No.60: Hit Five Restaurants in Houston That I Have Never Been To

No. 60: Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to...
done for real now.

I realize that I have already counted No. 60 as being done. Since I had not been in Houston much, I counted a Denver restaurant that was new to me as the fifth restaurant.

But while I was in Texas last week I managed to sneak away for breakfast with two long time friends.

Liddy had come to stay with me when she heard that my mom was having surgery. Liddy and I have been friends forever, a friendship cemented in San Miguel de Allende, as so many of my friendships have been.  Sure, we knew each other before, but it wasn't until we traveled to Mexico together when we were 13 (14?) that we became truly close. She introduced me to some of the local boys. I've been indebted to her ever since.

Anyway, Liddy lost both of her parents this last year so she knows how important a little extra support can be when it comes to those aging parents.

I was very grateful to have her company and appreciative that she drove down from her home near Dallas to stay. It's not like she lives right around the corner.

Another friend, Susan, has been living in Wyoming. But now she's got a new grand baby in Houston, so she has also gotten herself a little apartment there. I guess after many many years enduring Wyoming winters, any excuse is a good excuse to get a place down south. But a baby girl grand baby is an extra special good excuse.

Anyway, Liddy and Susan have been friends longer than I have known either one of them. But we all go back to elementary school. And while my brother was in charge of the parents, Liddy and I dashed into town to meet Susan for breakfast.

 Liddy, Susan, Me

We met at Tiny Boxwoods. And this place was one of those wonderfully trendy, precious restaurants that is just so perfect you want to gag.
Honestly.

The door to breakfast and perfection.

I could have moved into the place and lived there. The interior is my dream style. Iron casement windows. A sort of French feel. Zinc topped tables.
Beautiful gardens with - duh!- boxwoods surrounding the charming brick building.
The menu in beautiful chalk calligraphy upon the requisite oversized blackboard, described the barest of choices.
"Morning Porridge" "Simple Breakfast" "Morning Cheese and Bread Board"
It was all just too, too.
Pressed linen napkins. Simple white dishes. Perfect.

And the three of us spent a lovely morning chatting and catching up.

No. 60 is truly and positively done. For real. No cheating.

No. 14 Again and No. 60 Finally.

 No.14 Again... and No. 60 Done. 
(but mostly just where I begin the birthday celebrating...)

No. 14: Go to the Nutcracker Market was the very first challenge I completed.

It was a great Christmas market with lots of interesting stuff but I expected a bit more in the way of hand made products, not quite so many imports.  But I had never been before and it was definitely worth it.

 So when my friend Cherrilla sent me an email titled : 35 Indie Craft Fairs Every Creative Person Needs To Visit....well, what was I supposed to do? Ignore it?  I think not. 

I went through all of the dates/locales and lo and behold! one of them was in Denver. That's just right around the corner. (Sort of.)  And I already had plans to go up and visit my friend Diana that weekend.

So plans were made and off we went. (Bunny and I - she wanted to see the friend boy.)

We made a total weekend of it and why not? My birthday is next week and friend Diana's is two days after mine.   So we both celebrated a little early.

Friday night was the Parade of Lights in downtown Denver and we did a parade like you're supposed to- with a little kid in tow.   Diana's little great nephew came with us. Diana and I both have raised kids, we figured we could handle one three year old for a parade. Ha! Bunny and her friend came and saved our butts. Nothing like two teenagers to entertain a three year old when you have to wait over an hour for the parade to begin.

 Aren't the lights beautiful? 

Like stars.

 A giant white tiger balloon.

 A toy float.

 Samoyeds wearing lights. 

 A twinkling gingerbread house/float.

 And a twinkling marching band!

 Look at the mane on that horse.

Sigh.

 Three year old and friend- sharing Pez, not a drug deal. 

And at the end of the parade- a giant penguin balloon. 

There were floats and balloons and fire jugglers along with horses and dogs and high school bands, all decorated with lights.  The weather was above freezing. The friend boy had never seen a big city parade. The little boy had never seen a parade at all.  All in all, a pretty perfect night.

Saturday we went to Georgetown to see the Christmas Market. Again, perfect weather and a lovely day.

 The movie "The Christmas Gift" was filmed in Georgetown. 

It starred John Denver and this taxi cab.

(And yes, this is absolutely the worst pic ever.  Of me. The cab looks pretty good.) 

A wonderful little mountain town with buildings dating from around the 1860s, 

decorated for Christmas.

I confess these guys were the highlight of the day.

Aren't they just little nuggets? 

The Christmas market wasn't very Christmas-y but the little town was adorable and we saw mountain goats on the drive there.


Saturday night Pam from Simple Details stopped by for a quick visit. She's another December birthday.  The Sagittarius ladies were ruling Denver over the weekend!

Then dinner was devoured at Hillstone's Restaurant. I'm counting this as #5 for No. 60: Hit five restaurants in Houston that I have never been to before. We eat out all the time but always end up at the same places. Time to branch out.  

Hillstone:  Snazzy restaurant in the Cherry Creek area of Denver. 

Even though Hillstone isn't in Houston, it was definitely a new restaurant and it was definitely branching out. And I haven't been in Houston for a while to complete No. 60, so there's that.  I said in the beginning I could bend the rules and I have and I will.
I had a beautiful birthday trout accompanied by a couple of India Pale Ales.  Branching out in the beer department has been another challenge- although not one on the list. Also I got to dress up and wear heels! Woohoo!

Sunday was the main event. After taking Bunny and friend to breakfast (At Snooze, another new restaurant for me. One that required a one hour wait. For breakfast. ) Diana and I headed off to the RiNo (River North) art district for the Firefly Handmade Market. And it lived up to its name.

A cool little event center in a very cool, up and coming part of town.

Beautiful handmade items, delicate jewelry, artisan soaps, jams and sauces, and fun printed items.

There are some very very creative people out there. The market was inspiring. Possibly a few Christmas presents were purchased.

And I didn't take a single picture because they had that "No Photos Please" rule. (O! Or maybe because I was lazy. Or see above about presents that are supposed to be surprises.)

So while I didn't really complete anything new, I am crossing off No. 60 for good and counting No. 14 as done twice. And I got a start on celebrating my birthday. I have always envied, admired and wanted to emulate the people who manage to spread their birthday celebrations out over an entire month. I truly think that is something to aspire to.

Maybe next year!
Maybe a new challenge???


(And did you notice? Not one single photo of me and Diana together. That should be another challenge. I never seem to get pics taken with my friends. Need to master the art of the selfie or at least learn to hand my phone/camera/iPad to someone to snap...)

No. 60:Almost Completed But....

Instead an education.

After the Orange Show last week with the Big Guy we headed off for lunch. He wanted to go to Elevation Burger. 

Yay! 

Someplace I had never been in Houston. I could finally compete No. 60: Hit five different restaurants in Houston that I have never been to.

But as we entered the restaurant the Big Guy noticed a small symbol on the door. 

Have you seen this before?

It means Halal meat is served. 

The Big Guy was not happy. 

He asked if all the meat was Halal and once assured it was, he said "Hell no" and left. Not exactly knowing why, I followed. (It's kind of hard to take someone to lunch if they refuse to stay in the restaurant.)

All I wanted was a good burger. What happened? 

Halal meat refers to how it is prepared just as Kosher refers to how a food is prepared. 

The animal's throat is slit and allowed to bleed out which according to many gives the meat a better taste. This would seem like a good thing. Tasty meat. Yay.

But there's another part to Halal meat that isn't as well advertised. Slaughter is done by a Muslim while invoking the name of Allah. . And some believe that eating it means you are endorsing the religious belief behind the blessing. 

With the conviction and clarity of youth the Big Guy sees things only in Black and White. He's a Christian. He would not have any part of it. 

Beyond that, he's an animal lover. He believes a shot to the brain is quicker and more humane than being made to slowly bleed to death.  

Gotta agree with him there. If I have to go, I want to go quick. 

So off we went to find something else to eat. 

And then I spent the afternoon learning about Halal meat. 

Every day is an education. 

And No. 60 is still unfinished. 

(I'm in Florida right now getting Belle settled at school. She's getting her wish of school by the beach with dark skinned boys sporting pretty eyes as an option. Blogging from the iPad is not very efficient. Bear with me! )