Delectable Dallas

Until this past weekend, I had never been to the Big-D, unless you count driving through on the way to other exhilarating destinations (ie Stillwater or Norman...yawn). I was excited to get the opportunity to spend some QT with some of my best friends, and hopefully get a glimpse of their new, vibrant existences in Dallas.

I arrived safe and sound to Dallas on Friday night at approximately 5pm. I waited in Ann Carolyn's parking lot for a few minutes before she came driving up in her new ride: a silver PT Cruiser. She was pimpin' that rental car big time this weekend. We soon headed out to get some "local color", Jake's Hamburgers, for dinner. Two of AC's friends, Laura and Haley, joined us and we all got our singing groove on with some fantastic live music while enjoying the scrumptious burgers. Once we were able to tear Ann Carolyn away from flirting with a 3 year old boy, we sped out to Cowboy's Red River for some two-stepping. "Oh fun!" you are probably thinking. Not so much. I only danced with one guy the entire night (which I am very grateful that he even asked me to dance because he was one of the few normal people in the joint), but the rest of the time I was dodging sketchy old guys in wranglers who had their eyes all over me. Around 11, Ann Carolyn and I decided to bail so we called the one and only Amy Boone to come rescue us. Fortunately she extended mercy upon us and drove all the way out there to pick us up.

Amy had spent the evening babysitting some crazy kids so she was not dressed appropriately to go hit the town, so we decided to have a quiet evening in at AC's apartment. But first we had to stop at Wal-Mart for some ice cream and toilet paper (two essential keys to life). Justin met us at the apartment, pumped about getting to hang out with some Aggie babes. We spent the next few hours chillin, listening to music, and mostly having "girl" talk, which Justin was the instigator of. I never realized how uncool I really am until Justin brought up how much he loved Citizen jeans on girls and how every girl should own a pair. Not only do I not own a pair, but I couldn't even recognize a pair if someone hit me across the face with them. Even Justin, a guy, knows what they are...but granted, he himself was wearing designer jeans (which I wouldn't have known unless Amy had complemented him on them). I am so out of the fashion loop. I thought my Buckle jeans were cool. Clearly not.

Around 2:30am Justin decided it was time for him to get out of there so that he didn't get beaten up by Hollywood, the gate security guy. We said our goodbyes then he walks towards the door, opens it, then screams and runs back in. We had forgotten that a crazy bird had been in the hallway, flying into the walls and ceiling, practically killing itself. There was now blood all over the ceiling from where the bird had tried so hard to escape. Obviously the poor animal was demented, so Justin decided to step up and take care of business. Using his trusty tennis racquet, he killed the bird in one clean stroke of his forehand (ok, actually it took a few swings/misses to get it, but he put the bird out of its misery). All of us girls were very impressed as we watched Justin go from fashion guru/Mr. Nice guy to this brave, killer birdman. As Justin drove away we all laughed about how wonderful it is that God made men to instinctually be the protectors of women.

After that exciting transaction, Ann Carolyn and I were ready to quiet down for bed. But to our chagrin, her roommates had just returned from the bars and were partying it up in the apartment, blaring Christina Aguilera and screaming obscenities. We quickly realized they were not going to quiet down any time soon, so we called up Booner and asked if we could crash at her place. We finally hit the sack a little before 4am. The next morning Ann Carolyn and I strolled into her Nazi-lead workout class, already exhausted and dehydrated, but we got no mercy from the instructor. She was not in the best of moods that morning. My abs are still burning from that hour long hell-ride I endured. If I did that every day, I'd for sure have a six pack. Luckily I survived, but barely. The things I do for my friends... =)

We got back to Ann Carolyn's apartment to find it completely trashed, but even better than that, my ipod was gone. I had left it in the speakers from when we had been hanging out the night before, and apparently one of the guys that had come over to party after we had gone decided that a new ipod touch would be nice, so he snatched it. We got AC's roommate to get on the case and figure out where it was. She started calling around to all her friends and finally found the guy who had taken it. She told me that "he took it because we didn't know who's it was so he figured it might just be one of his friends." WHAT!? Who does that? But I got it back later that afternoon. So no worries.

The rest of the day was pretty chill. We ended up going out to the Village Church that evening, which was really cool because I had always listened to Matt Chandler's podcasts but had never seen him speak in person. I also ran into Mason King, which was a pleasant surprise. I met up with Sarah and Luby after church and we headed back to Dallas to catch some dinner before the movie we were planning to see with AC and all her church friends. Luby took us to Cuba Libre, which was really good, except for the hour long wait and then freezing our little phlistokites off on the deck as we ate. But we randomly ran into Parker Dalton's twin brother, whom I had never met, but it was very clear who he was...they look the same (duh) and have the exact same mannerisms; it was so cute! After dinner we went to the movie theater to meet up with everyone to see 27 dresses, but the movie was already sold out, so we had to see another one. Juno was the default selection, but it did not disappoint. Did anyone else feel really uncomfortable when Juno and the future father started dancing in the basement?!! Awkward turtle fo shiz.

After that we all passed out at Luby's house and slept in really late Sunday morning. I got a tour of her house when I awoke the next morning. Her parents collect antiques so the house was filled with cool artifacts. Her father makes and sells old-time sports equipment for a living, so we raided his work room and played dress up. Yes, we're dorks. But I'm ok with that. Remember, I had already accepted how uncool I am from the evening prior.

We then headed out to North Park mall to buy some heinously expensive cream at Neiman Marcus for one of Anna's friends. After that we just strolled around the mall, browsing in all the expensive stores that a po-dunk kid from Kentucky had never seen before. The embarrassing part was that I had never even heard of half the brands or stores. Ann Carolyn had shown me some jewelry earlier in the weekend that belonged to one of her roommates (a rink, bracelet, and watch) and she told me what brands they were and I sat there and nodded my head and showed amazement in my eyes, acting like I knew that that was a big deal when in fact I had no idea what she was saying. When she said they cost something like $3000 all combined, I figured they hadn't been purchased at Target, like mine had been.

My last adventure in Dallas was heading over to West Village for some sushi. Anna and I are both big fans of sushi, but SJ was an ardent defender of eating only cooked foods. We were able to convince her to try one bite of our roll and she loved it. Whoop! I tried for 10 years of my life to get her to eat PB&J (which she refused to do so until this past summer, and now she's obsessed). And now, Anna and I were successful at debunking the "sushi is disgusting" myth that she had held on to so tightly for all these years. I don't know what that girl would do without me. You're welcome SJ :)

I am now back in Aggieland, a place I love and appreciate even more after the crazy weekend in Dallas. Don't get me wrong, I had an incredible time up there. It was so great seeing all those friends and doing new, exciting things, but there is something so comforting about coming home to a place where I don't constantly feel underdressed or unworthy of even walking around a mall. Apparently the cool thing these days are wearing your jeans tucked into your boots or Uggs. My Sperry's are so last season...who knew!?

So now I sit here in anticipation, anxiously awaiting the time that AC, Amy, Justin, Sarah, and Luby will migrate down to CS for a weekend sometime this spring. We can do the Aggie thing - La Bodega, The Hook, Hookah Station (that's for you Justin), and Northgate - all in jeans (which don't have to be designer brand). Kruiser and I are waiting...