grace grits and gardening - ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Deep Ellum Bark Park with Art

June 7, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

East Dallas has several dog parks and many outdoor patios that cater to furry friends, but Deep Ellum Bark Park, with a view of downtown, is a unique urban park. Not only is it a great use of space beneath Good Latimer Expressway (between Canton Street and Commerce Street) it’s a dog art gallery. Twenty-five Dallas mural artists provided eleven foot high paintings on each of the TXDOT pillars beneath the freeway. All dog related of course.

The Bark Park is clean, bags are plentiful for poop scooping, and there is wide open space for dogs to romp and run.

The drawbacks: parking is metered (bring change) and there is no separate space for small dogs. Since this park is rarely crowded, neither issue has been a problem for me.

City dogs need space to burn off energy, a place to feel free. Deep Ellum Bark Park provides it, along with a dose of art for the humans.

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

I Feel Free, Cream

What Every College Freshman Needs to Know

June 5, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

Tis the season of high school graduation. My Facebook feed is filled with pictures of fresh-faced graduates and proud parents. What an exciting, bittersweet time for the entire family. Even though it’s been thirty-four (yikes) years since I graduated from high school, I remember the feeling. Freedom. My unwritten life could finally begin.

What Every College Freshman Needs to Know

via morgueFile

In a snap, my own children donned caps and gowns and graduated from high school. How did that happen so fast?

Even though they grew up in a different place and time, I did my best to prepare them for college. So far, they haven’t moved back home.

Here is my list of thirteen essential skills for every college freshman. What would you add?

How to Make Decisions. Your helicopter parent won’t be flying off to college with you. Make decisions, but don’t be afraid to change your mind.
You are NOT a Rock Star. No matter how talented and brilliant you were in high school, you will be surrounded by many, many over-achieving freshman in college.
Because you aren’t a Rock Star, you won’t be drafted by the NBA. Take time to learn who you are, but choose a major wisely. Preferably something that includes a paycheck when you graduate. If you graduate from college with a large student loan, will that job on the backend cover it? Ever?
Learn to do laundry and clean a bathroom. Do both regularly. You weren’t raised in a barn, or maybe you were, but let’s keep that a secret.
Understand how to budget money. It truly doesn’t grow on trees. No one (parents, government, professors) owes you anything.
Work hard. It still may not be good enough.
Not everyone will like you and that’s okay.
Don’t be a know it all. Listen more than you speak. But speak up in class occasionally.
Go to class. Simple.
Meet your professors. They can be your biggest allies. If they don’t know your name, they can’t.
Don’t worry about being best friends with your first roommate. But do be respectful of one another.
Be careful and smart. There will be lots of temptations. The world is full of crazy people. Don’t be one of them.
Call your mother. She misses you.

Happy Graduation! Happy Summer!

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

Musical Pairing:

Unwritten, Natasha Bedingfield

my Firmoo Sunglasses! (review)

June 4, 2014 By Talya Tate Boerner

(Firmoo.com provided free sunglasses for this review. Opinions are my own.)

I don’t do many product reviews, but when Firmoo asked me to try out and review sunglasses of my choice, how could I not? In the South, a girl needs a good pair of sunglasses. Plus I recently broke my favorite aviator style glasses, so the timing was perfect.

My choice was easy-peasy. I selected these oval cat frames (below) because I love the shape AND I adore the turquoise-blue trim along the frame bottom. (My favorite color.)

Firmoo.com is a large on-line eyeglass company with hundreds of choices including plastic, titanium, mixed material, memorial material, reading, prescription, bifocal, computer, progressive, designer, specialty, polarized, retro and more. They even have nerd glasses. And Elton John glasses…

The website is fun. You can search by frame shape, upload your photo and do a “virtual try-on”. It’s like playing dress up.

my virtual “try-on” session

My glasses arrived quickly. I am pleased with the quality. The frames feel sturdy and balanced. The lens tint is perfect.

This cute case was included, along with a dust cloth and teeny tiny eyeglass screwdriver. I consider the screwdriver a nice touch, because I can never find one when I need one.

Full disclosure—the glasses are not made in the USA. I discovered this when my international package arrived. According to Firmoo.com, manufacturing in Asia keeps overhead down. Just curious, is this a deal-breaker for you?