Nothing like friends from Jersey

A couple of weeks ago, some friends stopped by H-town for a visit.  They're both fourth year med-students and were doing interviews all around the great state of Texas.  They were able to squeeze in a day in H-town so I got to take them around and show them this great city.  I love when my friends from Jersey come visit!  We have so many shared childhood memories and there is just a level of ease with each other that can't be replicated elsewhere.

Since they were really only spending one full day in town, we decided to do an "eating tour of Houston".  Our goal was to squeeze in as many places as we could, but just to share one or two plates of the best dishes that establishment to offer.  This way we wouldn't overstuff ourselves and would be able to taste a little of everything.  First, for breakfast, we had breakfast burrito's in jslik's kitchen.  Then, we headed out to Rice U, the Med Center, and then hit our first stop on the eating tour.

First stop:

Goode company for BBQ of course!  Who visit Houston and doesn't eat BBQ?  That's unheard of.

If you're at Goode Company BBQ, you might as well take a pic with the armadillo at the Palace next door...

After a plate of BBQ and a huge slice of pecan pie, we were off to the Galleria to walk it off, but stopped first at the waterwall:

The Waterwall

  

Of course, I had to take them in the Galleria so they could see the ice skating rink


After a bit of watching the skaters, it was time for our next food stop:

Cafe Pita for their awesome cabbage rolls and hummus.
The waiter looked at us funny when we only ordered one plate for 3 people....

After that, it was off to Chinatown for some shopping, and then a Cantonese feast at House of Bowls with some more of our Jersey-turned-Houstonian friends:

We were going to get shaved ice after, but it was getting late and these crazy kids were making a drive up to Dallas at 2 a.m. later that night (or morning I should say).  It was a short visit, but still wonderful.  I'm so glad they came to visit!!

Jslik's 30!

It's been exciting around here lately as we've been busy celebrating birthday week in the Slik household.  I am only 11 days older than Aslik so we usually combine our birthdays together and have a fancy dinner out. But this year was the big 3-0 for the both of us, so we went all out.

If you remember, Andy got me a serger for my birthday....or more like Andy allowed me to buy myself a serger.  I found a slightly used one on Craigslist for a steal so Andy surprised me on my birthday with a new pair of earrings.  My first pair of diamond earrings - a classic that every wife should have :-)

Then we had a fancy dinner at Uchi in Houston.  Uchi was named to Bon Appetit's top 100 restaurants of 2012.  It was fantastic!

Note - I was actually born on 8/29, but, according to my mother, the nurse wrote the day down wrong, and thus my legal birthday is 8/28.  I take the best of both worlds and have turned my birthday into a two-day celebration!

Here are some of the tasty things we ate.  I can't remember the names for all of them....we ordered so many dishes!

My favorite - smoked yellowtail with pears and yucca crisps

Andy digging into one of the dishes

This was like a hotstone rice - so yummy!

The 30-year-old me :-)

After a great night out, I continued my birthday celebration the next day.  I drove up north to visit some friends in my old neighborhood.  I had a fantastic fruit tart from Central Market and a couple of my favorite kiddos helped me celebrate.

I asked for a nice picture - this was the only one I got.

All the other pictures were like this one.

It was a fantastic birthday, and now I've officially entered a new decade!

Aquarium Fun

Last week, I got to enjoy a fun day at the Downtown Aquarium in Houston.  They've got this great 2-for-1 deal running on Tuesdays during the summer so my friend and her two kiddos drove down into the city and met up with me for a play date.  I say play date, because I'm pretty sure her kids think that I'm there to play with them.  B noticed the fun water fountain (the kind which shoots up water from the ground) and wanted to go in and play.  His mom said they couldn't because they didn't bring their bathing suits, but next time they'll remember to bring their bathing suits.  B then responds "Jennie will bring her bathing suit too!"  Yes, of course I will....except I'd be the only grown woman frolicking in the water fountain with a bunch of kids.  Not creepy at all...

We got to ride the ferris wheel with great views of downtown Houston.

Touching some sting rays (without stingers) in the touch tank.

B pretending to be a diver, which really looks more like an underwater astronaut...

The kids were a bit camera shy and didn't want me to take their picture, but they wanted me to take pics of Purple Baby and Spiderman.

After a few shots, they warmed up to camera and I actually got to take pictures of the kids:

I love these kids!  They're just so darn cute.

I got them to smile for me while riding the ferris wheel:

After all that fun, we were famished and got some Goode Company BBQ.  Perfect way to finish up a fun outing!

Weekend Wrap

This week's sewing project is a blanket for a special little girl.  So many of my friends are having babies, it's hard to keep up.  This blanket is actually looking more like a 2 or 3 month birthday gift...better late than never right?

Last week's sewing project is being put to good use now.  My sister in law sent me a picture of the cushions I made for her - success!

This weekend was a fun one.  The past two weekends, Andy's been working at home.  With the Olympics and fun events in Houston, he didn't get much work done this weekend.  It all started Saturday morning with some of my favorites:

There's a Dunkin Donuts a couple miles from my apartment!!  To my Jersey friends, it may be no big deal to you guys, but Dunkins are few and far between here in Houston.  No better way to start the day than with a cup of French Vanilla coffee and my Houston Chronicle.

Saturday night, we checked out White Linen Night in the Heights.  The Heights is an older neighborhood of Houston - it kind of reminds me of Austin with it's eclectic old homes and interesting shops.  White Linen Night is basically a huge party in the Heights.  They close down a couple of streets for pedestrian traffic only.  There's food, drinks, shopping, bands, and some other interesting entertainment.  Oh, and everyone wears white.  I didn't feel like lugging my camera around, so I just took pics with my phone.  Sorry for the bad quality pics.

Only in Texas!

       

They had this giant mister called the blizzard blaster set up on the street.  It was an outdoor mister and a/c all in one.  Andy really enjoyed it.

  

Then, we came across the bizarre moving band.  Basically everyone in the band was moving around.  For those that played stationary instruments, they were set upon a platform with wheels and then pulled around by another person.  On top of that, there were dancers dancing to the "tunes" (which really just sounded like a bunch of noise).   I felt bad for the 3 men pushing/pulling the piano around....it was HOT out.

  

  

To cap off the night, we stopped at Pink's pizza and ordered a giant slice of pizza.  This piece of pizza must have come from a 24" pie...guess that's why a slice cost $5!  It was so big, you needed two hands to eat it.  There were no open tables so Andy and I took turns holding the box (grease catcher) for each other while the other used both hands to hold the slice of pizza.  So yummy!  I must say, it's the second best pizza I've had in TX - and that's saying alot!

  

  

So ends another fun adventure in Houston.  I'm so glad we're back home - after living abroad, I really have a greater appreciation of the comforts of living in the US.