Later Dudes

Two quick things before I head to San Marcos/Austin for a low-key birthday weekend...

1. Saw a little bit of the Scripps National Spelling Bee during my lunch break today. Oh my gosh.. I wish I had known about this show earlier. I would have TiVo'd the whole thing. These kids are ridiculously nervous and dorky. Love it.
How do you explain to a French person that this is not a game show, it's serious?

PLEASE take the time to watch this video. This kid has no tact.



2.On my way back to work saw a car with the licence plate HI IQ. Are you kidding me? Lame.

yummies in the mail

Today I was browsing Etsy's Houston vendors and found busy baker, a cookie store with a large variety of organic goodness. Unfortunately, it's nothing like Tiff's Treats in Austin, which is like ordering pizza. busy baker takes about three days, so it's a great alternative if you don't have time to bake for your Honey or you want to surprise your Pops while your out of town. Shoot, I don't know. I'm sure a three day cookie lead will come in handy sometime.Not.

French Food

This morning I woke up from a serious food coma. I had to skip breakfast because I was still full from the night before.

Jon and Arthur (his friend visiting from France) made the most delicious meal last night, a recipe from Arthur's Father. I enjoyed watching them teach each other cooking vocabulary from their respective languages and while I randomly interjected incorrect Spanish.

They made the entire meal from scratch-- creamy shallot and scallop chowder over a pastry shell, chicken with maple syrup dressing and fried potatoes with creamy chive dressing.For dessert, warm crepes filled with bananas, vanilla ice cream and dark chocolate. Oh yeah, I had five different kinds of stinky cheese before we started eating. Thanks, Whole Foods.

I asked Arthur if he ate like that every night in France and why he wasn't a fat lump. He informed me that he does eat like that often, but the French do not go home after work, take their pants off and watch TV.

Give me a break, It's effin' hot outside in Texas, how can you not come home and take your pants off?

Shangri La Gardens

Yesterday we got up early and went to the Shangri La Gardens in Orange, Texas. Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center is the first project in Texas and the 50th project in the world to earn the U.S. Green Building Council's Platinum Certification for LEED®-NC, which verifies that the design and construction of Shangri La reached the highest green building and performance measures.

Orange is a small town that hasn't seen much growth over the past 25 years, so it was cool to see such a beautiful, new garden with modern Green facilities. All of the buildings were so attractive.

I couldn't possibly post all the pictures I took.. with my cameraphone. I swear, I'm getting a decent camera soon. Anyway, these are just a few of the pictures. All the pictures of orchids and other flowers I took didn't do the plants justice so they're getting left out all together.

Pitcher plant-- holds water and catches bugs.

Everything about the garden is green.. it recycles rainwater, uses wood and brick from Hurricaine Rita, uses solar energy, etc. I asked one nice, old man who worked there what he did if he saw snakes and he said he won't kill them because there's "too many tree-huggers 'round here."

We spent about three hours walking around the 252-acre tract and admiring the plants, birds, flowers and butterflies. Sunshine and Lemon pie!



These bottle trees were cool, something I might try when it's house time.

From wikipedia:

Glass "bottle trees" orginated in Northern Africa during a period when superstitious people believed that a genii or imp could be captured in a glass bottle. Legend had it that empty glass bottles placed outside the home could "capture" roving (usually evil) spirits at night, and the spirit would be destroyed the next day in the sunshine. This practice was taken to Europe and North America by African slaves. While Europeans adapted them into hollow glass spheres known as "witch balls" the practice of hanging bottles in trees became widespread in the Southern states of North America, where they continue to be used today as colorful garden ornaments.

Long Weekend...

I know it's typical fashion to head to water on this hot hot weekend.. so please, cover up. Protect your skin or you'll look/feel like a lizard. Also, safe travels.

I'm headed toward an East Texas lake and will make an appearance at a casino or two over in Louisiana. Wish me luck!

Putting Names with Faces

The dressing room walls at Barney's Co-op in the Houston Galleria are adorably unique. Hand-painted, vintage silhouettes with different captions penciled-in are a fun read while trying on summer pieces that you wish you could afford.

A few examples:
Ryan won't play a single instrument.
Vicki has no dreams.
Dottie married her cousin.
Dorothy is always down.
Charlotte hates her nose.

Pigment-Injected Showers Bring Rainbow Flowers

How awesome, yeah? I found this at a random blog, JustinSpace, which might be my new favorite thing. Justin says the pigment-injected roses were ordered them from a shop in L.A. at $6 a stem.

I'm thinking it wouldn't be too hard to recreate this with a little experimenting, especially if you can nab a needle from a diabetic friend or Amy Winehouse. I love them so much.