Tag Archives: Texas

Arlington High vs. Cedar Hill

The other weekend I checked out the Arlington vs. Cedar Hill High School football game. It was the perfect day to spend outside and enjoy some high school football. Since I didn’t grow up as a big football fan, I’m just going to leave this as a photo post. Enjoy!
To say high school football is a big deal in the South is putting it lightly.

Cedar Hill…

I’m pretty sure the number of people on the field (below) was about the same amount of people in my entire high school… just sayin’….
Is the band a favorite for anyone else?

Cedar Hill won 49-14.

2nd Annual Christkindl Market, Arlington

The 2nd Annual Christkindl Market is currently going on outside the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. It’s free, entertaining, has great food and quite frankly there isn’t an excuse not to check it out. Did I mention that it’s free?
This is the first Christkindl Market that I’ve been to. My friend, Leah has been to events in Germany around the holidays and said that it’s pretty much the best thing in the world to check out so getting a little slice of it here in Arlington is pretty special.
The market has entertainment (live entertainment on the stage anywhere from carolers to dancers), shops (looking for some merchandise?), food and beverages. Since we had never been, we weren’t sure if the area would be super packed but it turned out to be just right. Once within the market, it turned into your own little world. The tents were evenly spaced, picnic tables were in the middle of the aisles (space was easily available to sit and eat), not too many people, it was just about perfect.

Now for the food and beverages had to be bought using tickets. Tickets could be bought for $1 each (there were no special deals so if you bought 10 tickets, it was $10). Personally, I thought this was good as it didn’t leave you feeling like you spent too much with leftover tickets and you could purchase only as many as you needed (works great if you’re on a budget). Beer was about 6 tickets. Food ranged from 6-9 tickets. Not too bad since this is a special event.

I’m not going to lie, I relied on Leah for suggestions. We tried out the Warsteiner beer (it was great fun for this Canadian trying to figure out how to exactly pronounce Warsteiner). The beer was great! Light and it went perfectly with my bratwurst.
Meal of choice. Jalapeno and cheese bratwurst. I know, I know. The lengths I’ve come with ordering anything with jalapeno but it was DELICIOUS and incredibly filling…

… but this caught my eye when we did our initial walk thru when picking out what we wanted. Crepes. I had to save room. Even if there wasn’t much room left, I had to have one and it was worth every bite! This was a cinnamon and sugar crepe. Leah got the nutella crepe. YUM! One just wasn’t enough. We wanted endless amounts! Humm… where can we pick up a crepe maker? Calorie free, right?

The Christkindl Market was a great event in Arlington. It’s just the right size, perfect amount of people (although I’m sure it’s going to grow) and it goes on for two weeks so there’s plenty of time to check it out at least once (if not twice). It’s free, there’s entertainment (be sure to check out the schedule) and go treat yourself to some German food!

(And to top it all off, pick up your Christmas tree at the Rangers ballpark! It looks just like the places in those Hallmark movies.)

The Omni Dallas Art Collection

Last week, I shared my experience at the Family Travel Conference, however I didn’t really have time to tell you that much about the Omni Hotel in Dallas. The moment has arrived!
The Omni Hotel was built just last year and is conveniently connected to the Convention Center. We were actually lucky enough to be there for the one year anniversary on 11/11/12 (that’s right – it opened on 11/11/11)! In just one year, the Omni has already made a name for themselves as being named one of 100 Best Places to Work in Dallas. When you look at it – why wouldn’t you want to work here?
  • The building is beautiful, inside and out.
  • The staff is absolutely out of this world! They’re kind, helpful and everywhere. Have you ever been somewhere where you need to find a staff member and can’t find a soul? That’s not going to happen at the Omni Dallas.
  • Parking – easy as it comes in the parking garage or you can valet.
  • Rooms – Well here is where I can’t provide much insight as I didn’t stay at the hotel but I did hear a lot about the TV’s in the bathrooms. Did your ears just perk up?! Plus, there’s also only 16 (out of 1,001) rooms (if I remember correctly) with a balcony so if you get one, you are one lucky duck!
During the Family Travel Conference, all of the attendees split up into various groups to tour the hotel. My particular group toured the art. Now at first you may say, is there really a lot of “interesting” art to see? The answer is yes. It’s everywhere and definitely interesting.
I love traveling but I love finding the “hidden treasures” even more. The art collection at the Omni is one of those “hidden treasures” but on top of that they stay true to their local roots. All of the art displayed within the hotel is by 150 local artists. All of it. All 6,500 individual pieces of it. Let me share some with you!
Wade Moore, Manager of the Collections Gift Shop provided us with the tour.
In the first photo on this post, you can see the lights on the outside of the building. These lights are moving all the time! When the Red River Rivalry was in town the lights showed the Texas Longhorn. Again -they’re moving all the time and the building looks gorgeous with the Dallas skyline behind it but the interior designers even took it to the next level. (Below) These the the walls along a hallway, the lights mirror the lights on the outside of the building!
Here are a some of the pieces of art that we were lucky enough to see on our tour. The art portion that we saw was so immensely small compared to the volume that is featured in the hotel.
Art can even be seen hanging from the ceilings.
Now, in the below picture, the water droplet pieces hanging from the ceilings are not actually featured art but items picked for the interior design of the hotel. Our group, thought it was just a piece of art that was included. It fits right in – amazing. Everything flows so well together!
The below artist also has artwork featured Barbara Bush’s personal collection.
I loved these pieces!
The artwork can also be found in local meeting rooms. Imagine holding in meeting in this room?! It’s absolutely stunning!
Now if the art featured inside the building wasn’t enough. Check out the stunning view of Dallas from inside the hotel!
Finally, I need to mention the Collections Gift Shop downstairs. If you enjoy a piece of the art in the hotel, it will not be difficult to find the artist go to with the piece. Some of the items, you can even purchase if you would like. In the Collections Gift Shop, the experience takes one step further. The shop holds items from the local Nasher Sculpture Center and Dallas Museum of Art that can also be purchased as well as other items from local vendors.
Below is the Villy Custom bike. Villy Custom was recently featured on ABC’s Shark Tank and received the largest amount of investment funding. Each bike can be customized however you like and can be shipped if you are visiting from out of town. Such a unique piece that can’t be found in all hotel gift shops! You could get one for yourself, for a friend, for me… just throwing out some ideas!
If you have an opportunity to at least stop into the Omni Dallas, I would definitely recommend it! I saw so many hidden treasures!