Posts by John Tornow

Enjoying the architecture and building styles of San Francisco.

This is one of my favorite shots from our trip to San Francisco a few weeks back. It was completely unintentional (especially the feet!) but turned out to be a great perspective of the scene.

Seen on the streets of San Francisco.

We just returned from a long weekend trip to San Francisco. It was my first time. What a great city. Great weather. Amazing food. Enjoyed every minute.

I was only able to grab one picture of the Golden Gate Bridge and this is it. The fog overwhelmed the entire bridge, making it gloomy and dark even in mid day. What an amazing sight.

More to come from this trip soon.

The weather has been great here lately. Oddly enough, not too hot just yet. It was a perfect day for a walk around one of our favorite neighborhoods.

One of my favorite new restaurants is a tiny little place outside of downtown called Chicken Scratch. The recently opened restaurant is the brainchild of Chef Tim Byres, of Smoke fame, so right from the start I was expecting big things.

This hot spot is noticeably out of place in the city of Dallas with its quiet and inviting courtyard, hollowed-out freight containers for seating and soundstage made entirely of shipping palettes. As you sit in the wide open courtyard on a warm summer night, you can’t help but feel like you are somewhere perhaps a little bit more exotic than a small city block (next to a trailer park) just a mile away from the upscale city skyline.

The atmosphere is just great, and the food is even better. Chicken Scratch’s specialities are pan-fried chicken, amazing hand-made side dishes, and the best biscuits you’ll find for a long while.Seriously.

They also have their own generic soda on tap. The root beer was already out the last time we went, but they had a great grape soda that was next in line. Bravo.

There are a few things I typically don’t post a ton of pictures of: food and our baby girl. It would be easy for me to post daily pictures of meals eaten or the latest of her ever changing facial expressions. But that would be too easy. However, this post is a big exception. Today was my first Father’s Day, and we celebrated appropriately with copious amounts of seafood and family time.

On the menu was steamed shrimp, mac and cheese, and grilled red peppers, Portobella mushrooms and salmon. It couldn’t have been more fun (and delicious).

And this is the little girl that made it all possible:

A few days ago, our area was hit hard by a fast-moving yet hard-hitting hail storm. These sort of things happen in Texas often, but rarely of this size and strength. It was incredible. Our yard was coated with baseball-sized chunks of ice falling from thousands of feet in the air. Most of the cars on our street lost their windows, and ours were no exception. It was a bizarre storm that only lasted a few minutes, but served up an estimated $400 million in damages. These are a few quick shots from our front yard, minutes after the storm passed by. What a crazy night.

We spent the Memorial Day weekend at a lovely lake house near Lake Texoma, on the border of Texas and Oklahoma. The scenery was beautiful, the food was great, and we had a great relaxing weekend away from town. It is amazing how much you can actually relax when there is nothing around to distract you.

I pass by this building all the time and I’ve always thought it had a certain charm. I love the layered brick wall and the retro type used for the sign. Although, it probably wasn’t considered “retro” when it was put in. Either way, it is great to see it remain unchanged for so long.

One of the best perks about living in Texas is the yearly blessing of an extended spring season. From about March until May it is often in the mid-70’s and sunny outside. The weather is perfect for walking and spending time outside. Everything is momentarily green before the heat of the summer sets in and burns everything to a crisp, so we enjoy it while we can.

The best way to start the day.

A few scenes from a great Easter Sunday afternoon.

Last weekend was the 3^rd Annual Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Dallas. We walked down to the end of the street to cheer on over 14,000 participants. And most importantly we cheered on our sister Natalie who finished her first half marathon! We’re so impressed.

My new office is a pretty awesome place. In comparison to the more corporate environments that I’m used to, the space is a breath of fresh air. One of the highlights is the amazing hand-crafted wooden plank wall that adorns the entire south side of the room. It makes the perfect surface for the dart board and accompanying chalk scoreboard.