The New Corkscrew

November 30, 2011 By 1 Comment

A few weeks back, before my dance class, I had some time to kill & decided to drop into the The Corkscrew’s new location just west of the Heights.   We’ve been many times before to the old location on Washington Avenue &  I was sad when the closed a few years back.  They’ve been open at their new location a few months & I was glad to see they kept the porch.

The inside has the same feel as the old place & I am always happy to see a wall of wine.   They offer a great selection of wines by the bottle or glass, plus a few beers & spirits.

There is a large U-shaped bar in the center of the room, and they are expanding to add a lounge area off to one side with comfy couches.

It was a beautiful day, but a tad to chilly to sit outside after the sun went down, so I plopped myself down at the bar in front of the window.

I ordered a lovely cheese & meat plate that I managed to wolf down all by myself.

The owner is super friendly & they have some great special events/food nights that you can find out about by signing up for their weekly e-newsletter.

I ordered one of their very delicious panini’s but it was too dark & I was too hungry to manage a picture of it, but I would highly recommend them.

I’m glad to see The Corkscrew back in business & in such a great location.

I’ve updated my Houston Wine Bars list- so go check it out!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hopefully meeting up with girlfriends tonight at The Corkscrew!

Filed Under: houston, review, wine

Art Crawl Houston

November 29, 2011 By 1 Comment

Two weekends ago, I ventured downtown for Art Crawl Houston. Although I’ve done lots of exploring Houston, I ventured to a new part of town for me- the Near North Arts district. I love seeing downtown from new angles & this industrial picture is pretty much how I envision Houston- beautiful, industrial sprawling metroplex.

There are some very cool old warehouses that have been converted into artists studios and lofts.

Lots of street vendors and food trucks made a tasty appearance for the patrons.

Crowds of people wandering up and down the streets, ducking to various buildings and checking out studios.

There was even some outdoor art painted on the buildings and exteriors to add some character to the neighborhood.

Even stumbled onto a new restaurant & live music venue to check out called the Last Concert Cafe.  They have a great outdoor stage and I was attracted to the music I could hear all the way down the street.

One of the studios was in this awesome old brick building, with a swanky Latin American restaurant right next to an artistic tattoo place.  Inside, there were dozens individual studios with artists- decked out with great lights, windows and some very cool art hanging on the walls.

I’ll admit I’m not much into modern art & don’t really get the abstract stuff. I much prefer the concrete stuff  and beautiful things like photographs, nature and interesting buildings like these.

One of the lofts was having an open-house where they were serving complimentary wine while you strolled the lobby checking out the fabulous photos hanging on the walls. I didn’t get a chance to see all the studios & I was a bit nervous to take too many photos for fear of imposing on the artists, but I loved the event & that there were so many people out enjoying the arts scene in Houston.

On the way home, I tried to find a new wine bar to check out & stumbled upon the construction of the new Dyanmo soccer stadium that is set to open next year.  Very excited for Houston & can’t wait to see a game here.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I was on the fence about running the full or half marathon this weekend in Vegas, but I think I’ve decided to just go for the full!

Filed Under: houston, review

Houston Segway Tour

November 28, 2011 By 2 Comments

Last weekend, I used a Groupon and we took a Segway Tour of Houston.  I’ve never rode a Segway before & was dying to try it- even if they look totally dorky.    We met in front of the beautiful Wortham Center- home to the Houston ballet.

There are some beautiful waterfalls and fountains downtown, including this one adjacent to the Wortham Center.  I took some of my favorite photos  with Stephanie here, but I realized I never posted them on my blog.

I love wandering downtown & exploring Houston- seeing all the beautiful buildings and getting familiar with the history of my hometown.

Jones Plaza is a lovely little pocket park.  I love that it’s a free space & mini-theater above all the parking, but the blue tiles are gorgeous!

We spent a few minutes getting acquainted with the Segway & learning how to trust it to balance.  I was a laughing, hysterical mess to begin with, but we were quickly on our way to our first stop- the was this violist sculpture by David Adickes.  He’s  a fairly famous Houston artist with many larger-than-life sculptures around town.

Our next stop was the newly remodeled Market Square Park.  It has a little bitty dog park, tons of mosaic benches, an outdoor restaurant Niko Niko’s.

There is a beautiful memorial fountain that is a tribute to the 9/11 victims with all the different elements symbolizing details.

Totally dorky- but we had a blast!  It was so fun zipping around town, wind in your hair, covering so much ground quickly.

Down along the bayou, near Allen’s Landing, we learned that this new city prison actually has very few windows and most of those are just faked to make the building fit in the with the city.

This was my first time to actually go all the way down to Allen’s Landing- where all the ships and boats came into port & where the city of Houston was founded.

The Spaghetti Warehouse is a Houston landmark, but not one that I’ve ever had the opportunity to try.  One of the neat things all over downtown are some great water fountains and features that add personality and tranquility to the busy streets.

Continuing down the bayou, we passed by the University of Houston-Downtown, where hubby took a few classes many years ago.

Next stop was Sesquicentennial Park & the newly opened James Baker monument and park.  I learned a few new facts about the native Houstonian statesman.

Crossing over Buffalo Bayou- I can’t imagine when it was flooded and the water rose over the roadways.

Between the Wortham Center & the Bayou are a series of 7 towering sculptures- each one dedicated to a various theme & composed of artwork panels by children.

Across the bayou, there is a great view of the city skyline across the Bayou.

That black building is a newer one downtown & is all for the Houston Ballet.

Then we finished off our tour by zipping west out of downtown along the Bayou where we had taken a leisurely stroll before.

There are some beautiful views of the city & it was fun get the Segways up to speed and go up & down the hills.

This is the view I have every year about mile 25.5 of the Houston marathon as we enter downtown, I know i’m getting close to the finish line.

The Aquarium is a  fabulous restaurant, with a few too many kids for my personal tastes, but the fish are really cool and the rides can be fun when they aren’t too crowded.  This is one of the few areas of the bayou downtown where the edge isn’t reinforced.

Last stop as we headed back was Tranquility Park, but all the waterfalls were turned off.   I never knew that this park was a tribute to the NASA space program, specifically the Apollo 11 mission to land on the moon.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY:  Just realized I’ve got no more full 5-day work weeks left this year!

Filed Under: houston, Married Life, review

Gram’s Pound Cake

November 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Last week, before Thanksgiving, Gram was baking her famous pound cake & I asked if she’d show me how.  Growing up, I didn’t really like fancy cake (still don’t care for nuts) and even pies, so Gram always made sure I had a pound cake since I loved them.  Step 1 involved getting the pan greased & floured so it would be ready just as soon as we mixed everything together.  Gram recipe still called for sifting the flour, so sift the flour we did!

The next key trick is to have all the ingredients room temperature so they’d mix better.  Gram was kind enough to get everything out & ready, pre-measured all the ingredients and got everything prepped.  I loved Gram’s old mixer- reminds me of so many childhood memories.

Whip, whip, whip the butter & then whip it some more until it is nice and fluffy.  For the record, that’s 2 STICKS of butter & then you add in 2 cups of sugar- the recipe is off to a delicious start!  Then add the eggs individually, continually whipping the batter.

I gave Gram, who can barely hold her dinner plate, my enormous camera & she wanted to take pictures of me actually baking.  It’s tough to pour flour & keep whipping, while the bowl slides around & I’m trying to explain to Gram how to use the camera- quite the funny scene.

I was having a grand old time mixing & making fun patterns in the batter.  Of course, the best part of the whole day is licking the beaters!  We poured the batter into a bundt pan and then into the pre-heated over for 60-75 minutes.

I learned that Gram’s father had been a baker & even owned a bakery.  Her sister Melba was the prolific baker in the family & she had a 20+ year old copy of the recipe that she had written down.  When was the last time anybody called it Oleo?  I love that it had clearly been used enough that there were remnants of flour still stuck on the paper.  Gram was adorable- she’d recopied the recipe down for me before I got there.

Stick it into the oven until the top turns a beautiful golden, brown & starts to slightly break.  Let it cool for a while  until it starts to separate from the edge of the pan, and then Gram started giving a few gentle love taps to help it loosen up some more so we could get it out of the pan.

We sat and visited while the cake baked, talked about other things she could teach me in the kitchen.  I copied the recipe into my journal so I’d have it forever.

We enjoyed our delicious cake for Thanksgiving & the rest of the weekend.  It turned out dense & delicious- with the perfect crumbly top.  I was so glad I got to spend some time with Gram & also learn to bake a family tradition.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The start of Advent today & I’ve started reading a great little devotional.

Filed Under: cooking, family, Life Menu of Awesome

Macro Vizslas

November 26, 2011 By 6 Comments

My poor blog has certainly been lacking on gorgeous Mia & Zoe photos- for shame!  I did get the chance to play around with my new macro lens, but Zoe is not a very cooperative subject anymore- especially if treats aren’t in the area.  I can’t believe how gray her face is getting- she’ll be 10 in January.

Mia is a fairly willing photography subject, but she’s much more interested in scouting the horizon for birds and squirrels than actually making eye contact.

At a few months older than 2y, she even has a few little white whiskers  already cropping up on her muzzle.

I love all the different shades of cinnamon, rust, blonde that mix and swirl together on a Vizsla coat.  Can you see my reflection in her eye?

Mia still furrows her head and brow into the little wrinkle atop her head when she’s concentrating on something.

The afternoon sun poked through the clouds & cast a beautiful warm glow on her.  Thanks to a tip on Riley & Stella’s blog, I am enrolling in an e-course that starts in December on a recalls and relationship building for this silly puppy.

I had a November goal of trying to work with her everyday, but it just didn’t happen :(
She still seems like all puppy- playful, happy, excitable, zero attention span.  I really want to get her to a place where she is more responsive and calm.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: 7 mile run done & waiting on the storm to roll in with a much anticipated cool front.

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Filed Under: mia, photography, Zoe
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