Beautiful Day For A Wedding

Posted in Outings, My Family by Katy

This past weekend, one of Michael’s coworkers got married. And it was incredibly beautiful. We realized that it’s been a while since we have attended a wedding, as most of our friends are now parents, so this was a real treat to get all dressed up.

The venue was gorgeous. It was The Room on Main in Dallas. It just looked like a simple building on the outside, but when we got to the sixth floor and walked through the doors, the room was absolutely breathtaking.

Incredibly high, cove ceilings with large, original windows overlooking the downtown area.

The bride’s dress was a beautiful mermaid cut with a long train. And the bridesmaids wore elegantly draped dresses. This was the only picture I took of the wedding because I didn’t want to interfere with the photographers. At one point, there were a lot of phones out, and it just made me think of all those articles written by wedding photographers, begging for people not to ruin those pictures.

Then, the curtains lifted to reveal the reception area, identical to the first side with windows all the way around. At each table setting, there was this beautiful little note coming from the bride and groom.

The food was delicious. There was cake and dancing and laughter. It was perfect. And the view from the windows was spectacular.

We were so blessed to be witnesses to this event. We wish all the best to the bride and groom!

A Word of Advice about Canines and Cars

Posted in Dogs by Katy

As you know, I love dogs. They have been in my life for as long as I can remember. I volunteer with the SPCA as both an adoption counselor (bringing dogs and their families together) and a behavior foster (rehabilitating dogs for their future homes). I also have two dogs of my own, Teddy that we adopted recently and Jerzee, my canine bestie.

Jerzee has seen me through so much. My engagement, wedding, moving to Dallas, and she’s been by my side through every pregnancy loss. When I used to work from home, one day a week we would go on errands. Checking mail. Picking up lunch. And when I would arrive at the post office, I would leave her in the car for a quick in and out.

That’s right. The dog lover would leave her dog in the car.

I didn’t realize the danger that this would be. And the trips were usually under 5 minutes. I never did it when it was triple digits outside. And I usually parked in the shade. But once I realized how dangerous this could be, I started doing these trips alone. I never take my dog out with me unless I know I can take her into the store.

I have started to notice a lot of information being shared about this hot topic (pun definitely intended). I recently saw this video about how hot it can get in your car.

If that doesn’t convince you, there is this great infographic from Global Tint UK Global Tint UK that really summarizes everything. Even if you see a dog in a parked car and what to do.

I used to do this. I know how fun it is to have your canine bestie riding shotgun as you run errands or take long commutes. But the risk is not worth it to leave them in that car. I know better now, so I do better now. Please share with your friends, family and any other dog lovers you know!

8Aug2017

The Dark Tower: A Review

Posted in Outings, Reviews by Katy

I haven’t read this book series by Stephen King, and truthfully, when I walked into the theater, I had forgotten the series was by Stephen King. I probably would have skipped it if I had known (I won’t even watch the IT trailer. That thing scarred my childhood). But I’m glad I didn’t.

We went to the first showing at our favorite theater. They were serving brunch and it was delicious. It was also cheaper, as most first showings of the day usually are. And it wasn’t that crowded either.

But the movie, itself, was phenomenal. Talking to Michael afterward, we both agreed that if the Marvel and DC blockbusters didn’t play this summer, this would have easily been our favorite of the season.

The story follows this boy who is being haunted by these dreams of a dark tower, and a series of scenes that involve a man in black and a gunslinger. Everyone thinks that they are just a reaction to trauma and loss in his own life. But when the dreams become a reality, he goes on an adventure to another world in order to save his own.

It is not a scary movie, despite being based on a series of a very popular horror/thriller author. To me, it was a straightforward, good vs bad adventure. The plot was simple. There were some graphic-ish scenes of violence, but not gory at all. I’m thinking of one character who dies and you can see the hole on the forehead. But no blood or guts. The bad guy mostly killed by telling the person to stop breathing or by setting them on fire. But you don’t see them on fire.

Idris Alba and Matthew McConaughey were amazing. McConaughey wasn’t playing the kind of role I’m used to seeing from him, but he did really well. It made me want to know more about the man in black, where he came from and why he was so bent on destroying the tower. But perhaps that’s the point. To get people to read the book series.

This was our last movie of the summer season, and I feel like we ended on a high note. On our way home in the car, we listed our favorites. It came in after Spider-man: Homecoming and Wonder Woman as a strong number three. Definitely, a recommendation in the theaters or for a night at home.

7Aug2017

Going to Downtown McKinney

Posted in Outings, Reviews by Katy

I’ve talked about Downtown McKinney before in my blog. It’s probably my favorite place in the DFW area. I like the food here, the people. It’s just a great place all around. It’s also a great place to take pictures, and just down the road, they have a wonderful farmer’s market.

But recently, I headed to this area to check out their home decor.

I went to several of the shops, and if I’m honest, a lot of them were repetitive. And a lot of them were like walking through an Etsy shop, but like the same one over and over again. Halloween decor was starting to show up on the shelves, and this pillow was in at least two, maybe three of the stores – for the same 12 dollar price.

Of course, I love the pillow and the reference, just disappointed about the lack of variety in a lot of these stores. But I did find some stores that stood out from the rest.

The Antique Company Mall felt a lot like a mercantile or a flea market where the sellers own booths to sell their stuff. A lot of it didn’t really seem antique, more trendy antique, if that makes sense.

I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to really search through this particular store, but I’m hopeful that you might find one of a kind finds buried somewhere in this place. There was a first edition or signed books section in the very back, though none of the books really stood out to me, personally. It was still a cool place to peruse.

Another store I enjoyed walking through was My Favorite Room. The name of the store, again, pulled me in, but I enjoyed this store more than most of the ones I had visited that day.

It was gorgeous, with grays and creams outfitting most of the decor. There were linens in the back and these sewing mannequins everywhere in various states of decorative disrepair. The only downside, like a lot of these stores, was that it was way too expensive. I suppose one of the reasons that everything is priced high-end is because the rent for these spaces is expensive as well. But I was afraid to touch anything in this store.

This sign pulled me into the store because I love a lot of European decors, especially French or Italian influence, and this store did not disappoint. There were a lot of big pieces but none of it seemed like the other stores. There were survey maps of England in the back. And the store smelled amazing (they sell the candles that you smell). The downside is that the amount of stock seems limited and high priced, but there were a lot of great finds. The only picture I took was of the French pots in the window because I plan to go back for a few of them to put on my herb garden on my windowsill.

And I plan to go back soon, anyway, because as I was walking through the stores, I came across Eclair Bistro that has a jazz club inside! I’ve never been to one, so I’m hoping to convince Michael to take me soon.

Despite the overpriced items and the repetitive products, I still thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Downtown Mckinney. Every store I walked into, I was greeted by the people who work there. They really seem to have a passion for their stores and the things that they sell. I hope to visit other downtown areas in DFW in the near future, but this is still one of my happy places!

31Jul2017

We Escaped!

Posted in My Family, Outings, Reviews by Katy

One fabulous thing we did this weekend was participating in an escape room puzzle game at Escape The Room in Dallas for a friend’s birthday. For those of you familiar with this particular franchise, we did The Apartment. It was so much fun.

Of course, I can’t tell you anything about the game, itself. I don’t want to spoil it for people because it is quite satisfying to get out before the sixty minutes are up, but I can tell you the basic rules.

You don’t need to use brute force to pry anything up. Anything nailed down is supposed to be nailed down. Nothing needs to be hotwired. I thought that rule was hilarious. I can’t imagine a number of people who have tried to hotwire a piece of electronics in the room.

Also, of course, no pictures inside the room. Even the most innocent picture may unintentionally reveal something about the room.

Also, every now and then, the person who is watching in another room will send clues through the TVs or will play applause noises when we get close to figuring out a puzzle. Paying attention to those cues really helped us.

My own advice is this. Don’t overthink the puzzles. It’s not like the impossible quizzes online. These are pretty straightforward for the most part.

The one thing I will say about our specific experience was that one of the clues or puzzles wasn’t working right, and when we kept trying to solve it, the clue master finally came on the speakers and said that it wasn’t working. And that it would be better to just focus on the next clue on the TV. I feel like we might have had a better score if we didn’t have that hiccup, but we still got out before the end of time so I can’t really complain.

The staff was really awesome. Our clue master was great. One from our group accidentally hit the panic button that automatically ends the game, but he let us continue since he saw it was an accident. I’m so glad we had such an understanding staff member looking out for us.

I want to do it again, as soon as possible. We had another group with us, and it was so fun working together with them. I would highly recommend the location in Dallas, but I’m sure they are all a lot of fun!

28Jul2017

Friday Ramble: My husband

Posted in Blog, My Family, Rambling Thoughts by Katy

This is going to be even more stream of consciousness than normal. Have fun.

My husband turned to me this week and asked if I had told anyone about his birthday. Does the blog count? No, the blog doesn’t count, right?

He doesn’t really like the spotlight to be on him. He is genuinely selfless in that way. He’s eager to help other people and sacrifice his own stuff, but in no way wants to be the center of any kind of attention. I know some people who would love to do that, just to see what he would do, but I’m telling you now, this is not permission to do that in any way.

For some reason, I had this overwhelming desire to seek out all of my old Xanga and LiveJournal posts. There are some blog posts on a website I used to use that are gone forever, but those two sites still had everything from my college/young adult years. Oh man, I was so angsty, you guys. So. Angsty. Maybe I’ll find a good post to share.

But another fun outcome from finding all those old posts was to re-live those first years of dating Michael. All the ups and downs. It made me realize just how special of a person he is to me. We have been through so much as a couple, and I’m so glad I have such a patient, supportive, caring guy to go on these adventures together. And I’m really thankful that he put up with angsty Katy.

I could go on about what a great guy he is. How talented he is with saltwater aquariums. How proud I am of his integrity and work ethic. How grateful I am that he chose me to live this life with.

But he doesn’t like the spotlight, so instead, I will just say, Happy Birthday Michael!

24Jul2017

Teddy’s First Visit to the Vet

Posted in Dogs, My Family, Reviews by Katy

We adopted Teddy in February from the SPCA. He was still under vet care at the SPCA for the first couple of months after his adoption. But we knew we would eventually want him to go to our favorite vet at the Chase Oaks Animal Clinic in Plano, TX. Dr. Sanders has taken care of our pups since we first moved here, and we love all of the staff there.

Jerzee is not so much a fan. Granted, the majority of her visits involve someone sticking her with a needle. I don’t blame her. But she is a good sport, though she does end up being in Michael’s arms by the end of the check up.

Ted was unsure but warmed up as soon as the treats came out. The vet loved him. He is quite the handsome dog. And it helped that his check up didn’t involve any needles or anything invasive. His opinion may change when it comes time to update his vaccinations.

We’ve tried a few other pet clinics here in Dallas, but we always seem to come back here. The important factors of a vet clinic to us are how willing they are to explain any procedure or diagnosis, how patient and calm they are with our dogs, how familiar they are with our dogs (especially after seeing Jerzee for years) and how knowledgeable they are with the latest pet care trends (whether they really are helpful or not). This post isn’t sponsored by them, I just like them that much. It’s our little pet family, and I would recommend them to anyone!