Weekend in Instagram

B, the pups and I drove up to Dallas this weekend to "house sit" for his sister.  In actuality, the house did not need a sitter, so maybe we were actually squatters.  After enduring 55 days of 100 degree weather this year, the pool was a welcome respite.

 Grilling dinner

The pups weren't quite convinced they wanted to dive in, 

though Kirby did wander too close to the edge and fell in (he's fine folks)

And our newest favorite discovery--Pinkberry salted caramel frozen yogurt with crispy crepe pieces.  B, who normally grimaces after a bite of frozen yogurt, swiped this away from me and I had to get another one.  It's that awesome.

Long weekend

In Dallas for the weekend and got to see the Royals play the Rangers.  Hope you're having a great weekend where you are!

Half Price Books: Dallas Edition

Half Price Books is a great used book store chain and there are a ton around Austin that B and I always go to once in a while to scour the 99 cent racks.  When we were in Dallas, we drove by a ginormous Half Price Books and decided to stop in that evening to check it out.  Not only was it 3 to 4 times bigger than any HPB we have ever been in, it was also really evident that a lot of time had been spent into making this store a place where you could actually browse and sit down and relax and read.   There was a cute little cafe attached and lots of seating everywhere (unlike our small HPB where you will find me crouched in a corner thumbing through a book).   And...they had some of the best visual merchandising that I've ever seen.  (I might be partial because they used all vintage items!)

Love these old stained glass window panels hung from the ceiling

Decorating with vintage suitcases and cameras

Shelves were filled with books and various vintage keepsakes like
wooden blocks, microscopes and sewing machines.
Check out the old cash register in the center!

Love this old film projector

Be still my beating heart, an old General Electric refrigerator!

We went on a Saturday night and it was packed full of families, couples and people working on their laptops.  The store really had a great vibe and there was even an outdoor movie showing in the parking lot that evening.

Oh and I almost forgot--one of the best things about our trip was that I got to finally try Pinkberry yogurt! I got a little size of the tart plain yogurt with mochi and mangoes.  Yum!

On the road again: Dallas

We're having a fun filled weekend in Dallas with the family.  Highlights so far include Link and Kirby swimming for the first time!

A little Texas housewarming present we brought up filled with Texas bbq sauce, salsa, Texas shaped crackers and cookie cutter, etc. 

To continue the Texas theme, I got this cool old fashioned personalized wooden address stamp from Notetrunk--a wonderful seller on etsy.  We got one of our own and love it--I highly recommend them! (and they're from Houston!)

Flowers of the month: July

Fresh white hydrangeas from J look so lovely this month.  In contrast I am wilting from this heat!

We added another little picture to the nook.  This time it's a print by Leah Duncan that I got from the Dallas Flea last month.

Hotel, motel, Holiday Inn...or the Aloft Plano in this case

Part of our Dallas fun trip this weekend was checking out the Aloft brand of hotels by Starwood.  I am a huge fan of Starwood (see SF Palace Hotel pics here) and Aloft is touted as the younger sister version of the W brand of hotels.  Aloft offers "urban-inspired, loft-like guest rooms, enhanced technology services, landscaped outdoor spaces for socializing day and night, and an energetic lounge scene."  Yeah you read that correctly.  When we checked in on a Friday night, there was a DJ in the lobby complete with strobe lights and dancing guests.  B looked at me and yelled, "I hope our rooms aren't close to the club!"

But anyways, here are the reasons why we chose Aloft Plano for our trip:

(1) Location: close to my favorite hunting ground, Nordstrom Rack and Lion City--a Singaporean restaurant where we ate every meal (it was that good).  However, quite far from downtown (where the Dallas Flea was held) and my beloved Northpark

(2) Comfy comfy beds:  I've always had the best night's rest on a Starwood Westin Heavenly bed (gotta love the Texas touch on the headboard)

 (3) Really pet friendly: no pet deposits and our two pups were happy to be greeted with a plush dog bed, water and food bowls, treats and toys.  Plus they put us right on the 1st floor by the exit for easy access for potty breaks.  The way they treated our pets and how they accommodated us made a HUGE impression on us.

(4)  Free wireless internet (this really should be the standard everywhere) and a 42 inch flatscreen tv with CABLE! (this is very significant if you are like us and live off a digital antennae--we're like kids in a candy store when we see all the cable channels)

 (5) Great facilities like a workout room and pool (although we didn't use either because, well see reason #4) as well as coffee maker, fridge, magazines, etc in the room

(6) My absolute favorite BLISS products!

(7) The decor: yeah so some of it is too urban and hipster-ish (hello Dwell magazine?  DJ in the lobby? Greeting me by saying "aloha?") but I did like how streamlined the room decor was and wanted very badly to take this little clock home

(8) Very inexpensive: rates run at about $79-89 a night and we got an even further reduced rate through the website with the second night at 50% off.  When you account for the free parking, internet access, pet friendly, free water/coffee, etc. it all adds up to a really good value.  We usually stay at the Palomar in Dallas but now there's some friendly competition from Aloft!

ps: this is no way an ad for Starwood hotels and I was not paid for this. Yes I am this crazy about traveling and hotels in general to be blogging about them.  And yes, I can also be bought to review any other hotels, just sayin'.

(pictures: top two from google images, the rest of the fuzzy ones were taken by me)

Vintage Monday: more owls and elephants

Just scored these vintage Trifari owl and elephant hat pins on etsy. I don't think my obsession will ever end.

We had a lovely time in Dallas and the pups enjoyed their treats, toys, and doggy beds at the hotel.  There was lots of eating, walking around, shopping and spending time with family.  The Dallas Flea was fun though a bit smaller than I expected (B was glad).  Definitely worth a trip if you live in Dallas--I loved the location of the event. Two of my favorite buys:

Print by Leah Duncan (who is actually from Austin!)

And this decal from Shanna Murray via Enid--a cute little store in Fredericksburg that I missed when we were there a few weekends ago--so I was glad they were at the Dallas Flea!

On the road again: Dallas Flea

We're up early this morning and ready to hit the Dallas Flea!