Friday I had some of my closest friends over for a "going away party" if you will. It was a great night filled with good friends, reminiscing and beverages. lots of beverages.
Saturday after everyone woke up and headed home I started the daunting task of packing everything I thought I couldn't live without for the next three months. I was dreading this, and we weren't hitting the road until about 6 a.m. the next day, so I started packing around 4 p.m. It was probably the best idea I've ever had. Surprisingly everything was packed up and loaded in to my car by about 8:30 (not to shabby for the day I had). Then I hit the hay, I was exhausted and had an early morning.
There is literally something shoved in every nook and cranny of this car!
Sunday was the big day! My mom and I had decided we wanted to be pulling out of the driveway at 6 a.m. so we woke up between 5-5:30 and somehow didn't leave the house until 7. There were a few last minute things to be done and we forgot to calculate in breakfast. Finally after a stop at QuikTrip we were on the road at 7:30.
There are a couple different routes from Kansas City to Dallas but we decided to take the more scenic one which was 69 Hwy to I-44 to 75 Hwy. This lead us to the Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, OK for lunch. My mom and I can be very productive people in society apart, but when we are together somehow two positives equal a negative and we get so sidetracked and focused on a good story or what a fun adventure something might be that we forget the original task at hand. This is what lead us to have a two hour lunch at Hard Rock that consisted of beers, slot machines and admiring all of the awesome artifacts on the walls.
My first time at a slot machine!
Once we were back on the road we were more focused on our destination, after five different bathroom stops. Those that know us know that we are awful on road trips due to always wanting something to drink and our freakishly small bladders.
Our discussions on this road trip were quite interesting. We passed a lot of Amish stores so naturally we discussed what it would be like to be Amish, why the people in the show Amish Mafia get to drive cars and of course the awesomeness of their stores for selling "FUDGE, CHEESE AND BUTTER". I feel like Paula Deen is somehow behind this operation.
We finally arrived to our destination around 5 p.m. I'm actually staying with my cousin, Jason, and his wife, Sara, outside of Dallas in Allen, so we didn't have to fight the traffic the entire way in to downtown Dallas.
Gertrude (my car) was unloaded fairly quick and since most of what I brought was clothing I got things put away in no time at all. Mom and I, without hesitation, decided we should go get some wine and beer to celebrate the move. We stayed up fairly late talking and drinking with Jason and Sara. I'm so grateful they are letting me stay with them, being away from home is going to be hard for me, so it's nice to be with family. The room I'm staying in is even decked out with all different types of gorillas (the Pitt State mascot - my cousin graduated from PSU as well), things that are significant to Kansas City (Chiefs, Royals and Boulevard Brewery) and family pictures (one of which is of our grandma that passed away when I was 10, I feel like she is watching over us). I feel very at home in my home away from home :).
Monday was a day for exploring. My mom and I left the house to find out where I would be working, I also had a meeting later that day so I wanted to be sure to not get lost. We found Love Field with little to no problem and had some time before my meeting so we found a Whole Foods to go to for lunch. We both follow Weight Watchers and were craving a fresh salad so we hit up their GIANT salad bar. After my meeting we decided to do some exploring and ended up in Uptown, a district in Dallas. I fell in love immediately. The main stretch we found had bars and restaurants lining the street and a real trolley that went up and down the 6-block stretch. We stopped in a couple places and had a drink or two and decided it was time to head back to the house so we could treat Jason and Sara to a dinner out.
Today was quite an emotional day. I'm not exactly sure why, but knowing that my mom was leaving this evening and being moved in and realizing just how much I don't know about where I'm at got to me. We started the day off by grocery shopping, and finding out that it was raining after we left the house. Then more exploring, we went to lunch at a place similar to Panera (I was slightly disappointed because it was nothing close to the deliciousness of Panera) and then headed off to explore some more.
After getting lost and stressed out we ended up back in Uptown and at Sfuzzi, a little pizza place/bar. The inside was awesome - dark wood, dim lighting, very cool old fashioned style red chandeliers and a ton of different types of seating. I ordered a Boulevard Wheat since I was starting to get freaked out about being away from home and then so did my mom and we decided to split some bruschetta and artichoke dip. We ended up hanging out at Sfuzzi for a little over two hours, making friends with the bartender, until I had to take my mom to the airport.
Taking my mom to the airport was pretty emotional, I cried at least a little bit every time I left home to go back to college, so you can imagine everything going through my head at this point. My mom and I are very close, sometimes I forget that she's my mom and feel like I'm with my best friend. We have already talked another three times tonight and she even FaceTimed me so that I could see my doggy (his name is Tucker and I constantly refer to him as Tucker Man. I'm not really sure where that nickname came from but I love the crap out of him).
So much has happened in the last few days that I plan on sleeping in a little tomorrow and then probably so some more exploring!
I love how we have the EXACT same day, but tell it in a different way! Love the blog!
ReplyDeleteYou should go to Sfuzzi on the weekend nights! It's an awesome place to go out to
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