Weeeekend!

Well it is Friday ya'll and I'm sitting in my new chair! woot! It feels like brand new, so comfy! Thanks again to Robert for the new stuff!

I'm going to get a slip cover for it because it really doesn't go with my couch and furniture, but it was too good a buy to pass up!

Today I felt like freshening up the loft with some fresh flowers from the market. I always love having flowers in here. They smell great and look so pretty. Here's what I got today...

Some stargazer lilies with lime green pom poms.

White gerber daisy with some of the same green poms. Obviously they are in my bathroom, hence the sink there. and the mirror.

I know it's kinda dark, but it's 3 hot pink gerber daisies with the green poms. I put these on my dresser in the bedroom area.

It just feels nicer and home-ier with some flowers sometimes.

Tonight I went with mom to the west end to eat at the Spaghetti Warehouse! I love me's some Italian food. We even got to sit in the trolley car they have in the middle of the restaurant. It was just like it was when I was a kiddo! Minus the 20 young girls screaming for crayons in their cheerleader t-shirts. ughhhhhh.

Italy is DELICIOUS! haha. I'm making my chicken show it's pride for my home country of Italy by waving the Italian flag...

trolley anyone?

I have this idea for above my super high cabinets in the kitchen. I want to put up empty bottles of wine there on the ledge thing and have them for show. I love finding random wine bottles that have fun labels on them. I only have a few right now, but hopefully with the help of friends we can make it happen hehe.

and yes I know they are on the kitchen counter right now, but soon I will put them up there. I promise. :)

Anyhoo! Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!!

<3.

New Barstools!

My mom's best friend Robert is sadly moving out of Texas and on down to Florida. I will definitely miss him lots and lots since I've known him forever! His house is chock full of tons of goodies and I went over there yesterday with mom to check out what's for sale. Well I found the most perfect chairs to put on the other side of my kitchen counter! They are brown leather counter-height chairs and they are absolutely amazing!



I got 2 for a super great price! (Thanks Robert!!) I couldn't be more pleased with the additions!



I'm going back to Robert's Friday to pick up something else for the loft! Yay! It's a big beige comfy chair! I plan on finding a cute slipcover to go on it since the beige doesn't really match my loft furniture, but it sits like brand new and hella comfortable! If any of you know where I can find a great slipcover, in a teal color, like the pillows on my current couch, let me know! Look for a new post this weekend!

<3 j.

How to Grill in a Loft.

I love grilled food. It's less greasy and has great flavor. But living in a loft makes it a little difficult to use a real fire grill, since I live on the 6th floor... So I've been using my GEORGE FOREMAN LEAN MEAN GRILLIN' MACHINE! haha. It's super easy and is easy to clean up. Here's what I did.

I started out with some New York strip steaks I got at the awesome new Whole Foods. The steaks are really thick, so I always ask them to cut them in half and you get 2 decent size steaks out of one!

At Central Market they have tons of bulk seasonings you can get for super cheap by the pound. I love their "seasoning powder" for just about anything. It's excellent for steaks. It has salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, sugar, and bell pepper all ground up and mixed together in a perfect blend of awesomeness.

39 cents!? And that bag was pretty full when I got it.

If you don't have a Central Market near you, you can always resort to using something like this.

McCormick's Steakhouse Grinders. They have some of everything in there.

Next it's time to marinate the steak(s). I just sprinkle a lot of the bulk seasoning on each side of the steaks and then pour a little Worcestershire sauce on them and let them sit for at least 30 minutes.


Now it's time for some grillin'!



Be careful about overcooking them. It's easy to do...but mine have always turned out pretty good.

Oh and don't forget to open the windows....


Add a big potato and you have great meal that's delicious!


Well there it is! Easy grilling for the loft. I make a lot of grilled chicken on the GFG and they always turn out perfect. I marinate them in italian dressing, that's it. Tastes great!

and for dessert...

some low fat sherbet! yummmm.

Part Deux: Adventures walking in downtown.

Yesterday I went out in the streets of downtown to get some dinner and took many a photo on the way there and back. Here is what was on the way home.


I love the bay windows outside of Chipotle.


There are tons of old buildings with the original ads painted right on the sides of them. That is neat.


The historic Old Red Courthouse, right next to Reunion Tower. I always see this on the first turn into downtown.


I don't know if this building is abandoned, but there are many around that are. They should remodel them and make them into something useful.


These girls were having such a blast riding in the horse-drawn carriage. They were laughing and having a good time. At night, the carriages light up!


More sunsetting. The stupid taxi got in the way of my picture!


Another courthouse. I think this is the federal one. I had to do jury duty there last year. Soooo boring. And they tried to get me to pay for wifi. heck no!


and if you get in BIGGG trouble, you come here for trial. haha.


The US courthouse has some big balls...


On top of the Magnolia Hotel is this famous downtown icon. "Pegasus - The Flying Red Horse"


such a rebel...


"one picture, ah ah ah!" haha.
Dallas is one of AT&T's headquarters and there are several AT&T buildings clumped together right next to my building. They also have an Einstein's Bagels in the main lobby. yummmm.


Home sweet home! I circled my windows in red on this picture. That's where I live!

and next to the front door of the building...

yuck! They could have picked a better beer at least...

Oh, and there's a trash can on the left literally 5 or 6 feet from this can. Littering and...littering and....littering and...

From there, I definitely enjoyed my burrito and had a nice, quiet night at home. Downtown is lots of fun. I love all the different types of architecture and i like all the neat pictures I get of them.

So for my next blog entry, I thought I'd ask the readers on what they want to hear or see from downtown. Any ideas are welcome! Email or comment away!

Adventures walking in downtown.

Tonight I decided to walk from the loft to the West End to get some Chipotle for dinner. I took a bunch of pictures on the way. So here's my story.


This was inbetween Jackson St. and Commerce in front of the main AT&T plazas. In the background is the Adolphus Hotel.


The front of the Adolphus. (Jessica, remember marching in front of that in the freezing cold winters??) haha.


Behind the AT&T plazas, they have their own skywalk between buildings. neat.


This was on Main and Field looking northwest as the sun was setting.


In the Main Street District of downtown, there are these at every corner on the sidewalks.


I love all the mirrored glass buildings. Even if they blind me while driving towards the highway during the day...

my favorite picture of the day...

X marks the spot.


Vines growing on Renaissance Tower.


The glass pyramid that has the escalators going down to all the shops/restaurants in Renaissance Tower.

Funny story happened right about here...
I was walking past the bus stop at the corner of Elm and Griffin and there were tons of people waiting for buses. There were 3 buses lined up on the side and one guy just hops off one yelling and screaming things at the driver. So he starts flipping off the driver and yells, "You can suck my black (man parts)." Then he just kept walking and yelled that at every person he passed at the bus stop. One lady covered her kids ears up. Oh downtown people.....you never know what you are going to run into here.


Made it!


Dart Rail....chooo choooo. (ok they don't make train noises, but it was funny right?)

Well after that photo, I went into Chipotle, got me a chicken burrito and guacamole, and then headed back home. I took a different route so check out the blog tomorrow for those pictures. More fun with those! So check back this weekend ya'll.

Oh and here's my new baby cousin Landry Madison. Adorables!!!!

<3.