Big Tex and a mighty fine "Howdy Folks" awaits fair-goers as they arrive each and every year
Sunday…I took a trip to The Great State Fair of Texas!
What a glorious day it was – breezy, upper 80°, and when you’re one of the first to arrive, parking was easy, convenient, and close to the entrance gate!
Each year the State Fair is an intentional destination. I wouldn’t be completely honest if I said my primary reasoning going is for the Auto Show.
I go for the people watching!
I go for the live entertainment on stage (several venues around the fairgrounds)!
I go for free ice cream cone and the give-away bread sampling at the Dairy/Grain Building!
I go to marvel at the wonderful Art Deco buildings scattered about the fairgrounds!
But mostly, I go for the traditional food of the State Fair as well as each year’s must-have foods!
Oh my…where should I start? Hey ’bout right here with this: The moon tonight is half full and up early.
Then, Saturday morning started with another tonnage-lost milestone achieved. Somewhere I’ve lost 75 pounds in the past 5 months. Has anyone seen my chubs laying around anywhere?
As you may have noticed from an earlier-in-the-day post, I stopped at the In N Out Burger in Allen Texas for lunch today. It truly is a treat to indulge in this, a favorite fast food burger place of mine (I’ve been munching on those since the mid-80’s whenever I traveled to California and the opportunity presented itself).
I had the Double-Double (aka as the #1) today. Delicious, right?
Dang right! If I’m eating fast, I love my In N Out Burger burgers!
OFGalP Angela knew! She organized and conducted a Pie Pi Day contest at work today. That’s how we celebrated – dag-gum-it, we had pie! Continue reading “3.14159265”
Who knew? Today is/was Chocolate Mint Day…it just has to be a day celebrated by all, at the very least by those amongst us with a burgeoning waistline and having at least three dental appointments already scheduled in advance this year (that would be so like me in it’s description). Continue reading “Minty Sweet”
It all started with an airport arrival last Thursday. FD flew into town for a long weekend of class reunion, a high school football game, share a few cocktails with some old friends, therapy with/for her folks, to see “Beeba” and Tam, drink wine, eat stuff, hug on her Mom, laugh with her Dad, yada yada yada. FD, as I once wrote in Favorites, has many names. This weekend she was my “Baby Girl”. It’s always good to have her home as she brings energy and enthusiasm to the house.
We were greeted Saturday morning (well I wasn’t – I had a meeting in Dallas that allowed everyone else to burn daylight by sleeping in) with the FS and STBFDIL. This weekend he has my “Baby Boy” (not really Tyler – don’t mean to get too sappy here – you were and still are my “FS”). They drove up from Austin Friday night and partied with friends…only to land on our overnight accommodations (beds) about 4 a.m. And guess who they brought home with them…the FD. Nothing like partying with siblings to bring a family together. My guess is they drove home together to keep each other awake (I know they wouldn’t drink and drive).
The kids have gotten into a let’s-do-something-different habit the last couple times they’ve come home. This trip – Saturday afternoon – the favorites bought us all a wine
Our Baby Boy and his Baby Girl
tasting class on the Square in Denton. We had fun. STBFDIL and I got a bit silly with the seven or so fine Argentina wines tasted within an hour. Brittany (I think) was our host. She obviously knows her wines and thus explains her ownership of Wine2 (actually it’s “wine squared” but I couldn’t make the “2” itty bitty and raised up off the line). duh.
OK there’s something about 12 people, 1 instructor, and 1 employee sitting in plastic bistro-style patio furniture (don’t get me wrong, it’s a neat place) trying to swirl wine and stick one’s nose into the business end of the glass and then guess what the liquid smells like, that’s just fun(ny). To me, I think all wine smells like wine and it needs to be drank…rather quickly…so I can have another thank you very much. Now STBFDIL and I got to smelling our wine, listening to the other class attendees express and showcase their knowledge of wine, and guessing our own smells within the wine. We could not smell the “good dirt – not bad dirt”, nor could we detect the slight overtones Continue reading “Weekend Babies”
This year’s Labor Day weekend was spent with our parents in Kansas. It’s always grand to visit our parents – we’re trying to do that as often as we can. We came away with yet another new found perspective however. Hurricanes occupy as much TV time in land-locked Kansas as it does in the coastal states. I’m glad CFB has started. Listening to Big 12 North friendly media rant and rave about a successful Week 1 for my Wildcats (and yes I had to tolerate the Jayhawks as well) is quite refreshing, perhaps even a bit rejunivenating.
Deb’s dad had an orchard full of apples this weekend. So we grabbed buckets and sacks and trekked up the hill to do some old fashion picking. Others did the picking, I photographed (Hey Emily, you should have been with me on that Photowalk). Deb’s mom, nephew Jacob, my dad, and Gus the Dog came out and joined in on the fun. When it was all said and done, we had a bushel of apples, some already sampled by birds…others home to constant diners that dwell and relish the sweet taste and fruit firmness (aka worms). Within minutes the five of them had a load and we then kind of looked at each other and said “now what”. “Now what”, at least in part, resulted in apple pealing/coring the old fashion way (with a pairing knife) and had Deb making my dad two pies that evening. Now I like pies and apple is usually down my favorites list quite a ways, however Deb’s pies were particularly good and quite tasty. So much so, Dad and I enjoyed a breakfast of champions by having a slice of homemade apple pie and a scope of vanilla bean ice cream for breakfast the next morning. Continue reading “Labor Day, Apple Pie, and Kansas in both Windshields”
First off, let me get my plug in for a restaurant review: It was a warm homecoming to the wonderful enchiladas and even better flour tortillas of Mercado Juarez (Northwest Highway). It’s a great lunch place with uncanny fast service and an elder wait staff to take care of the diners. I’ve always had lunch (not the dinner) and have never been disappointed. Parking can sometimes be a challenge as diners compete with gawkers (it’s next door to a “gentleman’s club” that advertises a $5 all-you-can-see buffet). Avoid payday-Friday’s at all costs (flashing extra dollar bills won’t get you any closer to the action – parking that is – in this case) – the neighboring establishment is definitely more popular with the bubbas and businessmen than Mercado.
Now to the friend: a few Friday’s ago I caught up with a dear pal of mine from a previous employment for lunch. We picked an old favorite in restaurants – yep, the TexMex mentioned above and it was on a payday-Friday. Todd (or as I like to call him: “Todd-Man”) and I hadn’t seen each other in 4+ years. We regularly swap joke emails and I think now he might be hooked on this blog. However, emails and blogs pale in comparison to a reunion handshake and good old fashion face-time conversation. It’s interesting and disheartening how quickly the years go by as evidenced by both our gray heads of hair (be it acknowledged that Todd’s mop remains full bodied as opposed to mine). None the less, it was great to see him again, and share a few laughs. Continue reading “Lunch, my friend, is on me”
Recent posting had me pouting about everyone else’s vacations. Well this past weekend, I got an urban vacation – not Dubai, Maccuhu Pichu, Steamboat Springs, NYC, nor Alaska. FS and FSTBDIL came to Dallas (no further) and we met them at a hotel. FW (I will probably get in trouble for that…or at least questioned) Deb found a deal on two rooms at the Intercontinental Hotel through Hot Wire. Side note, that hotel is appropriately named as it truly was a vast, interesting blend of cultures and nationalities walking through the lobby. They even had a Larry-guy singing Frank Sinatra songs in the lizard lounge, and I would venture a guess Ol’ Blue Eyes is not on the top seller list in New Delhi. Continue reading “What I Did on my Summer Vacation”
With work demands mounting, Deb called Friday wanting to get away for a short weekend. We both agreed a quiet weekend was in order. We found a wonderful B&B in Mineola Texas that was willing to rent us a room for one night (most want a two-night reservation don’t you know). It meets the Gotta-Stay standards of the newly established TMay82 Travel and Eats Blog Review.
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