charcoal lemonade: Shopping, eating, dancing, and JFK

My friends and I have been wanting to take a trip out of town for at least a year now. During college, our getaways consisted of driving 4 hours to Florida and getting plastered and sunburnt on the beach. We were looking for something a little more grown up, a little more big city.

New Orleans was out… most of my friends are from there, and while it can still be fun, it’s gotten a little old. Our first plan was to fly to Vegas, but money-wise, that wasn’t going to work out. So, we opted for one of the few large cities within driving distance – Dallas. (One friend flew in from Boston.)

My friends decided to make night two of our stay a sort of mini bachelorette party/lingerie shower. It was absolutely adorable – one of my friends made cupcakes and cookies in our wedding colors… I had no idea she was an expert cake decorator! Taking advantage of all the Latin inspired cuisine in DFW, we ate Cuban food the first night (plantain chips and mojitos… can it get any better??) and tapas the next night (with a huge pitcher of Sangria, of course!), which may have been some of the best food any of us have ever eaten.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m an American history nerd… luckily, one of my bridesmaids was in my high school American History AP class and shares this random quirk, and we somehow convinced everyone to go to the JFK museum on the 6th floor of the old Texas Schoolbook Depository {where Lee Harvey Oswald is said to have shot JFK from} which everyone actually found really interesting! And to balance out the day, we went to the mall -- where none of us could afford anything.

I’ve always heard that Dallas thinks it’s LA, which I fully believe after our night at an “ultra-lounge” called Wish. Weirdest. Place. Ever. I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun or felt more out of place among the hoards of girls who DIDN’T WEAR PANTS. It was like a Lady Gaga convention – one girl even had something on her head similar to Gaga’s “hair” bow.

The next night we went to a piano bar, which was much more our speed – people were wearing pants! It looked more like the college crowd we’re used to seeing at bars!

Anyway - it was SO much fun, and I can't wait for our next reunion!

The good stuff -- pictures: