Dallas Days and Fort Worth Nights

One week on and I think I'm just starting to recover from last weekend's adventures in the great state. The weekend flew by - as it always does - but I managed to accomplish what I intended to do: relax with family and friends.

It was hot. Hotter than the hinges on the back door of hell.

It was "run from the house a/c to the car a/c to the grocery a/c to the starbucks a/c and you're going to be sweating no matter what" hot. I didn't mind too much but I can absolutely see how 35 days in a row of 100+ temps could get really irratating.

How to beat the heat? Spend lots of time in my parents pool, naturally. Generally the 8am - 11am shift was the best but I did the 1pm - 4pm shift too. (More on that later.)

The trip was not all giggles though. There was some serious business which needed to be attended to. The dog needed to learn to swim. I said it. I mean "swim" in the most ridiculous sense. She doggy paddles and gets to the side of the pool but we needed to get her feeling comfortable in the water for our vacation to the lake next month.

So Mama H. and I bought her a doggy-life jacket (also ridiculous) and spent the afternoon in the pool (read: 1pm - 4pm shift, aka insanity) with treats and lots of positive enforcement. 

She was PISSED. Look at that face. She'll endure about anything if it means hanging out with the girls but she was so mad at us. But I digress.

When it's super hot, you need to stay hydrated. So I started my hydration campaign at Houston Hobby  during my quick layover to Dallas. Shiner Bock, I love you. (Side note: I can NOT wait for the flippin Wright Amendment to be abandoned. Can't a girl just get to Love nonstop from Philly? Sheesh.)

If you know Mama H. and me, you know that, naturally, the first stop off the plane was the knitting shop. I hooked myself up with a ton of yarn for my next project. (But I didn't take any pictures. That's another entry.)  Then it was straight to PL Nail for mani/pedis with Mama H. I've had mani/pedis all over the world (literally) and I always come back to this local place. The. best. massages. ever. Plus, more hydration.

It was great to catch up with my dear friends, KP and Stef, who are in the middle of planning their wedding for next March. KP and I went to high school together and we were college roommates. I'm beyond thrilled that Stef is the love of his life cause she's kinda the love of my life too. I love wedding planning and I love hearing about people planning weddings so much to KP's annoyance, we spent most of dinner discussing planning. (To be fair, the Rangers game was on.) They found an amazing sushi place on Lower Greenville for us so let's just say Friday night was a success. (And well hydrated. Sake style.)

Saturday was the big girls day! We headed to the Four Seasons Las Calinas for massages and some serious pool time. This was our view for most of the day:

Not too shabby. I think we succeeded in ensuring the bride-to-be to had a blissful, relaxing girls day. Apparently, we were well hydrated too as evidenced by the bar tab and the drunk smiles in this photo.

Not long to go now Miss Whit! You are going to be a beautiful bride and 9/9/11 is going to be one for the history books! (Get it, history books? A la Donald Rumsfeld style. Love you.)

If only every weekend could be like last weekend....