Hello Big D

In my opinion, the best part about baseball season is the food. I have been to many ballparks with my sports obsessed husband over the years and while my personal favorite is the ballpark fare at AT&T Park in San Francisco, our very own Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has some tasty treats of its own.

For an appetizer, head to the Fry Depot along the 1st or 3rd base line to pick up some garlic fries (the same recipe as the one in San Francisco.) For dinner, try the nachos at the Tex-Mex Express stand behind home plate. (I promise they are different than the nachos they sell at other stands.) Piled high with meat, cheese, salsa and jalapeños, they won’t disappoint. Wash it all down with fresh squeezed lemonade from one of the lemonade stands. Mmmmm, tastes like summer.

Children, Family, Food, Little Miss Dictator, Sporting Events | No Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

I usually get buyer’s remorse after buying anything new. Especially new books. It seems like such a waste on something that I will be done with in a week or two and then probably never look at again. That’s why Paperbacks Plus kicks ass. You can set up an account and then just trade in your old books (or CDs, DVDs, LPs, cassettes, 8-tracks, video tapes, comic books, and magazines) for other old books or just build up your store credit (although some cash is required for a portion of the transaction). And the store isn’t huge so it won’t take you long to find what you’re looking for. It’s really inexpensive, too. I bought two books there yesterday and the total was under $5. It’s in East Dallas right off of Skillman. Click here for directions.

We decided to make a desktop background of a photo from Paperbacks Plus. Download them here:

• 800 x 600
• 1024 x 768
• 1280 x 1024
• 1440 x 900
• 1600 x 1024
• 1680 x 1050
• 1920 x 1200

Books, Children, Family, Junior, Music | 3 Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

I love books. Any kind of book. Fiction, non-fiction, history, art, children’s books and especially cookbooks. I once told a doctor when he asked me if I had any vices that I thought I was addicted to books and magazines–no lie. The local library was one of my favorite places when I was little, but I until last week I hadn’t stepped foot in a public library in 18 years.

I first went to the new library that just opened up on the other side of Love Field, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Regardless, I signed up for a library card and decided to try a few other branches before giving up. The next library I checked out was the Preston Royal branch. This definitely felt a little more familiar and they had a bigger selection, but I still wasn’t satisfied. So I headed to the central library downtown last Saturday. It was all I had imagined and more.

It has seven stories of seemingly endless shelves of books to look through. The first floor houses a decent selection of dvds, books on tape, and a general collection of recently published books. The entire second floor is dedicated to kids. The Fine Arts section on the fourth floor has a large, but random selection of cds, and the rows and rows of cookbooks on the fifth floor left me breathless. If you haven’t visited the public library in a while, stop what your doing and head downtown immediately.

The best things about the Dallas Public Library.

1. You can check out up to 250 books at a time. Seriously.
2. You may return checked out items to any Dallas library branch.
3. You can renew your checked out items on-line or over the phone.
4. You can request items from any Dallas library to be sent to the branch closest to you.
5. If you are looking for something specific, you can look it up on the library’s website and see if they have it before you go.
6. It’s free.

Here’s the thing about the Dallas libraries, each branch has something different to offer so you may want to check several out in your area before you find the one that’s right for you. Also, the libraries are not perfect, but if you love books as much as I do you won’t be disappointed.

Get a map of all the Dallas Public library locations here.

Authors, Books, Children, Family, Free, Little Miss Dictator, Movies, Music, Public | 2 Comments

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook

If you don’t think entertaining a 2 year old is a full time job, then you probably think we landed on the moon. Well, no matter what you believe, the truth of the matter is during those long spring and summer breaks you might need some help. Here in the great Big D there are a lot of things to keep your little ones busy, but what if you only need to kill an hour or two? Or maybe you don’t feel like spending your life savings? One word, the Park.

Nestled right in between Midway Road and Marsh Lane on Northaven Road is Northaven Park, and while maybe not the most creative name, it does make remembering how to find it easy. The first thing you will notice after you unpack the kids is the shade. It covers the entire play area, which is great because you don’t have to sit in the sun and your kids won’t get 3rd degree burns from the merry-go-round. Northaven Park has pretty much every amenity your kid could ever want:

• A big swing set with 4 swings (2 toddler sized and 2 regular)
• “Tea Cups” that will spin you out of control (seriously, I had to rescue my wife)
• Several Slides
• Monkey bars
• Giant Turtle and a Play Car to ride on
• 2 big playground sets with all kinds of accessories
• A baseball diamond
• And if you time it right, a friendly “Fun Time Ice Cream Van”

There are also plenty of benches, in the all too important shade, to take a load off or eat some Goldfish. All in all, this is a great little park/play area for kids. It sits pretty far back from the street, so you don’t really have to worry about your kids wandering off to play Frogger. Also, every time I have been there it has been impeccably clean. So, the next time you feel like pulling your hair out or think your child has a better relationship with Spongebob and Patrick than with you, try taking your kids to a great little neighborhood park.

Authors, Children, Family, Parks, The Conspiracy Theorist | 1 Comment

Digg • del.icio.us • Stumble! • Facebook