Dallas Farmers Market...

Oh, how I neglect thee. I looked back on my blog posts for the past couple of months, and it seems that its just become a "Wordless Wednesday" blog. I won't make excuses and instead will just show you one of my favorite places to go in Dallas now.

A few weeks ago, my sister and I made the trek downtown to the Dallas Farmers Market. I haven't been in years so it was nice to go with Taelyn and the kids so they could see it for the first time. My, my how its grown! When I had gone eight years ago, there was just Ruibal's Nursery and the fruit and veggie shed. Now, they have a building with different local vendors and restaurants so that you can make it a nice
morning outing with the family, pick up some veggies, and grab some lunch too!

Ruibal's Nursery has been opened for almost 25 years now. As all mom and pop places, it started out teeny tiny and now is one of the largest local nurseries in Dallas. Next time I go to the farmer's market, I'll spend some more time and take pictures of their assortment. Its fun just to walk around their flowers and decor shop inside. They are serious about flowers!

Little competition...

Because only in Texas do we mix chilis and pumpkins. I had my eye on a wreath made from dried chills, but with a price tag of $60, I was thinking Seth would kill me if I came home with something that we knew only cost $5 to make. But it was pretty. Really, really pretty.

My niece, Sabah, was the photographer in most of my pics. I think this is the best picture of the Dallas skyline I've seen. Not that I'm biased or anything.

Sandwiched between Ruibal's and the market sheds, is a new building that houses all the local vendors. I love how Dallas gives an opportunity for those small businesses to showcase their product to the public. The kids liked that every single stall was giving away samples. The cookie stall was a family favorite. Yes, I will be re-visiting this one too.

Lunch time...

Pecan Lodge is a new bar-b-que joint in Dallas that's been open for a few years. I saw it on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives a year or so ago, and just like it said in the show, the line was around the corner. They are open until they sell out so if you want it, be prepared to wait, and know if you don't get there early, it'll be gone. Texans are SERIOUS about their bar-b-que!

Ah, the sheds! This is only one side of the two separate sheds. I intentionally only came with a certain amount of cash because I knew I would end up coming home with a whole garden of vegetables and fruits. And let me tell you, the freshest and tastiest fruits I've had in forever. And they were cheaper then the grocery store by far!

My sister got sucked in by the first two stalls when you enter shed 1. "Try this. Taste that." These people knew how to sell their goods. By the time we got to the third stall, my sister was needing to borrow money because she got suckered into buying all kinds of things not even on her list.

We had a fantastic time, and plan on going back in a few more weeks. This time, we'll take more cash and write down what we need so not to overspend. Also, Jen and I found it was cheaper to buy larger quantities and split it. Best buy of the day was my basket of red peppers for $3.00! That's crazy cheap! At Walmart they are usually $1.89 each, and they're small.

Best kid of the day? Yacoub by far! He kept that little munchkin of mine entertained the entire time and didn't complain one bit. But then, she's madly in love with him so that makes it easier. This may be my favorite picture of these two. How happy does that kid look, huh?