weekend getaway: dallas + grapevine

several weekends ago, we had the opportunity to have a date night. it was pretty far away but hey, we pretty much take any opportunity that involves free babysitting. so off to dallas we went. 

after getting our hotel room and getting the kids settled, we headed out the door and wished the grandparents the best. 

our good friend from Cali was in town so we picked him up and headed out. 

our first stop was the Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas. the famous spot where JFK was assassinated. i was told by Gary that we had past the place before but i didn't recall. it was a good opportunity to take some photos and read historic plaques, not to mention capture some pretty sweet shots of the cityscape as the sun went down. 

the famous Sixth Floor Museum was already closed when we arrived. too bad because it would have added an amazing feel to the entire visit. the photo below is looking up at the Texas School Book Depository from where JFK was shot at, "allegedly."

below, is a photo of the building from the spot where JFK was shot at. the window which he was shot at is the the far right, one story down, the only true 'square' window. if you stood a little nearer and looked up, you could see a white paper that hangs to indicate where the sniper would have been located.

and of course, we had to take some selfies. 

just as we were leaving, we heard commotion and turned around. we couldn't believe it! we happened to witness a cadillac, much too similar as Kennedy's, just driving by. it made it feel a bit eerie after that, i was shocked and excited that that had actually happened and that i had captured it on my phone. 

definitely a cool experience.

after we made our hike back to the car, we had the perfect place to chow down at: torchy's. torchy's tacos have never failed me. (thank you bro-in-law for introducing me to them) they were amazing. definitely a place to try if you are a fan of tacos. i love tacos so much i could eat them every. meal. and i am not exaggerating. read my bio on the right--see? 

we really had a great time with some great company. 

after bellies were filled, it was time to go haunted housin'. we have never been in a 'real' haunted house. i did my research about which one to go to for a loooong time. i finally decided on The Strangling Brothers Haunted Circus in Irving. 

i'm a person that likes to suffer to have fun. it sounds terrible, i know. but if it scares me, it's probably my kind of fun. i'm a thriller seeker, i guess? 

give me any kind of roller coaster or the hottest buffalo chicken wings, i'm your girl. 

so naturally, i am going to love creepy clowns and tormenting zombies. 

and then we did it and i'm glad we did, because it was an amazing experience!!! i loved it and i was so glad i wasn't disappointed.
that weekend was anything but boring. we also got a chance to tour downtown grapevine which was super cute and quaint. eat some more delicious tacos and take some beautiful pictures at their botanical gardens. but i'll have to post those pictures when i get the chance after Thanksgiving break.
speaking of which, it's this week! like in two days! like, how is it this year is almost over?
insane.
got any amazing plans for this week?

eateries

We recently went to Six Flags Over Texas before the year ended to use up some complimentary tickets we had. We've been to it so many times, we rode everything once and then got the h-e-double-hockey-sticks outta dodge...It was December and it was starting to get chilly. 

When we lived closer to the area, we liked going out every Friday night to Downtown Ft. Worth. And mind you, this was before kids, so we were free as birds. Now, we do not have that luxury and we live farther than we care to drive for just a date. 

So as soon as we got our happy little selves in the car, we knew where we wanted to go--Mi Cocina. They have super awesome delicious Mexican food, AND they don't hire white people to serve you. HA! 

Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera because I didn't feel like carrying a huge cam, but we always have our iPad handy. Because of it's crappy camera, (less than 1Mb, for all you nerdy peeps), that's a really bad quality picture. You remember those first cell phones with cameras? Yeah, like that. You would expect Apple to always have the best quality products out there but they failed miserably with this. 

Anyways, off my soapbox, I NEVER ever want to be that couple that just sit across from each other with nothing to say, nothing to talk about...kinda like on Date Night with Steve Carrell & Tina Fey, anybody?

Tina Fey with her mouth piece at bedtime, yeah, totally me. If you've seen the movie, you know how disastrous their date night goes the first time around....

So I always try to be the "fun couple" that are you know are-still-in-love-with-each-other and having fun--for people's sake of observation. I just can't stand to be thought of as 'boring'. GOD FORBID.

We had delicious salsa, tacos al carbon, and Gary's favorite: beef fajitas 'cause chicken is just wrong. 

Several weeks after, I managed to end up in the Metroplex once again. This time to attend a high school friend's first solo art exhibition. His name is Leighton and he has truly come a long, inspiring way. 

You can see his artwork on his website here

My sister and I had art class together with Leighton in high school--I even used him as a model in one of my drawings!

Quite a good turn out, so I'm proud of his first show!!!

After this, we argued of where we would eat. It seemed that we had no choice because the boys had decided we were eating at Torchy's. 

Never eaten there, so I'm happy we went--a new experience never hurt anyone *wink, wink*

(My images are Straight Out of Camera because I simply have NO time whatsoever to edit--sorry)

The one thing I was not impressed with was their queso, I guess my taste buds are messed up because everybody was raving about it...but their tacos and salsa were pretty delish.

 My sister, the beautiful.

 ...and her beau

Impressive lighting!

 We were just having a good time...

My brother, Carl <3

Love their logo!

Also, we love getting tacos for 'Los 3 Potrillos' taco truck here in town. Right around the corner from our house, it's cheap, and MEXICAN-GOOD, what else do we need?? Oh yeah, some cheve! 

I promise to take pics of an "orden" of asada tacos and post on here.