Getting a Shrimp Fix

As evidenced by my post about eating in Virginia, I enjoy shrimp. Cicely and Gary treated me to lunch at Pappadeaux in Kemah. Pappadeaux specializes in Louisiana/ Cajun style cuisine.

In honor of my love of shrimp, we started with Coconut Shrimp appetizer


For my main course, I had Shrimp Étouffée.
Étouffée is a Creole dish typically served with shellfish or chicken over rice, similar to gumbo, very popular in New Orleans and in the bayou country of the southernmost half of Louisiana. (definition courtesy of wikipedia)
The food was so good that I posed with the pelican statue out front.

Texas Tomfoolery

Texas Tomfoolery

Starring

Guest Starring

Cicely has been my closest friend and confidante since we were both starving waitresses working our way through college. For a time, we were roommates. Although we haven’t lived in the same timezone in over 6 years, we still talk everyday. When we get together, it’s a nonstop gabfest and tomfoolery with photographic evidence. This weekend was no exception. Even though we are married women in our 30s, we still behave like giggly teenagers. I guess you could say we keep each other young… and sane. Here is some photographic evidence of our ridiculousness.

We bought matching converse

Cicely taking a photo of me

Me taking a photo of Cicely

Supposedly, she would have bought this hat if it hadn’t been $200

Cicely showing her disdain for the quality of Forever 21 accessories

Me & my new friend – Pelican in front of Pappadeux’s restaurant in Kemah

Hooray! It’s Kanye Day!

According one of my cohorts, Sheri, today is Kanye Day. We (Cicely, Sheri, Sheri’s boyfriend Larry, and I) went to the Kanye West concert at the Woodlands Pavilion. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I am a fan of Kanye West, but I most certainly don’t drink the Kool-aid. I did, however, drink a large frozen pomegranate margarita. Prior to the concert, we stopped at TGI Friday’s to eat and grab a drink. We all felt we needed sustenance and libations to fully prepare us for the show. The food was nothing to write home about, but the drinks were fabulous. I forgot that there’s one thing you can count on at Friday’s and that’s drinks.

Cicely and I modeling the menus for the fine dining establishment.

Sheri & Larry – Young Love

I love pomegranate margaritas!

We arrived at the concert at the very beginning of Rihanna’s set. I’m just a teeny bit disappointed because I missed the other two opening acts – Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. I am partial to N.E.R.D. because they are from my hometown. No matter because the rest of the show can be best described as a spectacle.

We had tickets for the lawn which was open seating. According to Cicely and Sheri, I thugged our way to the front of the lawn section. I beg to differ as I merely snaked my way through the crowd until I found an opening for us to sit and/or stand. “Thugged” makes it sound as thought I pushed and shoved, which is near impossible with my height and build. The place was packed with a very diverse crowd. I was surprised to see that some people had even brought their kids.

Our view of the stage

The crowd

Sheri and me

Me and Cicely

After a very long intermission for stage setup, the lights dimmed and Kanye West started his performance. The whole show had a theme that Kanye West was on a spaceship that crash landed in unknown territories. It redefined the phrase “solo artist”. There wasn’t anyone on the stage except Mr. West. No band, DJ, back-up dancers. No one else. He had all of musicians tucked into the orchestra pit. Either Kanye West was either really ballsy or really in love with himself. It was the latter. His ego was bigger than I had envisioned. The show was complete with a tantrum over non-functioning big screens and multiple affirmations of Kanye West being the biggest star in the universe.

Kanye West in action

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed the show it was definitely worth the price of admission. As it turns out, that was not the only entertainment. Larry provided additional entertainment. Once the show started he was singing along and dancing…. all 6 feet 2 inches of him. It was like watching a teeny-bopper at a concert. Had we not been there, I am almost certain Larry would have started crying. For additional laughs, we were surrounded by the rhythmically challenged. To our left and our right were kids that had no clue how to dance or how to stay in rhythm. It was so hilariously distracting that I missed part of the show because I was laughing so hard. I had a GREAT TIME.

Post Concert

Houston Weekend Summary

Saturday

I slept in until 11AM. It was beautiful. Because it was so late, we had lunch instead of breakfast. Since Cicely knows me so well, we went to one of my favorite fast food places. I have a fried food addiction. We went to… Chick-fil-a! I love the waffle fries.

Photo by J.Reed

Photo by J.Reed

Afterwards, we did some shopping. I love Marshalls. I guess it’s a suburban thing. I bought the cutest Tahari Gunmetal Peep-toe Platform Shoes. We then took a short drive to their new house.

I would show photos of the inside, but I think Cicely would be upset because all the photos I have are of the house unfurnished. It’s small for Texas standards, but I think it’s the perfect starter home.

We then went to Sushi at Ichibon to celebrate their moving into their new house. Gary and I shared most of the Sushi since Cicely has a fish allergy. She was able to enjoy some Ebi.

Lemon Roll – Salmon, Toro, and Spicy Tuna

Cicely’s Ebi Nigiri
Our Shared Sashimi Platter

After dinner, we had some wine and watched movies like we did in college. Our wine escapades produced these photos.

Believe me when I say that Willie loved the attention and loved wearing the hat. Who knew a $5 hat would provide so much joy?

Sunday
We had lunch at Reggae Hut, an authentic Jamaican food establishment. It was a good hole-in-the wall. Gary’s cousin Sheri joined us. After lunch, we went to the Houston Galleria. I was desperate need of some new make-up. We hit up Sephora and I was able to buy some Nars make-up. Being a true sugar fiend, we went to Dylan’s Candy Bar. We took these pictures before going in.

I was sugar crashing so badly that I wanted to nap with this Chocolate Bunny

This concludes my weekend summary. Stay tuned for next weekend’s adventures.

A short getaway – part 1

Image from Boeing website

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go
Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Cause I’m leavin’ on a jet plane
Don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go…

Perhaps, “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver is a bit dramatic. For one, I knew when I’ll be back again. I was only gone for 2 days, 2 nights. Secondly, I can’t say that I hated to go to out of town without Rob. I’m of the school that a little absence makes the heart grow fonder. Or in my case, a little absence saves your sanity.

I took another trip to Houston to visit Cicely & Gary. I hadn’t seen them since the wedding. They bought a new house and I was anxious to see it. My agenda was simple. I wanted a little shopping and relaxation.

Friday Night
The flight was fairly uneventful except for the whiny toddlers sitting behind me. Thankfully, they were unconscious after the 1st hour. The in-flight movie was “Daddy Day Camp”. It’s movies like that that make me glad that I like to read. I spent the entirety of my flight reading “The Time Traveler’s Wife“. The book was so engrossing that I read nearly half of it. Not bad for a 3.5 hour flight.

I arrived at 10:30pm, which did not leave us many options for food. Poor Gary was exhausted from work and was unusually silent. We stopped at Sonic near their apartment. I grabbed a burger, tater tots and a cherry limeade from Sonic. I love their ice. They used granulated ice cubes. I swear that they make the drinks colder faster. Gary went promptly to bed. Cicely and I spent the rest of the evening watching trashy Reality TV. I don’t normally watch it on my own, but somehow I find it entertaining when I’m hanging out with her. I have no idea who comes up with these shows, but I always wonder where in the world they find the participants. I fell asleep watching that drivel. I wonder if it lowered my IQ.