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Tuesday

Sep042012

Week in Pictures: 9.3.2012

Labor Day weekend was this past week which means the start of college football. Michigan played Alabama on Saturday in the Cowboys Classic in Dallas which meant that of course Frank and I headed down there for a few days. I had never been to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area and I really enjoyed it, despite Michigan's loss.

First Row
- Wednesday evening after work Frank and I flew out to the Dallas/Ft. Worth area
- We stayed in the Sundance Square area of Ft. Worth. The area was full of Art Deco buildings and our hotel was walking distance from lots of shops and restaurants.
- On Thursday morning we headed to the Dallas Arboretum to check out the Chihuly Exhibition. The sculputures were amazing and a huge highlight of the trip for me.

Second Row
- Friday we went to Dallas to visit the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza which chronicles the assassination and legacy of President John F. Kennedy. It's an important part of American history, but it was incredibly sad to see.
- While in Texas I ate a lot of Tex-Mex food and may have enjoyed a margarita or two
- We also went to the Ft. Worth Stockyards to watch the Texas Longhorn cattle drive on Friday afternoon and enjoy some BBQ. Yum!

Third Row
- The whole purpose of our trip was to tailgate and watch the game on Saturday. With limited tailgating spaces we arrived at Cowboys Stadium over an hour before the parking lot opened so that we could make sure to grab a spot. We ended up securing enough space for four pop-up tents and had a wonderful time with about a hundred people hanging out at the tailgate. It was ridiculously hot, but a ton of fun.
- Cowboys Stadium was a really great locale and we had wonderful seats, but the game was painful to watch with Alabama handily beating Michigan
- Sunday was a laid back day spent doing a little more wandering around enjoying the architecture at Sundance Square followed by another trip to the Stockyards. I also popped into an old Fire Station that had a cool exhibit about the 150 years of history of Ft. Worth.

How was your holiday weekend? Did you do anything fun? Are you ready for fall to start?

Tuesday, September 4, 2012 at 8:53PM | Posted by

Lisa |

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Week in Pictures

Sunday

Sep022012

Chihuly at The Dallas Arboretum

I'm currently in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area for a few days to watch Michigan play Alabama in the Cowboy Classic. Upon arriving at the airport I saw an ad for a Chihuly art installation at the Dallas Arboretum so on Thursday morning Frank and I headed over to see it.

The first time I had seen any of Chihuly's art was the glass ceiling in the lobby of the Belaggio in Las Vegas back when I was in grad school. I thought the beautiful flowers of brightly colored glass were amazing and I kept walking underneath it staring at the ceiling.

I was really excited to see the Chihuly glass sculptures at the arboretum and they really didn't disappoint. They were beautifully set in the gardens and the fluid shapes seemed like a natural extension of the surroundings.

At the beginning I saw the Blue Marlins and Turquoise Reeds installation along a little creek. Right as I started to walk along the small creekside path the misters started watering the plants. It made a cool foggy effect low to the ground and made the glass sculptures even more enchanting.

A little farther on some large glass spheres called Niijima Floats were nestled in a flower bed. Beyond that Yellow and Scarlet Asymmetrical Towers marked the entrance to the Woman's Garden.

Entering into the Woman's Garden a fountain was decorated with an installation of Neodymium Reeds and Hornet's Nest. I loved the contrast of the straight purple glass soaring to the sky with the curving, twisting shapes of the green seeming to float on the water's surface.

At the end of the Woman's Garden a reflection pool held the Float Boat and Carnival Boat sculptures which were filled with glass. I liked the way the pond in the garden overlooked White Rock Lake for a lovely view and the reflections were spectacular.

Fogelson Fountain was decorated with an installation of Red Reeds. The red reflections among the lily pads in the fountain were quite striking.

Another little pond was filled with an installation called Persian Pond. I loved how the delicate white and clear glass pieces were tinged with black on the edges and mimicked the shapes of the lily pads in the pond. It was also set apart from the main walking paths so I was able to enjoy this piece without throngs of other people nearby.

Throughout the arboretum there were many more lovely sculptures making every turn a discovery of something new. I really enjoyed seeing the installation and if it wasn't for the oppressive heat (Texas in August = hot!) I would have loved to spend a little more time there. If you find yourself in the area before the exhibition closes in November I would highly recommend seeing it.