Pic Of The Day - 02.20.15 - Room With A View-REEF

Once or twice a year, I'm invited to the private dining room at REEF. And, thus was the case on Friday. It was belated Holiday Party for my department and we did the White Elephant Exchange.

The view from the room is great. This is what you see.

Pic Of The Day - 05.19.14 - I'll Drink To That

I meetings that begin at beer:30 on a Monday afternoon!

Pic Of The Day - 03.11.14

Have you ever heard of Christmas in July?  OK.  How about Christmas in March?  Well, on Tuesday the group I work with finally got together to celebrate Christmas. 

Our gathering took place at Reef. We were in the private dining room which had a glass wall that has a view of tune wine rack.  It's quite the view. 

Restaurant City

I tried to find statistics on the number of Houstonians who eat out.  Houston is the 4th largest city in the United States and has oodles of restaurants...some good; some bad.  Unlike New Orleans, we don't have a standard.  For instance, in New Orleans if you can't make a good gumbo, you're going out of business.  And New Orleans is known for it's Cajun and Creole cuisine.  Boston is known for it's seafood and Italian cuisine.

Houston is so diverse, we don't have a standard cuisine.  This makes us a formidable player when it comes to cities that have the best restaurant scene.  Tex-Mex.  Barbecue.  Asian.  Italian. Southwestern.  Seafood.  Steaks.  The list goes on and on.

So we got a nod from Esquire Magazine who ranked Houston #7 in the top 10 of America's Best Restaurant Cities.  Thanx for the nod Esquire!

What are your favorite restaurants?  My list includes (in random order): Cyclone Anayas; Tony's; La Griglia; Paulie's; Jax; Phil's Barbecue; Barnaby's; Reef; Cafe Ginger; Mo Mong; Americas...just to name a few.  There is one restaurant that I still mourn its closing: Anthony's.  There will forever be hole in my heart.  Many a good meal was shared there.  And not dis chains, I do love P.F. Changs but you can find one of those in every big city...and I do!

So readers, let me know.  What are your favorite restaurants?

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 6.2

This is an enhanced version of T 'n T for Sunday November 25, 2007.

Pay It Forward

On Tuesday night, when I left for Reef and then Cyclone Anaya's, I took my little notebook with me because it had some phone numbers in there that I might need. In that notebook were notes from various meetings as well as all of my physical activities and a grocery list. You get the picture.

So I get to Ft. Worth and I can't find the notebook that I thought was in The Cal Mobile. And of course one of the phone numbers that I needed while I was in Ft. Worth was in there! UGH.

I get back to Houston and look all over The Cal Mobile again. No sign of it. I look in some bags from Target (from Tuesday); not there. UGH! Yesterday I even said a prayer to St. Anthony who is the patron saint of lost causes.

So this morning I get a phone call from Elaine. Elaine was one of the ladies who worked at Tropical Depression #46. I haven't talked to Elaine in about a month so I'm thinking, "How nice to hear from her."

Sidebar: If you live in Houston and if you ever need dependable help at a party, hire Elaine.

So Elaine starts to ask me if I've lost a notebook and I tell her that I'm going nuts trying to find it. She got a phone call from a guy named Tony who found her phone number in there and note about September 15 (which happened to be the day of Tropical Depression #46). He called her on Wednesday but until today she couldn't remember where she was on on September 15 and then it clicked.

So after a nice chat with Elaine (BTW...she is also looking for a job. She has experience with medical records and she also has cared for people who are home bound.) I call Tony. I introduce myself and mention Elaine's name and then it clicks with him who I am.

He said he was on his way to work on Wednesday and saw a notebook in the street on Brazos. He thought it might be important so he went back around and picked it up.

I'm going to get it from him in a few days.

So, a gold star to Tony and a gold star to Elaine. It is a nice reminder that there are some good people in this world. And I hope that one day, someone does them a big favor too.

I've commented on here about paying it forward. And it goes with that saying that I will misquote and I can't remember who said it, "The good that you do is the good that you will receive in return."

Grande Sugar-free Cinnamon Dolce Latte non-fat with no whip and with an extra pump and an extra shot

That's my new other favorite drink at the office these days.

It is actually much better if you don't do sugar-free and if you do whole milk and whipped cream.

Anywho. This morning I'm at the office at my big desk reading the paper, just minding my own business and a lady walks up to the table and lets out a scream of glee. Scared the sh_t outta me. Wait it gets better.

It's not me that she is happy to see. It is someone behind me. OK. That's cool BUT she throws her purse down on the other chair at my desk, puts her coffee down RIGHT in front of me, and lays down some sort of a plastic bag on MY NEWSPAPER and walks off!

Never acknowledges that I'm sitting there. She doesn't ask if she can lay claim to my big desk. She just does it.

Eventually she comes back to gather her belongings which I have rearranged, except for the purse, and still doesn't acknowledge me.

If it hadn't have been for the phone call from Elaine which happened after this incident at the office, I'd probably still be seething over it.

Oh. So on my way out of the office, I accidentally kicked her table. LOL I swear it was an accident!

Nanook Of The North

What are the chances of me hearing that name twice within less of 24 hours? LOL

So yesterday while I was working on cards, Unzipped comes on. I've seen this frockumentary umpteen times. I could watch it another umpteen times. Every time I watch it I still get excited when Isaac shows his collection.

In the movie he refers to Nanook Of The North for his inspiration. OK. So that was yesterday afternoon.
This morning as I'm leaving LeFittes I run into Cruise Director Tom. (Haven't seen him in awhile and he always makes me laugh because he usually has some good gossip about something.) We comment about the cold to the bone wet weather and he looks at the sweater I'm wearing and says, "You're all bundled up like Nanook Of The North." Go figure.

I've never watched the movie so I guess now it is time to do so.

Post-Thanksgiving/Holiday Party

So this afternoon I made my way up the road to the annual party given by Scott & Micheal and Steven & Grant. Can't remember why but last year I didn't attend.

A fun time was had by all. Many familiar faces and as always some new faces. Great conversation and many laughs. Embellishments to events and stories at the drop of a hat. For instance, I am now adding Hapsburg (EDIT: the correct spelling is Habsburg) to my name. Sort of a long story so just use your imagination.

I could have stayed another hour chatting and drinking but I left to go to the 500p Mass at St. Anne's because I thought it was the first Sunday of Advent only to find out it was the Feast of Christ The King which is the last Sunday of the year.

So I'm home now. The Calvinator has been walked and we're waiting for The Amazing Race!

World AIDS Day Dec. 1

www.worldaidsdayhouston.org

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 6.0

I got up this a.m. and went to Memorial Park for a 3 mile jaunt. It was a nice morning for a run. I stopped by the office and had an idea on my way in the door. And trust me, this totally threw them for a loop.

Rather than order an Iced Grande Sugar-free Vanilla Non-fat Latte I had the bright idea to order an Iced Grande Sugar-free Gingerbread Non-fat Latte. They were stunned. The whole place came to a standstill because they couldn't believe I was ordering something different.

So here's my review. It was yummy! If you like an iced Chai Tea but you want the jolt of a Latte, I highly recommend this drink.

I just finished watching Dancing With The Stars and I gotta tell you, I like Helio Castroneves. His smile is infectious. He could be the male version of Mary Richards. Who can turn the world on with his smile. Remember that song? I had never heard of Helio until this season of Dancing With The Stars but I have become a big fan of his. And his Brazilian heritage was shining through this evening when he did the Samba.


Which got me to thinking: Whatever happened to The Lambada (The Forbidden Dance)?

OK. So I promised a recap of Saturday. Let's start with Katy's bday party.

Katy invited guests to her bday party at Reef. Cocktails at 700p and dinner at 800p. I had already committed to going to Neighbor Michael's bday party but I knew that I had time for a cocktail or two at Reef.

What a fun time! I didn't know all of the people there but I knew some and I crammed in many conversations in 60 minutes and there was a bunch of laughter...just like it should be at a birthday party.

So after 2 Grey Goose Martinis (straight up with a twist) it was time to head back to NoRO for Neighbor Michael's fete.

I didn't valet park because well, I could park in my own driveway and walk next door. It was a very nice party! Bartenders. Wait staff. DJ down by the pool. NoRO was rocking and I didn't bother knockin'...I just walked in.

Once again, I didn't know everyone but there were many conversations that I crammed into 2 hours and I stuffed my face with the appetizers. Everyday Italian did a fabu job with the food. Neighbor Nina did a fabu job in planning and executing the party.




So the theme of the party was to party like a Rock Star. All day long I kept humming Rock Star by Nickelback. If you're not familiar with the song, the very first line is: I'm through with standin' in lineTo clubs I'll never get in... and this is where life imitated art.

So AttyHou, Everyday Italian and I took a taxi downtown (even though we live 3 miles from downtown but quite a bit can happen within 3 miles when you've been drinking and isn't cheaper to pay a taxi fare than it is to spend the night in jail for a DWI?). By the time we got there, there was a line of folks waiting to get in and all of them (with the exception of a few) are 15 years younger than me, if not younger.

Well, Neighbor Nina had VIP seating but the dude working the velvet rope didn't care. So there's about 10 of us that KNOW we belong in there but dude doesn't give a sh_t.

So Former Dogsitter John and I decide to give it 5 minutes and then we're outta there. Just about that time somebody has made arrangements for us to go in through a back door/hidden entrance. OK...so now I am feeling like a Rock Star.

The 10 of us walk around Bayou Place and up some stairs and down a hallway and once the door is secure another door opens and *poof* we're inside RocBar. There were HUGE bottles of Grey Goose waiting for us and since that's how the evening began at Reef that's how it was going to end at RocBar.

And as I previously stated, no hangover on Sunday...just a bit spent.