Jazz Under the Stars

One of our goals this year is to experience more of this great city that we live in. Both Jason and I are self proclaimed “homebodies.” We are perfectly happy at home, and on a great many occasions would actually prefer to stay home than go out. However, we want to live life to the absolute fullness, and have no regrets. Especially during this season where it’s just the two of us, we want to take advantage of the extra time and energy that we have, which won’t always be there. That means we have to be intentional about planning outings.
So at the beginning of the summer, we did a little research, and put some local events on our calendar, one of them being Thursday night Jazz Concerts in the park, hosted by the Dallas Museum of Art. Every Thursday night in June, the museum opens its park for a free concert, inviting families to bring a picnic and enjoy an evening under the stars.
And what fun it was!! I wanted to make it extra special, so our picnic consisted of Chicken Caesar Salad with homemade croutons, iced tea (with real glasses!), and strawberries with cream for dessert. We brought real dishes (the TX plates, to make Jason happy) and real silverware, and the quilt my grandmother gave me.
The music was great, but the real joy was sharing the evening with my husband. We had a wonderful time just laughing and talking and people watching!! The weather guy from the local news station was right in front of us doing his occasional updates, which was pretty cool.
One of the great things I’ve learned from my mom and dad, is that sometimes (okay, most of the time) you have to put in some effort to make a regular day special. They never shied away from a trip, an outing, or an event because it “was too much work.” With four kids in tow, I can’t imagine the work, the energy and planning that they willingly took on to make life fun and memorable for us. I want to be like that – I want to be willing to do a little extra work and go another mile to make memories for my family. Gosh I have a long way to go, but I’m learning. Now I need to get some rest so I can plan our next outing.