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From Minnesota to Texas: 2015 in Review

The Dallas Skyline as seen from Reunion Tower

I celebrated last New Year’s Eve in Minnesota and now I am ending the year as an official Texan.

2015 was wonderful, but exhausting.

Gay Wedding Pierce House

James Sanna and Aaron Kraemer getting married in Boston.

Bloody Mary Washington DC

A bloody Mary and the New Yorker Magazine at the Washington DC airport.

Alyssa Edwards at iLume Dallas

Alyssa Edwards at the Dallas Gay Pride iLume block party.

iLume Block Party

Dancers at the iLume block party.

Highland Park Mansion

A dramatically lit mansion in Highland Park.

Bedlam Theater Lowertown

The bartenders telling the crowd to get out at the Bedlam theater in Lowertown, St. Paul, Minnesota.

A puppy at Mackenzie Pub

A puppy at Mackenzie Pub in downtown Minneapolis.

First Bank Building in St. Paul

The Kellogg Park Fountain and with the First Bank Building in the background.

Du Nord Craft Spirits

The distillery tour at Du Nord Craft Spirits in Longfellow Minneapolis.

Car shenanigans

Car shenanigans on Fourth of July weekend in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Rouge at the Lounge Minneapolis

Rouge at the Lounge, a nightclub in downtown Minneapolis, near the stadium.

Will has had it.

Will has had it in front of the Calhoun Beach Club, in Minneapolis.

Bingo and Beer in Loring Park

Bingo and Beer in Loring Park at Twin Cities Pride 2015

Peaches Performing at Twin Cities Pride

Canadian artist Peaches Performing at Twin Cities Pride 2015 in Loring Park.

Peaches at Twin Cities Pride

Peaches at 2015 Twin Cities Pride Concert in Loring Park, Minneapolis.

Julia Star at the Gay 90s

Julia Star at the Gay 90s drag queen pageant during 2015 Twin Cities Pride.

Mason's Barre in downtown Minneapolis

Mason’s Barre in downtown Minneapolis, my new favorite bar.

Absolut Moscow Mule

Absolut Moscow Mule at Cossetta’s Rooftop in the West 7th Neighborhood of Saint Paul.

Grand Old Day 2015

Grand Old Day Cheese Curd Stand.

Rose White and Christina Jackson

Mom and Christina Jackson, at Lush Food Bar’s Saturday bingo.

MinneapolisDowntown

Brunch at Lush Food Bar in MInneapolis

A girl passed out on the patio of Lush Food Bar in Northeast Minneapolis. Too many bottomless mimosas.

Lowertown Drunk Homeless Man

An intoxicated man falls down in the middle of Mears Park in Lowertown, St. Paul.

Uptown Tavern in Minneapolis

Eating solo in the Uptown Tavern in Minneapolis’s Uptown neighborhood.

Downtown Saint Paul at night

Nighttime dog walks around the Mississippi River in Lowertown, St. Paul.

Downtown St. Paul in Spring

A foggy day in downtown St. Paul’s Lowertown district.

Hugo in the snow.

Hugo in the snow.

Phaedra Simone at Beyonce Brunch

Phaedra Simone performs on stage at Flip Phone’s Beyonce Brunch in Minneapolis.

Beyonce Brunch at Mattie's on Main

Phaedra Simone and Belize Rodgers perform at Mattie’s on Main.

This was the year that I finally made the leap to escape Minnesota.

I frequently talked about relocating to a bigger city, but an ending lease and relationship made me realize that it was “now or never.”

I wasn’t prepared to live through the horrible dating scene in Minnesota again, and my job lets me move wherever I want… so it was time to go.

Nene Leakes Gif

Me Leaving Minnesota.

Decision to move to Dallas was made via spreadsheet.

I listed the things that are important to me in a city, assigned weights, and ran the numbers for the biggest cities in the country.

Dallas came out on top.

A spreadsheet of cities that I may move to.

A spreadsheet of cities that I may move to.

Settling into Texas was easy…once I finally got here.

The online search for an apartment was almost as bad as the epic road trip down here.

Gunter was the last thing left in the apartment, which was cute but slightly sad way to end that chapter of my life.

Gunter in Lowertown Lofts

Gunter in my empty apartment at Lowertown Lofts in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota

Chiweenie in the Lowertown Loft

Gunter the Chiweenie n my empty apartment at Lowertown Lofts in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota

I ended up at iLume Park (aka Melrose Place) – a residential hotel in the gayborhood with a hilarious cast of characters.

My neighborhood is full of recent arrivals to Texas and the building happy hours and parties make it really easy to meet people.

I successfully transitioned into work as a remote employee, adopted a new dog, and made more friends than enemies (I hope…)

Station 4 Furries

Came across some furries at the Station 4 / S4 Nightclub in Oak Lawn, Dallas

tallywackers

One of my neighbors with a waiter from Tallywackers, the gay Hooters in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

ilume happy hour

Sometimes iLume Park Happy Hour gets a little strange. Although this isn’t the oddest thing we’ve seen in Oak Lawn.

Nestle Crunch Cocktails

Nestlé Crunch Cocktails at the iLume Park pool.

British Beverage Company

Candice, Collin and I at British Beverage Company in Uptown, Dallas

Duvel Dallas

Duvel is my favorite beer, which is why I brought it to the Christmas Party.

iLume Dallas Cocktails

Equality Vodka hosted a breakfast cocktail party at iLume Park.

iLume Park Christmas Party.

iLume Park Christmas Party in the lobby.

ilume block party

Dancing at the iLume Block Party at Dallas Pride.

Gunter at Happy Hour

Gunter at Happy Hour in iLume. He’s unamused.

Havana Nightclub Dallas

Havana Nightclub in Oaklawn, Dallas, Texas.

iLume Park Dog Park

iLume Park larger dog park with the bone-shaped pool.

Breakfast at iLume Park.

Breakfast at iLume Park is served in the lobby every weekday.

Slimming down is one of my primary goals for 2016.

I have been overweight since around 2011, but I’ve really packed on the pounds since moving to Texas.

Could it be the food?

Or the beverages?

iLume Park happy hour

iLume Park happy hour with free beer and wine.

Oak Lawn Pizza

Pizza at Italia Express in Oak Lawn

White Wine Dallas

White wine at happy hour in Oak Lawn.

Mattitos Brunch

Sitting outside at Mattitos Brunch on a Sunday in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

Happy Hour at iLume Park in Dallas

Happy Hour at iLume Park in Dallas

Grilling at iLume Park

Grilling at iLume Park pool in Oak Lawn.

Glorias Cafe Dallas

Gloria’s Restaurant in Oak Lawn, Dallas. Some of my first Salvadorian food.

british beverage company brunch

Brunch at British Beverage Company in Dallas, Texas. They have a mimosa bar that allows you to choose your own garnishes and juices.

Cedar Springs TapHouse

A slushy drink at the Cedar Springs TapHouse. (During their $5 burger basket special.)

Nestle Crunch Cocktails

Nestle Crunch Candy Bar Cocktails.

Duvel Dallas

Duvel is my favorite beer, which is why I brought it to the Christmas Party.

Campuzano Brunch

Brunch at Campuzano, in Oak Lawn, Dallas.

Boston Wedding

Coffee was everything at the wedding.

A somewhat unrealistic clean eating and workout routine is scheduled for January.

We’ll see how this goes…

Upcoming in 2016

This holiday season was incredibly busy with events and being a tourist with my mom and Minnesotan friends who came to town. Expect some posts regarding those adventures and my new Jillian Michaels fitness lifestyle in the coming days.

Happy New Year from Dallas!

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