Winter's US Tour // Part 1 ~ Dallas

Since Winter arrived early, her grandparents missed out on the birth and then the holidays arrived. Since both of our parents live in southern climates (Texas & Florida), and I'm still on maternity leave, Mr P and I figured it would be a nice change of pace to get out of the city and just go visit our parents separately to introduce them to their granddaughter.  Our first stop was Dallas (or specifically - Irving).  At first we thought we'd do a straight trip Dallas-Florida-NYC. But considering this was our first major trip with Winter (and it was cheaper to go back to NYC) we broke the "tour" up into separate mini-trips. So it was a Texas-NYC one weekend, have 2 days to recharge/repack at home and then back out to Florida for the following weekend.  It seems a bit much but it really worked out perfectly. Mr P could attend to his work agenda in person for the days we were back in NYC and Winter and I could rest up and get ready for the next adventure.  

We hit a bevy of "firsts" on this trip - the major one being flying with a newborn. I was a bit nervous to be that girl with the baby on the plane but Winter barely uttered a peep and was showered with praises from neighboring seatmates and flight attendants afterwards.  I'll do a post about flying with baby later!

We had a great time in Texas. Grandma (well, I've renamed her Glam-ma - because she's too fabulous) was smitten with Winter. Auntie S also had the baby whisperer touch - she and Winter became bffs super quick. Since Mr. P's brother and sister were also in from out of town, Glam-ma did a big family breakfast the first morning in. It was a nice reunion.

We pretty much stayed home-bound while home since various other family and friends came to see Winter. But we did dip out to a store or to the mall to get some fresh air and sun.

Whenever we come down to Dallas, I always look for us to do one "touristy" thing. Mostly because the city has changed so much since Mr. P left yeeaaarrs ago. Plus things we visit on these trips weren't around when he was living there so it's new to all of us. It's like rediscovering your home town. So on this go 'round, I opted for brunch at Savor and browsing the Bishop Arts District.  First stop: Savor.

This restaurant sits on one end of Klyde Warren park. The weather was chilly and crisp but sunny so families gathered to picnic, play football (go figure), and relax on the lawn. Savor takes advantage of this picturesque setting - the restaurant's walls are basically all glass so it's almost like your dining outside (there is outdoor dining as well). The menu takes to the restuarant's namesake - the entire menu sounds delicious so it was tough to choose what to order.  We chose the beignets to start.

We also had deviled eggs which are great (but no photo) to start. For our main dishes, I had the Grilled Hobbs Portuguese Sausage with spicy tomato peperonata, cheddar grits, and a fried egg on top. Mr P had the Chicken & Waffles made with nutella and whipped butter.  The chicken was good but surprisingly we weren't a fan of the waffle made with nutella. If you're a huge nutella fan, this might be your thing but it wasn't ours. Still a good dish though (a popular one on their menu).

Winter wanted in on some brunch action too.  

We were pretty full so we skipped dessert (although ordering the beignets again wouldn't have been a bad idea!).  We walked around Klyde Warren park afterwards - it's a great family park with free bookstands, an ice skating rink, a playground, food trucks!, and a massive lawn to spread out and enjoy. I especially loved these trees that were knit-tagged. I like to think of it as textured art graffitti. 

 

After the lap around the park, we hopped in the car and took about a 10 min drive to the Bishop Arts District. It's a cute little area spanning a few blocks with restaurants, boutiques, and galleries. Via the GPS we thought we were driving into the wrong place because you pass very typical boring suburban sprawl (fast food, gas stations, then old residential area) but you quickly know you're in the right place when you start to see cars parked everywhere on the side of the streets. 

Bishop Street Market sells gift and home items. I saw these great leather tote and messenger bags in there for $80 but I didn't need ANOTHER bag!  The decor and styling of the succulents and other plants and florals were super cool at floral boutique, DIRT. 

Aptly named Neighborhood, this home design store had really cool accent pieces for the home. It also served as a resting spot for the other two in my party.

 Quick photo op checking out the scene.

  We did a quick walkabout and then stopped into Emporium pies because every blog I read who did a little travel recap to dallas swore up and down about Emporium pies. And I do have to say, it lives up to the hype. The pies are GOOD. I had the Lord of the Pies (deep dish apple) and Mr P had the Drunken Nut (bourbon pecan). I almost wished we had bought an entire pie it was that good. However, I wouldn't get to fawn over the cute to-go packaging for single slices. How cute!  

Well after our sugar rush subsided, we spent the rest of the day visiting with family and then took off  on a road trip (another first for Winter!) to Houston to visit my aunt. From there we hopped on a flight from Houston back to JFK. All in all a great stress-free trip. Stay tuned for part 2!