{"id":452991,"date":"2026-10-01T08:22:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/452991\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T08:22:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T08:22:13","slug":"opening-remarks-from-lakewood-east-dallas-advocate-editor-do-something-to-make-your-18-year-old-self-proud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/452991\/","title":{"rendered":"Opening remarks from Lakewood\/East Dallas Advocate editor: Do something to make your 18-year-old self proud"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear readers, <\/p>\n

A few months ago, I was driving through my hometown of Arlington and felt that familiar pain of nostalgia. RIP to my 18-year-old self cruising down Cooper Street at midnight in my 2002 Honda Civic with a cigarette in one hand, singing along to The Neighbourhood\u2019s \u201cSweater Weather\u201d<\/a> with my best friend. I had my favorite spots \u2014 the park around the corner from my mom\u2019s house, the nail salon in Pantego, the snow cone hut across from the hospital \u2014 and they all felt like mine. <\/p>\n

I wondered if Dallas would ever be like that to me. <\/p>\n

Since I moved here a year ago, I don\u2019t deviate much from my rat trail between work and home. I spend most of my off-hours with my man and our cats, either crafting, playing video games or catching up on chores.<\/p>\n

That can only be fun for so long. At almost 32 years old, I will probably always be some version of an introverted homebody, but if I really want Dallas to feel like home, I\u2019ll need to put some effort in. <\/p>\n

In our September issue, I interviewed Swizzle\u2019s Jen and Marty Reyes about the local food and drink economy<\/a>. They suggested that people explore our city in a staycation that\u2019s more than hibernation. Pretend you\u2019re on vacation in Dallas \u2014 where would you go, and what would you do? Find a new-to-you restaurant, coffee shop or bar, buy tickets to that show, and meet the people we share our city with. <\/p>\n

I am challenging myself to get out there and do more to make my 18-year-old self proud that she grew up to be me. I invite those of you who are looking for connection to do the same.<\/p>\n

After all, life is too short for it not to be fun.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dear readers, A few months ago, I was driving through my hometown of Arlington and felt that familiar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,155702,155703,155704,155705,145705],"class_list":["post-452991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-jen-and-marty-reyes","tag-lakewood-east-dallas-advocate","tag-lakewood-east-dallas-advocate-editor","tag-madelyn-edwards","tag-swizzle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}