Gawd, what was I thinking when I booked this trip to Dallas? Friday morning through Sunday afternoon?! That’s not much time. I suppose I was thinking “work,” and not about how I was not going to want to stop my vacation and go back to it Monday. Ha.
This was my annual April trip to Dallas to celebrate Luca’s birthday (early) and Gina’s Birthday (late). And while it was a quick trip, I feel like we did a lot!
FRIDAY!
I got in around 11:00 am on Friday. I won’t even go in to the mess that was getting to my terminal at O’Hare. All that matters is that my flight to Dallas was safe (and bonus, early!).
Gina and Steve picked me up and we got salads for lunch then did some shopping in downtown McKinney. Then we picked up Luca from school, and Gina and I ran while the boys cycled.
The sun felt so good!
Luca went to a painting class that night and Gina, Steve, and I got Thai food and adult beverages, woo hoo. We hung out at home after and the adults stayed up late talking. So much to catch up on!
SATURDAY!
I got eight hours of sleep Friday night for the first time in days!!! Gosh, that felt nice. It felt SO NICE, in general, to relax and be taken care of after such a stressful week.
We took a spin class at 9:30, and hung at Starbucks after. For lunch, we checked out Jeff’s Vegan. Gina had looked up a bunch of vegan friendly places for me, which I really appreciated!
Judging the menu, I was worried it was going to be “too healthy tasting” of vegan food but everything we got was delicious! We got Texas Fries and the Pan Fried Onion Cakes for appetizers. I got the Patty Melt as my main dish, and we tried Crispy Sesame Rice Balls and Oreo Cake for dessert.
We liked everything so much we took two more desserts home to try! Yay for vacation indulgences!
We went to Bath & Body Works for funsies after lunch, then went to Main Event to do some mini golf and play a few games for Luca’s Birthday.
Gina made us pasta primavera for dinner and Luca opened his gifts and played with them for a bit. After dinner, we went on a rainy walk, played Operation when we got back, and then the adults hung out!
Operation is JUST as stressful as I remember it!!!
SUNDAY!
Gina and I did a long run with three of her friends. We chatted with them at Starbucks after, then when I got back, it was basically time to pack and get lunch on the way to the airport! Ugh!
We went to a food hall in Plano that had a place that said they have one vegan donut each day (Gina researched and found it for me so I could do my nation wide donut tour there!). Steve actually tried to call the place before we went to confirm, but they had no phone number listed online, and their main location didn’t know the number. Huh?!
So, surprise! We get there and they tell us they rarely have vegan donuts there (and didn’t that day) and that the main place does. Sigh. How annoying that their website was misleading and we couldn’t check! Grrr.
But we hung at the food hall and got different dishes to try. Those places (overcrowded hipster food halls) make both me and Gina a bit anxious, but we survived!
Then we headed to the airport! Already! Wah! They all came in to wait with me, which was nice, because it took twenty-five minutes to drop my bag (I flew Spirit), then several more to get the ticket check area of getting in to security.
Then it felt like it took forever to get home. Ha, always. (I got to the airport at 3:00 pm and got home at 9:00 pm.)
I felt kind of bummed during the end of Saturday and some of Sunday that my vacation was coming to an end, but I tried to stay in the moment and enjoy what was going on! And be grateful it happened, not sad it’s over.
We take a family photo each visit
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t considering Gina’s invite to Duluth in mid June when she and some friends (that I know) are running Grandma’s Marathon. If I don’t see her then, I won’t until the end of July. We shall see!
Steven was so sweet sending me cat pics all weekend (he couldn’t go on the trip because of work on Friday). I missed my babies. And Steven! I guess it is good to be home! (Just not back to work. Yuck.)
I know of that food hall – my daughter and her friends go there, not particularly because they love it, but it works when there’s a bigger group with different appetites.
You had good weather for your Texas visit! Luca is getting so big – loved that family picture gif, so funny.
I was saying that to Gina while we were there – that it could work well when she has a big group of people visiting in June!
We did on Friday and Sunday! (It rained most of Saturday, but hey, better than snow!!!)
Thanks 🙂 We were cracking up when that happened!
I’m glad you had such a fun trip! Bummer about the vegan donut though! 🙁 But that just means you’ll have to go back for your Texas donut!
Luca looks really grown up all of a sudden! How old did he turn?
And awww that Steven was sending you cat pics – Terry was sending me Heidi updates while I was gone this weekend too (which my mom really appreciated seeing).
Yeah! I can try again in December 🙂
He does! It blows my mind. He’s turning seven.
I am glad our fur dads get how happy seeing those pics makes us feel. I miss my babies when I travel!!!!!
It sounds like you fit a lot of fun into a short trip! I like the concept of food halls and they’re great when you’ve got a group with varied tastes, but I agree they usually make me feel a bit anxious.
Exactly – they are a good idea but they make me so damn anxious! I almost starting crying at the one by my office (I was meeting my group there) when I went from station to station and couldn’t find anything vegan.
A pity it was so short but it sounds like fun! Love the gif.
I will have to remember to make it longer next time! Thanks!
Ha! Love the family photo – particularly how you and Steve look totally unbothered by what’s going on! (Though I’m sure you probably noticed in real life.)
Can we get a rating on the vegan cake, since we can’t get a vegan donut rating? How dare that place not have a vegan donut for you! Don’t they know about your reviews?? Don’t they know how invested I am in said reviews??? The injustice! *shakes fist at sky*
I hate short trips, even though they seem to be all I’m able to take these days (and by “these days” I mean “ever since I stopped being in school six years ago,” haha). I get a pretty generous about of PTO, but I always worry about blowing it and wishing I had more later (especially since we don’t have sick days vs. vacation days: it’s all just lumped into PTO, which I’m sure is part of why it’s so generous, since it accounts for both). I want to be able to take as much time off as I want and come back to work whenever I feel ready to get back into a routine without any ramifications for my salary, benefits, or standing with the company. Is that so much to ask?!?! Hahaha (obviously it is. I just wish it didn’t have to be!)
Hee hee, we did notice, but we were pretty set on posing for the photo! ha!
Sigh. It was so sad that Gina did all that research and tried to confirm and it was a fail. So, the cakes – we had oreo, carrot, and then a cheesecake. The cakes were better than the cheesecake, I’d say both were 3 out of 4!
That stinks that your sick and vacation days are all rolled together 🙁 Then you have to second guess each time you have a headache, etc. I wish I could take vacation the way you describe, too. I have been taking a week off each year around my birthday, for a couple of years, but that is as far as I go. Some people here take weeks or a month+!
I know exactly what you mean about short weekend trips and the end of it hanging over you (during the little time that you have). I kept thinking on Saturday afternoon “Wow, I’ll be home by this time tomorrow,” which did me no good at all. Still, I’m glad you had a sweet visit with Gina and fam, minus the misleading donut advertising. Hipster food halls stress me out too, so we won’t go to any of those when you’re here!
It’s such a bummer when you’re chilling out on vacation somewhere and that thought pops in that in a very short amount of time you won’t be there any more.
Phew, I am glad we won’t visit those. When I went to the one in Chicago (cause my team wanted to have lunch there) I started to have a panic attack because I couldn’t find anything vegan and felt so overwhelmed. Geesh.