Growing Up Ginger

April 16, 2014

Florida

Since February my life has been, as my mother would say, “cray cray”. I went on a business trip of sorts, turned another year older (#23), and made one very big, life-altering decision: I’M MOVING!!! (Again.) To New York City. And I have no plans or details besides my new job and a one-way plane ticket, so please don’t ask me questions. As hard as it’s going to be to say goodbye to the warmer weather, fried food, and my basically brand new cowboy boots, I am SO excited to be in Manhattan. I never thought I’d say this but I’m genuinely looking forward to public transportation. So now, two months since my last post, amidst the craigslist bartering, A LOT of packing, and emotional turmoil, I am finding the time to write. Better late than never, right? Onto Florida…

Even though I had one and a half days of meetings, which I would hardly call “work”, my trip to Naples was amazing. Lots of pool time, a walk on the beach, a sunset or two (technically four), and a few birthday celebrations with good food, good drinks, and great company. It was so nice to spend time with my mom, even if it was only for a few days. She drove down to join me on Monday after running her SECOND half marathon on Sunday with her two sisters (GO MOM!), and golfed the rest of the week. She is so motivated and inspirational! I only hope that one day I can drag myself away from Netflix and be 1/8 as active as she is. I got a bonus visit from my dad, who also happened to be in Naples on (different) business. He showed up on Thursday with an amazing wine and cheese spread, then took us out to a seafood restaurant where I was serenaded by an Italian piano man with “Happy Birthday Pauleen”. What more could a girl ask for? After four relaxing and indulgent days it was a bittersweet goodbye, and going back to work after my first real vacation was no cakewalk. Luckily for me I’ll be back in about a week, and this time for good with my move back east on the horizon. Happy, exciting times ahead! Enjoy some sunny snaps from my trip below.

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February 19, 2014

February

Despite it being my birthday month, I’ve never really had a fondness for February. It’s short, cold, and I don’t trust Punxsutawney Phil. That being said, this year February hasn’t been too unbearable. Between uncovering the joy that is buffalo chicken tater tot casserole, visits from a college friend and my boyfriend, and a work trip to Naples, FL next week (more to follow on this), it’s been a pretty good month.

February 2nd marked Molly’s and my first post-grad SuperBowl. In college we focused primarily on the food, with the game on in the background just in case we ran out of chips and needed something to keep us occupied. Junior year we had a pretty impressive spread of dips (guac, sour cream and onion, buffalo chicken… the usual suspects) paired appropriately with Cool Ranch Doritos and a case of natty light. Senior year we added a rotisserie chicken and cheesecake sampler in the mix (one of our better food decisions of spring semester, second only to the Wawa tasting we held on our porch in April). This year, since we were missing 6 of the 8 mouths that helped eat everything, we made the executive decision to limit ourselves to one dip (cue buffalo chicken tater tot casserole found here) andddd two packages of Oreos. The buff chick was AMAZING. I didn’t fully realize my love for tater tots until they were re-introduced in this recipe but boy am I grateful they’re back in my life. By some grace of the food Gods, Molly and I managed enough self control to save 1/4 for the week (#blessed). I wish I could say the same for the Oreos. I have never in my life seen packaged cookies disappear so quickly. I am both horrified and proud (is there a word for that?) BUT I felt sick until Tuesday, so let this be a lesson to you all: RATION THE OREOS.

Over the second weekend of the month and what will hopefully be the last ice threat this winter, our friend Michelle made the 4 hour trek from Tulsa to Dallas. This was her second visit after a failed attempt in early December when the real ice storm hit and she got stuck at an Oklahoma casino for two days… casual. Since graduation, I had only seen Michelle once at homecoming and Molly hadn’t seen her at all, so it was a happy reunion that gave us a good excuse to eat the leftover casserole (YAY), bake a cake, and drink good beer at Deep Ellum Brewery (local Texas beer and live music… we like it here). Michelle headed home after brunch at Dream Cafe (I could eat nothing but their ricotta pancakes for the rest of my life) and, like most other weekends, Molly and I got lost in a Netflix binge for the rest of the day.

Last weekend, after two months of separation (by distance not choice, but torturous all the same), Greg came down for the holidays (love and presidents, duh). Apparently the road to Dallas is not easily traveled from December to February. His flight on Friday was delayed for three hours and didn’t land until 2:15 AM CST (a nightmare for both of us). Despite his late (or early, depending on how you spin it) arrival, it was a gorgeous weekend. In honor of the 70 degree weather (a shock for Greg coming from the Polar Vortex), we joined the rest of Uptown at the Ice House and the Rustic, two outdoor bars fully stocked with picnic tables, Coronitas, and dogs. I don’t think it gets better than that… but if it does, please tell me how. We spent our Monday off together ordering copious amounts of BBQ at Lockhart’s Smokehouse in the Bishop Arts District (I never knew there was such a thing as too much mac and cheese until going there… we were NOT prepared for the size of our order) and touring the Dallas Zoo with every public school student under the age of 8 in North Texas (Happy President’s Day to us!). His trip ended with a surprise cancelation from United (yay travel!) but someone at American was looking out for him and he got out of DFW on-time and relatively unscathed. Travel hiccups aside, it was perfect.

Next week, I’m looking forward to spending some time in Naples, FL with Mary and Jim where I will be celebrating my 6 month anniversary of work, my 23rd birthday, and the end of February. Maybe I’ll get a tan…

Until next time! xx

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January 27, 2014

Howdy! (and an update)

After graduating from college last May, one of my goals as an “adult” was to tie up any loose ends I might have. At the time I was calling it “trimming the fat”. Mostly that meant deleting Mainline taxi drivers, my landlord, and pretty much everyone I met at a party freshman year from my contacts list on my phone. One of the more important loose ends that I have neglected for no reason other than that I forgot about it is Growing Up Ginger. It’s been almost a year since that fateful day in May, and almost two since I’ve been active on this blog. Coming back has brought on great nostalgia (I miss college and Europe SO MUCH) and the draw for me to continue posting on this site.

I (not-so-recently) uprooted myself from the northeast and moved down south to Dallas, Texas. I got mixed reviews on this. Most of my parents friends were ecstatic because I was 1) employed and 2) going somewhere new and exciting. Most of MY friends were in denial because I was 1) employed and 2) basically moving to Mexico. I was over the moon to move out (sorry mom) and start whatever was waiting for me in the post-grad world. I’ve been living here for five months now (!!!) and it has been quite a whirlwind. I started my first real job in August, living alone in a city I knew nothing about and knew maybe two people in. Coming here alone was so much harder than I ever imagined, but working almost 9 hours a day 5 days a week was definitely a distraction from that reality. Lucky for me, I have the greatest family, friends, and boyfriend who came to visit me often and kept me occupied on weekends in the fall. In another stroke of rare luck, one of my girlfriends from college got a job offer in Dallas and we moved in together right before Christmas. Literally, nothing good ever happens to me, but I won the lottery with that one. Having a friend here, especially one who knows me as well as she does (this is our fourth year in a row living together!!! I still can’t believe it), has already made it an easier transition. Between Molly, a pair of cowboy boots, and my unrequited love affair with chicken-fried-steak, Dallas feels a little more like home.

Since moving here I have already had so many experiences that have taught me a lot about myself and about this new place I decided to start my life. Although I may not stay here forever, I know that Dallas will be an adventure I will always remember. That being said, I am going to try my hardest to use this as a space to keep and share some of these memories (a la that time I went to Italy… I am definitely going to go through all of my Europe pictures at some point today). Here’s a peek at what’s been going on for the past couple of months with more to come!!