Arts & Architecture (and, unexpectedly, Sculpture)

Today I was all set to attend an architecture forum with Rem Koolhaas at the spanking new Wyly Theater, an event that was advertised as free at 4 p.m. So I walked downtown to get a seat—little did I know I needed a ticket. Not that the website of the Performing Arts Center gave any hint. No one wants to hear me complain about the inefficiency of communication, so to hell with it. I took it as a chance to tour the Nasher Sculpture Center just down the street. My favorites: Rush Hour by George Segal, Bronze Crowd by Magdelena Abakanowicz, and Walking To The Sky, by Jonathan Borofsky. Come to find out, there was also an exhibit on the architecture of Foster + Partners, the designer of the Winspear Opera House, the other big-deal arts opening in Dallas this week. Norman Foster is speaking at a forum tomorrow morning. Now, if I can only figure out where to get a "free" ticket...

Baking Bread

Now our apartment smells homey too. Yesterday I baked banana bread and also learned a little baker's trick. If you don't have baking soda to mix with your all-purpose flour, just substitute self-rising. (maybe that's just obvious, but I'm new at housewivery) I used this recipe.

Adventures in Fitness (Indoors and Out)

Being home all day sure is motivation to get some exercise. Lucky for me, an entrance to Katy Trail is just down the street. The 3.5-mile still-in-progress trail is a "public park" that's "privately maintained," which means it's funded by donations. A running path runs alongside a cycling trail, and the whole shebang is built atop of a former railroad track. The trail begins a little bit south of the entrance I use and goes north to the Mockingbird Station area. It's great because it serves as an access point to other neighborhoods, like Knox-Henderson, and it links some small city parks. I just read that a cafe is supposed to open along the trail. That calls for some investigation.

There's also a Sunstone Yoga center across the street. Yesterday I took my first class, a 90-minute session called Fire. 98.6 degrees/60% humidity. No surprise, it was HOT, and the room was filled with sweaty, contorting bodies. I later found out that something was awry with the heating and humidity system, making the room significantly hotter than it should've been. Knowing that, I can't wait to go back!

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.

Worlds Collide In Dallas

Monday was a big day in Dallas: U2 performed at the new Cowboys Stadium, Oprah stopped in at the Texas State Fair, and the new Performing Arts Center kicked off its opening week.

Our Apartment

The city of Dallas has several neighborhoods (Oak Lawn, Downtown, Deep Ellum, Knox-Henderson). We live in Uptown, which, admittedly, shows signs of New York's Murray Hill—an abundance of sports bars and twentysomething males in striped shirts. But our location allows us to walk to a number of shops, bars, and restaurants. So far we're happy here.

The apartment buildings in Uptown are like dorms for the post-college set. They have gyms, pools, a mailbox station. I call ours "the fortress" because it has a pool in its center. Unfortunately
the water is too cold to swim.

Hello Dallas!

Exactly one week ago, I moved to Dallas—after seven years in New York City. I've created this blog to keep in touch with my faraway friends, as well as to write the goings-on about town, as I become...a...Texan.

So far, I'm enjoying the modern conveniences—a dishwasher and washer/dryer in my apartment, central heating and air, a parking garage, a car, SPACE—things that are hard to come by as a New Yorker. That said, there are some customs here that I've had trouble getting used to:

1.) Valet Parking. Most of the restaurants here have valet, even though there are wide-open parking lots abutting them. What's the rule here? Can you say "No, thanks, I'll park it myself."? Tried that. The valet guy insisted.

2.) Parking Lots at Bars. Scary.

3.) Window Shades Down (at all times). In New York, entire evenings can be spent watching events unfold in across-the-street apartments. There's a mentality that if you're nine floors up, no one can see through your picture windows. Not true. In our apartment building, I've yet to see a first-floor apartment with it's shades open, day or night. I guess we're exhibitionists...