filled with guests—we both share a great love for this place. Built in 1893 and filled with furniture and decorations that span the last century, it's homey, charming, and absolutely unique. And while the role of host naturally comes with early mornings and endless housekeeping, it also gives us a chance to meet new people and explore the breathtaking natural landscape. In the last seven days we've chatted with folks from as far away as Belgium and China, picked produce and prepared meals from the garden, and sparked up a bonfire in the backyard every single night. Then there's the comforting, unplanned moments—like watching an eight-year-old's eyes light up with excitement in front of the crackling campfire, or Dan stopping in the middle of his chores to play a song on the antique piano. Of course, we've also had our share of adventure vacation activities, from floating the Esopus River to scaling a 3800-foot peak. The two of us met here. And then we got married here. Now we're just soakin' it all in...

My NYC Find

Blame it on the fact that I lived there for seven years—sometimes I've just got an eye on the businesses and services people who live in New York actually use rather than the effortless glitz the city portrays to outsiders. On my last visit to NYC (two weeks ago), I was drawn in by the gleaming wide windows of a sparkling new Duane Reade drugstore on 39th and Madison. The store sports a complete redesign—the antithesis of what drugstore shoppers assume about the omnipresent pharmacy and toiletries market. Rather than flickering florescent lighting and disgruntled employees, the space exudes a Sephora-like aesthetic, right down to an entire section devoted to pricey makeup. The only shopping spree I had while in the city happened right here...

Me, and Modern Luxury Dallas

In recent weeks (well, months), I've been working with an editor at Modern Luxury magazine's Dallas edition. I've got three clips in the May/June 2010 issue—a roundup of luxe lakeside resorts, updates on Austin's best spas, and my picks of the best dog-friendly restaurant patios in Dallas. Check 'em out on my web site!

Where Have I Been? (version 2.0)

 My window shade inspiration...

You know you're an inconsistent blogger when you go to type a title (Where Have I Been?), and your computer autofills the text. I was embarrassed today at a lunch meeting when the person I was with said she had been reading my blog, because it's been over a month since my last post! The positive news is that I'm negligence doesn't stem from sheer laziness—I've actually been slammed with (paid) writing assignments! Most of the time, I've been right here....

(with the exception of last week's five-night furlough on Lake Hartwell.) And even thouugh I just finished up a huge project for T+L, there are three more assignments in my queue. Little did I know when I bought that antique green chair from Gypsy Wagon down the street that my bum would be planted in it for so many hours a day. But I am soo not complaining!

Before and After, Part One of TBD

Today marks one month since we closed on our house. Not surprisingly, the inside is still coming together, slowly. Our motivating factor right now is the party we're hosting Sunday afternoon. Here's a look at the bedroom, which I brightened up with a coat of turquoise paint and some white furniture.

Before:

After:

Are You Going to Scarborough Faire...

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme...

Okay, those are lyrics to a Simon & Garfunkel song. The Scarborough Faire as we know it in Texas, is a Renaissance Festival held for eight consecutive weekends in Waxahachie, every spring since 1981. Last weekend we took Dan's parents for some serious in-law entertainment. If you've never been to a Renaissance Festival (I hadn't), it's a feast for the eyes—and the belly, if you're into giant roasted turkey legs.

Here, some photo highlights:

A Care Package for a Hurt Hand

As some of you know, I had a little run-in with the neighbor's dog (let's just say the dog won), worsened by the fact that I ended up spending six hours in the city hospital's ER waiting to get stitched up. Though I'm mostly healed now (it's been a week and two days), a get-well box arrived for me today. Inside it? A mom-made care package, just like the old college days. It contained a few things to keep me busy—a cookbook, a box of organic carrot cake mix, and a Price Is Right board game—but the best part was the customized first aid kit, which, if I know my mom, was made to poke fun at me just a little bit. At least next time we'll have everything we need to tend to household accidents—right down to the manual on how to care for everything from splinters to impalements. Party on!

American Antiques

There is a roadside antiques mart on Highway 67, in in a little place called Rainbow, Texas. A few weeks ago, en route home from a visit to Fossil Rim in Glen Rose, I stopped in. Here's my bounty, all of it purchased for just under 80 bucks. It jibes perfectly with the found furniture / antique-y / cottage-feel that I envision our new house will take on. The place is called American Country Mall (ignore the political propaganda on the right side of the page!). Now for my finds:

Kree-Mee Yellow American Spread

I couldn't resist this case for early Velveeta-like "cheese"

Piece of An Old Door

&

Rough Wood Frame

I love the key that's attached in the center of this worn out door panel. 

I replaced the photo and mat in the frame.

"Hopeless" Hope Chest

It needs a good scrubbing - and a new fabric lining. 

I'll mount it on the wall and use it as a storage cabinet, or set

in on the floor and use it as chest.

Pretty Thursday

Today was a very good day in ALI LAND. Anticipating two full days of work at Molto Formaggio, I vowed to make the most of a sunny, 65-degree Thursday. After a run on the Katy Trail and tackling the obligatory chores at home, I headed to my soon-to-be-home, Henderson Avenue. Starting at the Wooden House and moving eastward, I ventured in and out of all the shops I'd never been in (and some that I had) between 75 and Bonita. Then I headed north to the new Whole Foods on Park Lane and discovered that my go-to bottle of screwtop red not only earned 90 points from Wine Spectator but is also going for a mere 10 bucks a pop (I usually pay 12 at Sigel's). Get in the know: it's the 2006 Monte Antico, a Sangiovese-Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon blend from Tuscany. Oh, and the bulb that my grandmother gave me two years ago has bloomed into a sexy trifecta of flowers. Now, for the photo montage:

I'm The Chill Bride

Last weekend at our friends Chris and Elena's wedding in Belleville, New Jersey (number one of five weddings we'll attend this year), we got to catch up with our friends Mary and John, who are getting hitched in New York in June (yahoo! another excuse to go back!). Since they got engaged, Mary's been blogging. Turns out she posted about our wedding! The title of the post? Lessons on Being a Chill Bride. Yes, it's true—all of the mishaps she tallied actually happened on our special day. And she didn't even mention our cake leeeeeaning over—the result of the cake baker having to slam on the brakes en route. With a wedding underway, you don't really have an option other than to roll with it. I had a blast!

My Yellow Wedding: Mary's blog
 All you brides, do yourself a favor and follow it. 
She's got some great tips!

And for our wedding album, click here.

Living La Vida Local (and Grass-Fed)

Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, from the movie Food Inc.

(this guy rocks!)

As you know (or maybe you don't) I haven't eaten meat in 14 years. I began eating seafood a year ago, and I do it responsibly, only ordering and buying fish that's not over-fished. (the easiest way to do this is to carry around Monterey Bay Aquarium's pocket-sized safe list, which you can print out here).

I recently watched Food Inc., which was was nominated for Best Documentary Feature in the Academy Awards. And even though I'm 100% nuts about the seafood I put into my body and the beef, chicken, and pork that my husband buys, and I avoid high fructose corn syrup and processed foods as best I can, I confess, I don't always make the trek to the farmers market for fresh produce.

Seeing the movie reminded me about the effects mass-produced meat and produce has on our bodies and on the globe. Even more, it uncovers what's wrong with the industry of mass-produced food. It's all fresh on my mind, so I'll try to make it fresh on yours too.

There are a number of respected books on the issue. I'm ashamed to say that I've only read Fast Food Nation - the others are The Omnivore's Dilemma and The China Study. A third, more recently published book that's on my reading list is Growing Good Things to Eat in Texas, which profiles eleven Texas farm families.

Today, while reading Edible Dallas & Fort Worth magazine I discovered even more resources:

• Eat Wild is fantastic place to source your next food purchase. It's "the source for safe, healthy, natural and nutritious grass-fed beef, lamb, goats, bison, poultry, pork, dairy and other wild edibles," and will lead you to responsible farmers.

• Rusty's Grass-Finished Food is a grass-fed beef farm in East Texas.

• Sloans Creek Farm raises grass-fed beef, lamb, goat, and pastured pork, 75 miles north of Dallas.

Right here in the city, Dan goes to VonGeertsem Butcher Shoppe on Oak Lawn Ave. Greg, the butcher is a jolly fellow who will hook you up and answer all your questions (and supply you with some damn good steak, according to Dan).

Of course, there's the Dallas Farmers Market, and I swear I will go there more often. And up until last fall, Celebration Restaurant had a farmers market (it was stopped by the city due to some crazy regulations - follow that story here).


But you can get more local that growing your own greens, which we've been dying to do. After the move on April 1, we finally can!

World's Best Brunch?

My very good friend Krystal, just back from a long weekend in New Orleans with her beau, emailed this morning to tell me about her trip. It was everything you expect from a dreamy weekend: "saw some jazz, went to a museum, took a cemetery tour, walked a lot, and relaxed" plus one delightful superlative: "We ate realllllly good food (including the best brunch I have EVER had)"

The spot was Dante's. From Krystal: You take the St. Charles streetcar all the way to the end. It was delicious - we had the best iced coffee, biscuits, and shrimp and grits. Now, if I can just get to New Orleans!

I'm a long-time fan of brunch, especially the under-$20 sort that starts around 1 p.m. and includes endless champagne. In New York, our friend Meg would coordinate a group most every Sunday for hours of boozing over frittata and French toast. I used to keep a list of her favorite spots, but (dang!) I lost it. (Meg, an update, please!).

In Dallas, I've done brunch at Breadwinners (wesome upper level patio; super-savory eats; baskets of fresh-baked goodies; slightly overpriced drinks) and Nick & Sam's Grill (reasonably priced entrees; $6 bottomless blood orange mimosas). In San Antonio I experienced the most beautiful and most decadent brunch buffet I've ever witnessed at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio. Seriously, I have never seen so much food. You'd think overflowing bounty would translate to poorly prepared fare. Au contraire. It's some of the best fare I've tasted, and the spread goes way beyond typical brunch fare (eyeball the menu here.) The champers is unlimited, and, yes, it's the good stuff!

Friends here and afar, what's your favorite brunch spot?

Brazil Trip: My Favorite Foods (and Drink)

 Romeo and Juliet, minus the Juliet

What's travel without the discovery of new foods? My favorites from the trip are specific to Minas Gerais: 1.) Pão de queijo (aka cheese bread): tiny rolls served fresh from the oven with a dollop of melted cheese baked inside, 2.) Tutu à Mineira: mashed cooked beans, served hot alongside rice and fresh vegetables, 3.) Romeo and Juliet, a dessert consisting of a wedge of mild cheese served with guava puree and dulce de leche, and 4.) Fried coconut served from a street cart: freshly fried and still piping hot. It's called beijo-something, which translates to hot kiss. Mmmm.

Pão de queijo

Tutu à Mineira

Fried Coconut


My favorite drink, of course, was the caipirinha, the country's most famous cocktail, made with cachaça and muddled sugar and limes.

Brazil Trip: A Lovely Hotel

In Ouro Preto I was treated to a stay at the Solar do Rosário, a 170-year-old, 41-room hotel that I became absolutely enchanted by. There are open entryways and windows around every corner, and tons of places to escape—little tables, chaises, daybeds—both indoors and out. The place is a sanctuary for secluded romance—unfortunately, I was traveling solo!

The hotel overlooks Nossa Senhora do Rosário (Rosário Church), one of the most interesting examples of the local Brazilian Baroque architecture because of its back-story: it was finished in 1792 after 30 years of construction by slaves who needed a safe haven for worshiping. 

But the best part is rooms here go for 400 reais, which (right now) is about $217 USD. Now that's affordable luxury.

Brazil Trip: Inhotim, An Art Lover's Paradise

The attraction that's garnered the most international attention in Minas Gerais, Brazil, in recent years is the Instituto Cultural Inhotim, a sprawling contemporary art museum that's been set up on 3,000 acres of lush, landscaped earth.

I spent a couple of hours there. But you could spend days. 

And, according to the latest issue of Budget Travel, it's the trip of a lifetime.

My two favorite installations: The Forty Part Motet, by Janet Cardiff; and Através by Brazilian artist Cildo Meireles. The Forty Part Motet is an open-air room in which forty speakers, raised to average human height, are placed in large circle. Each plays a singular voice. The collective sound is that of “Spem in Alium," a choral composition written by Thomas Tallis in 1573. Hearing each voice clearly as you walk around the room in front of each speaker, then standing in the middle and hearing it as a whole is staggering. The sound—resonating from the breezy sun-filled white room—is almost empyreal. I filmed it on my Flip: the video is shaky but the sound is good!

As much as Motet is auditory, Através is visual. It's also interactive. Visitors are invited to enter the installation by walking on the glass shards that coat the floor. Those shards (yes, I walked on them—in shoes) are one of the many barriers you're meant to cross as you make your way to the center of the installation, a huge cellophane ball (other hurdles include barbed wire and a shower curtain). See my video of the docent explaining it here.

Brazil Trip: Undiscovered Ouro Preto

Baroque architecture. Simple, sherbert-colored houses dotting the hillside. Passport (and visa) required. . .

Last week I was in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, in the southeast part of the country, about 400 miles north of Sao Paolo. Before I was invited on the trip I had never heard of it, even though it's anchored by Brazil's third largest city, Belo Horizonte. But that's what makes it great: the tourists flock to buzzing Sao Paulo and Rio, leaving this place untrammelled and wholly authentic. (Practice your Portuguese, or travel with a guide!)

Minas Gerais literally mean general mines. The cities here sprouted up in the 1700s after the discovery of gold. The economy was built on mining; and sparkling Baroque churches soon became showpieces of the local bounty. Though flying in and out of the capital city of Belo Horizonte (translation: beautiful horizon) gave me the chance to tour the city, my favorite part of the trip was the old mining village of Ouro Preto, where many of those churches still stand.

Adventures Ahoy!

I'm slowly coming off of a whirlwind couple of weeks of traveling and entertaining—and I don't mind a bit that I've spent more days in a hotel or guest room bed than in my own. But, I would like to apologize for being an unfaithful blogger.

The past 19 days have included a trip to Brazil, a weekend at a new resort in San Antonio, a couple of days entertaining family in Dallas—which included stops at the Dallas Aquarium, Fossil Rim wildlife park, and the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine—and a night at a new friend's house on Lake Cypress Springs in Mount Vernon, Texas. Oh yes, and then there was that blizzard in Dallas that virtually shut the city down for 24 hours. And the handful of days at the cheese shop and nights out on the town. Oh! And I was touring the Cowgirl Hall of Fame and Museum in Fort Worth just this morning...

The good news is I'm going to be up against some serious free time in the coming days and will have some idle hours in which I can write. That's if I don't fill them up with more adventures....