houston!

here we are in bridget's beautiful backyard in houston! it was a wonderful weekend all around, just my kind of time (L-R: bridget, sylvia, alison). UPDATE:

ahh, houston. some refer to it as texas' "armpit," but i think that designation should be reserved for el paso. both because el paso seems to be geographically located more in an armpit (look at a map, it's true!), and because it's much less pretty than houston, which seemed really green and trendy to me when i was there.

my gorgeous, brilliant cousins showed me a lovely weekend in houston: we had good fish tacos the first night i got in, and the next day ali, myself, and their friend, emily, had brunch at a friendly, cool cafe (ali, what was it called?? i can't remember), then enjoyed ourselves poking around in fun shops in houston's cool "heights" neighborhood. we stopped to play with some animals at a big outdoor "adopt-a-pet" thing where i got to hold a kitten. who doesn't love kittens? i think from now on i'm going to try and find a kitten to snuggle with every time i visit a new city. also, we later got to take a nap at bridget's house that afternoon and i LOVE naps.

saturday night we all went to see american gangster at the alamo drafthouse/cinema, which despite being located in kind of a ghetto-y mall, was really fun. i forgot how nice it can be to eat dinner while watching a movie on a big screen (er, not on my laptop with a plate of bagels). you can even order candy off of the menu, and then it's brought to you! i wish i could do this everywhere (my office, my house, the local theater here, my bed ...)

sunday ali, bridget and i headed to the galleria, a fancy houston mall with upscale shops and AN ICE SKATING RINK. i spent too much money at j crew and we didn't ice skate (thank god). after shoe shopping we were worn out and went home to bridget's to watch 30 rock on DVD, which is my new favorite show, seriously. if it wasn't online at nbc, i'd have to consider getting a TV just for that and the office.

later sunday, ali and bird got pedicures while i got a manicure at a nail place by bridget's house. there was this little girl there, linda, an alarmingly overweight 6-year-old daughter of one of the manicurists, who was running around chirping in a blend of english and vietnamese. she had made up a little song about potato chips, her favorite food i guess, which she sang for a bit. then for a long time she just sat nearby and talked to herself, eating dry cereal and potato chips alternately. the lady who did my nails was nice enough to let me sit in a massaging chair by ali and bird (here, smiling because her feet and toenails have just been bathed, massaged, then painted).

all in all it was a fabulous weekend that ended way too quickly. makes me think how important it is to live in the vicinity of people you love. my twin cousins and i grew up together in minneapolis, and lived together on and off, so to me they're a bit like sisters. they seem like they've really got it all together, so i'm proud for them and only wish i lived closer to be there when their kids are born.

[also made me wish i had my own twin sister!]