We moved out of our house in Carrollton two weeks ago, but until we officially head to California next week, I’ll still feel like Dallas is “home.” (We are visiting family in Louisiana for most of this month.) As we’ve spent this initial time away from DFW, I’ve been thinking about all the things I will miss about the place I’ve called home for the past 7 1/2 years. You’ll notice that many of these are food related. I think food is the best thing Dallas has to offer. Of all the places I’ve traveled, I haven’t found many cities that offer the same level of excellent restaurant service and food. Valencia will have a tall order to meet my expectations in these areas. Anyway, read on for the things I will miss most about Dallas.
- Cafe Brazil – The coffee bar, the colorful art work, the cheese omelet with avocado and tomato… I had recently added the Brazilian burger to my list of favorites from their menu: 1/2 lb. patty with bell peppers, onion, tomatoes, pickles and Monterrey Jack cheese. Delicious!
- Noodles Ave./Thai Coconut Grill – Whenever I was in the mood for Thai food, I had two great options: I could drive a little further and get quick service and satisfying pad thai or pad see yew at Noodles Ave., or I could drive right around the corner and wait a little longer for more finely tuned Thai cuisine at Thai Coconut Grill. Their strawberry green iced tea was also very refreshing.
- Fat Straws – I hadn’t been much recently, but almost every time I dropped by this drink place, I ordered the avocado smoothie with bubbles. So tasty!
- Paciugo – I’ve told myself that at least I’ll have a Pinkberry on every corner in California, but I sure will miss this delicious gelato place. My favorite combo was pistachio, coffee, and mint chocolate chip.
- Braums – If you are sensing a theme, it’s because I love ice cream, yogurt, etc. I can’t imagine living in a place where no one even knows what Braums is! I love that I can go in, buy my groceries, and order dinner or dessert, too. How many fast food places can you say that about? I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve driven through and ordered a burger and chocolate malt. That was especially a favorite meal of mine when I was pregnant.
- Sonic – You may be thinking, “Wait – there are Sonics everywhere.” Wrong! From what I have heard, the nearest Sonic will be ONE HOUR away from us!
I am packing in as many breakfast toaster sandwiches, Java chillers, burgers, and hot fudge sundaes as I can before we leave the south. - Studio Movie Grill – This is a date night dream come true! You can eat a delicious meal (my favorite is the Megaplex burger and sweet potato fries), and watch a movie at the same time. I know that more theaters are catching on to this dinner and a movie idea, but no one does it better than SMG. And even if you don’t want to eat a meal, it’s still more fun to see a movie here than a regular theater because the seats are comfier, and you have much more space with the swiveling, cushioned chairs, as opposed to stadium seating. Yes, I will miss this place.
- The Angelika Plano – My second favorite theater in Dallas is the Angelika at Shops at Legacy in Plano. The theater itself is comfortable, you can have a glass of wine while you watch, and you can watch independent and lesser known (but often better) films than at more mainstream theaters.
- House of Blues – I haven’t been to many concerts since becoming a parent, but my favorite venue is definitely the House of Blues. It has a more intimate feel than the larger venues, giving you plenty of opportunity to see the performers and enjoy the music. I saw Regina Spektor and Nickel Creek there, and last summer Brad enjoyed seeing Blue October.
- Meyerson Symphony Center – My introduction to the symphony center was during the Taste of Dallas festival several summers ago. The symphony offered a free concert, and so we went inside to cool off and enjoy some beautiful music. Since then I have been to a few concerts there – my favorite was Ben Folds with the DSO! (I was supposed to go see Idina Menzel last summer, but my third trimester morning sickness kept me at home…)
- Turbo Kickboxing – I haven’t been very consistent with my 24 Hour Fitness gym membership, but I never got bored with Emily’s Saturday morning turbo kickboxing class. I will really miss this great workout – great music, motivation, and fun!
- Carrollton Public Library – I’ve also loved our library. It was just a couple of minutes from our house. They always seemed to have the book I wanted to read, the employees were helpful and had a smile on their faces, and the lake and walking trail were beautiful. Benjamin and I enjoyed several walks checking out the ducks, geese, swans, etc.
- Mary Heads Carter Park – This park was right around the corner from our house. It has a pretty little bridge and stream (often with ducks hanging out), as well as an elaborate play area with all sorts of fun slides, swings, bridges… Benjamin had just gotten to an age where he could fully enjoy the play area. Thankfully there are tons of parks to discover in Valencia.
- Rosemeade Pool – We thoroughly enjoyed beating the heat at our community pool last summer – especially in the kids’ rainforest area. Benjamin still talks about the “ding ding pool” (his name for the wade pool that gets drenched with a huge bucket of water, signaled by a dinging bell, every few minutes). The smell of sunscreen, the taste of peanut butter and honey sandwiches (I had to keep my pregnant self well fueled out in the heat!), and the sounds of laughing children and splashing water. Good times. I suppose the fact that we will be less than an hour from the beach is some consolation to moving away from the Rosemeade Pool.
- Bent Tree Bible Fellowship – We will really miss our church, too. We have made great friends in our Lifegroup, and will certainly miss Pete’s sermons. Benjamin enjoyed his Sunday morning class there, too.
- The biggest loss for us will be not having family right around the corner. In Carrollton, we could drive two minutes south and be at my sister’s house, or we could drive about five minutes northeast and be at my brother’s house. We will miss all the family brunches and dinners, the nephews’/niece’s birthday parties, etc. We plan to familiarize everyone with Skype to not feel so far away!
Those are all the things I could think of at the moment. If you are a Dallas resident, what would you miss most if you moved away?
I used to often resort to nursing him to sleep, but now I usually just sing to him, then put him in bed awake, and he cries (more like complains) himself to sleep in 5 to 10 minutes. Although he no longer takes an official third nap, if I run any errands in the evening, he will take a 30 or 45 minute nap in his car seat. If he doesn’t get this cat nap, he is really fussy by bedtime, which is usually around 9:00. He is ready to start his day between 6 and 7 a.m., but if he wakes up before 6:30, I usually put him right back to bed after I feed him, and he may sleep until 7:30.
