You're So Vain

Downtown Dallas' big Eye tries not to roll on National Selfie Day

Eye is totally not judging you for your selfie endeavors.

Photo by Billy Farrell

In a display of extraordinarily good sportsmanship, Eye, the 30-foot-tall eyeball sculpture in downtown Dallas, will open to the public for two special-occasion days of perhaps dubious distinction in June.

This follows an Eye opening in April, when the Joule Dallas opened the space on April 6 in observance of Dallas Arts Month. Eye is generally not available because it sits on a lot that is a private outdoor event space used by the hotel.

And yet, barely two months later, are two more openings:

National Leave the Office Early Day
According to a release, The Joule Dallas will open the gates to the Eye on June 1 for "National Leave the Office Early Day," which, who knew was a holiday. In New York during the summer, people hardly work on Fridays at all.

If you did know that National Leave the Office Early Day was a holiday, perhaps you also knew that it is actually celebrated on June 2. But this year, June 2 falls on a Saturday. Having a leave-the-office day on a Saturday would make no sense.

TimeandDate.com says that when National Leave the Office Early Day falls on a weekend, you're supposed to move it to Monday. But National Day Calendar says it should be celebrated on the closest day, which would be Friday. From these divergent opinions, the Joule wisely chooses Friday.

They will throw open the gates to Eye at 12 noon and remain open until 5 pm, with the following activities:

Gelato available for purchase from Commissary
Pop-up cash bar under the pergola of Copper Bar at Forty Five Ten overlooking the lawn
Kick around a giant beach ball or play a game of corn hole
Bring your lunch or grab a sandwich to go from Commissary and relax in lounge chairs underneath umbrellas

National Selfie Day
Why? Why why why. Isn't every day a selfie day? But no: Thursday, June 21 is National Selfie Day, a day dedicated to selfies. They should just call it National Narcissism Day. (There is also a No-Selfies Day, but that's harder to celebrate. How do we know it happened without a photo?)

To celebrate National Selfie Day, the Joule is hosting a selfie contest, with prizes. To enter, you must take a selfie in one of the common areas of The Joule, including the event lawn with the Eye sculpture.

Eye will be open to good-naturedly endure your selfies from 10 am-6 pm.

Other hotel common areas include the Lobby, The Lobby Bar, the Taschen Library, Mosaic Corridor, Americano, CBD Provisions, Weekend, and Midnight Rambler.

Post your picture on Instagram or Facebook, then follow and tag @1530main.

The prize will be two day passes to the Joule's rooftop pool that can be redeemed any Sunday through September 2. Valued at $50 each, the passes include pool access, valet, one food item, and one drink of your choice from the pool menu. Terms and conditions will be posted at 1530main.com/selfie and available at the front desk.

downtown

supreme suburbs

11 cities around Dallas make list of best places to live in the U.S.

Town of Flower Mound, Texas-Government/Facebook

Flower Mound is the 14th best place to live in the country, and 4th in Texas.

Nearly a dozen Dallas suburbs, including perennial favorite Flower Mound, have landed among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.

The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.

For the 2025-2026 rankings, U.S. News expanded its coverage from 150 to 250 U.S. cities, and updated its methodology to examine each city based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration.

The top three best places to live are located in Johns Creek, Georgia (No. 1), Carmel, Indiana (No. 2), and the Houston-area suburb of Pearland, Texas (No. 3).

Flower Mound ranked No. 14 nationwide, and it landed in the coveted No. 4 spot in U.S. News' separate rankings of the best places to live in Texas for 2025-2026.

Aspects of Flower Mound that put it at the top of the list include its high median household income ($163,766), median home values ($476,609), and its bustling population of more than 77,000 residents.

The city's population is a healthy mix of young individuals and families, with 26 percent of residents being under 20 years old and 28 percent of the population being between the ages of 20-44. Nearly a third of Flower Mound's population is between 45-64 years old, while only 13 percent of residents are over 65, the report says.

Flower Mound is a listmaker's favorite, landing the top spot of Livability.com's list of the best places to live in 2025 as well as a 2024 list that named it one of the most livable small cities in the country.

Flower Mound has many parks for families to enjoy.Flower Mound Parks and Recreation/Facebook

"Finding a community to be part of can play a major role in making a place feel like home," U.S. News said. "If you’re a parent with young children, you may want to live in a neighborhood with other people in that phase of life. If you’re a professional moving to a hot job market for your field, you may want to live in an apartment close to the office or within walking distance of friends and colleagues."

However, if people are looking for a public transportation-friendly city, they may need to look elsewhere. Almost all commuters in Flower Mound drive to their workplaces, making access to a vehicle absolutely necessary for living in the suburb. Flower Mound's 26.7-minute average commute time is also 4.7 minutes higher than the national average, U.S. News said.

The suburb's housing costs are admittedly more expensive than the national average home value ($370,489), but that shouldn't deter newcomers that are looking for a place to settle down.

"Flower Mound offers a better value than similarly sized cities when you compare housing costs to median household income," the report said.

Other Dallas-area suburbs
Mansfield ranked as the 27th best place to live in the U.S., and No. 9 in Texas. The city boasts a median household income of $117,680, and median home values at $364,136.

Residents in Mansfield also predominantly rely on vehicles for their daily commutes, spending an average time of nearly 28 minutes driving to work, U.S. News determined.

More than half (56.1 percent) of all Mansfield residents are married, and 51 percent of the population are between the ages of 25 and 64-years-old.

Here's how other Dallas-area cities faired among the top 150:

No. 30 – Frisco
No. 37 – McKinney
No. 64 – North Richland Hills
No. 82 – Carrollton
No. 83 – Rowlett
No. 102 – Wylie
No. 105 – Grand Prairie
No. 149 – Irving
No. 150 – Plano

Dallas drops out of the top 100
Though Dallas clawed its way back among the top 100 best places to live in U.S. News' 2024-2025 report, the city plummeted toward the bottom of the list for 2025-2026, coming in at No. 439. In addition, it ranked No. 65 in the statewide comparison, showing that the city has been eclipsed by its appealing suburban neighbors.

The top 10 best places to live in the U.S. are:

No. 1 – Johns Creek, Georgia
No. 2 – Carmel, Indiana
No. 3 – Pearland, Texas
No. 4 – Fishers, INdiana
No. 5 – Cary, North Carolina
No. 6 – League City, Texas
No. 7 – Apex, North Carolina
No. 8 – Leander, Texas
No. 9 – Rochester Hills, Michigan
No. 10 – Troy, Michigan

suburbs us news & world report rankings dallas flower mound mansfield