Munger Historic District

One of the things that we have always enjoyed doing in our spare time is looking at homes, and imagining what type of home (i.e. style, location, etc.) we would one day inhabit. While living in Iowa City we had staked out the few homes that really caught our eye, and enjoyed the annual parade of homes tour during the summers.

It seems lately as though the only time one hears of homes is in relation to the downward spiral that the housing market has taken recently...however we're pretty excited about this downturn. Hopefully looking to buy in the near future (i.e. 1-2 years), assuming the market doesn't instantly recover (which we don't think it will), this could work to our favor.

At any rate, while living in Dallas, we spent many a hot saturday or sunday driving around neighborhoods, just checking out what the city had to offer. We staked out the Frisco/Plano area, which is definitely nice, but is too "strip-suburban" for our tastes. Of course Highland Park, which is right around the corner from us, is about as ostentatious a neighborhood as one can find. Being that Emily and I tend to enjoy the "prairie-style" or "craftsman" or what Chris likes to refer to as "pacific-northwest" style, we were thrilled to randomly discover a small historic district, not too far from downtown Dallas that has the largest collection of these types of homes in the country. The area is referred to as the Munger Historic District, and most of the homes were built in the early 1900's.

We'd like to preface the below slideshow in saying that these homes by no means reflect the general style down in DFW. In fact they are a small minority, and that's why we had so much fun finding them, because most of the homes down here tend to be built of solid brick (perhaps because of the heat?), and we're not really big fans. However, if you're a fan of brick, and hot weather, then you definitely need to check out Dallas.

Perhaps wherever we settle we'll be lucky enough to find a home that suits our style, but in the meantime, we're just building a photocollection of homes that catch our eye. So enjoy your tour of the Munger Historic District (we saved you a plane-ticket and a $15 luggage-fee).

Ranger Game

Well, the first weekend without Emily wasn't all too bad (not saying that she isn't missed). On wednesday Vamsi called and said that he would be able to swing through Dallas for the weekend for the third time this year on his way back from London to Chicago (apparently reaching American's Gold Platinum level from flying so many miles allows you to make such rash travel changes).

At any rate, beautiful weather down here (upper 80's and sunny) afforded us the opportunity to hang out at the pool saturday afternoon, and then catch a Ranger's game in the evening. The Rangers faced off against their rival the Houston Astro's, and won 6-2. Our seats weren't the greatest, we basically sat in the nosebleed section along the 3rd baseline amongst a large number of Astro fans, but it was great to get out and catch a ballgame.

And...as proof that everything is bigger in Texas...it appears as though quite a bit of progress is being made on the new Cowboy Stadium, which will be the largest enclosed stadium in the NFL when it opens.

1) Rangers Ballpark nosebleeds 2) Construction continues to the right on the new Cowboy Stadium

Bush League

This about summarizes the past 7 years...

Billo Blowout

For those of you who watch cable news on even a semi-regular basis, you probably have come across this video of Bill O'Reilly freaking out in the early 90's, but for those of you who haven't, it's pretty damn funny...

Song of the day:

Stylist vs. Barber

Let me let all of our readers in on a little secret...for the past 4 or so years, Emily has been my "stylist", "barber", "hair-cutting person", whatever you want to refer to it as. At first it was just kind of a joke, I decided to one day early in dental school let her have at the buzzer and scissors and cut my hair. Thinking this would be a one-time event, we (mostly I) were pleasantly surprised at how good of a job she did.

I started to think...hey, why should I pay someone $15-20 every month to do this, when we can do it for free at home...thus started Emily's second job of cutting my hair.

Fast forward to the present...for over a week before Emily left me in Texas for Iowa City, she had promised that she would cut my hair before leaving, as it was getting kind of shaggy-like. Figuring that we'd eventually find some time to do it, among her packing and getting things in order, we both kind of blew it off until the last minute. The day before leaving, Emily went and got her hair cut (she had been growing it out for Johnette's wedding in Raleigh) by her "stylist", who in the veign of any good stylist, actually shaves his own head. Suffice to say, we never found time to cut my hair. So in protest, I decided to buzz it all off...yeah, all of it (well almost). Actually I was kind of curious to see what it was like, since I've never done this before, and also because its "fixin" (a Texas term) to get hot down here. With no functional air conditioner in my car, this is the poor-man's alternative.

At any rate, I think we can all agree that Emily's hair turned out better than mine. The good news is that it will grow back in time for me to re-join Emily in Iowa City, and have her once again be my "stylist".

Good haircut vs. not-so-good haircut

Chris a Little Ronery...

Well, this morning Emily took off for Iowa...leaving Chris behind in Dallas. For the last couple of weeks we've enjoyed some good laughs when Emily attempts to compare Chris' six weeks alone in Dallas to Kim Jung-Il from the "Team America" movie...to understand what we're joking about, we thought we'd share the video...

Y'all come back now, ya hear!

So, here I am a week short of leaving Dallas. Yes, one week. Seems like just yesterday Pedro (my car) and Biggie (the moving van) ventured down south to good ole' Dallas. I thought maybe I'd reminisce a little and expound upon my personal experiences here in Dallas and share some things I've learned, experienced and maybe even miss a little...

1. Of course, the thing I'm going to miss most is Chris (awwwww...see, even I can be mushy). Since we'll be apart for over a month I'm gonna miss the little guy.

2. Friends. As much as I didn't want to become attached to people in Dallas, I'm a friendly sort of person and I've met a lot of diverse, interesting and fun people here. In remembrance they are listed here (in no particular order):
* Christi and Jason
* Jen and Ben
* Brandi and Chris
* Kristen
* and maybe even Tina a little...

3. Southern cooking. Not because I actually eat it, but because people in the South eat things I never knew existed or rather, knew could be edible.
* Chittlins (fried pig intestines)
* Raccoon
* Collard Greens (ok, every one's heard of these, but how many people do you know that actually have eaten them)
* Oxtail
* Fried coke, cappuccino, pecan pie...just about anything fried...

4. Texas slang. All y'all (plural) and y'all (singular)? I am now an expert at a new foreign language.

5. Kiddie car driving. Did you ever have an opportunity to drive/ride in a bumper car? You remember, the electric driven cars at the state fair where your main intent was to hit as many other cars with as much force as physically possible by a glorified rubber padded bucket. That's what it's like to drive in Texas. No turn signals, no auto insurance, aggressor takes all drivers in Texas. I'm lucky to have survived. Whew! Notice the green text...yeah, I started writing this post yesterday. Today, I was hit by a Texas driver. No joke. And, to make matter worse, my car was parked. We weren't even in it. Oh, and another ironic note, remember last year, around this time...we had just flown back from Texas (after my interview) and I had dropped Chris off at class then went to run errands and bam! I ate the ass of a Cadillac. This was 2 weeks short of leaving Iowa. Now, one week short of leaving Texas another accident. What message am I missing?

6. Grocery shopping. Normally not a statement you'll hear me utter, but when I'm shopping in the greatness that is Central Market, I can't help but love it. I've never eaten better in my whole life. For those of you lucky enough to experience it, you know what I'm talking about.

7. Pool time, any time. Yes, I can layout in the sun anytime from March through November (and probably any other month of the year is the temp happens to be over 70, which often is the case).

8. Working out. Ok, now who would list this as something they'll miss, but here's my explanation. I have a great, free gym right in my complex in which I can work out anytime I want. I love it! No car needed and it's so close there really is no excuse as to why you can't go. Even if it rains, I just have Chris drop me off on his way to work. Perfect!

9. Ethnic food. I've been meaning to make a post about my weekly lunches with my friend Jen. But, to as you can see, I'm just now getting to mention it. Anyways, we attempt to try a new restaurant every week, and more often than not, we attempt to try something unique. I've had Mediterranean (my fav), Indian, Vietnamese, Thai, Chinese (obviously), as well as local joints known for fab food. Yum!

10. Last but not least...the ease of shopping. Anything I ever wanted is within 15 minutes of our loft. It's going to suck moving back to Iowa where I have to drive to another town to buy something I want from a particular store. I hate shopping in general, but since I can just head out, get it and do it under 45 minutes, it's great!

Here ends by summation of all that I'll miss and/or eager to leave in Texas. It's been a great experience to try out something new, spend a year on our own, and become closer as a newly married couple. Now, if only we could decide where to move next...

Take a Deep Breath

Today the American Lung Association came out with a report of the most polluted cities with regard to air quality...and would you believe it that DFW came in 7th place with regard to ozone pollution. If you've ever flown into DFW, this won't come as a surprise...just nice to know that we live in such a clean city.

(Click to smell)