4 Years & Dallas

 

I cannot believe it has been 4 years since Jaden and I got married. It truly has been so much fun and he is the best partner in crime to goof off and figure out life with. I love him so much and am grateful every single day that he waited around to go on a date with his "missionary girl" that Morgann and Elijah kept telling him about. One of the most frustrating things about Jaden is he is near to impossible to surprise. I could list story after story about how I tried and failed to surprise him. Somehow he always foils it by walking in when I'm preparing, finding a receipt, seeing me decorating his car. The list goes on and on. I carefully prepared some signs to go on the door when he was at school and then taped these up when he was asleep before I signed onto work. He did wake up just as I was putting the last letter up but it was okay I almost got there. For a closer look it has the lyrics to Nat King Cole's L.O.V.E. song:

L is for the way you look at me

O is for the only one I see

V is very, very extraordinary

E is even more than anyone that you adore can

I really do love my Jaderboy! 

To celebrate after school and work we got reservations to a Thai fusion place we've heard amazing things about and OH. MY. GOODNESS it did not disappoint. Far and wide the best place we've eaten at in Pittsburgh, no question. Each course just got better and better. I am still thinking about the 17 ingredient starter salad. We got a curry chicken appetizer dip with a naan type bread. Then the droolworthy 17 ingredient salad that had so many textures and flavor exploding in each bite, so so good. Then for entrees I got the pan roasted wild halibut and Jaden got the khao soi short rib. I wish I could communicate how good everything was. Suffice it to say that we had no room left for dessert and are still daydreaming about how good everything was and couldn't be happier that they were willing to box up the leftovers so we could enjoy it all over again the next day.  

Then for the other exciting part of the week, we hopped on a plain and flew down to Dallas (it was so nice just staying there and not having to run to catch a connecting flight). Jaden's buddy from high school Conner came and picked us up and drove us about 25 minutes outside the city to where he and his wife Audrey and their cutie baby girl Maggie are living. They were kind enough to let us stay with them while we packed in apartment tours into the two days we were there. 

And y'all (I'm whipping back out the y'all, I was a y'all user in my time in TN and feel like I can be again now that we're going to be Texans), let me tell you we packed in not one, not two or even three but THIRTEEN apartment tours while we were there! We feel like we got a really good lay of the land and know exactly what we do and don't want. There are three apartments that rank the highest that we want to try for. They are all managed by a company called Gables and we both were very impressed by the quality of spaces, the customer service and overall vibe of the Gables communities. So here are some pictures of our top 3 picks:

3. Gables Villa Rosa

I fell hard for this one, it was the first apartment we saw that felt bougie and it was the point in time where I decided I was ready to live in a nice updated place. Don't get me wrong we have scored some amazing apartments during our marriage. But I am ready for updated appliances, a washer and dryer in unit and maybe even an ice maker. Gables Villa Rosa has all of that and just feels like a fun elevated space. They even have a resident massage therapist that I feel like my mom would love to go to when she comes to visit.

2. Gables State Thomas Ravello

This one shocked both of us. It felt like a cozy cottage yet was an apartment. It is more sectioned off rather than open concept but has a nice flow and I could see us being able to make it really cute and cozy with room for a home office. That is a key part since I work remote, we don't necessarily need two bedrooms (also the price point from one to two bedrooms is outrageous) but we do need a space that can convert into an office whether it be part of the living room, a dining nook, etc. This apartment has that space right off of the kitchen so it's definitely a contender.

1. Gables McKinney Ave

Location is EVERYTHING with this space. First of all it is located right on McKinney Ave. which we quickly learned from talking to Jaden's cousins who live in Dallas, Conner and Audrey, and two of my high school friends who all live there (what is it with us always finding friends and family no matter where we go? we feel so blessed) that McKinney Ave. has an awesome food scene, is close to Katy trail and is one of the most recommended places to live. Second this apartment building is literally built on top of a Whole Foods so grocery shopping would literally be an elevator ride. Isn't that amazing!? We were blown away by the aesthetic of this apartment. The brick accent wall is seriously the stuff of dreams. As are the appliances, wall  of windows in the bedroom and the pool and courtyard. This is for sure our top pick. 

Honorable Mentions

Although the majority of our hours were spent driving to and participating in apartment tours we did get some great food recs from friends and family and ate some awesome food while we were there:

1. Bread Winners: You know Jaden is sold on a place when he finds a good breakfast joint and Bread Winners was honestly so cute and so yummy. I ordered biscuits and gravy and Jaden got french toast. It was love at first taste. Jaden is sold on living in Dallas and so am I. It is such a fun city!

2. The Biscuit Bar: a lunch spot our second day right before we went on a tear and toured two of our top two apartments in a row. I knew it was going to be a good afternoon after I walked in and saw a cute gingham wall with a neon sign saying "I love gluten." The Biscuit Bar is a cute family owned restaurant known for their biscuits and tater tots. Jaden dove right in and ordered for a biscuit sandwich and loaded tots while I opted for a classic caeser salad that had yummy biscuit croutons in it. And the sweet potato tots ohhhhkay so yummy!!! 

3. Son of a Butcher: Can't go to Texas without having some form of barbecue so our last night after touring all day Conner and Audrey met us in a foodie part of town called Lower Greenville at a restaurant called Son of a Butcher. It's a sliders place 

As mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting as it was to do all of those tours our Dallas trip was honestly so much fun. We both commented that we don't even really want to go back to Pittsburgh we are just ready to start this new chapter and explore all that Dallas has to offer us. We are so grateful for this opportunity Jade has to work at EY and can't wait for them to give him a start date so we know when to apply and move down here. Also the blessing of having built in friends waiting down here is not lost on us. We feel so blessed to have such an incredible support network that literally comes out of the woodwork wherever we go, in Pittsburgh, Ohio, Chicago, now Dallas we have never felt alone or forgotten on our journey and I know that not everyone can say that. It really was so so fun to hang out with Conner and Audrey and play with their sweet Maggie girl. They can't wait for us to move here and we really can't either. But we've got a few more months until then so for now it's back to the Burgh!

Peaches

• Celebrating our fourth anniversary
• Utilizing Jaden's spring break and going to Dallas
• Hanging out with Conner and Audrey
• Exploring a new city
• Seeing some incredible apartments
• Imagining our future in a new place
• Eating yummy food
• Playing with Maggie

• Seeing the Texas flag waving everywhere

• Feeling like I'm back in my comfort zone with Southern hospitality and accents
• Seeing hundreds of people and dogs walking around everywhere, Dallas is definitely a more active and busy city than Pittsburgh
• Spending time with Jaden
• One of my favorite parts of the whole trip is at one of the apartment tours when we were checking in and giving them our IDs the lady looked at ours and said "Ok McKenzie & Alden?" I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from busting up and falling off my chair laughing. The look on Jaden's face was priceless. He has such a problem with people either forgetting his name or calling him something so off base. In our four years of marriage I've heard him called and autocorrected to "Braden, Jason, and Jordan" multiple times but Alden takes the cake for sure!!! I kept thinking about it on our tour and smiling to myself trying not to laugh out loud. When we finally made it back to the car he was like "how on earth did she get Alden from Jaden?!" and I lost it. That's one we will laugh about for years and years.
• Receiving the funniest throwback picture from Megan from when we were in fourth grade. Sharpay and Gabriella Halloween costumes. An absolute classic!

• Noticing a Mr. Rogers dinosaur outside of Cheesecake Factory after we got back in town. We did our same routine of ordering a Chinese Chicken Salad and cheesecake to go after getting into town late

• Being back with our CMU Crew and remembering why we love Pittsburgh. I mean look at this face!

Pits

• Feeling sad about heading back to Pittsburgh

• Feeling overwhelmed about choosing an apartment but more importantly the continual waiting game of Jaden's start date. More of his buddies are getting their start dates and making plans to move but we're still just waiting