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!