TEXAS: The Land of the Free and The Home of The Deep Fried Everything

Visiting my pals in Dallas was super fun, just as I knew it would be. Usually when I go to Texas, it’s for something special like a birthday celebration, so it was nice to just have a weekend where we could do anything – or absolutely nothing!

I stayed with Gerrick and Daniel in their new house, which was fabulous! Equally fabulous: their new puppy, Ranger, who has more energy than ten toddlers combined and enjoys things like ripping apart stuffed animals and licking my face.

Mere moments after my plane arrived, Gerrick picked me up at the airport with a sweet tea in tow. I thought she was just being sweet until she announced “We’re going to get you fitted for your bridesmaid dress!” Um. That sweet tea was a BRIBE. And bridesmaid dress fittings aren’t all fun and games and elegance and fanciness - an old lady who smelled of cheese took me into the dressing room and basically felt me up in full view of everyone else in the room. UGH.

We spent my first full day in Dallas at the Texas State Fair and basically killed it on the food. Yall, I could never live in Texas. I cannot keep up with them. You can read last year’s post about the fair for an intro/primer if you need it, otherwise let’s just say I enjoyed myself a corndog, a sausage, and several other goodies before I called it quits.

We are five years old. You should feel sorry for poor Daniel, being forced to document our every move.

I promised you the world’s fattest pig and here it is! 1196 pounds. I was equal parts fascinated and horrified.

That night we met up with our pals Lindsey and Eric for dinner at a fabulous pizza place! I was still sort of in a food coma from the fair but managed to rally in time for burrata. No the boys did not plan their matching ensembles!

Last week was Sukkot, and Gerrick’s family is Modern Orthodox, so naturally we had to have Shabbat lunch in the sukkah. It was a breezy 105 degrees outside and Bubbe made us a 15-course heavy Jewish meal, which took us OUT for the rest of the afternoon. I snuck a pic of the sukkah when Bub wasn’t looking!

That night we had a FABULOUS late night meal at a tapas place called Victor Tango’s, which I absolutely loved. Here is our ménage a troi waiting for our table (at the bar, naturally):

We KILLED IT on the tapas. Ahi tuna nachos, truffled mushroom flatbread, lamb lollipops, grilled octopus, mussels, crab mac and cheese… it was phenomenal. I HIGHLY recommend.

After that we went to a bar in the area where I got to see Joy and Justin, who were visiting from Austin! I love my friends.

After all that eating out in restaurants, we decided to take it easy on Sunday morning. YEAH RIGHT. We wanted to make brunch ourselves, so everyone took an item – Gerrick made a frittata, I made my famous chocolate chip bread pudding, and Daniel made HOMEMADE FUCKING CHEDDAR JALAPENO BISCUITS. Oh hell no. I guess it pays to marry a chef.

Here we are with special brunch guest Robley, Gerrick’s best friend from childhood! (And pardon my HUGE boobs. Don’t know what’s going on in this picture but maybe everything IS bigger in Texas?) :)

A great weekend with my bests! God bless Texas, yall!