Snowy in Dallas

My hopes for escaping the Utah winter and heading to sunny and 65 degree weather in Dallas were foiled when literally one of the biggest storms of the century hit (just my luck, right?). The BYU Bradley PR Agency got a grant from the university that let us have the opportunity to do PR work for Project Hope's new initiative, Habits 4 Life. Project Hope has been doing humanitarian work all over the world since 1958 - they are the organization that takes the huge navy ship converted into a hospital around the world in the wake of natural disasters. Habits 4 Life is a new state-of-the art mobile clinic that provides free health screenings for heart disease and diabetes for people in the communities it travels to. 

Habits 4 Life partnered with several organizations including the NFL Players Association. They planned the event for the mobile clinic for the week leading up the Super Bowl in Dallas in conjunction with several other events that were going on in the area. In the weeks leading up to the event, we got do do a lot of research and media pitching from campus to start raising awareness about the free screenings that Habits 4 Life was providing in communities throughout the area. 

So unfortunately, the 3 screening events that were scheduled after the initial kick-off event (when that picture was taken) were cancelled because of the crazy weather. Even though it was only a couple inches and a lot of ice rain, the entire city literally shut down because there is no such thing as snow removal services there. 

This ice rink was just the parking lot of our hotel. Imagine that, just on the highways. Recipe for disaster! Haha. 

I was hoping that they day after I got there would bring decent weather so I could catch the last schedule screening event, but instead we woke up to this....

Can you believe that?? There was more snow in Dallas than in Provo! 

A better view of the 5 inches - we had some trouble clearing off the windshield!

Because of the crazy weather, we spent the entire Friday in our hotel room. Stores and restaurants weren't even open! So we relied on room service and curled up next to the fireplace in our room... with the last two logs the hotel had on hand. Haha. 

Luckily the weather on Saturday cleared up a bit so we could make it to the last two events on our schedule. But we were still disappointed that the Snoop Bowl (Snoop Dogg and Deion Sander's famous little-league football matchup) got cancelled because it was an outdoor event. I guess you can't really play football with 5 inches of snow on the ground! 

But we did get to attend the private art auction at the Dallas Museum of Art which was really impressive. The NFL Players Association hosted this event where they auction art created by current and former professional sports players. 

I'm sure if I were more into football I would have recognized several of the people there, but it was still fun to be a part of! 

The second event we went to was sponsored by another partner of Project Hope, the Living Heart Foundation. They provide free screenings for all retired NFL players and they were hosting a big event at hospital in downtown Dallas. 

When our events for the day were over we drove over the Arlington to see the Cowboys Stadium. That place is unbelievable! Even though we didn't get to go inside, it was fun to see all the crazy tailgating parties that were going on before the Super Bowl. 

I have to say that one of my favorite parts of the trip was the amazing food we ate! Thanks to our per diem and our awesome agency director, Jeff, our stomachs were definitely well-fed. 

My first authentic Texas steak. I think it's the first time I've ever been served a steak with a ginormous slab of butter on top. Here's to more cholesterol! 

Gottta love that Texas pride - even at the hotel breakfast!

Benihana with our hibachi chef, Miguel. Not quite authentic Japanese, but hey, he played the part well! Haha. 

My first experience at The Melting Pot. Definitely love at first taste. I got lots of inspiration to use my own fondue pot at home for more than just chocolate!