Christmas in Dallas — letters from a Good friend

Last weekend we road tripped to Dallas! We met up with my Dad and Step-Mom for a whirlwind weekend of adventuring around Dallas and of course a day trip to Waco to see the silos. Dallas around Christmas is so beautiful! We saw so many amazing light displays. It was absolutely freezing basically all weekend (then 70 degrees two days after they left hahhaha)

Barb (my step-mom) LOVES Fixer-Upper! So of course we day-tripped down to Waco to Magnolia Market. Joel and I had been there a few times earlier this year when we were living near Waco, but this trip was definitely my favorite! The silos decorated for Christmas were just BEAUTIFUL! This was the first time Joel and I had been since they opened the bakery. We all tried different cupcakes (including ones to-go of course!) and everyone LOVED them! I had a Campfire cupcake, and Joel let me try a bite of his Strawberry, and I kid you not, they were the BEST cupcakes I've EVER had. I got mine for later, so I tried a cookie while we were actually there. The cookie was okay, but I wouldn't get it again. Especially after that amazing cupcake! We had a blast taking pictures around the silos, checking out the gardens and yard, and of course shopping in the store! Like I said, this was easily my favorite trip to Magnolia Market!

When we got back to Dallas, we checked out the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. During the holiday season they have what's called the "12 Days of Christmas At Night." Throughout the gardens there are twelve gazebos, each with a different display inside from the "12 Days of Christmas" song. Their website boasts that they display "half a million lights" and I definitely would believe that! The whole gardens were lit up just beautifully and the gazebo displays were wonderful. My favorite gazebos were the "partridge in a pear tree" and "six geese a laying" displays! The Arboretum also hosts a "12 Days of Christmas" displays during daylight hours, including the "Claus Collection Santa exhibit" which sounded really neat! If you are in the Dallas area when this display is going on, I HIGHLY recommend this!

We ate very, very, VERY well all weekend. That's half the fun of being on vacation, right?! We ate the staples like In-N-Out Burger and Rudy's BBQ (cream corn OMG) but also tried some new places! By recommendation we tried Top Pot Doughnuts in downtown Dallas one morning. DELICIOUS! We all tried different donuts and loved them all! My favorite one was the blueberry fritter. Yes, I said BLUEBERRY, not apple! We also tried Gino's East of Chicago Pizza which was also amazing. We all really enjoyed our pizzas, and we also ordered the homemade mozzarella sticks and pub chips for appetizers which were also both so yummy. And I won't lie, one of the highlights for me was eating at TacoBell one night (LATE, which was even better) The TacoBells near where we live just are not good. (you can read my reviews of how terrible they are on Google! hahaha) And TacoBell is my favorite guilty pleasure place. So I was so pleased that we had one right next to our hotel, and that, after just a few beers, Joel and I got to order some Tbell and it was just as heavenly as it should've been (: P.S. When staying at a Texas hotel, if your hotel doesn't have Texas-shaped-waffles on the breakfast menu, you're staying at the wrong hotel (:

We also checked out (the outside of) the JFK Sixth Floor Museum (my sister is slightly obsessed with JFK) So we walked around outside of the book depository and Facetimed my sister so she could see the marks on the road where he was shot, and the window that Lee Harvey Oswald shot from. Joel and I had gone through the museum earlier this year, and it was really interesting. Not something I would do again (it was kind of long, and had a LOT of reading which meant, because of my shortness, I had to do a LOT of waiting for people to get out of my way to actually be able to read/see things...) But Joel and I both would recommend it if you've never been. We also went to the top of the Reunion Tower to see the skyline at night (which Joel and I had also done before, but during the day) If you have never done this, it was definitely REALLY cool at both times of the day. I think I liked this time better because all of the buildings were lit up beautifully and obviously because stuff like that is a little more fun when you're with your people. They have a photo-op before you get on the elevator to go to the top. DO THE PHOTO-OP! It does cost money to get a print made, but it's FREE to just email it to yourself and anyone else you want. Plus it's fun (: We also stopped at the Galleria Mall which is HUGE. Inside they have the tallest indoor Christmas tree in the U.S.! (or so the internet says) and a skating rink around it! The tree lights up to different songs, and I absolutely loved it! We did not ice skate, but it was a lot of fun watching all of the talented skaters on the ice, and the not-so-talented ones, too. hahaha

Joel's favorite part of our trip was the Dallas Cowboys game we attended at the AT&T stadium. The Cowboys beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a great game. And, being Buckeye fans, it was SO COOL to see Ezekiel Elliot play!! Let's be honest, he's the man. And we had a blast cheering him and the rest of the team on. The Cowboys' stadium is just absolutely magnificent, there honestly cannot be a bad seat anywhere. We were up pretty high, but we were almost on the 50 yard line so we had an amazing view of the whole field and the GIGANTIC JUMBO-TRON! That thing is SO FREAKING BIG, it's hard to keep your eyes off of it! We of course had to get snacks, and you would not believe what they sell at the stadium. Flaming. Hot. Cheetos. Popcorn. It was like a dream that I didn't know I had came true. It was of course delicious and I WISHED I had a plastic baggie with me so I could've packed some up to take home with me! haha! The half time show was Christmas themed and it was great!! Those cheerleaders etc are some talented athletes, and they put on a WONDERFUL show. The game was a perfect way to end our whirlwind Dallas trip, and it was so awesome to get to go with my Dad and Barb!

And when your weekend comes to an end like this, you now it was a good one (:

We are so wishing that we could be home this weekend to celebrate Christmas Eve today with Dad, Barb, and the rest of the family. And of course celebrate with our other families too!!