History in the Making June 30, 2008

Court’s visit was awesome! We had such a good time! Friday she had some appointments in the morning and at lunch, then I drove her around this area of Houston (too bad my knowledge of the Houston area is sparce), and then it was time for dinner and the game.

We went to El Tiempo for dindin - a Houston classic / staple for Tex-Mex. And we ate our faces off! Margaritas, guac, queso, chip and salsa to start. I was stuffed before the main course even came. I had fish tacos, which are delish! Boom and Cour both got the mixed fajitas…

There was so much food - even looking at the snaps now make me feel slightly queasy. Ugh - we ate A LOT!

Then off to the ballgame - this was the first time EVER that Boston has played at Houston! A little bit of baseball trivia supplied by Boom. I guess they are in different conferences - in Houston, the pitcher has to bat, and in Boston, they do not (they have a designated hitter). And, it was the FIRST TIME EVER that I have sat and watched 9 innings of baseball (2 nights in a row)!

This was (clearly) the first time I had been to Minute Maid park. It is right downtown - we parked at Boom’s work parking and walked maybe 6 - 8 blocks to the “stadium” (which was great, as I need a little activity after the large dinner we had just consumed). We learned that it used to be the old train station, which explained why it looked like a train station:

The “stadium” from the outside.

and the lobby area before getting into the “stadium” area (this really looks like it was part of a train station, which it was)

Fun times! We had great seats on Friday - right (I mean literally directly behind the catcher) behind home plate. We were in the section just beyond where the Astro’s owner and wives were sitting. (you can see one of the little punks that was sitting behind us - there were 3 of them basically heckling us and all the Red Sox players. I wanted to turn and punch them in the face, but I restrained myself. They were so annoying! So glad the Sox won the game Friday night!)

This was our view! and I got lots of cool close up snaps of Red Sox players…

J.D. Drew Dustin Pedroia (thanks, Boom, for the correction)

Manny (Boom was all screaming, You’re the Manny!)

Cap’n J. Varitek (he was also my friend Jojo’s prom date down in Florida! Love that piece of trivia!)

Finally, I got what I really came to the game for:

Too bad I was still really full and couldn’t enjoy it fully. And, as a side note, candied apples are not offered as a delicious snack at Minute Maid Park. Highly disappointed.

The Astros have a player with the tiniest calves ever! So small they kinda make be feel sick when I look at them:

Actually, I can’t look at him or his calves. Good ole Hunter Pence…

And the actual “stadium” was very nice, but kinda odd. Since it is late June, the roof (which can open and close) was closed, and the AC was pumping - I mean, enough so that we felt a “breeze” and both Court and I were cold. COLD, in Houston, in late June at a baseball game. Very odd. And I kept thinking it was so weird that they were playing baseball “indoors”. I totally understand why it has to be able to be covered and air conditioned, but Friday night was actually a very pleasant night and would have been awesome to have the roof open.

After the game, we were all beat (and stuffed to the gills) so we called it a night and headed home.

Saturday, we got up a little bit later than planned (but we all needed the shut eye!) and went running in Memorial Park, the Central Park of Houston. After that, we had breakfast at the Buffalo Grille (pancakes as big as a steering wheel!). Court and I napped (the heat totally makes me tired) and did a little shop shop (Banana and Gap are having some fierce sales!) and then tried to go to the iMax Grand Canyon - but the showing we wanted to go see only had 1 ticket left. I keep forgetting that Houston is a HUGE city - so I need to plan better.

The game Saturday night started a bit earlier and we were sitting at the Club level (people take your orders and bring food & drink to you in your seats!) so we decided to forgo dinner and just snack at the ballpark. We were definitely sitting around better people Sat night - no little twerps heckling us! Boom made friends with the Astros fans sitting next to him - they were a jolly group! And the guy behind me was all, I like your French designer bag. And I was like, You must be dating a gal with good taste! Hehehe!

Here we are - so cute! And yes, both Court and I remembered to bring a little jacket to wear, just in case. Court didn’t need her since she was in pants, but I got cold. I am wearing my new cargo skirt I got at the Gap! (Many moons ago - in college - I had a very similar skirt, but from Abercrombie - I should have kept it! Little did I know it would be coming back into style…)

After the game, which the Sox lost (boo), we headed to the new swank restaurant, The Grove, and went to the rooftop bar - The Treehouse. It was a great night - breezy and not too hot or humid at all! We had a few drinks there and then headed over to Hotel ZaZa. Which is, evidently, a very fancy pants place. Due to the flipflops on Boom’s feet, we were not allowed in, as they do not allow men in sandals in their establishment. So note - if you ever want to go to Hotel ZaZa, be sure no men in your group are in sandals! By this point, it was past midnight, so I think we were all secretly glad that we were going home, since we were all tired. And Court’s flite the next morning was pretty early.

All and all, it was a great weekend spent with great peeps! We loved having our first official out of town guest, and she’ll just have to come on back down once the house is in better order. And we’ll be back up in the RIC in Sept, so it will be great to see folks then.

I guess this is why we have flood insurance June 20, 2008

Yesterday afternoon it rained harder than I have ever seen - a deluge!

The water was as tall as the curb - filling all of our street. I was starting to get a little worried after the power went out and I could see the water licking at the end of our drive way… but then, all of the sudden, all the water that had been in the street was all gone. Seemed like someone had turned on a pump or something, as the rain was still coming down, but it just seemed to be draining a lot better.

Because of all the rain we have been getting, some little mushrooms have been sprouting up in our backyard!

Seems odd to me, but whatever. and Yarb raised a good question yesterday - do mushrooms have any nutritional value? I would think that they do, but they are a fungi…

Anyway, they say we may get more of the same today. Not a big deal, no real consequences to the yesterday’s deluge, except our door mat got soaked and now smells like mildew (it is drying out in the backyard) and the toilets flushing sounds a little bit odd. Maybe just because there is more water in the system? Hopefully they will go back to normal after the rain goes away. At least it is not raining and dreary here - it is sunny sunny sunny, and if it rains, the sun will come back out once it stops.

Storming the Kremlin of Your Heart May 27, 2008

As part of our “getting to know H-town” plan, Boom and I plan to do at least 1 cultural thing a month.  Houston has a great Theater District with an opera, ballet, symphony and, of course, a theater.  Which is one of the benefits of living in a big city, one that we fully intend to take advantage of!

For this month, on Saturday we went to Jones Hall to hear the Houston Symphony play along with Pink Martini.  I had heard of Pink Martini from a friend in Richmond.  She had never actually seen them live, but had a friend who saw them in London and said it was a great show.  So we got tickets, not really knowing what to expect…

The first half of the night was the Houston Symphony - which was great.  It reminded me of my old orchestra days - kinda made me wish I had kept playing the violin.  The conductor was not the usual conductor, but rather a young guy.  He talked in between arrangements and really made the symphony seem accessible and intimate.  Not something I was used to, but I liked it.  The last 2 arrangements they did (they did a sort of world tour of music) were Santana and Gloria Estefan - a little odd, but definite crowd pleasers.  It does make me wonder, however, if these classically trained musicians mind playing popular music.

The second half was Pink Martini.  I had never heard them before (knowingly), and I really enjoyed them!  A lot of their music sounded very familiar, maybe because a lot was from the 40’s and 50’s.  They did have a very global feel to their music. I want to download both their albums (and will do so once the main home computer is down here)!  And they were funny - not taking themselves too seriously.  Their lyrics were fun and I really had a good time listening to them.

The founder and lead singer went to Harvard (that is where they met) and studied things in the field of performing arts.  That also made me think - my parents would have flipped out (with happiness) if I had gone to Harvard, but then also flipped out (been very upset) if I had studied drama or anything really too art-related.  I guess it just goes to show, if you are following your heart, success will follow.  And that going to Harvard is never a bad choice

Official May 21, 2008

So we are Texans now / again, as evidenced by our State of the Arts personalized plate:

It’s cool, right, to have personalized plates?  and to live out in The Woodlands (hours away from the city proper of Houston)?

Ha - just kidding, we definitely do not have personalized plates (the above picture was doctored in Photoshop) and we are residing well inside the loop!

We just need to get our driver’s licenses and then it will really be quite official.  Also, in approx. 8 days, I’ll be changing my cell phone number to a (713) number - and after that it will definitely be official!  No turning back…

And once the USPS offical recognizes our home address, we’ll be all set.  Evidently it is a new address (tho I  think there was once a house here that got razed so our house could get built) and has been put in the USPS system, but it just takes a while for the system to fully recognize it.

I even have a yard guy (and his uncle).  Now we’re really putting down roots!

Following the Sunshine May 20, 2008

This is little Ruble’s new fav spot in the house:

Doesn’t look all that comfortable to me, but I guess the stair is a wide one.

She is so cute! I think she likes that stair, in addition to it being in the sun, b/c she can look out and see what is going on (nothing, really), but since she is a busy body, she likes to be in the know.

Basically anywhere there is a spot of sunshine, she will lie there. Which is unusual because when we go outside on walks, I have had to cut down the length of our walk, due to Ruby’s extreme fatigue brought on by the heat and sunshine. Today, on both walks, I could only go a couple blocks before she quit - just sat in the grass, panting. Since I don’t feel like carrying her (like Boom did on Sunday), I just turned around and went back home.

Poor thing, loves the sun but hates the heat! I guess wearing a fur coat (and boots with the fur) at all times can do that…

HERE! May 16, 2008

So we are finally down in H-town for good (basically).  The drive was long and painful, but at least it is behind us.  And it could have been a lot worse - there was no traffic (everyone sped along at very high speeds, so we just followed suit) and little Ruby did not get sick at all!  She was great - such a trooper.  We did have torrential downpours for a few hours, but managed to get through it unscathed.

I am not officially back on the grid, as we don’t have internet at home yet (nor a washing machine) so am at Yarb’s doing both.  It seems like I have been out of touch for a long, LONG time, but really it has been less than a week.   Took some photos during the drive, and will post ‘em once we are up and running at home.

So how has it been?  Well, good - have seen Yarbs every day this week but Tuesday!  so that is great.  and different - not that many people have dogs, and the area is not all that dog friendly.  Perhaps it is just being in more of a neighborhood than we were before - in the Fan, there were trash cans all over the place, which was great to dispose of Ruby’s deuces.  Here, there are hardly any trash cans, so I have had to bring home some bags of goodies, that I am leaving inside the fence on the side of the house for Boom to deal with.

And it is hot.  and steamy.  And everyone tells me that “spring” down here has been very “mild”, so just wait for the real heat.  I am not accustomed to it at all.  But all in time, I suppose.

The house is completely empty.  We are really living it up ghetto style - 2 folding chairs, and folding card table we got at the Targ just the other day, and a faux aero bed.  I really can’t wait to get our stuff - not that it will fill up the house by any means, but to have dishes and plates and that stuff will be nice.  I did use the gas burner last night for the first time.  First time for me to cook with gas, as well!  Very odd - it heats up so quickly!  I have been setting up meetings with designers, so that should be interesting.  First one is tomorrow!

I did go to a Southside Place Women’s Civic club meeting earlier this week.  Got to meet some people in the neighborhood, so that was nice.  Kinda hard to explain, but Southside Place is it’s own city (within West U, which is it’s own city as well) with a mayor and city council people and police and fire dept.  We actually can’t vote for the Mayor of Houston, since we live in Southside Place.  Met a Korean gal, so I am assuming I doubled the Asian population of Southside Place.  She was very nice, and I think I may call her to get a yard care recommendation.

I am finding my Tomtom to be very helpful.  I can’t imagine life in a new, BIG city without it.  Lorraine always gets us to where we need to go, even if sometimes she seems half-drunk and slurring her words.  She can get a little pushy, though.

I got an iPhone (yay!) with a good 713 number, but then realized I got NO reception in the house so had to return it (BOO!).  Really stinks since the iPhone was such fun!  Tomorrow I will go to Verizon to get a Cra(kberry.  I have had great luck with Verizon since I started with them 5 years ago.  And I get good reception all over the house.

That is about it.  Hopefully this weekend we’ll get a washer and dryer.  Fun times.

 

New House April 24, 2008

Here are a few photos of the house we have under contract in H-town:

(Disclaimer - Homes are large and grand in Texas! So this is way more space than we need right now, and definitely grander than we ever imagined, but we think it will work out just fine…)

Here is the front of the house. I love the Spanish tile roof! I think we will grow some ivy on the garage wall with the 3 square windows, at least I think Boom would like to do so…

Here is the front entry way and staircase. Ruby is not pleased with the spiral staircase. She is afraid she won’t have enough energy to get up ‘em, or pick up too much speed and hurt herself going down! I foresee us having to carry her up and down the stairs.

Formal sitting room into dining room. We literally don’t have enough to furnish even one-tenth of this house.

Boom’s man room (aka study) with built-ins on both sides. It also has French glass doors - which I like so I can spy on him when he is in there.

Looking at the kitchen from the eating area - 6 burners, 3 ovens, I dunno if I will ever use all of the appliances. At least I am ready to cook for an army, literally. Too bad I am not much of a cook. Maybe this will spur me on…

Living room with gas fireplace and lots of built-ins. Boom already knows what large TV he wants to go above the fireplace.

UPSTAIRS:

This is at the top of the stairs. We are going to have the builder put white built-ins along the wall with no windows, and we’ll use this as our upstairs family room.

This mudroom could possibly be one of my favorite things about this house (besides the master closet). On the 2nd floor and look at all that storage!

Here is the master bedroom with a sitting area. I think the one sofa we currently have is scaled for this sitting area. We are going to get a king size bed! That will be glorious as I will be able to be right in the middle and Boom will still have lots of space.

This is the master bath. The shower has 2 heads, so that should be fun.

And last but certainly not least - the master closet! We both have a door to the closet - it is shaped like a U so we will be able to see each other in the mornings! I love that. And love all the space (the top rack is for out of season clothes, and the black things help to bring the rack closer to you when you need something off of it).

[Update: If you want to see even more photos of the house, check them out here. Not that you weren't already bored out of your gourd!]

There is so much space I kinda don’t even know where to begin, once we are down there. We’ll put our current queen bed in one of the other bedrooms and sleep there until we can get organized in the master bedroom, with a rug and king bed.

Well, it seems that we are all grown up. Scary. Very scary. Maybe we’ll put my bridal portrait in the dining room, like is the custom in RIC and evidently Dallas as well. We’re gonna need things to go on the very large walls, that is for sure.