Keep Calm and Love Rainy Days

Not sure about everyone else, but it felt like the last half of April FLEW by. How is it almost May?! We had some really rainy days and thunderstorms down here. Lots of thunder and lightning and even some tornado warnings in other parts of TX. April showers are definitely real. But I didn't let that stop us from exploring Dallas some more when we could. Aka when I could distract Sam from studying for finals.

There's an area near downtown called Deep Ellum. Lots of music and good food places. Sam had been to a BBQ place there called Pecan Lodge that was raved about. They run out of meat if you go later in the day or on weekends, so we went by early for lunch. The picture speaks for itself. Although, I did sadly mistake the regular BBQ sauce bottle with the spicy BBQ sauce and before I realized, my sandwich was covered. My mouth was on fire but it was totally worth it. My cheesy mac and cheese (with bacon!) and the pickles were great accompaniments.  

I must say I love our apartment location because we are about a 3 minute drive from the mall. And the mall here is pretty impressive. It was definitely a selling factor when I came to visit. ;)

When I told people how much I loved this mall, a lot of people told me it is nice, but nothing compared to the Galleria. I heard this a lot, so Sam and I had to go and see what the Galleria was all about. A four story mall, and the bottom floor is an indoor ice skating rink! I have a feeling we'll be partaking in this when it's 100+ degrees outside. 

                                    

Also, the fact that it is lined with palm trees is not a bad sight either. And yes, I was that awkward person taking touristy pictures inside the mall. But how pretty!

I received a call from a radio station that I won a Texas Lottery Prize pack from a contest I entered online. We had no idea what it included but we were pretty excited and went to pick it up. The station is located right next to the American Airlines Center (where the Mavs and Stars play) so they had this cool "Dallas Big" thing outside. These are actually in numerous places around the city and people like to take pictures in them so here's my first! I'm still OF COURSE rooting for my Caps and Wizards! Playoffs, baby! WOO!

Then we picked up my mysterious prize pack and I won a sweet camo hat, a bag, a lunchbox, koozie, water bottle, and a string of scratch offs almost as tall as me! For the record, Sam and I split scratching these and I won on 3 of them ($20!!) and Sam won a whole $0. I think we can tell who is the lucky charm of this household. :-)

Despite the rainy days we had a really nice one. We used the grill and cooked up some turkey sausage and veggies! I have to give Sam all the credit...all I did was buy the veggies. And it wouldn't have been complete without some watermelon. Delish. 

One of the coolest places I've seen so far down here is the Katy Trail. It's a really nice trail that runs through Uptown. It has an Ice House built off part of it where you can get great drinks and food right next to the trail. We walked down part of it, but we didn't quite fit in since we didn't have a dog. Down here it sure seems that for every person there's a dog. There was even a doggie water bowl connected to the water fountain!

 Here's a view of some of Dallas while walking on the Katy Trail. I'll definitely be going back and bringing my bike!

On our walk we got a little thirsty. We headed to Highland Park (think along the lines of Georgetown in D.C.) to go to an Old Fashioned Soda Fountain. It had been there since the 1900's and was set up with a cute little soda bar and tables inside. 

I went for the root beer float. A delicious classic. Sam ordered a Coke. At first I was shocked he just got a basic coke he could get anywhere, but then I realized it's an old fashion made coke. They pour in some syrup, mix it with some bubbles, and boom. Much more syrupy than your regular coke. 

Finally, I'm adding this in here because it really sums up my month. Since joining Grit Fitness this was the first challenge I got to do. Had to take a variety of 14 classes (Turbokick, Flexin Flow, Bodysculpt, and Dance Cardio) in the month of April. It was so much fun and I earned this sweet tank that I can't wait to work out in! Plus it feels pretty awesome to have completed it. Coming home every night after class drenched in sweat really defines No Grit No Pearl. 

That's all for April! Stay tuned for the next post, it's gonna be good one. 

April showers bring Zac Brown, Bike Rides, & Yoga

April showers have started.. but at least when it rains here it's warm. Can't complain. Plus, April has been fabulous so far. Lots of cool things happened. Here's a few:

Sam and I got to meet Zac Brown from the Zac Brown Band! We were driving around one day and heard a contest announced on the radio so we checked it out, drove to the store to fill out an entry form, and a few days later I got called that I won (and got to bring a guest-lucky Sam!) Kind of exciting winning a radio contest for once instead of having to work it. It was at a Columbia Sportswear Performance Fishing Gear store about 45 minutes from our apartment. It was only maybe 40 people at the most, and was super intimate. We couldn't use phones or take pictures inside, but I still had to document it with some. Not a bad Thursday night.

Waiting outside to store to be let in. I was a little excited.

As if this picture isn't proof, they also had the event catered with appetizers being walked around and wine and beer. I made sure to enjoy the free wine. 

We look funny in hats- but hey, they gave them to us for free! Does this mean we have to go fishing and wear them now?

Us and Zac Brown! Although he didn't perform, they were playing his music throughout the store and he talked about his charity, Camp Southern Ground. 100% of the proceeds from the store during the promotion of the event went straight to it. Pretty cool! 

The best part of radio contests is the free stuff! Gift cards, hats, and our signed Zac posters. :-)

 Since moving down here I was excited to find a good bike ride to participate in and I was pumped to find one called Ride Ataxia to help cure FA. It was sponsored by Outback Steakhouse so the rest stops were all catered with their food. There was a 25 and 50 mile option and I opted for the 50 since I somehow did a century last year. I always thought Texas was flat so it would be a piece of cake, but after the 5th hill and the wind blowing in my face I realized it wasn't going to be like the Eastern Shore back home.

Start of the race. I'd say 95% of the people had road bikes which sure put my hybrid to shame. 

After 13 miles I was so ready to see the red Outback tents at the 1st rest stop. Fruit with a side of steak!

Biked over a (very long) bridge at Ray Roberts Lake. It was a gloomy morning but the lake was pretty to look at. 

Biked into one of the lake parks for the 2nd rest stop. Biking alone calls for lots of selfies. Had some steak and chicken at this one too. This was near mile 25 and me and a few other bikers were sticking together in the back of the pack. Met two guys here and we played leapfrog for a while until I passed them. ;)

Finally finished and couldn't believe it. So happy. The two guys I met at the 2nd rest stop caught up to me at the 3rd one and told me they couldn't believe they were getting beat by a girl. I'll call that victorious. At the end of the ride we got Outback lunch. I had a giant burger and probably ate back a lot of the calories I burned. I don't think I'll ever bike a better catered ride, and for such a good cause! 

Last but not least, my awesome gym hosted a Yoga fusion class at the mall. Working out and shopping- how could it get any better?! It was supposed to be outside but the potential rain pushed it inside. Here's a pic to show you we were actually on the mall floor. It was early in the morning so the mall wasn't very crowded but people definitely walked by and were looking. Try and find me!

(If you were having trouble, I'm near the bottom right corner with the flowered purple mat!)

Hope you enjoyed this lengthy post. That's all for now folks, 

Kendra

Easter!

Happy belated Easter! My first Easter away from home, but I definitely carried some traditions with me. Sam and I dyed some eggs. I now get why I liked it more when my parents set up the dye, hard boiled the eggs, and let us have the fun. They didn't turn out bad, however one got dropped and it leaked some egg goo. At this point we realized I actually didn't hard boil the eggs enough. Whoops!

We're really creative. All credit to Sam for the genius "Egg" egg. 

Then we found a church to dress up and go to. Weird not to be at St. Mary's but it seemed like the Dallas equivalent. 

Typical Church picture. Shout-out to Dan for his photog. skills. 

My favorite part of Easter is clearly the candy. My parents sent us the best Easter basket ever, and then Sam and I made baskets for each other and hid em'. You can never have enough candy, right?!

Last weekend we decided to try the Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. and go to a drive-in movie theater. Both were excellent choices. I never got to go to the Grilled Cheese Co. in D.C. so I was pretty excited to try it here. My mouth waters looking at this picture again, but here's a nice foodie pic for you. I got a Caprese grilled cheese with tomato soup, and Sam got a grilled PB&J. He said it was delicious, but it sounded a little too strange for me.

Then we headed to the drive-in. Sam's car is much better equipped than Delilah for this. We put the seats down and threw some blankets and pillows in and it was quite comfy. Also, note the giant soda. The size of this soda is "Texas sized." The menu listed sizes Small, Medium, Large, and TX. As new Texas folk we obviously had to go big or go home. And we filled it with Dr. Pepper. Mmmmmmm!

The view of the screen from our car. And actually just one of the six screens the Drive-In had. Lots of options! We saw Get Hard and then Run All Night. Sadly, in the beginning of Run All Night Sam's car died. It actually happened to a few people around us too. The speakers near our car didn't work, so we had to use the radio and that didn't work out well for two movies. We got it jumped no problem, but now we know for next time. 

Other than that, I've enjoyed some pool days while Sam studies. I don't mind ;-). 

Until next time, 

Kendra