Whirlwind Weekend

Wow, I forgot how short weekends become when you work on Saturday and Sunday! Still, Dan and I managed, in our typical fashion, to try four new eating and drinking establishments, tuor seven houses, and take a trip to Irving:

Friday:
Finally made another, long overdue trip to Vino 100, one of the first bars I went to here in Dallas. (Remember my post?) The fireplace was going, the wine was half-off...doesn't get much better, if you can stay awake that is. After an unsuccessful quest to find Thai food within walking distance, we ended up at Gui, which touts itself as a "Korean Japanese Bistro and Bar," that we found to be overpriced and slightly scene-y. Luckily we didn't overorder and had room to duck into one more sushi establishment, Yutaka. 100 times better.

Saturday:
We got up bright and early to tour seven houses up for sale (we're hoping to move out of our apartment and into a house in early April). They ranged from seriously outdated, seriously SCARY (as in insecure foundations and evidence of squatters) to absolutely charming. We've got our eye on one in particular just off Henderson Ave. We celebrated with an extra-large pizza at Rocco's, a BYOB pizza joint just up the street from our apartment. I had to put in a few hours at Molto, so Dan got the afternoon to himself. When I came home he was wearing a Santa hat and our living room window was decorated with Christmas lights, so the least I can say is that we was productive! That night we drove out to visit our friends Kate and Josh in Irving, just outside Dallas, who were hosting a game night. An evening of Apples to Apples, Battle of the Sexes, and Taboo ensued.

Sunday:
Another day at Molto - this time at the Preston Royal location. On my way to work I passed under the marathon runners on a Katy Trail pedestrian overpass (yesterday was the White Rock Marathon). After work we walked around Henderson Ave. and ducked in for a drink at Vickery Park just as the sun was setting. Did I mention it was 61 degrees here yesterday?!

A Most Splendid Wednesday Night

It's hard to put together a series of events more perfect that the ones that unfolded last night. I have a wonderful husband, and I now I must gloat.

At quarter-to-5 we set off on a bike ride on the Katy Trail. But instead of arriving at Toulouse, the restaurant that I thought we were going to have a glass of wine at, we arrived at Spa Habitat. Surprise! Couples massage. And for no reason other than that it was Wednesday.

From there we stopped in at Cru and each got a flight of three wines and, of course, a cheese plate. We biked home, where we consumed even more wine and cheese (and, as luck would have it, I had a smidgen of Red Hawk, one of my all-time favorite soft and stinky cow's milk cheeses, left in the fridge - made even better by letting it get all oozy as it sat on a wood board by the fireplace. Mmmmmm.

To top it all off, Blood Simple, the Coen Brothers' first movie, had arrived via Netlflix. What's more romantic than a bottle of cabernet franc, a cheese board, and a knife planted in M. Emmet Walsh's hand by a 27-year-old Frances McDormand? For me, not much.,

Scenes from the State Fair of Texas

Big Tex

Believe it.



Here's what winning the watergun game gets you!

Tre, the 1,000-pound pig.

Nachos, Texas-style. Yum!

Dinner & A Movie

Now that we're mostly settled in, we're finally getting out of the house and out on the town. On Saturday we drove to Mockingbird Station, a big mixed-use development (though tastefully done with a boxy, warehouse feel) home to American Apparel, kidrobot, and the Angelika Film Center (our reason for going). We caught a late showing of A Serious Man. Next time, we'll go earlier to check out Trinity Hall, a lively pub with folks playing fiddle and trivia on Tuesday nights. We hear it's pretty cool.

On Sunday we drove to White Rock Lake, a motorboat-free body of water right in city, ringed by a cycling/running track.

Geisha House, the restaurant across the street that's housed in the same plaza as a sister apartment building to ours, offers 20 percent off to residents of our buildings, so we went! Read my review here.

As for Tex-Mex, we've been to Mia's. They say the brisket tacos reign supreme here; my cheese enchiladas were pretty damn good too. Tonight, we're off to Manny's.