Hudson House for Date Night

Osman and I had a chance to go for a date night on Thursday and had dinner at the Hudson House in Highland Park. We've had this place on our list for a while now and finally made plans to go and I'm so glad we did because we had such a good time! We got there right around 7:00 and the small restaurant was full which is always a good sign. The hostess informed us that it would be an hour wait but we luckily found two seats at their full service bar. We were greeted quickly and decided to get drinks since it was in fact date night for us ☺️. I ordered the John Daly's Driver which was basically a spiked Arnold Palmer with Ketel One Orange Vodka. The drink was strong, and the orange flavor was very subtle and complimented the drink with just a hint of orange. Osman ordered the Fresh Grapefruit Paloma and said it was very strong! I'm not a fan of grapefruit so I didn't give it a try, but he finished it all so it must've been tasty. 

New Orleans

Last month, I was able to travel to New Orleans for the day on a last minute trip with my good friend, Jessica! We flew in before noon and had the chance to just spend the day exploring the French Quarter and eating traditional cajun dishes and some new dessert also! The first thing we did when we got to the French Quarter was walk around to see some of the Mardi Gras decorations. Jessica and I have both traveled here before, but never during the Mardi Gras time. New Orleans during Mardi Gras is probably on a ton of people's bucket list, but for me I prefer New Orleans on a mild, sunny day--which was exactly what we got when we went.

Nori Handroll Bar

I had the chance to attend the soft opening of Nori Handroll Bar, a trendy and new sushi restaurant located in Deep Ellum. I've passed by their closed doors a few times and read the "coming soon" sign and anxiously waited for the opening. Fortunately, my awesome and handsome boyfriend Osman, followed them on instagram and saw that the soft opening was this weekend and we knew we had to go for date night and check this place out.

Upon arriving and entering through the doors, you notice there is a small host stand on the right, a small bar on the left and a millennial must- a neon sign up top. The host said the wait for a spot for two at the bar would be about 30-45 minutes so Osman went ahead and grabbed a beer from the bar and some complimentary edamame to munch on while we waited for our seat. We ended up only waiting about 10 minutes and walked through to the bar. As we were being seated we were welcomed by all the staff as our host shouted our arrival. This was a little strange but also very fun and memorable. Usually when I'm waiting to be seated or while i'm waiting on my food, I like to take in the decor and what the restaurant has to offer in addition to the food to create the entire dining experience. Nori is a minimalist dream. With subtle accents and sleek design, you really can't be distracted from the main feature which was awesome food made in front of you. They had a really great playlist that made the atmosphere very chill and relaxed. You know how to go to a really fancy steakhouse where you know you have to dress a certain way and if you drop your silverware you basically can never show your face again? Well Nori is the complete opposite.

The Pacific Northwest and my Jordan Year

This post is supposed to be somewhat of an overview of the trip because I wanted to blog about some of the specific places I visited in detail in their own posts. My friends and I made the expensive leap from birthday dinners to birthday trips this year and for my birthday a few of my closest friends traveled with me to Seattle and Portland for a week. I originally thought it was just going to be a group of five but when my three friends Jessica, Ronald and Guillermo picked Osman and I up from the airport I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Tony there as well!
We spent 3 days in Seattle exploring the market, the art museum, Space Needle, Chihuly Glass Garden and hiking Mt. Rainier before making the short(ish) drive to Portland. Unfortunately our time in Portland was not as fun as expected because we learned that there was a huge protest happening downtown the day we arrived and were advised by multiple people to avoid the area. I believe the protests carried on until Sunday so we didn't have much of a chance to explore the city until Monday when we had to head back to Seattle within the same day. We spent the last day and a half of our trip in Seattle by spending more time at the public market and getting drunk at the Airbnb before heading back early Wednesday morning. Some of my favorite memories from the trip include the amazing Airbnb we stayed at in Gig Harbor for the first half of our trip, cooking dinner together at the house instead of going out to eat, getting drunk with my friends (I hardly ever drink), laughing with my friends and of course spending an entire week with my bb. I really fell in love with Seattle and everything it had to offer.

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

Last week I had the chance to visit the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth to check out a brand new exhibit featuring work from Japanese artist Takashi Murakami. The exhibit is called The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg and it will be on display until mid September. I was very excited to visit and check out this exhibit because this was an artist that I was familiar with. When I visited The Broad in Los Angeles, not only was his artwork featured in the entrance gallery, but it was a HUGE piece. It was displayed continuously on three walls! So when I realized a museum so close to me was featuring his work in its very own exhibition, I had to go as soon as I had the chance.

Takashi Murakami's work is easily recognized from his collaborations with Kanye West. If you're a fan of Kanye West, you've seen his art work before. His most recent collaboration with Kanye West is through his artwork for the album cover of "Kids See Ghosts" a collaboration album from West and Kid Cudi. What interested me most about Takashi Murakami is his colorful artwork. As you visit the museum and read more about each individual piece you get to know more about him and read about the history behind some of his lesser known pieces. One of my favorite things about the exhibit was by far the entrance. As you're walking up the stairs to enter the main gallery, you are engulfed in a kaleidoscope of color that almost makes you feel like you're being eaten by an octopus. I've been to a few different art exhibitions and this exhibit had me in awe throughout the entire time.