What a fun quick trip to Houston/The Woodlands, Texas! Rudy had work in Houston, so I tagged along and we got to catch up with friends and I got to do lots of shopping! It was a great couple of days. We stayed at the Embassy Suites in Hughes Landing. It is a perfect location within walking distance to everything if you care to walk and a really nice place to stay in the heart of The Woodlands. Our first night in we drove our old neighborhoods and popped into to see our friends Abby, Louis, and Alyx. They introduced us to Hendrix Gin and we have become fans! While Rudy worked those days, I caught lunch with Shannon at the Goode Company Kitchen & Cantina. We ordered what we thought was a small bowl of guacamole, it turned out to be as big as my head! I didn’t think we could possibly eat it all. Confession time: we almost did! Before lunch I swung by The Woodlands Methodist Church, our old church and my old place of employment. So much has changed, I hardly recognized the place! But I got to see so many friends; I’m so glad I swung by. One morning I popped by Chris’ house and we enjoyed Starbucks and a chat. It was good to hear that her girls were doing fine and catch up. I’d love to spend more time seeing everyone. Also, I missed a lot of friends this trip, but it was a last minute decision, on a quick turn around and hard to squeeze it all in. But I sure tried. I did a bunch of shopping, too! I got a couple of outfits that came in real handy with my new job. I was surprised how different things felt when I was there, the mall and the stores and just the general feel. It’s still a great place, but time changes things. That evening Rudy and I went to a client dinner with clients who are also friends for over fifteen years, maybe twenty! We at at Eddie V’s in Town Center Houston. Wow! They have presentation down. We waited at the bar for our guests and it was neat to see them preparing the cocktail drinks they would present at the table. On a wooden board, the server would take a square block of ice and melt the Eddie V symbol into the top of the ice and then light a little bowl of mesquite wood until it just started smoking and then pop an upside down glass over the top filling the inside with smoke swirling around. In the meantime, the bartender would create the cocktail and pour it in a craft and then place it on the waiters wood board ready to go out. It was impressive. But more impressive than that was the seafood tower that our table ordered. It was three tiers of seafood: oysters, lump crab, shrimp and topped off with two whole lobster tails. See the picture above. It was unbelievable! The second night Rudy and I got to have dinner with Steve and Amy and Donna and Brad at Hearsay on the Waterway. It was a really good casual dining establishment labeled by the establishment chic antique. I was not very peckish, so I had little to eat. The highlight for me were the crafted cocktails: a Bee’s Knees and Pink Delicious. The Pink Delicious was a table favorite! Afterwards we all went back to Amy and Steve’s for another drink and longer chats. It was such a great night of catching up. This trip was good for the soul.
P.S. While shopping at the mall, I stopped by the pet store, as I saw kitten’s in the window. Seventeen years ago I purchased Itty Bitty Kitty out of this same window for $100. I still cannot believe I paid $100 for a cat, but he was worth every penny. These cute kittens reminded me of Kitty, so I inquired as to their price. The man said four thousand dollars. Yes, you read that right $4,000! He went on to explain they are blah, blah, blah cats and all I kept hearing was $4,000. I didn’t ask to pet them. Poor things, that’s probably why they have grumpy faces, no one can afford to play with them. They were cute though.

Goode Company Kitchen & Cantina: https://kitchenandcantina.com/
Hearsay: http://hearsaygastrolounge.com/
Eddie V’s: https://www.eddiev.com/home
Embassy Suites by Hilton Hughes Landing