Fall 08 Fashion @ the Park

I was surfing the net and bumped into an article talking about Dallas Fashion at the Park. What interests me most was the fact that you can purchase tickets to watch all the runway shows. I was kinda doubtful, knowing that in New York there is no way to get in…well… only if you are in the industry – I mean…. if you are somebody in the industry. So, I asked a friend who works in fashion industry and asked her about the event. She said it’s pretty much fun and TRUE, you can purchase the tickets. OHMY…. You know what I’m feeling right now??!!! I was so excited… I asked friends to watch with me and yey…. We were able to get tickets for CH Carolina Herrera Runway Show.

Carolina Herrera, known for her timeless style (personal and runway) presented a very interesting Fall 2008 show. Her style is always flawless, classic, very elegant and worldly without being scrupulous. I do like some of her dresses but it’s too much for the pocket. Though they gave us a $100 gift certificate for a $500 purchase, but I think it is still too much.

We had a really good time at the show; lots of booze and spending time with friends is priceless. I have noticed that Dallas women are really fashion conscious and they exactly know what’s in the market. I heard they do shop a looooot…. AS IN…. a lot

Well… til next year. Would love to watch Valentino…

Cheers

Weather Poorcast

"How's the weather in Dallas, Texas?" a common question from friends back home (and friends around the world). What can I say??!!! It's just unbelievably unpredictable. In one day we experienced winter and summer. Believe it or not but it's for real!!!

I was just pissed the past days with this extreme changes of weather. I couldn't plan what to do for a day because the weather tend not to allow me to plan something. I am not working and you know how it is to have all the time in the world and just doing nothing about it. SUCKS y'know...

Monday was Cinco De Mayo. I got an invitation from a friend in the City for a party at one of the bars in uptown. I was interested to join but I couldn't commit because it was raining and TV newscast was saying there was a coming storm. Well... my friend said,"Come on, you're in Texas and you know how it is here." He meant was the weather is really freakin changing every hour, literally every hour. And he was right, around 6pm the sun just came out and seems like the day just started for me.

Tuesday, I have a golf lesson scheduled at 10am. It was raining hard in the morning which made me cancelled my lesson due to the weather. Guess what??!! The sun was started to shine (a little around 10). Grrrr.... Frustrating!

Wednesday, I have another golf lesson scheduled at 2pm. I woke up late and heard an alarm (we have a city alarm for tornado). I was freaking out. I turned on the TV and got informed for a tornado watch. Fine, I need to cancel my lesson. But then again, it was bright and warm and sunny outside around 130pm. What the F.... is going on? Grrrr.... very irritating and frustrating.

Well... Well... I am now in Texas and I guess I just need to get used to it and people said springtime weather can be really volatile. And I heard the month of May is the wettest. Thank GOD we are out of here for almost 3 weeks. YEEES :)

This is weird, people from other parts of the country are very excited for upcoming summer. Texans are not.... Summer here is very hot in which temperature ranges from 100 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. Ouch....

Exciting huh.... Geeez....

Rules of the Southern Lifestyle

I was just surfing the net and found this piece of article which is very interesting:) By Texas Rebel Radio Network...

All good Southerners already know these, but in fairness to those Yankees who were dumb enough to stay down here:

1. Don't order a steak at a Waffle House. They serve breakfast 24 hrs a day, so let them cook something they know.

2. Don't laugh at people's names. Merleen, Bodie, Luther Ray, Tammy Ann, Mari Beth, and Inez have all been known to whip a man's ass for less than that.

3. Don't order a bottle of pop or a can of soda -- this can lead to a merciless beating. Down South it's called Coke, even if you want a Pepsi.

4. Don't show allegiances to any college football squad that isn't an SEC team. All the others are a bunch of candy asses who get to play Wyoming every week.

5. Don't refer to Southerner's as a bunch of hillbillies. Many of us are/have been more literate than you (e.g. Welty, Williams, Faulkner), better educated, and generally much nicer to boot. We've got plenty of business sense (e.g.Turner Broadcasting, MCI WorldCom, MTV, and Netscape). Naturally, we can have lapses of judgment from time to time (e.g. Clinton, Fordice, Duke). We don't care if you think we're dumb, we know better!

6. We are fully aware that the humidity is high. Quit your bitching, spend your money, and leave.

7. Don't order wheat toast at the Cracker Barrel. If you do this, everyone will know you're from Ohio. Eat the biscuits like God intended and for goodness sake, don't put sugar in your grits.

8. Don't attempt to fake a Southern accent. Nothing will incite a riot faster.

9. Don't go around talking about how much better it is back home. If you don't like it here, take your Yankee ass back home.

10. We don't play lacrosse, hockey or any of those other sissy ass Northern games, so don't ask about the scores. We...simply...don't...care.

11. We know how to speak proper English, we talk this way because we want to and we can. It's like playing jazz, you have to know how to do it right first.

12. Last, but by no means least...DO NOT try to tell us how to Bar-B-Q. This could lead to permanent expulsion and revocation of your work visa. Consider yourself just damn lucky that we let you come down here in the first place. Don't push your luck!

Southern Lifestyle

It's been 2 months and 13days since we moved here in Texas from the North East. The mere fact that I am with my hubby and we're slowly starting to build our family is just something I am very grateful right now. There is no place I want to be but here, with him!

Well... I honestly miss our previous home in Galaxy Towers - New Jersey. We had great memories with that condo with friends and family. We're just 15-20 minutes to Manhattan so it was basically our play ground there. Where all great memories took place :) As a lot of people said, New York is the Best City in the world! So many things to do in New York - from shopping to walkin in Central Park, from dining in the finest restaurants to eating hotdogs on the street, watching movies to watching broadway shows (which i love most)from bar hopping to clubbing and a lot more. It's a city that never sleep indeed!

Our lifestyle here in Texas changed a lot. And I am proud to say that we are embracing it easily. Texas is nothing like any big cities. Night life is not as culturally lively as New York but there are a lot of great restaurants and great bars/clubs around. People here are very nice though. It has taken me seconds to get used to it (wink). Maam and sir... guys opening the door and waiting before they enter (which I am used to in the Philippines). Most of the families here goes to church often and guys actually goes to church... Wow!!!

Most importantly, it is very cheap to live out here. You can live in a very nice mansion and still have money to visit New York and any other places you wanna be. We are enjoying our stay here with our new friends and beginning to be a fan of cowboys and the Mavericks :) I am having fun with my daily classes at Lifetime Fitness and my pottery at Kraftivity studio. Also, I am back of hitting some golf balls with my hubby:)

My only complaint here - we're far from the beach. My friends would know why :)

Longest Running Soap

Heard about “Dallas”? I bet…. It was the most successful TV drama series which started on 1978 and ultimately lasting 14 seasons and 357 hour-long episodes. . It was known to be one of the few American programs of any kind to achieve "hit" status virtually all over the world. The set (where else?!!??) in Texas - specifically, Braddock County.

Though I haven’t watched this program but I heard a lot of good stuffs. My mother in-law was a big fun and apparently my cousin, Hazel, watched this show when she was a kid. She only remembered few of the episodes but she knew it was a big hit in the 70s and 80s.

Hazel was actually visiting me here in Dallas; I was so excited to see her after 2 years. It was Monday afternoon when she arrived home. We talked for an hour and decided to have our little tour at Southfork Ranch. She was pretty excited at least she did watch “Dallas” before. Well…. I was excited too, to see how ranch looks like here in TX.

Southfork Ranch is where "Dallas" TV series was filmed. The ranch is known to TV viewers around the globe as the home to the infamous Ewing Family. Right now, they do have guided tour which takes just about 45minutes.

We took the tour of the ranch and took pictures. It’s an amazing property! It is known worldwide as America's most famous ranch. The house was built in 1970 by Joe Duncan. Definitely worth looking for when you’re in Dallas :)

Dallas, TX... What I know so far...

I arrived here in the United States 2 years ago and stayed in New Jersey/ New York area. I remember the first time Paul (my husband) told me that we might be moving to Dallas, TX anytime soon, I didn't take it seriously. Moving to Texas?!! You kidding?!! New York is the BEST place I've been so far (of course aside from my home country, Philippines). I told him it's not gonna happen; "Stop thinking about it Sweetie".

November last year, Paul told me that his boss ordered him to move to Dallas, TX, where the headquarters of their company is located, for him to work closely with the management team. I was freaking out deep inside, of course, I am 101% supportive to my husband's career and we both knew this will be a good move. Thus, I took it easy. But geeez..... honestly I was very pessimistic. I said to myself that we can live there a year, just a year. That's it. What can I do in Texas? Milk a cow? Ride horses? NO WAY!!!

We arrived Texas January 27, 2008. And as everyone said, everything really is BIG in Texas. True indeed! BIG highways - some with 4 or 5 levels of flyovers, which scares me a lot. BIG meals, which screws my diet. BIG cars, which I'm not used to. BIG malls, which filled with mommies and their baby trolleys. BIG houses, which takes a lot of time of cleaning. Name it, it's all BIG!!! Have you noticed I am negative about everything?!!! Because I truly feel I can't do anything here, as in, there's nothing to do here!

Our first week includes my husband driving home to have lunch with me because our car from NJ doesn't arrive yet. Settling down takes a lot of time. Beyond my imagination. We started to look for apartments. Fortunately, it's easier here coz all communities are owned by companies. I was having fun looking for apartments. I started to say, WOW.... Knowing all the communities has a pool, gaming rooms, gym and BIG closets :) Well... it still took us 3 weeks to finally find our place that we like. We got a view!!! YES... a view :) Unlike our view back home in NJ, the Manhattan skyline, here we got a golf course view. We like the place. We got a 2 bedroom apt (in case friends/family visit).

My husband and I love everything LIFE has to offer. From cooking meal at home to fine dining. From popcorn night time to night out clubbing. From doing our shopping for groceries to furniture or cars. From lazy weekends at home to great weekends on the other part of the world. Most importantly, meeting new friends. We both live to socialize!!!

We started to meet interesting people. Alex - one of Paul's office mates - and his wife Deila, are the people we normally go out with. They got 2 amazing kids, Allanis and Victor, and Deila's sister, Daniella, who's here studying English. They are Brazilians by the way. Very warm people and easy to hang with. I'm feeling better these days. I'm meeting people including some interesting Filipinos. At first I was looking at my friendster account and checking on a friend of a friend who lived in our area... Jasmin Ma, a very cute & pretty girl with 3 kids. Yes, she got 3 kids and she still looks fabulous. We first met at the mall with 3 other friends of her's. The next weekend, we met again for dinner with her crew of 10 girls. They are very nice and amazing! Thanks girls for the warm welcome:)

The days drag on and on... so I enrolled at Lifetime Fitness, a health club which offers a lot of interesting classes. I was very happy to go back to my yoga sessions as well as try out some belly dancing. As luck had it, I met a Filipina girl at the gym, Nelda. We started strength training together with an amazing personal trainer. Isn't that GREAT??!!! Now I'm doing all sorts of activities including pottery and beadings :)

Dallas, TX…. What I know so far??!!! It’s a GREAT place to live!!!