Recap: Dallas

Here's the recap from our trip to Dallas for Becky's wedding

Kelly and me - Lance's b-day party (I'm exhausted - it's almost 1 am at this point)

On our way to the wedding - we clean up nice

In case you didn't know who we were
With the beautiful bride
Sole sisters (donning Manolo and Kate)
they clean up nice too
The beautiful cake (tasted good too). I know how to make that design.
Groom's cake. I got the piece that said "pot" and also picked up "end." Wished I had enough patience to get "ass."
The pot cake. Don't think I don't snicker every time I see this.

Post wedding - at Idle Rich with Rachel and Megan

With pal (and awesome host) Laurel

Big D v Beantown

Since I've been a little homesick lately I decided to do a side-by-side comparison of Big D, aka Dallas, to Beantown.

Skyline

First, I thought I'd start out easy by comparing the skylines. While Boston has the waterfront along downtown, and the cool distinction of the "Back Bay" area where the city was built on the water, the unique architecture of downtown Dallas and its skyscrapers, along with the ever-changing lights of Reunion Tower make Dallas a winner in the skyline category.

Boston

Transportation

Dallas has miles and miles and miles of open road and highways, with clearly marked exits and street signs. The downside to Dallas is that you drive FOREVER to get across town, and it's no big deal when your commute is 100 miles round trip each day, plus there is almost no public transportation available. Boston, on the other hand, is very small, and has great public transportation - yay T. You can drive around pretty easily IF AND ONLY IF you have a GPS system. Boston is notorious for streets changing names suddenly and WTF is a rotary? And this is just the outskirts I've driven to. Don't even get me started on navigating my way through Beacon Hill and the downtown area. Boston edges out in this category just because of the T.

People

Dallasites win hands-down in this category. While Bostonians aren't nearly as mean as I heard they were, their lack of warmth can't go unmentioned. And while Dallasites are no Midwesterners and sometimes forget that we're southern, for the most part they are warm, welcome and inviting.

And the girls up here are an entirely different breed than Texas women. In Dallas, we care what we look like ALL THE TIME. We are high maintenance and we make no excuses for it. The downside to that is that we carry that maintenance into simple things like going to the grocery store.

In Boston, women up here don't make any excuses for not making an effort. It's all about comfort. I actually had an intern scoff because I don't own a pair of sweat pants! And a lot of women (NOT all - I actually work with a bunch of women who "try") up here don't even make an attempt at looking decent. How do you attract a man when it looks like you don't give a flip about yourself? And apparently this is the norm.

I will say this: being up here and having the luxury to keep my southern traits of making an effort but losing the fuss of it all is actually nice. I like that it's not a tragedy if I go to the grocery store in my snow boots and a t-shirt without any make-up on. I like that I can dress for comfort when I want to. And I REALLY like that people up here don't care what you drive, where you live and how much money you make. New Englanders are practical; there are very few BMWs up here, and if they are around, it's the SUVs because those are practical. Nope, Hondas and Toyotas are the big things up here, and luxury is a Lexus. And most of the people I know who are buying "new" cars, get them used.

Sports

This is a tie. Bostonians love their sports teams up here, and there are plenty to go around. You've got the Patriots, the Red Sox, the Celtics and the Bruins, not to mention tons of decent college teams to watch whenever you want. But I am really disappointed with Bostonians on their lack of enthusiasm for hockey. Boston has one of the original hockey teams EVER, and people up here don't get excited for the Bruins. In Dallas, everyone goes NUTS for the Stars; we LOVE hockey down there. And Dallasites are crazy for the Mav and the Cowboys too. The only team that's not exciting is the Rangers, but people still LOVE going to the Ballpark.

Food

This one is a tie as well. While I can't get enough Tex-Mex and I miss Rosa's and Chuy's and Cuba Libra's mojitos, Boston is notorious for its great seafood, and variety. Since coming to Boston, I've indulged in Tibetan and Argentinian cuisines, and of course I eat some of the freshest seafood as often as possible. Lobster rolls up famous up here, as is the clam chowder. Every restaurant I've been to has been amazing and my pants are actually fitting a little better now that I don't have queso as one of my dietary staples. But still, I haven't found an authentic Mexican restaurant and the Tex-Mex restaurants up here are a joke. I'm actually getting so desperate that even fajitas are starting to sound appetizing.

Overall, I'm coming to appreciate Boston and its many offerings. Let's not forget that this city is rich with history, and I've got the beach to look forward to every weekend in a couple months. Not to mention that we've got Sam Adam's beer up here, and many bars don't even have the Texas staples on tap (Coors Light, Bud Lt. and Miller Lt.) which is fine by me.

The one thing Boston will never have on Dallas is my friends. They are definitely the best part of Dallas (and Austin and Houston and even Albuquerque!) and no one in Boston will ever compare to that!

HomeSick

I'm homesick. Saying that feels a little dirty, like I'm admitting defeat in some way, but I can't help it. I miss my friends and I miss having them to talk to. I hate the fact that it's taking some time to meet people up here, and I hate not having my own friends to hang out with. I'm not used to not meeting people quickly and being brought into the fold. I know it's an East Coast thing - I can't count how many times I've told Stephen it takes time, but when it's the same for me it sucks even more. It makes me long for my friends even more. I just want to be invited out for a beer sometime, and I don't know when that's going to happen.

Ugh, writing this is even more depressing because it sounds like I'm not thankful for this great opportunity I've been blessed with. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Boston and I'm looking forward to everything it has to offer, but I wish I had friends up here to experience it with.

On the plus side, work has gotten ridiculously busy in the past week. I got put on 3 accounts - one of which is a brand new client that I pitched a few weeks ago - and I've been so busy that my head is spinning. It feels so much like Moroch now with the hectic schedule, and I'm just hoping that I can make an impact and difference on these accounts and to my team members like I did at Moroch. Also, one of my clients is doing regional PR in the Oklahoma and D/FW markets. I can't tell you how great it feels to pitch reporters from back home!

So that's all that's going on right now. Stephen's birthday is coming up in two weeks and I'm planning a birthday party for him; I've also got some great gift ideas for him and I can't wait to see his reaction when he opens his gifts! I'll post about it again after he's gotten his gifts.

Things to be Thankful For

Since it is the day of giving thanks, here is my list of things that I am thankful for:

• God - While I (try to) give thanks to Him every day, I'll start off by saying I'm thankful to God for giving me such an amazing life and filling it with great challenges and blessings. Everything I have, or have done, is because of the gifts he has given me.

• Boston - and I mean the boyfriend here. Ever since he walked into my life eight months ago, I've been thankful for the gifts he has given me, the wisdom he has shared with me, and the willingness to let me into his heart. He is sweet and kind, and loves me even with my obvious shortcomings. He has opened up his life to me, and given me the courage to leap into the new adventure I'm about to take. He has opened up a new world to me, both intellectually and spiritually; he has renewed my faith in God -and man- and I will always be thankful for that.

• Family - They are my foundation. Coming from the self-proclaimed "most functionally dysfunctional" family isn't an easy thing, but my family has given me the tools necessary to grow into a reasonably healthy functioning member of society. They've supported all my decisions in life, and make sure to tell me all the time how proud they are of me, even when it means that I'm moving halfway across the country from them.

• Friends - They are the ones who tolerate my absence from their lives on account of school and support me. They are the ones who ask if they can attend my graduation... and everyone knows how boring those are. They are excited about the next journey in my life, even though it means leaving them behind. They have comforted me in troubled times, and support me as much as my family. In reality, they are my family too.

• Work - I am thankful that my current job and colleagues have provided me with the tools to make a contribution to the field of public relations, and to take that next step in my career. I am thankful that Moroch showed me what a real work culture looked like, and that you can absolutely have fun while working your ass off. Finally, I am thankful for Emily V., the most amazing boss I've ever encountered. Never does she have a bad word to say about anyone, and it will hurt the most to say goodbye to her. She has shown me where you can go with hard work, and it is her work ethic that I hope to channel in my new job. She has served as a mentor to me for almost two years now, and I know that she will continue to serve as a mentor when I move into my new job.

I know there are a thousand other things I am thankful for, and rightly so, but these are the high, fast ones. I love everything about my life - where I've come from, what I've become, and the possibilities of what I will grow into. So on this day of Thanksgiving, I realize I have so much to be thankful for.