Weekend wonderland

Since we appear to be winding down our stay in Dallas, I've become increasingly sentimental about certain favorite spots/activities about town. One of those places is the Bishop Arts District, where I can't help but wonder how much homier I might've found this city overall if I'd been living there this whole time. The neighborhood has the right kind of historic/funky/artsy/mellow vibe that appeals to a hippie community planner type like myself. So much so, in fact, that this weekend we crossed the river three times to take it in. I couldn't get enough.

Friday night: Bolsa. I'm a huge fan of this new wine bar/restaurant. All of Bolsa's produce is local and organic, and you can taste the difference in every bite. I nearly wept with joy over their spinach salad... seriously. And the duck? Oh my word. Another note about Bolsa: every bartender, hostess, and waiter is just incredibly friendly, well-informed, and excited about their menu... not commonplace anymore, that kind of attitude. See you again soon, Bolsa...

Saturday: We headed back over to Bishop Arts for the Make Urban Street Bazaar. There were so many fantastic booths out there, and it was the first day in Dallas that was scarf-appropriate (hello fall and cider!). I scooped up some adorable hipster baby gear for my surrogate nephews and had the best time people-watching and playing in all the fun shops. Scenes from the afternoon:

"Tweet tweet, bitches!" from Cut Out and Collect 

The Soda Gallery boasts hard-to-find regional sodas (hello NC Cheerwine!) and letterpress from Inky Lips and Missing Q all under one roof

Creepy, fascinating baby hands art piece at Artisan's Collective (didn't catch the artist)

I loved these "Dysfunctional Bottles" by Bret Hahn, also at Artisan's Collective

Awesome t-shirt from Epiphany, which sells a slew of fairly awesome screenprinted tees. And yes, of course I bought one for T. As weird as we are about the words "husband" and "wife," I must admit that "trophy husband" has a nice ring to it. My favorite, though, comes courtesy of Ana Marie Cox's weekend tweets: "opposite marriage partner."

After stocking up on more Italian Tangelo Voluspa candles at Fete-ish (I love these candles!), my opposite marriage partner and I had to race back home to meet the cable guy, who's been hanging at our pad every weekend trying to figure out why our DVR keeps crapping out as us. But then hunger struck... and why not go back to Bishop Arts for the third time in 24 hours, we wondered?

Urban Street Bazaar still going strong!

Although Hattie's has been calling my name for a return visit in a big way, we decided to eat at Tillman's Roadhouse, where I nearly died over the ridiculousness that was my corn-stuffed poblano pepper with coffee/goat cheese polenta. (And almost died in another way at the extremely annoying double date taking place beside us.) But on a brighter note, I am obsessed with Tillman's decor:

Antlers, tree stump tables, and crystal chandeliers? Love it!

Just another weekend in the Big D...