This Craziness Called Life in Dallas

Friends - we have not given up on our blog - we have just been overwhelmed and busy. This move was not easy for us, and things did not transition smoothly at all. So, for those of you that know me at all know that I about hyperventilated just typing that sentence.

NOT

A

SMOOTH

TRANSITION?

I can't handle transition PERIOD! You'll never imagine the grace the Lord has showered upon us to get ME, a plan-it-all-five-years-in-advance, coordinate-every-detail-so-nothing-goes-wrong, make-lists-until-we've-run-out-of-paper-and-Danny-threatens-to-rip-them-up, type-A personality, through the last four weeks.

We have pictures and stories galore of the move, the apartment, and more to share with you. Let us first pick ourselves up from amongst the boxes stacked shoulder high, and we'll get them online for you to see.

In the mean time, let me leave you with some of the crazy things I've noted about living in Dallas.

Things that make me smile, laugh, and go "HUH?!" about living life in Dallas:

• 15 year girls carry real Louie Vuitton's and think that their dad's go to work simply to buy them Kate Spade shoes.
  
• People walk their dogs and drink wine while walking down Munger Ave. I guess it makes them feel posh and sophisticated.
  
• No matter where I'm coming from, if I head towards the very big buildings I will always make it home.
  
• When I walk out of Target I look up and see lights that are not stars, but skyscrapers.
  
• I drive to work in one of the poorest communities in the NATION.
  
• I get to tell my friends to take Exit #1 off of Central Expressway - as in there are no more exits off of Central Expressway because you are downtown.
  
• Every time I step outside my door that familiar "big city" smell that makes me think of Moscow and Manhattan hits me in the face. It's an assortment of cigarette smoke, car exhaust, and body odor from lots and lots of people and it makes me feel very "urban."
  
• I pass a bum everyday either on my way to work or on my way home. They are always on a different street corner, and I always wonder if they are really homeless or if they are just trying to get a free dollar. Maybe one day I'll learn to love them like Jesus loved the swindling tax collectors.
  
• The speed limit here is 60 mph on the freeway, but you WILL get run over if you're doing anything less than 75 mph. Life in the fast lane.
  
• It's hard to find a good sunset spot in a region so flat and so filled with buildings. But, I discovered last night that I can watch the glass glisten in gold and platinum as I drive through the high rises and it's just as mesmerizing and astounding.
  
• Here I have the option to blow a whole month's food budget at one store, in one stop, thanks to Whole Foods. Just walking into that store makes me feel healthier. I can buy organic avocados for $4.99 each, organic body wash scented with essential oils, and I can buy EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil for those of you who don't watch RR [Rachel Ray]) from Italy, Spain, the Mediterranean, and at least two other countries. And my favorite part - they actually offered me paper or plastic when I left.
  
• You are suppose to hang out in different parts of Dallas based on how you dress. Now, for you South Carolinians who don't know what I mean and thought that the fashion train stopped with pastel seersucker suits, let me break it down for you:

1. If you're of the "scenish" crowd you hang out on Greenville Avenue and buy your vintage clothes at a used shoppe before going to the Granada for a concert.
   
2. If you've got more money in your pocket than you know what to do with you drive your Bentley with the SMU Alumni sticker up to Highland Park and sip cappacinos while pushing your mini-shopping cart around Whole Foods.
   
3. If you're artsy, then you're sporting your leggings, black fingernail polish, and spiked hair at the Door in Deep Elum.
   
4. If you're run-of-the-mill middle class then you bike 14 miles in your spandex underwear around White Rock Lake daily and stop by Starbucks on the way home for your caffeine fix.

And that, my friends, is Dallas, or as much of Dallas as I've discovered in two weeks time.