A Gorgeous Day at the Dallas Arboretum

I can’t even begin to tell y’all how much I’ve missed doing travel posts on my blog. Between a crazy May (and June isn’t looking any slower. What’s with this summer?) and taking it easy during the first half of pregnancy, I haven’t been able to put together a travel post since early April! I have about a million ideas and thoughts I want to share, though, so I’m hoping to get back into the swing of things! We also just finally booked our trip for the end of July (details on that next week), so there is a lot of content coming up, and I’m so excited to get started!

I’ve shared a lot about all of our adventures throughout the years, but I rarely mention what we do here in Dallas. I absolutely love visiting the Dallas Arboretum, especially in the spring. This year I really wanted to make it to the Dallas Blooms event to see the tulips. Unfortunately, a few days before we went, there was a huge hailstorm in Dallas that killed all the tulips. The arboretum was really quick about replanting those spots, though, so we didn’t see any empty flower beds.

The day we picked to go to the arboretum was the very best day. Chris took the day off to go to my first OB appointment with me, and we were both over the moon after seeing our little one on an ultrasound for the first time. We also got to share the news with both of our brothers, so it was a day full of joy.

So much joy!

One of the best parts of the Dallas Arboretum is it’s right by White Rock Lake, so the scenery is so beautiful. It was one of the hotter days we had so far this year, but being by the water made it tolerable. I really loved seeing all the beautiful, colorful spring flowers and enjoying a fun date with my love.

Have you been to the arboretum in your city?

Five Reasons I Love Spring in Texas

I feel like I’ve been unfair to Texas lately. I mentioned in a post about how spring is my least favorite season in Texas (and it always will be. I just really hate tornado season), and several of you mentioned all the good things Texas has to offer in the spring. Today, I wanted to share my own list of things I love about Texas in the spring.

It’s baseball season
Today is opening day for the Texas Rangers! I used to not care about baseball, but a few years ago, I really started to love it, and now I look forward to baseball season every year. I definitely don’t watch every game, but I especially love it when we make it to the ballpark!

The flowers
One of my favorite things about spring in Texas is seeing all the bluebonnets on the side of the road. We also went to the Dallas Arboretum for Dallas Blooms on Friday (post coming soon), and I just loved seeing all the gorgeous spring flowers.

The weather
Wait, didn’t I just say I hate the weather? On those days when we don’t have a tornado watch hanging over our heads, I love the mild, spring weather. It’s my favorite time of the year to go on long walks with Skyler.

The clothes
Since the weather is usually nice and mild, I love wearing fun spring dresses this time of year! It’s so nice to be able to put winter boots away for the season.

Berries
This isn’t specific to Texas, but I absolutely love that it’s finally berry season again. I know you can buy berries year round, but they just don’t taste the same when they’re not in season. Now, I want to make all the raspberry smoothies and strawberry cupcakes!

Even when it's not my favorite months of the year, I still love this state! What's your favorite part of spring where you live?

ICE! at the Gaylord Texan: Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town

Usually, I’m a strict no Christmas before Thanksgiving person, but there is one thing I love more than rules: bargains. When I heard that ICE! at the Gaylord was 50 percent off if you go before Thanksgiving, I knew we had to make an exception.

This year, the theme was “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” based on a classic TV special from the 1970s that none of us had actually seen. Still, the story and the characters carved out of the ice were adorable. I actually liked it better than ICE! exhibits from previous years. Usually, it’s characters from an animated movie (Shrek, Ice Age, etc.) dressed up in Christmas outfits, so it was nice to see a Christmas story this time.

One of my favorite parts of ICE! is the video at the beginning that explains how the exhibit is made. They use over two million blocks of ice, and amazing artisans come from Harbin, China to carve the designs. I am always amazed by how detailed each sculpture is.

It’s nine degrees inside the exhibit, so everyone is required to wear blue parkas to enter the exhibit. Gloves and hats are recommended, but they’re not required. I decided to skip the gloves for the sake of taking photos, but my hands were definitely frozen by the end.

ICE! is showcased at the four Gaylord hotels (Washington, D.C., Nashville, Tennessee, Grapevine, Texas, and Kissimmee, Florida), though the theme is different at each hotel. All exhibits are open now and run through January 1, 2017. If you are interesting in going, I suggest searching for a Groupon before you go.

Have you ever been to ICE! or any other ice sculpture exhibit?

Life Update: Last Weeks in Chicago and First Weeks in Texas

June was a crazy month with our last few weeks in Chicago and our move to Texas, but we still managed to have some fun.

Our last weeks in Chicago were all about food. We had a lot to celebrate, and I wanted to try as many places as possible before we left. Our first new restaurant was Bavette’s, an amazing French steakhouse where I had one of the best steaks I’ve ever had and a really delicious crab cake.

The biggest event in June was Christopher finishing intern year! I wrote about it here, but I am so proud of how hard he worked in Chicago. To celebrate, we went to Café Ba-Ba-Reeba for some amazing tapas and peach sangria!

I absolutely loved celebrating the end of our time in Chicago with the Wendella Fireworks Cruise. The fireworks were amazing, and I always love seeing the stunning Chicago skyline from Lake Michigan.

On our last full weekend in Chicago, we stopped by one of my favorite festivals in the city—Printer’s Row Lit Fest. I love looking through all the booths filled with books. Last year, we bought several Coca Cola ads and old Chicago advertisements that I can’t wait to put up in our new place.

We also met up with friends for dinner at Eleven City Diner, one of my favorite casual restaurants in the city. I decided to try something different from my usual brisket sandwich and got the patty melt. It was super delicious, though the brisket sandwich is still my favorite thing there.

Our last week was filled with lots of moving logistics, but we still managed to eat well! Of course, we had to have some stuffed pizza from Giordano’s (although Giordano’s is considered one of the big three deep dish pizza places in Chicago, their pizza is technically stuffed, not deep dish), which was amazing, as always. We also went to one of the most unique places we tried in Chicago-a Peruvian restaurant called Tanta. I hadn’t tried Peruvian food before, but everything we had was seriously delicious.

On the Friday of our last week in Chicago, I managed to walk to Lake Michigan to say “see you later” to my beloved lake. We also stopped by to pick up food from Wildberry, a fantastic brunch place in the city. My parents arrived later in the day, and we met up with some of their friends at Taverna 750, which had great drinks and even better food.

On my last day in Chicago, I went up to our roof to take some photos of the gorgeous view. Then, Chris and I headed to Greek Islands, a nice Greek restaurant in Greektown. Chicago sent me off with a gorgeous sunset!

With my dad at the wheel, we made the drive from Chicago to Texas in 13 hours. It was a long day, but it was worth it to do it all at once to get the chance to relax for the next few days. Thankfully, I had a pretty good health day until we reached Oklahoma. For those who have driven through Oklahoma, you know the roads are terrible. It’s noticeable as soon as you cross the border from Missouri to Oklahoma, and the roads are fine again as soon as you hit Texas.

I spent the week catching up with my mom until Christopher showed up on Thursday night. Then, we visited some of our close friends in the area. My best friend also stopped by on a day I wasn’t feeling well and asked me to be her matron of honor. I can’t wait for her wedding in November 2017. A few days later, I met her up for lunch and to wish her well in her new adventure on Long Island!

Our last week in June was all about moving in to our new place. It’s been hard for me to feel like I can’t do much during our move, but I am so thankful for our families, who helped us out so much! My in-laws even found this place for us since we couldn’t fly home. I am loving our new neighborhood. Once it gets cool enough to walk (and once I’m recovered from surgery), there is a fun park to walk Skyler and plenty of restaurants and shops to walk to nearby.

I have really enjoyed catching up with family and friends these past few weeks. On the last day in June, I met up with my former boss (who is a great friend!) for a great lunch at a sushi place capped off with some pie from Emporium Pies.

Phew. That was a long update. Tell me what’s going on in your life!

Linking up with Kristen and Gretchen

Hello from Texas

Hey, everyone. I just wanted to write a quick note that I made it to Texas! We actually managed to make the whole drive in one day in a little over 13 hours. It was a long, hard day, but at least it meant we were done, and I could recover the next day. Christopher and his parents are leaving Chicago in the moving truck today (there is severe weather in the forecast for Chicago, so we would love your prayers and positive thoughts that they can leave before it starts).

Being back at my parents’ house after not stepping foot in Texas for over a year feels weird. In some ways, it feels like I never left. (Wasn't it just yesterday that I wrote a quick hello from Chicago?) On the other hand, it feels like I’ve been gone forever. It’s also going to take a while to get used to the heat again. It’s crazy how quickly my body adjusted to the beautiful Chicago summers!

We don’t move in to our new place until Tuesday, so it will be nice to have a few days to relax (even though Christopher does have to go to orientation) before part two of our moving madness. Thank you so much for all of your support as we make the transition back from Chicago to Dallas. I can’t wait to share more about our life here!

Five (Silly) Things I Miss About Texas

Now that we have almost lived in Chicago for six months, I thought I would be constantly missing Texas and wanting to come home. That hasn’t been the case. I love Chicago, and the only thing I really miss are my family and friends. Today, I thought it would be fun to share some of the little things I have missed while living in Chicago.

Normal Doors 
I don’t know what it is, but I am such an idiot when it comes to revolving doors. I am always so scared that someone will hit me if I'm going too slow. Chris pretty much pretends he doesn’t know me when I am using a revolving door.

Blue Bell Ice Cream 
Those of you who haven’t been to Texas don’t know the tasty goodness that is Blue Bell Ice Cream, but now that they are distributing it again in Texas, I miss having it in the fridge. My substitute here is Mariano’s gelato, which is totally different but still tasty.

Tex-Mex
Chicago has amazing food, and I know I will miss so many restaurants when we move back, but right now, I miss Tex-Mex. I have had some decent Mexican food here, but it’s just not the same.

Cheap (or Free!) Parking
I never thought I would say the words “$20 is cheap, let’s park there!” in my life. When we lived in Dallas, I thought paying $5 for parking was crazy, but now I’m happy when I don’t have to pay $30. Owning a car in Chicago is not worth it unless you have a husband who sometimes has to leave for the hospital at 3 a.m.

Easy Grocery Shopping 
This is totally a first world problem (then again, aren’t all of these?), but I miss being able to pull up my car right to my door and carry the groceries in. Now we often leave snacks and things that don’t need to be refrigerated in the car and get them later because it’s a hassle to go up and down the elevator and back to the parking garage. I know we could get a grocery cart, but it seemed silly since we are only here for a year.

What would you miss about your home if you moved?

My Spring Texas Bucket List

Now that we are moving away from Texas for a year, I am eager to do as many fun activities as we can fit in for the next month. Here’s what I am hoping to get done this month:

Go to a baseball game. 
Chris and I went to a baseball game with my job last week, and we had so much fun! Even though the game we went to was terrible, we loved hanging out with friends and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Go on a picnic. 
Lately, it has been stormy and muddy (typical Texas spring weather), but every once in a while we have beautiful days. I would love to spend one of those days having a picnic in the park with my love.

Take a photo in bluebonnets.
Sadly, I’m not sure this will happen this year because they are all starting to die, but in all the years I have lived in Texas, I have never taken a photo in bluebonnets. If we don’t get to do it this year, it is definitely on my list for when we return from Chicago.

Have a barbecue. 
Memorial Day is right before we leave Texas, and I would love to have a nice Texas barbecue before we leave.

Spend as much time with Chris as possible. 
Have I mentioned that Chris will be working a ton of hours each week while we are in Chicago? I want to fit in as much time together as I can before we have to deal with his crazy schedule.

What’s on your spring bucket list?