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Houston Weekend Travel Guide

williams-water-wallIt is no secret that I love Houston. After moving back to the city from Austin, where I went to college, I became an adventurer of my own habitat. I wanted to try every restaurant, see every sight, walk on all the trails, etc. I also love to travel to new cities in the US, and in the last 2 years covered San Francisco (6 times), Los Angeles, Boston (3 times), Miami, Portland, Minneapolis, New York, Denver, Durango, Dallas, Austin, Chicago (2 times), Oklahoma City, Las Vegas, Bozeman (Montana), and Washington DC. I would always have a fully packed agenda for all of these places, which included food, event, and sightseeing recommendations. I thought it would be fun to create my own Houston weekend guide (Friday evening through Sunday night)! Hopefully you find this list useful.

biscuit-paint-wall-montrose-houston-biscuitpaintwallFriday Evening

  • Take pictures at the Waterwall Park (Galleria)
  • Enjoy happy hour at Anvil (Montrose) – try the French 75! or go to Bar Boheme for a more relaxed vibe
  • If you go to Anvil, walk across the street and take a picture outside of Biscuit Home (#biscuitartwall on Instagram) and check out their gorgeous, slightly eclectic selection of home goods
  • Eat at Indika (Montrose) if you like Indian food or head to Benjy’s (Rice Military and Rice Village) if you prefer modern American cuisine
  • Head to Sprinkles for a cupcake or to Pinkberry (both River Oaks) for some frozen yogurt
  • Drive down Westheimer to Underbelly or Hay Merchant (both Montrose)

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Saturday 


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Sunday


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Voilà. There you have it – some suggestions for a “perfect weekend in Houston.” There are, of course, tons and tons more fun things to do in this city, but I had to narrow it down. Some additional items include:

Visit the Bayou Bend Collection

Go to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston

Run at Memorial Park

Do a Segway Tour of Downtown

Visit the Saint Arnold’s Brewery

Take a cruise down the Bayou on a canoe or kayak

Go and experience Houston’s Theater scene

Laugh out loud at ComedySportz

Take a tour of Houston’s underground tunnel system downtown

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I am always open to suggestions and also would love to help you plan a personalized trip if you’re coming to visit the Bayou City. Please email me!

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Save Prada Marfa

I love following Gray Malin on Instagram. His photos are incredible. A recent post brought to my awareness the fact that Prada Marfa is under threat of being demolished due to the Texas Department of Transportation. This modern art piece is a permanently installed sculpture by artists Elmgreen and Dragset, situated about 37 mi northwest of the city of Marfa. The installation was inaugurated on October 1, 2005. The artists called the work a “pop architectural land art project.” The sculpture was intended to never be repaired, so it might slowly degrade back into the natural landscape.*

Prada Marfa was made culturally popular by its regular appearance on Gossip Girl, and yes, I did order myself a Prada Marfa sign for our house (sorry, Sasha!).

The Texas Department of Transportation recently deemed the installation to be a form of advertising akin to a billboard. Given this categorization, Prada Marfa needs to be licensed by the state, but the area in which it stands isn’t eligible for this type of permit. Fans are rallying around this iconic art piece on Facebook. You can read more about the details of the initial ruling here.

Some of my favorite photos of Prada Marfa are those from  Gray Malin’s Prada Marfa collection below. 

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*Prada Marfa description

Houston Food + Drink Awards

Alison Cook just published her Top 100 Restaurants of 2013, and I was inspired to post my own “awards” of such. I came up with my own categories and picked winners (listed below). I’ve still got a few places that I’m dying to go to in the city, but these are my favorites to date. We are so blessed in this amazing foodie city (speaking of, read this article).

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Best Happy Hour: Anvil

Best Mimosas: Backstreet Cafe

Best Ladies-Who-Lunch: Tiny Boxwood

Best Girls Night: Canopy

Best Guys Night: Beavers

Best Lunch-to-Go: Relish (salad pictured above) and Zoe’s Kitchen

Best Dinner Atmosphere: Sparrow and Underbelly

Best Intimate (and Hipster) Vibe: Roost

Best Healthy Options: Harvest Grille

Best “Skinny” Cocktails: Cyclone Anaya’s

Best Sunday Brunch: Buffalo Grille and Rainbow Lodge

Best Farm-to-Market: Haven

Best Views: The Grove Rooftop and Brenner’s on the Bayou

Best Porch Area: Cedar Creek

Best BYOB: Jonathan’s The Rub and La Vista

Best Romantic Date Night: Mockingbird Bistro or Glass Wall

Best Asian: Uchi

Best Indian: Indika and Pondicheri

Best Italian: Coppa, Dolce Vita, and Giacomo’s

Best American: Benjy’s

Best Mexican: El Tiempo

Best Mediterranean: Island Grill

Best Middle Eastern: Maryz

Best French: Phillipe

Best Southern Cooking: Lucille’s

Best Bar Food: The Tasting Room

Best Bar(s): Anvil, Bar Boheme and Mongoose vs. Cobra

Best Coffee: Antidote and Catalina

Best Frozen Yogurt: Pinkberry

Best Vegetarian Options: Baba Yega and Field of Greens

Best Tofu Dish: Ruggles Green

Best Quinoa Dish: Latin Bites and Relish

Best Falafel: Brasil and Barnabys

Best Veggie Burger: Adair Kitchen

Best Brussels Sprouts: Benjy’s and Uchi

Notable missing from the list (and high on my list of places to go): Oxheart, Triniti, Revival Market, Radical Eats, RDG, Ouisie’s Table, Da Marco, Hugo’s, and Irma’s. Anyone up for dinner?

Bon appetit!

Minneapolis Snapshots

Sasha and I headed to Minnesota for the weekend to spend time with friends. They live in the wonderful city of Minneapolis – it’s also the city where my brother-in-law grew up, so we’ve been meaning to go for ages now. We certainly weren’t disappointed. Despite a rainy Saturday, we found Minneapolis to be a gorgeous, outdoorsy city, filled with delicious restaurants and unique things to see (i.e. the massive cherry below). We ate a light snack after we arrived at The Local in downtown, had dinner on Friday at Punch Neopolitan Pizza, ate breakfast at Edina Grill, and then had lunch at Gorkha Palace on Saturday. We dined at Loring Kitchen and Bar before we headed to Cirque du Soleil’s Amaluna on Saturday evening, then finished the weekend off on a great note at Cafeteria in Uptown before heading to the airport. I seriously enjoyed every single bite of food we ate on the trip (as did Sasha!). It was so nice to spend time with Sasha’s friends and their adorable girls. Next up, NYC in one month!

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My new Warby Parker glasses – as discussed here

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Sparkling water and hummus at The Local in downtown Minneapolis

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Creeping around Target headquarters

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Walking around in my new J. Crew Darby Loafers (on sale!)

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The most delicious (not so healthy) Tibetan lunch at Gorkha Palace

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Rain, rain go to Spain

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Amazing dinner at Loring Kitchen and Bar

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Boys being boys at Amaluna (my favorite Cirque ever – and I’ve seen 8!)

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I already miss this sweet face!

Off To Minneapolis

Sasha and I are heading to the Land of 10,000 Lakes (i.e. Minneapolis, Minnesota) today to visit one of his best friends who moved there a few years ago for work. It’s also the city where my sister’s husband, Carl, grew up, and I’ve heard so many amazing things about this gorgeous outdoorsy place. There has been a countdown for this trip! I cannot wait to see his friend’s two girls for the first time and also to go to Amaluna, one of Cirque’s new shows. It is about  a mysterious land governed by goddesses. It’s a love story between the queen’s daughter and a young suitor. You can watch a preview here. So excited! Have a wonderful weekend. 

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Awesome Twin Cities Guide on Design*Sponge.

All pics via