That Home

I see this house being built, am very curious what it looks like inside. It's now been completed for a few months. Not a typical Whitestone build. It's one of those houses you put your foot on the pedal for. Well, I happen to meet the owner. He's gracious and gives me a sneak peek...wow. What a really beautiful home! I absolutely loved it. Loved the interior, gorgeous finishes, wide oak hardwoods, exposed brick, wood beams, marble and subway tile, wow...the epitome of French Country...just gorgeous.  Exactly how I'd want my interior to look like.

Christmas Boutique at the Houston Country Club!

The Christmas Boutique held at the Houston Country Club and invited by Michele B and I was told it was supposed to be like the Nutcracker Market, to which I was about to decline, but I heard it was supposed to be a really exclusive thing, much better than the Nutcracker Market and since Michele was inviting me and Angela, I decided to go.  Wow, was it better...much than the Nutcracker Market!  Much smaller in scale, but much better.


But before I go into detail about the boutique, check out the invitation.  Wow...interesting...

Lorraine Abercrombie decorate these trees!  They were like Christmas trees on sterioids!  I can't believe she did this, it was really nice and every inch of each tree was covered!

 Nice spread, I know, but amazingly I had only a small plate and was full.

This is a really bad photo, but I really liked the way this tree was decroated.  It had hydrangea, burlap bags, very simple, very French Country, totally my style. 

Maybe 50-60 booths in all.  I found several booths I liked, pictures below of my favorite things.

Sorry, shots overexposed and you can't see the detail.  I thought this diamond and gold pretzel necklace was so quirky and fun, $600.  These crosses were really nice too, I think my friend Rebecca has a similar cross to the one on the right, $300 or 400 something, I forget.  The one in the middle was cute too, diamonds were not full diamonds, I'm not sure how to describe it, you see a lot of the gold, less diamond, $500 something.  You can't see the size, but they were all very dainty, very small, probably less than half an inch.

I really liked these too.  They were very small and dainty.  The S of course.  They can do it in gold too.

I thought this was cute too, gold and small diamonds.

Shelter Wade Jewelers

7373 Broadway, Suite 106

San Antonio, TX 78209

I didn't want to look like a freak and take a photo of everything I liked.  But, I got business cards!  So if you need a baby shop, oh my gosh, they had such cute stuff! 

Itsy Bitsy Boutique
Susan Watt
3414 Eastside St
Houston, TX 77098
theitsybitsyboutique.com

Perriberri
2805 Bee Caves Rd, Suite 414
Austin, TX 78746
perriberri.com
coupon code: Holiday15 (offer expires 12/15/2010)


I did purchase some toffee, sooo good.  Enough in this package to share with a host of folks.  Too much for one person for sure.

Out of the Oven
Sheri T. Farmer
2380 Tammy Drive
Sulphur, LA 70663

They deliver!  Ok, that's enough for this entry.  Happy Shopping!

Sonoma Wine Bar

If you haven't been to Sonoma Wine Bar off of Richmond near Kirby, you are missing out on one of the nicest wine bars in Houston.  It's very dark inside from the lighting to the rich colors, feels very masculine, but has feminine touches like little chandeliers over the booths.  Right now is a nice time to go, they have the fireplace lit, it's even cozier.  Feels like a lodge somewhere in the mountains.  Great atmosphere.

A pretty decent wine list, but I have to say, I know I'm not the most educated on wine, but I'm not completely in the dark either.  The wine list, I recognize very few brands.  This day I had the Bodegas Carchelo Cab, which i liked.  The food here is pretty darn good too.  The pizzas (pause) very good.  Here with the girls...or also great place for a date or a small group.

Sonoma

(713) 526-9463

http://www.sonomahouston.com/

2720 Richmond Ave, 1 block West of Kirby

Houston, TX 77098, United States

The Gym on Thanksgiving Day...

crickets
--
Soo Kim
sooandthecity.com

the Counter

The Counter off of Washington, near Shepherd...finally, I visit.  So I'm not really craving a burger, but this place has been on my to do list for so long, quite frankly I just wanted to scratch it off.  Building your own burger kind of places don't really appeal to me so much.  I visualize skimpy patties, lots of fixings, fast food, mediocre atmosphere, not a sit down and chat with your company kind of place.

OG and I walk in and the place is packed.  Clean, modern, seating in booths, tables, at the bar, and outside.  We decide to sit at the counter, my favorite spot in a restaurant.  I forget our server/bartender's name, but she's super friendly and nice.  She places these narrow clipboards in front of us, explains the process, we quickly order the sweet potato fries, while we finish ordering. 

You pick your type of meat (beef, chicken, turkey, veggie, etc), size is based on how it looks after it's been cooked and shrunken is the size quoted.  The 1/3 was plenty for me, OG got the 1/3 too, but they accidentally made him a 2/3 patty, view photo below.  Pick your fixings, sauce and bun.  They even have an english muffin.

Kind of fun.

Here's our lady server/bartender.

Look at this spread of our yummy sweet potato fries.  It doesn't look very big here, but when it came out, I thought it was a generous portion.  It's enough for two.  Tip, don't have the fries come out immediately bc you'll devour them all and have nothing to eat with your burger.  The sweet potato fries are slightly wide and crispy and they come with this creamy dipping sauce.  I had mine with ketchup and mustard, so good, try it.  I thought the fries were very good.

Right out this window is an unfinished parking lot.  Don't park there, they will tow, which is what they were doing while we were sitting here watching the commotion and getting the attention of everyone in the restaurant and the ones running out to save their cars.

I'm a classic burger kind of girl, not into all the fancy fixings.  I ordered the beef, 1/3, tomatoes, dill pickle chips, lettuce blend, on a multigrain bun with mustard and ketchup.  I was sure it was going to be like 5 Guys Burger and Fries, but the beef was very tasty.  I thought it was pretty good.

OG got the beef, accidental 2/3 patty, onions, tomoatoes, jalapenos, lettuce blend, white bun.  He said his was tasty as well.

Wine/beer list, not a huge selection, but they do have a decent list of your major beers.  I think the food is better than 5 Guys Burgers and Fries, which isn't saying much I know, since I don't think much of 5 Guys.  But I do actually think the Counter was good, not as good as Tiny's Boxwood's burgers, but good.  I actually think it's a pretty tasty burger and will probably be a returning patron.  Ok, that's all, over and out.

The Counter Houston

4601 Washington Avenue
Houston TX 77007

OPEN DAILY  

Sunday-Wednesday
Thursday-Saturday 11am-10pm
11am-Midnight

http://www.thecounterburger.com/HoustonTX/

Randy's Rugs

I may be published again in Papercity!  Probably December issue for the opening of Randy Twaddle Rugs at Carol Piper's Rugs in River Oaks Shopping Square.



My client and local celebrity, Randy Twaddle...I'm bragging, I know and I love it!



Artist/designer together with Carol Piper Rugs brings this collection of Randy Twaddle Rugs.  



Originally created for his own living room, now a collection of seven transformer rugs.  Unique, fun, creative, interesting, and just good looking designer rugs.



For more information on Randy or his collection, go to randytwaddle.com

Adopt Jack!

Jack from Bustersfriends.org. Only his back legs are still active. They say he can really take off once he gets going.  He's so sweet.  Someone adopt him!