If you've been keeping up with my Instagram stories, you probably saw all of the adventures of the birthday weekend that occurred about 2 weeks ago. I only recently moved to Dallas when I got a text from Chey that she wanted to come visit me in Dallas for her birthday. So of course I said yes, but I also panicked a little that I had to plan a fun-filled weekend in a place I was brand new to. We called our Houston friends and rounded some new Dallas friend and planned a weekend to celebrate our girls big 2-3!
Good news was I had saved plenty of places on Instagram, love to explore and love birthdays even more. I wanted to give y'all a sneak peek on what we did over the weekend and what our itinerary was so if you have friends visiting, need an idea for a place to go, or are visiting Dallas you can have a semi-idea of a schedule to stick to!
I always roughly draft out an itinerary or places I definitely want to go for so we never have to worry about finding a place to eat or go. It makes the weekend . go soo much smoother! (I plan on making a blog post on how to make a perfect travel itinerary and how I planned all of this too, so stay tuned for that!)
THURSDAY:
Prep: Dollar Store, Walmart, Tom Thumb
So to prepare for a weekend (and birthday celebrations) I went to the Dollar Store-seriously this is the best place to find party decor for super cheap..especially considering most of it you throw away. I grabbed utensils, plates, balloons, table cloths and then went to Walmart to grab the infamous 2-3 balloons.
I then went to the grocery store to grab app style snacks and some food, mixers and wine for the weekend.
I also wanted to point out that I bought the 2-3 balloons at Walmart and took them to Tom Thumb and they charged me the same amount as if I just bought them there.. UGH. So be mindful of that and the fact it will probably be cheaper to just get them blown up where you buy them.
But I did all of this to surprise her with a decorated apartment when she walked in. So I went home and put it all together so she would be able to have some fun decor when she went into my apartment. :) Safe to say she loved it and was very surprised!
Dinner @ The Rustic
Thursday night Cheyenne flew in and I grabbed her from the airport around 6 o'clock. I wanted to start the weekend with a bang so we went to the Rustic. I couldn't think of a better place to give her some Texas vibes, big cocktails and pretty good food too. The environment here is always so fun and great for big groups or people visiting! (Pardon . the picture of the outdoor area with everyone in jackets..I didn't have a recent picture of the outside)
We decided since we were going to be going all weekend long we would go home and watch a movie and relax Thursday night since everyone was coming Friday.
FRIDAY:
Breakfast @ Drip Coffee
Friday I worked from home and Chey had some homework to do so we started the day by going to a coffee shop. (Chey is a coffee fanatic) It is super cute and nice to wake up and get out of the house for a bit. Since I had gotten bagels and muffins at the grocery store we just ate at home later after we had woken up a bit more.
Cake: Nothing Bundt Cake
Sweet Alec wanted to pitch in on her birthday fun and ordered Cheyenne a bundt cake.(okay..if you haven't tried one WHAT are you doing) However, I didn't clarify what day and ended up having to take Cheyenne with me to pick up her own bday cake. But it was still fun and a nice homework / work break.
Lunch: Sandwiches at home
Since we were hanging at the apartment all day we snacked and had some sandwiches to keep it simple.
Dinner/Happy Hour @ Sixty Vines
We made reservations at Sixty Vines for Happy Hour Friday night because I have passed this place a million times and it looked so cute I had to take he. We got the peach bruschetta and garden flat bread for apps (both SO yum) and wine of course. The crescent is such a cute area to show visitors and super close to Clover Club rooftop which is where I had planned after-dinner cocktails.
Drinks @ Clover Club Rooftop
Okay for real this place is one of my faves. We kept out cars parked at the crescent and walked over to Clover Club to take advantage of their $5 cocktails on the rooftop. By this time our Houston peeps were arriving and met us out. The views were SO pretty and we snapped some pretty cute pics. Definitely recommend going during sunset for some pictures and cool views for people visiting!
Bar: 77 Degrees
After the rooftop we went home to pregame some more before going to 77 Degrees. If you haven't heard of 77 degrees it's the new rooftop bar on Henderson. It is HUGE but let me tell you it is also HOT and CROWDED. So be mindful of this before you decide to go. But either way it was a poppin place to be on Friday night.
SATURDAY
Brunch @ HG Suply Co
I think lower greenville is absolutely adorable and knew I had to take everyone there. The fun street full of restaurants and bars made for a perfect brunch spot. HG Suply Co is a farm to table type of restaurant and has something for everyone. Not to mention $4 mimosas (Cha-ching!) Alec did get an Irish Iced Coffee which he said was amazing..so if you want a boozy coffee drink, definitely try it.
Coffee @ La La Land Kind Cafe
Since I was with a bunch of coffee drinkers I also has to take them to LaLa Land which is hands down the cutest coffee shop I've ever been to. It is bright yellow everything and looks like a mini house. It is also in Greenville so walkable from HG. Everyone loved it and gave them a little caffeine boost after a night out.
Day Drinks & Football Watching in Deep Ellum
So this is when the day took a turn. I had hopes to go to bars in Deep Ellum to watch football, day drink and then take pictures by some of their fun murals. BUT it was so hot. Like ridiculously hot that made it miserable to be drinking. We tried going to Stirr but even enclosed upstairs it was so hot, not to mention there was a margarita crawl happening so everywhere was pretty packed. We ended up going to another bar in Victory Park to watch the games but I was pretty bummed Deep Ellum didn't work out.
Day Drinking & Watching Football attempt #2: Hero
Shoutout to Alec for finding an INDOOR bar in Dallas to watch the games at. This place is so fun. There are a zillion TVs and even a back room dedicated to just one game. They also have these HUGE drinks that are great for sharing with a big group (like us :) ) We finally cooled off and started drinking again.
Nap Time and Regrouping: home
You probably think I'm joking but we were EXHAUSTED. Seriously after walking around in the heat and drinking we needed to chill and regroup before we went back out. So w e went home to watch some football and recuperate for a bit. We snacked on all the apps I had bought and ended up drinking pretty late before we went out.
Bar #1: Happiest Hour
One of my work bffs texted me that her and some of her LSU friends were out at Happiest Hour hanging out, so we decided to join them for a bit. Happiest Hour is in Victory Park and is more of a chill bar but still fun with a group! They had a table and we joined them for a round of drinks.
Bar #2: Kung Fu Saloon
Then we decided we wanted to go somewhere and dance and hangout with music so we ubered to Kung Fu Saloon. (Side note: Dallas is great with everything being so close because Ubers are *uber* cheap:) )Kung Fu ended up being a blast. They had great music and arcade games, a great combo with drinking. This is where we ended our night.
SUNDAY
Breakfast @ Yolk
As you can assume, we woke up not feeling too hot. I had planned on going to St. Annes for a nice brunch but our bodies said otherwise. So we put our name on the list (do this through the Yelp app) and went to Yolk.
Coffee @ Royal Blue Grocery
I had been recommended this place by a coworker and went to check it out since we weren't far away. Highland Park is a really cool area to bring people from out of town. It is super boujee and super fun to see all the expensive stores and big houses. We went to Royal Blue which is literally a mini grocery store with a coffee shop in the back. Super cute!
Tea/Bakery @ Bird Bakery
After we went to grab coffee we realised we were right next to Bird Bakery which we had seen someone post at so we stopped in. SO CUTE. Everything looked amazing too. I had hibiscus tea with lemonade and it was better than Starbucks refreshers but the . same vibe-SO yummy. They have a little cafe in the back too and a neon sign ( I already want to go back)
Since we had a late start to our morning Sunday, we pretty much had to go home and get Chey and everyone packed for their ways home. We were SO exhausted-but I guess that's a good thing. :) I'd like to think I did a good job showing everyone around Dallas. This is what my main thoughts were and my reasoning behind everywhere we went:
I wanted to balance snacks and food at home and also going out, we didn't need to go broke over the weekend
I wanted to hit every "area" around Downtown
(Victory Park, Oak Lawn, Uptown, Greenville)
I wanted to balance places I knew were good but also try some new places
And that is basically how I went about planning my weekend. I'm not going to lie to you, there was WAY more I had planned but when you're in the moment, having fun (or feeling hungover) you have to improvise and I wouldn't have the weekend any other way. I am SO thankful to have friends who want to spend their birthdays visiting ME. Already ready to start planning the next weekend I have peeps come visiting me, so who's ready to come to Dallas? :)
-XO-
brittany rose
