One Year Anniversary as a Texan!

I just wanted to do a quick post about the fact that a year ago today I officially arrived in Dallas! I can't believe it's already been a year, man it flew by! This last year has been really difficult on me adjusting to living in the South (things are really different here) and living so far away from my family and friends. A year later, most days I am fine, but some days I am overwhelmed by just how much I miss home. Don't get me wrong, I love Dallas, I just wish it was closer to home. I'm really proud of myself for sticking it out and making it an entire year here! I just wanted to take a moment and thank all my family and friends who have made living in Texas easier for me. You guys me the world to me and I wouldn't be able to do this without you! THANK YOU!

I'm working on a new blog post where I will be making a very exciting update, so check back soon!

XoXo
Valerie

Was this really a year ago?

We thank you for the love and support

Goodbye Summer and Hello Winter

Hello all! Don't worry, I didn't forget about my blog. Things have been so crazy, and I'll admit that I have neglected my blog family. Thank you for all the support and people asking for an update about Dallas. When I first started writing this post back in September I named it goodbye summer. At this point I could say goodbye winter! It was 70 here this weekend! Well, here is the last 4-5 months of my life in a nutshell.

Rangers Game
At the end of the summer, my boyfriend took me to a Texas Rangers baseball game. Of course I am a Phillies fan, but I also support the Rangers (as long as it doesn't affect my Phillies). We sat in the all you can eat section which includes a buffet of hotdogs, chicken, fries, etc. Our seats were in the first row of the outfield and only cost about $30 per ticket with the food included. Parking was an additional $20. At 10:00PM when the game ended it was still 96 degrees outside, which made the game unbearable at times. I recommend going to a night game to avoid most of the brutal Texas heat. To celebrate the Rangers win, the game ended with a great 15 minute firework display.

Rangers ball park

6 flags is right across the street

Outfield seats 

Play ball!

Alex Rios

It's really hot here

With my baby

Firework show!

Birthday Horseback Riding 
When I was a kid my favorite thing to do was ride horses. I had to stop when I got older, but I still have a love for horses and wish I could ride more often. I have been asking my boyfriend to take me horseback riding for years. This year for my 24th birthday, he surprised me by taking me to a ranch in Texas where we got to ride horses at night! The trail was about 2 hours, but even though it was dark outside, it was still ridiculously hot. They promised us a trail by the water (since I'm obsessed with water) but ended up taking us a different way. That was a little disappointing. Overall, I had a great 24th birthday! Thanks baby!

About to saddle up!

Happy Birthday to me!

Cowboys Game
My boyfriend happened to get free tickets from work to the Cowboys vs Rams game at AT&T stadium. Let me be clear, I respect the Dallas Mavericks, Rangers, and Stars, but HATE the Cowboys. The game gave me the perfect opportunity to represent the only good team in the NFC East... THE EAGLES!  Now, I have to admit, I was a little nervous about wearing Eagles gear to a Cowboys game... we hate each other after all! If you showed up in Philly wearing Cowboys gear, I promise, you are going to get heckled... A LOT. I was disappointed when not one person said a single thing to me! I guess Cowboy fans are just too nice (or they are just not as passionate about their teams like us Philadelphians). Jerry World aka Cowboys stadium is the most beautiful stadium I have ever been to. It really is quite an experience. If you spend a billion dollars on a stadium it better be nice! Cowboys suck, but if you are in the area, you have to check out the stadium!

Jerry World

aka AT&T stadium 

More of the stadium inside

Game time

Cowboys suck!

Dancers on stage

Big screen 

It pained me to drink out of this cup

Cheerleaders 

Marching band for half time

Philly proud

Half time show

My Cowboy

Texas State Fair
I have been waiting for the Texas State Fair for months! Every year, the Texas State Fair is open for the entire month of October and hosts the Texas vs Oklahoma football game every year. Besides football, it is a fried food paradise! There is food, rides, and exhibits from all over the world. Unfortunately we waited till the end of October to go, and it ended up raining the entire time we were there. After paying $30 just to get in, we weren't leaving because of a little rain. I got to enjoy fried cheesecake, funnel cake, and fried chocolate covered strawberries. I really wanted to try fried margaritas, fried bubble gum, and fried Oreos, but the rain made navigating hard. The place is HUGE! Although, I will say that the rain helped with the long lines. Chris Brown made a stop at the Texas State Fair so obviously you have to check it out!  

Cotton Bowl Stadium

Chinese Lantern Festival 

Big Tex

Before it started to pour!

Looks awesome… until we found out theres no alcohol

Laffy Taffy

Trying to stay out of the rain

Goodbye rain

Corrine Visits & DRAKE
My best friend, cousin, sister Corrine came to visit Dallas in October for our favorite rapper....DRAKE! We are slightly obsessed, so when we found out he was performing at the American Airlines Center, we booked our tickets right away! The concert was obviously amazing. Like most performers he took forever to come on, but don't worry, while we waited the entire stadium erupted into a huge dance party, twerking included. Only in Dallas! Besides the Drake concert, I took Corrine to the House of Blues for dinner and music and we also explored downtown including Klyde Warren Park (posted a few times about this place). Although Corrine technically is my cousin, she is more like my sister. We grew up together, so anytime we get together we can just be ourselves, laugh, and have fun. THE STRUGGLE IS REAL! YOU'RE MY ROLE MODEL! Love you boo boo!

Drake in D-town

Niagara Falls of Texas

House of Blues

Waiting for dinner

Leaving for DRAKE

<3

Future

Miguel 

DRAKE 

Nothing Was The Same

Would You Like A Tour?

Mavericks Game
I have already posted about the Mavericks games before so I won't add much here. Some of my coworkers get tickets for about $10 on Ticketmaster, so if you are interested in going definitely look into it. This game we went to was when they played the Philadelphia 76ers. I obviously cheered for Philly even though they lost.

Mavs vs 76ers

Champ

Ice Apocalypse 2013
I was born and raised in the North, where you get 2 feet of snow and Penn State is still open for business.When I heard that Dallas was expected to get a little ice I had no idea that the city would literally shut down for days. The storm hit on a Thursday night and by Friday morning there was a solid 2-3 inches of ice covering everything. The weird part was that Dallas had no plan to fix the fact that every road was a solid sheet of ice. Work was canceled on Friday which was nice, but I had no food in the house. Nothing was open or delivering so we were stuck in the house for days with no food. We finally ventured out on Saturday because we were tired of eating soup and canned tuna. After hours of digging our cars out, I swear the roads looked the exact same as they did 2 days before when the storm hit. No one was out shoveling or laying down salt and there definitely weren't any plow trucks. I never saw anything like it in my entire life. I called my apartment complex to see when they would be coming to shovel our sidewalks since everyone was slipping outside and it was very dangerous. They laughed and told me when they sun melts it. I don't know about down South, but up North if you leave your sidewalks with snow or ice, you'll get sued. It was quite an experience, although I have to say it was amazing spending 4 days inside cuddling with my baby.

Ice on trees

2 days later… no change 

Icicles 

Home for the Holidays
My boyfriend and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend Christmas at home in Philadelphia with my family. This was only the second time I had been home in the last year along with Thanksgiving. I love being home and spending time with my family. They mean the world to me. My parents are divorced, so I have to share my time between both of my families. I always try and fit as much in as possible on my short trips home. I'm so happy that while I was home I got to see my best friend in the whole world, Bre. It had been almost an entire year since I had last saw her. That's crazy for best friends! She met my family and me at Longwood Gardens and we got to spend the day together!  It was awesome that I could enjoy the beautiful gardens and Christmas lights with my family, boyfriend, and best friend. Longwood Gardens is a year round beautiful garden that has a special Christmas light show in December. If you are ever in Kennett Square, Pa you should check it out. I don't know the next time I'll be home which is sad, but I know my family loves and supports me no matter what I do. Thank you family!

My family at Christmas 

Longwood Gardens 

Daddy and his girls 

Best part!

Of course it was raining

Huge tree

Love them all 

Thousands of apples

With the lights

Daddy and the girls skipping

Christmas lights!

Tree huggers 

My favorite people 

I love my crazy Daddy

My favorite part obviously! 

Christmas with my baby

My Momma <3

New Years Eve
My boyfriend and I both had to work on New Years Eve day and I was also getting over being sick, so we wanted to take it easy. We ended up going to a restaurant called Truluck's in Dallas which specializes in crabs and seafood. Everything they sell they catch themselves locally. The place is expensive, but it is totally worth it! They had a special NYE menu which was $100 per person (not including valet or alcohol) for an appetizer, salad or soup, entree, and dessert. The meal also included party favors and a special photo. After dinner we went home and watched the ball drop. It wasn't until about 5 minutes before 12:00ET that I realized everyone at home would be celebrating the new year an entire hour earlier than me. I decided to celebrate NYE twice! Once when my friends and family at home would be celebrating and then again when Dallas was celebrating. I hope everyone had a great New Years and is having a great start to 2014.

Stone crab claws 

Crab display

Cheers

Happy New Year

Stars Game
I just noticed that in this blog post I've included all 4 major sporting events in Dallas: football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. Sometimes I forget how blessed I am, but this blog always reminds me of just that. For Christmas this year I bought my boyfriend Dallas Stars tickets since they are his current obsession. I got us tickets in the 3rd row, and we got to see 3 goals scored right in front of us. A puck even landed in the row right in front of us. We weren't in the American Airlines suite like last time, but the Stars won 4-2 so the night was a great success!

Fight!

Face-off 

Goal! 

They score again!

Pete's Piano Bar
I already wrote a long post on Pete's dueling piano bar in Addison, but I love this place so much that I have to post about it again. If you are looking for a fun night in Dallas, you HAVE to go to Pete's. With a motto of "sing loud" how could you not have fun? Seriously, go to Pete's!

Roses at Pete's

At the end of this month I will have officially been living in Dallas for a year. This last year has been hard trying to adjust to living so far from home and being homesick, but I'm proud that I made it! Check back soon for an very exciting update that I will be making! Can't wait to share it with all of you! 

XoXo
Valerie