Jet setter (sort of)

I am on my first buisness trip that involved real travel (I guess I don't really count the driving trips?). But anyway, here I am in the huge city of Dallas. It's a blustery day but still really humid, maybe 60 degrees, a welcomed change from the snowy Grand Rapids tundra I left on Wednesday. I came here for a TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) Conference. It's an international organization so the draw is enormous. I couldn't tell you how many people are here by the number but it feels like I see them everywhere I've gone in this city.

I have this giant handbook they gave in our goody bag, outlining the 4 day conference in detail. In true teacher fashion I have circled and tabbed all the events and sessions I find interesting. As I was circling 'A Whole School Approach to Integrating K-12 English Language Learners' I kind of had a realization that this is quite a specialized field. And also, I am surrounded by a world of people all similarily interested in this particular corner of the educational world.

So, that being said, it's not likely that detailing these sessions here would be very interesting for many, so let's just say that on the whole the sessions have been really intetresting and engaging, along with one complete snooze fest.

I have 2 days left here to soak up some Dallas eats and sights. So far my eats are doing well, my sights not so much.

My view as I write this

I can tell you that I have enjoyed some delicious food yesterday, but you will not see any pictured evidence of it. Mainly due to the fact I have a secret annoyance of food pictures. Not truly the pictures themselves, but rather the act of taking the food pictures. While sitting at a lovely restaurant I do not want to pull out the phone regardless of how incognito I can be to snap a picture. I just can't do it. So use your imagination and know I ate like a queen.

Let me leave you with a list of things I've seen/learned/enjoyed/hated-
- I brought my reusable coffee mug (on my list of things to do this year was to use less disposable cups) and brought it to a Starbucks for a Skinny Cinnamon Dulce lattee, yum. The girl proceeded to write up my order on a paper cup saying she didn't have stickers to write the order. I got my drink in a paper cup sitting in my cup. Ridic!
-Upon arriving in Dallas, my hotel told me the only hot food around was McDonalds. What!? I spent a hungry night with chips and a cliff bar from 7-11.
-I discovered Yelp with the help of Jon, they led me to 3 wonderful food destinations
-I am so thankful for my gps on the Iphone. Period.
-Dallas has a parking structure on every block, it's like a giant parking lot.
-I got to wear a sleeveless shirt for 20 minutes at lunch basking in the sun before the clouds came back
-If I had to move to Dallas it would be to Highland Park. Lovely!
-I should have brought some flats, my feet are blistered like no ones buisness