InPink Jewelry

I actually won a blog giveaway! This hardly ever happens (or at least it seems that way in relation to how many I enter), so I'm pretty pumped about my winnings! I won a gift certificate to InPink jewelry form the Pink Peonies blog. I picked out a set of rings and some dangle earrings and I received them in the mail last weekend. Here's a look-see at me new goodies:

Beautiful packaging:

Brushed Gold Tone Oblong Bundle Earrings and Mixed Metal Peaked Ring Set:

These items are well priced and high quality, and they carried rings in my size (9)! Check em out!

Mat's Headed to Seattle

We had a happy hour to congratulate Mat on his new job in Seattle and to wish him luck on his trip. Here are some pics from the HH at the Cock and Bull bar/restaurant in Seabrook:

Miss you, Mat!

Underbelly in Houston, TX

One of my good homies, Mat, is moving back to Seattle so I decided that his going away dinner would be a perfect opportunity to try out one of Houston's hottest restaurants, Underbelly. It's part of a set of 3 restaurant/bars that are focused on creating the best of what they make. Underbelly focuses on locally sourced meats and dishes that revolve around them. Anvil focuses on specialty cocktails, and Hay Merchant focuses on micro brews. I've been to both Anvil and Hay Merchant in the past and I was definitely impressed with the quality of product they were serving, so Underbelly was a must. We decided to get a bunch of dishes and share them all so we could taste as much as possible. Since our reservation was late, a few of the items we wanted had already sold out. Here's what we ended up ordering:

Korean Braised Goat and Dumplings, a far and away winner of the night, it's soft and crunchy, sweet and spicy. Me= blown away!

This is lamb with red cabbage (it's no longer on the menu so I don't know the exact description) after we had eaten most of it:

Blackfish with Butternut squash puree and chopped chard (fish was good, but the winning segment of this dish was the butternut puree):

Finished up with a goat cheese cheese cake with salted carmel (suuuper good because the goat cheese made it less sweet than cream cheese and the salted caramel really set off the flavor): 

Over all it was a huge win. As I look over the current menu while writing this post there are several new dishes I'd like to try. If I lived closer, I could see this being a place I visited on a weekly basis, it's that good and they vary their menu that often. This is a must visit in Houston! And if you don't trust my taste buds, check out some professional reviews: Robb Walsh Patricia Sharpe Bon Appetit Houston Eater 

Kristine in Texas

Kristine popped in for a work visit a few weeks ago and I met her out in Kemah for some bevs, eats, and catching up. Here's a quick, late night, post rain pic of us:

Miss you Kristine (and Loi and Roxy)!

Rise Cupcakes in Friendswood, TX

I went to a baby shower a few weekends ago. It was immediately after a super hot soccer game (yes, I showered in between but it was lickidy-split!) and I left with a mad dehydration/hunger headache. It was so bad that I was searching for somewhere to eat before I even made it home. Lo and behold, this cupcakery popped up on my drive home and it was open on a Sunday! I stopped into Rise Cupcakes in Friendswood, TX and picked up a couple of goodies. I got a Lu Lu Lemon and Ole Faithful (red velvet). I ate the Ole Faithful on the spot and the Lemon when I got home. I like them both cake-wise, but the frosting was really out of control. I only ate about a third of the frosting (Baloo was happy to help with the leftovers). Since too much frosting isn't really the worst problem you could have I give this cupcakery an A. And the decor of the place was really spectacular. Check out their website and facebook page for more info. Here are my pics:

Lovely box:

My selections:

Yummy red velvet:

This last picture is from their facebook page, I had to include it because their interior is so gorgeous and I was mad that I didn't take any pictures inside:

Check em out!