Dallas – isabel notes

The Wild Detectives: One of My Top Favorite Places in Dallas

The Wild Detectives is probably the coolest coffee shop in Dallas. And anyone who knows me knows that I’ve evaluated about all of them.

Located in the Bishop Arts District, the Wild Detectives is not only a coffee shop, but also a bar, a music venue, and an excellent bookstore.

I wrote an article about this place for the Dallas Observer last year, interviewing my professor and friend Lauren Smart about the events they hold to empower women.

I went back this year to cover the Wild Detectives, this time for its 5th year anniversary for my video class. The owners and staff were wonderful and even gave me a Topo Chico. I mean, what’s not to love about this place?

My news package for SMU TV is linked below. It covers the trend of bookstore closings and how the Wild Detectives is doing a stellar job at keeping the interest of their customers.

Interviews with Kevin from Pentatonix and Kristian from Sugarland

So, quick life update for context:

I’m working an internship at a summer camp is Philadelphia. Basically I’m helping to lead a leadership training program.

But while living at a camp and working full time, for some reason I thought, sure. I can keep working Observer articles. So that’s what I’ve been doing.

I recently submitted an article on my experience being backstage during a Lion King production (which will either get published soon or I will put it up on here), and then I landed two interviews.

One Tuesday morning at camp, I took a break from my internship duties to go back to my cabin and have a phone call with both Kristian from Sugarland (the duo that just did that song “Babe” with Taylor Swift), and Kevin from Pentatonix (aka my favorite member).

Kristian was very professional and pleasant to talk to. He gave me the scoop on his partnership with Taylor Swift and everything.

Link here for the Sugarland article!!

Kevin was calling from Cali so he had just woken up it seemed, so it was a very chill conversation. He was super nice, even trying to work with a couple technical hiccups I had. I gushed about how much I loved their show last year, and he was so excited about coming back to Dallas for Whataburger.

Link for the Pentatonix article!!

I Got Paid to Obsess Over My Favorite Band? HAIM ARTICLE

Have you ever heard of Haim?

If you follow my art Instagram, @artsyrosebud, you most likely have.

*shameless plug* *click below to check it out, cough cough*

I made 3 posters for a contest they had, but no, I didn’t win…

Anyway.

When my editor asked for pitches for stories, I told her I was going to see my favorite band, Haim (click here to read my last post with a couple of videos of theirs I recommend). She then asked me if I needed a ticket.

I already had a ticket, but I told her I’d take another one if I could. So the Southside Ballroom (the uber-cool venue Haim was performing at in Dallas) gave me TWO tickets BESIDES the one I had already bought for myself (yes, to go watch them alone. I bought it before going to concerts was something I got paid for.) They also gave me a photo pass!

I knew about one of my extra tickets early, so I was able to surprise my friend with it.

Also, while lining up two hours before the show, I found out I got two free tickets and was able to call my sister to come join. It was so spontaneous and super fun.

I am not kidding when I saw I FREAKED OUT THE WHOLE FREAKIN TIME. It was by far the best concert I had ever been to. These girls are so incredibly talented. I don’t think I breathed the whole time.

Anyway.

I basically just freaked out about how much I loved the concert, and that’s what resulted in this article.

>>>>HAIM ARTICLE<<<<<<

(Photos by my friend Hannah Hansen!)

My only thing? My editor wrote the headline, which I didn’t like very much. I felt like using “Sex” in the title was click-bait-y and distracted from the whole point I was going for.

But hey, they paid me to go to a concert!

Getting Paid to Go to a 5 SOS Concert (an update on my latest writing adventures)

My Dallas Observer editor gave me two free tickets to go see 5 Seconds of Summer at the House of Blues Thursday. Isn’t that crazy? And I’m getting paid for this, too!

After a lot of going back and forth with publicists and managers, my editor was able to score tickets and let me know about 4 hours before the show that I could go. So I texted my sister. She was excited.

So within a couple hours we were lining up at the House of the Blues to see one of her favorite bands. (This conveniently doubled up as an early birthday present for her.)

Some things I learned: When your editor tells you your tickets are at “will call,” that just means you’re supposed to ask the ticket booth for your tickets.

Words I actually got to say multiple times that night: “Hi, I’m with the Dallas Observer…” and “Hi, I’m here covering the concert for the Dallas Observer…” does that sound official or what? Granted, I feel like I look like this random 16 year old pretending to be a reporter, so I felt like I had to say things like that to seem more valid. I got a wrist band for “press” and everything!

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The concert was a pretty cool thing to do for “work” on a Thursday night.

I was probably the only one taking notes at a concert, so that was interesting.

My editor wanted me to get the review to her by 10am the next morning, so I stayed up until 1am to finish it so I could just sleep in until my class the next day. Got her done!

LINKS TO THE STORIES:

Click here for the 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER STORY

(Unfortunately… maybe it’s because I was tired or I’ve never written a concert review before, it looks like my editor made more changes than normal. So if it doesn’t sound like me at some points, that’s why!)

I also have two other new articles out, one about a local neon artist and one about a contestant on Lifetime’s new reality dating show! I watched one of the episodes and it’s actually really interesting, go check it out!

Covering a Rooftop Yoga Party with My Bestie

Thanks to that blogger friend I mentioned, Mai Lyn, I got in to a Sunset Silent Yoga event for free! The event was hosted by the Fitness Ambassadors, a group of like-minded fitness bloggers around Dallas. I also got to bring my BFF, who just so happens to be a yoga instructor!

We felt very cool. The workout was just hard enough to be challenging, but super peaceful and amazing! They gave us light-up headphones to block out the noise of the city and the DJ timed all the songs perfectly with every movement we made.

Oh, and there was free food. And giveaways, like EOS lip balms, towels, and water bottles. Pretty sick stuff!!!

Here’s the article!

My Friend May Lyn: Professional Blogger

I got the chance to interview @deepfriedfit for a school project, but it ended up as an article for the Dallas Observer.

Mai Lyn Ngo, with over 12.3K followers on Instagram, blogs for a living. Here is my article about her!

The Woman Behind Deep Fried Fit

Also, click here for her food and fitness blog!

Fiction Coffee – Dallas, TX

Previously known as Method Coffee, Fiction Coffee is located at 1623 N Hall St, Dallas, TX 75204, a street corner in Deep Ellum. It’s small but chill location, not easily missed due to the big mural on its side.

D Magazine wrote an article on the shop’s transition from Method to Fiction, saying:

According to the press release, the rebrand also means that, “in a world of white and minimalistic coffee shops, Fiction Coffee embraces darker aesthetics and uses uncommon plants and jewel tones to create a fictional but homey feel,” and that it gets first dibs on Tacodeli’s morning taco delivery.

I tried its almond milk coconut chai, and it’s a keeper!

*PUBLIC APOLOGY* The man above did not give consent for me to take pictures of his feet. He had no idea I was taking pictures of his feet. But if you’re going to be barefoot and put your feet on a nice ottoman in a cool coffee shop, please know that I will take pictures of your feet.