Let's Go On An Adventure: Houston, Texas

So over winter break, I went to Houston, Texas. This is an annual tradition for me and my family, since my dad's side of the family lives there. I love it there! There are so many good restaurants, things to do and places to go to! I'll share with you all of my favorite places while recapping my experience.

We intended to stay at my uncle and aunt's house, where my grandparents also live. But our cousin, AC, invited us to stay at her house with her and her husband, and we always have so much fun there, so we couldn't say no. It's always so much fun with AC and her husband. They recently got 2 dogs, Coco and Casper, so we love playing with them. Plus they have English television, so that's a plus.

AC and I are really similar, other than the fact that we're about 10+ years apart... We are both shopoholics. But her shopping is 10 times more than mine!

After the annual Christmas Eve dinner at my uncle and aunt's house, which was huge and fun, as per usual, filled with cheesy mussels, corn casserole, lamb chops and a competitive super hard board game we picked up at Dave & Busters the other night.

Christmas was spent at AC's house, we had bought a firepit earlier that week, so after one round of s'mores, we knew that we had to use it again. AC's husband wanted to grill some ribs, and we wanted another excuse to bring out the firepit! We decided to call up one of the cousins, AC's parents, our parents, and our grandparents, and AC's husband's brother's family (We're really close with AC's husband's family!). We spent the day cleaning the house and cooking food, then everyone came over, at times it was a bit stressful in a small house, but it was a lot of fun! The ribs were amazing!

Yay for firepits and s'mores!

For Christmas, from AC and her husband, we got tickets to the Houston Texans game. We had never been to a NFL game, much less a football game. We were excited! At first, I wasn't sure if I'd like it, but I'll tell you more about it when the game comes on Sunday.

The day after Christmas, AC and I went Boxing Day shopping. The boys (my brothers and AC's husband) had plans to go fishing on a boat they rented, and it got moved up to Friday, due to high chances of rain on Saturday. AC and I did some Boxing Day shopping, as J calls it. and although, I didn't buy a ton of stuff... it was so much fun! I got a dress and top from Lucky Brand, and a tank from Anthropologie. We went to the Galleria and Highland Village- my new favorite place that I can't afford at all (Lulu, J.Crew, Kate Spade, Vineyard Vines... everything a girl could dream of!).

I saw these at the mall, and I thought they'd be perfect for prom!
I texted this pic to J right away. He agreed.

The tank I got from Anthro.
It's a little big, so size down!
I love it though!

Highland Village!
Love at first sight.

And the food in Houston is amazing. 

My favorite restaurant of all time is Pappasitto's, the best TexMex there ever was. Go on Wednesday..., half price fajita night! The only problem is you can't make reservations there, and the line is always so long there! Even when we passed there on Christmas Eve, it was super crowded! We got it catered for us this year, because there's so many of us, and my grandmother can't wait for a long time.

I also love love love Taste of Texas. Their salad bar is amazing and you can pick out which cow you want (a little strange, but cool?). The first time you go is a fun experience too! It's a bit pricey, but worth it for the experience! 

I went to Palazzo's for the first time this year, and it was really good! The bread is seriously amazing, I could eat that for the entire meal. I got the chopped salad once, and the Penne Stefano is amazing too! The pizza is also good. My cousin swears by the chicken parmesan, and I tried some of the alfredo, which was good. Everything there is good!

I ended up loving the football game. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life! I have always enjoyed football games, even though I don't understand football 100%, the atmosphere and just being there was amazing! The game was great, it was close, but we ended up winning. 

We had amazing seats!

Love this candid AC shot of me!

The next night, we went to a Rockets basketball game. Our seats were the complete opposite of ours at the football game. It was really steep, and we were really high up there! It was really fun, although I preferred the loudness of the football game. There's nothing like being at a game live... nothing beats anything live! I don't ever want to watch another game on TV again!

We were high up there! Really high.

The weather was surprisingly colder than I expected it to be. Even though it was much warmer than NC, I had brought my shorts and Tory sandals, that I didn't even wear. What a disappointment. But I love these shots I took of my uncle's backyard.

It used to be a pool, but my grandfather wanted a fish pond.
So now it's a fish pond!

So that's most of Houston! Hope y'all enjoyed it. I love it there so much.