Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The Move is On!

I still don't think it has hit me that I'm moving to Los Angeles in 2 days (Friday)! I am currently writing this blog from my blow up mattress in my empty apartment in Dallas. All of our belongings are already on the way to LA, and we will meet them there on Saturday. Last week we packed up our entire apartment and moved it into our POD. In order for the POD to get to LA the same time we are arriving, they needed to pick it up a week before we leave. Living in an empty apartment has been interesting, but we've been managing.

Find moving company: check
Move things into POD: check
Ship car: check
Clean apartment: working on it :/
Saw this idea on Pinterest… works really well
All packed up!
POD is much better than U-Haul in my experience
We are leaving on Friday morning, driving 13 hours to Flagstaff, Arizona then waking up on Saturday morning and finishing the 7 hour drive to LA. I found this website called www.roadtrippers.com that allows you to plan your road trip and all the fun stops you can make along the way. We might even try to make a visit to the Grand Canyon before leaving Arizona (I've never been). I can't wait to update you all on the adventure of driving and moving into our new apartment! 

I wanted to write one last blog post about the last things we've been doing in Dallas. This will officially be my last blog post from Dallas! Sad but exciting. When we found out that we would be leaving Dallas sooner than we originally planned, we tried to fit as much in as possible. Dallas is a foodie paradise. You could eat out every night and still not try even half of the great restaurants. My boyfriend wanted to take me to the Dallas Arts District which has a lot of small stores and restaurants. We went to brunch at a great American bistro with a Southern charm called Haddie's. I ordered the tomato bisque only because it came with a small grilled cheese and also the crab cake salad. It was absolutely delicious and we were upset that we hadn't come earlier during our time in Dallas. After brunch we went to Emporium Pies which had the best pie I've ever eaten. The Dallas Arts District is really cute and a great placed to walk around, shop, and eat of course. 
Menu (1st page)
Brunch is a perfectly acceptable reason to drink at noon
My tomato bisque and mini grilled cheese
With my baby
Emporium Pies
They only make pie 
I'll have one of each please
Drunken Nut was the best  
Soooooo good! 
The Smooth Operator
Great day with my baby
The next great restaurant we had to try was Stampede 66 which is owned by famous Chef Stephan Pyles. We had to book a reservation 3 weeks in advance so you know it was good! The whole reason we wanted to go, besides the great food, was because we heard they make prickly pear cactus juice margaritas table side. They were each $20 but well worth it! Oh yea… and the food was beyond amazing! 
The decor in this place is awesome
Only in Texas
Frozen margaritas table side
Look at that color! 
With my baby
Fried green tomatoe and mozzarella 
My tacos 
Dr. Pepper (made in Texas) dessert
The Shops at Legacy is a cool area where there are lots of fun restaurants and stores in Plano, TX. We live about 15 minutes from here so we have tried a few of the restaurants including Jasper's and Nicola's. We went to Jasper's for brunch with my boyfriend's parents to say goodbye. I had to pecan waffles and they were really good. Nicola's is an Italian restaurant where I had vodka penne like I always do. I like Villa-O's vodka penne better but this was a close second. These restaurants at the Shops at Legacy are more expensive but at least they have free valet.  There is even a lake with a fountain so you know I was sold. This is a really fun place to shop, walk around, and eat.
The Shops at Legacy
Nicola's
Cool decor
Crab appetizer
My penne vodka 
Saying goodbye to Dallas 
At Jasper's 
Famous Chef Kent Rathbun 
My waffles 
Baby's pork and peach BBQ sauce
We'll see you in LA! Can't wait to share it with all of you! CALI WE'RE COMING!
XoXo,
Valerie

Monday, February 10, 2014

We're Moving to LA!

Moving your life across the country (for a 2nd time in a year) is not easy especially when you have 3 weeks to do it and still are working full time. Luckily, mother nature knew how stressed I was and decided to bring snow to Dallas last Thursday! I used my snow day to lock in our apartment and sign our lease. The place we decided on is not 100% what we wanted, but we realize we are only going to be there for 6 months so it doesn't have to be perfect. I was more concerned with the online reviews (most apartments got terrible reviews on yelp) and the price of the apartment (good luck finding something for less than 2,000 a month).  

Find apartment: check
Set up all new utilities: check
Cancel all old utilities: check

Next mission is find a moving company. We got an estimate from PODS for $2,400 from Dallas to LA. We also have decided to ship my car which is going to cost another $600. Our things will get moved by PODS, my car will be shipped, and we will drive down together in my boyfriend's car. We plan on leaving Dallas on the morning of February 28th, driving all day, then staying over somewhere in Arizona. Then we will drive the rest of the way on Saturday and hopefully arrive in LA late March 1st. Yayyyyy!

Things to think of when moving across the country:
Finding a new bank
Giving old apartment new address to send security deposit back to
Cancel all utilities including the gym (I almost forgot about that one)
Submit change of address with post office
Get car inspected and oil changed before driving

XoXo,
Valerie

Bright flowers
We have a garage!
Kitchen
Living area
Pool
I love the palm trees