Simona in Dallas

April 3, 4am: Good morning! It’s travel time!

So, we left for the airport at 5am, I was all ready and checked in an hour later and another hour later I sat in the plane. And guess what, another hour later I landed in Frankfurt. There I finally had some time. I went to my terminal and then enjoyed a coffee and some fruit. Then it was time for boarding again. Of course I booked a window seat and got cosy immediately. The plane took of around 40 minutes late, but that was ok. I started off reading some magazines on my iPad and then I finished Annie Lyons’ The Choir on Hope Street. Then I started listing to some Harry Potter and ate lunch. Lunch was not great, but oh well…

Afterwards, it was movie time! I started with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and then continued with Bridget Jones Baby. I loved Fantastic Beasts, it was just so fab to be back in this magical world and I just love Eddie Redmayne. Bridget Jones was just so hilarious and so much fun to watch. I also watched some other series, listened to some music and just watched where the plane was going, this is always really fascinating to me. I got another meal, but it wasn’t really better than the other one. I really like looking out of the window. There was lots of ice over Greenland and northern Canada and then it was really cloudy. The landing in Dallas was fab. The flight definitely didn’t feel like 11 hours, which is always a good thing.

Arriving meant immigration and customs of course. It’s the first time I had to do it with a machine, which was actually really easy. The annoying thing: There was German lady who had no idea and I was nice enough to help her. Even though there was the German option she wasn’t able to do it. The questions were all in German and pretty much the same like on the customs paper we had to fill out. And then she wasn’t even able to press “send”. Well, I continued to Baggage Claim. It took quite a while for my suitcase to arrive, I got a little worried for a while. Customs was easy afterwards and the guy was really nice and friendly. Then I was finally able to walk out of the airport and got greeted by my second momma Wendy. It felt like I never left. We got to her car and drove to her place. Of course we exchanged pressies first and let me just say one thing: I brought lots of chocolate! We spent the rest of the day talking, grocery shopping, eating and watching Homegate TV. I just love this channel. I was actually really awake the whole time and only got tired around 8pm. In the end I really was up for over 24 hours.

Tuesday was a chill day, because I didn’t feel too well. So we relaxed on the sofa, talked a lot, watched Homegate TV and did some work on the laptop. In the evening I felt better, so we made a fab salad and drank some sparkly rosé and on top of that: we enjoyed the Stars game, they won!!!

Wednesday meant sleeping in, getting ready and then hitting the mall. We went to Galleria Dallas. Finally some shopping time: Nordstrom, Macy’s, Steve Madden, Bath and Body Works, Banana Republic, Abercrombie and Fitch, Coach, Sephora etc. I bought a dress at Banana Republic and bought a lot at Sephora. We spent a lot of time in there and I finally got my Tarte Rainforest of the Sea palette, among other things. We had lunch at the Grand Lux Café, I had a very yummy omelette. The rest of the day was spent chilling, cooking, eating, talking and watching HGTV.

Thursday meant some more shopping. This time we went to the Allen Outlet Mall. They have a great collection of stores: Tommy Hilfiger, Coach, Kate Spade, Nike, Guess and many more. I got really crazy at Nike and Coach. Unfortunately, there weren’t any restaurants around, just a food court. So we left really hungry and went to La Madeleine for lunch. Then we went back to Wendy’s house, where we enjoyed the rest of the day with some blogging/writing, drinks, TV and of course some hockey fun. My time at home lost the first game of the playoff finals and it got worse the Stars lost against Nashville. That game was fun at all to watch. After the game I enjoyed some Holly Martin writing and went to bed.

It’s Stars practice day, finally!!! I have been waiting for this, so yay! We left and got some Starbucks and then headed to the Dr Pepper’s Arena. Some players were already on the ice when we arrived. It was so much fun to watch practice and Tyler Seguin and Stephen Johns were so funny, loved watching them. I didn’t get to see Tyler last year, so I was really excited. After practice we went to stand in line to see some of the players. Nine of them came out, including Stephen Johns!! Usually it’s like one or two. Tyler didn’t come, but that’s fine. I will be putting up a hockey post as well, so if you want to hear more details about the practice and the game, look out for it.

At practice we met up with some girls from Wendy’s readers group and then also went to lunch with them. They are a lot of fun and lunch at The Cheesecake Factory was great. Wendy then took me to a store called Lolli and Pops, it’s full of sweets and chocolate. They have an amazing collection of things, we got some things to try, like rosé champagne gummy bears and special truffles. In the evening we enjoyed some pizza from Mellow Mushroom and just chilled.

On Saturday I went to see Wendy’s daughter play tennis. We sat outside and I kind felt like in an American movie, when all the parents watch their kids play a sport. We chatted and I told her things about Switzerland, Wendy is writing about a Swiss hockey player at the moment, so we started comparing the countries. After tennis we headed to First Watch and had brunch there. I had a very yummy Kale Tonic with cucumbers and apple in it, it was SO good and I also had avocado on toast, loved it. Afterwards, we went back to the house relaxed a bit and then got ready for the game in the evening. We left around 4.30 for downtown Dallas. We got there at the dot at 5pm and headed straight to Pira for dinner. Then it was AAC time. We got a beer, watched the players warm up and then it was time for the game (more again in my hockey post). After an exciting game we won. It was truly a dream come true, especially because I finally got to see Tyler Seguin play live. I had fun with Wendy and the girls too. At the end of the game we all got some goodies at the official team store and drove home. For us the evening wasn’t over yet. Wendy’s husband was actually watching the game, we didn’t tell him the outcome though and it was fun to watch it like this. We enjoyed some truffles and rosé too. We got to bed late, but I was very very happy.

I slept in on Sunday, if you can even call it that, because I couldn’t really sleep. I had a dream about Tyler Seguin though ;). We made a slow morning with breakfast, some photo editing time, coffee and a shower before heading out to Target and Whole Foods. I got some Fruit Roll-Ups and we got some lunch as well. Back at the house we made our lunch and totally enjoyed it, then we just hung around. I started writing my blog posts, editing photos and videos etc. Then we went out out again to Ulta and some other places, where I got some more stuff. In the evening we watched TV, enjoyed pizza and I started packing. I actually finished packing, but for a few things.

On Monday I enjoyed the time with Wendy, finished packing, went to Hallmark to buy some cute cards, had lunch and then it was already time to leave for the airport. I checked in pretty fast and then it was time to say goodbye to Wendy. Of course I cried, I had such a great time with her and she is just so amazing. I’m grateful every day to call her my friend. I went through security and then bought a Clinique chubby stick at Duty Free and a Mac lipstick as well. Afterwards I headed to Starbucks and got myself a Cappuccino and a Peach Green Tea Lemonade. Boarding for my flight was a little late, because they had rain and storms. So we took off 40 minutes early. I actually saw the city again, which I hoped, but it was only shortly, because of the clouds. During the flight I first continued writing blog posts, listened to some music and Harry Potter and started editing my Dallas vlog. Then they served us dinner, but only after waiting for a while, because of turbulence. I had chicken again, like every time on a flight, because I the pasta tends to have to much cheese. After that I watched Florence Foster Jenkins and got cosy with fluffy socks, my travel pillows and my poncho, which I used as a blanket. Then it was time to sleep. I turned my iPod on, but my sleep mask on and closed my eyes. The flight still had four hours to go. I felt like I didn’t really sleep, but when I checked my watch the next time there were only two hours to go. I continued dozing until they served breakfast. After that it was already time for landing.

We landed in Frankfurt at 8.20. That meant I had about four hours to kill at the airport. The firast hours was spent with getting out of the plane and changing terminals. Then I went to get coffee, also had a smoothie and continued writing blog posts. I also continued editing my vlog.

I landed in Zurich at 2 pm, exhausted, but happy to finally be home.

I had the best time in Dallas!!! It was wonderful to see Wendy again and spending time with her. Of course my other highlights were the shopping and the hockey!