darva

dessert shoppe is on my list of To-Dos for the week. heights kids group moms have had good things to say.

the heights does have a nice selection of sweets: MAMs (opening again in March), gelato at Crickets; Antidote has great sweets, many made by Jennifer Diaz of Porchswing Desserts, DaCapos, El Bollio... There is a Marble Slab accessible by the bike trail down by Target. Then you have all the new stuff: Dessert Shoppe, Pie In The Sky Pie Company (opening soon), Melange Creperie (mobile until- often sets up in front of Hello, Lucky), What's Up Cupcake, and rumored Happy Fatz to open on White Oak. That's a lot of treats in a couple square miles

How have I missed these two? I <3 Pie in the Sky! I saw the article in the paper about What's Up Cupcake, but didn't realize it was so close! Thanks!

My youngest goes to MDO at ST. Matthew's UMC on Shepherd @ 43rd. She absolutely loves it and I have no complaints whatsoever. The staff is awesome and the director is always out and about during drop-off/pick-up times.

My oldest goes to school at St. Rose of Lima and the lil one will start there next fall for pre-k. The lil one would be at the ECC, but they had no openings for her age group last year when we wanted to get her started in MDO type programs and they only do a 5 day/week program (unless they've changed it) and I didn't really want her there that many days. I really liked the facility however. Once we started somewhere else though, I didn't see a reason to pull her out of it to move to another school until pre-k. I've also been involved with some of the teachers there, as well as parents, when putting together the annual Halloween Festival last year and they were all super nice and so willing to help out and get their kiddo's involved. I think that's awesome.

is the broken spoke on washington? not a bar but supposed to be a good little restaurant. a lot of heights families have been chattering about it on the Heights Kids forum and everyone is smitten. apparently, they were going to have to close shop but got some publicity in the 'hood and business has picked up. HAIFers need to try it out and see what you think. we are going to try and go by next week and see if all the other families are right

We went a couple months ago... It wasn't bad at all. The food was good. The husband had some issues with them making his burger wrong, but outside of that we enjoyed our 'brunch' there. We intend on going back to try the breakfast soon.

Just went to MAM's, I think it's a much better location. Besides being closer to my house, it's a big open lot instead of a cramped parking lot with people driving through it. They have picnic tables set up in the back of the lot where there is some shade.

My mouth is now blue.

Awesome! I think my kiddo's and I will take a lil walk tonight and give them a try. Get a nice treat for getting a little exercise... works for me!

Hit Shuck Daddy's last night. Nice layout, friendly and attentive staff. Limited menu (according to my wife), food was a little above average. Prices were hefty. 2 beers, 1 po' boy w/ fries and 1 fried shrimp w/ fries = $30.

Would be great if they had a lunch menu.

Nice to know... My husband and I were just discussing Shuck Daddy's last weekend and deciding if we should try it... We went somewhere else instead, but we'll definitely give them a try.

Went to the open house on Sunday and I have to say that I wasn't impressed with the quality of the work or the quality of the materials used. There were a lot of places that showed quick finishes and no attention to detail. It reminded me a lot of the kind of work you would see in a townhome... Nails sticking out, unfinished corners, doors with mis-aligned latches, hollow core doors, cheap one coat paint jobs, gaps in the grout work and just an unsturdy feel... Not worth the price tag, thats for sure.

I don't think we paid that much attention simply because... we'd never spend that much on a house! lol That is a shame though... You would think (hope) they'd have finished it out decently.

It's over 200k more than the house at the corner of Nicholson (i think... might be Lawrence?) which is why I was so shocked at the price tag. It sold about a year ago... Property/house values haven't gone up that much!

I think it's primarily because the 'rest' of Houston is not dry. I lived in Nacogdoches while in college... It really wasn't that big of a deal and back then they didn't have the centralized card, you bought a membership at each individual restaurant/bar. So you'd pay your 5 bucks, then get a coupon for a couple free drinks or a free appetizer (if at a restaurant). Maybe it's because so many entire counties are dry or partially dry that makes it more 'okay'?

This is down the street from us... When they first completed the house and started doing open houses the hubby and I went down to take a look because the price totally flabbergasted us! It's a beautiful house inside... but we both agreed, WAY overpriced for this area. I'm sure that turns a lot of people off. Funny thing is, since it's now been listed with a real estate agency, the price has gone UP by about 25k.

Barracuda... the microwave is indeed under the island, I questioned the location (particularly because we have small children who like to push buttons) and she replied "it locks." lol I don't know... seemed like a VERY odd location to me.

I've eaten at La Carreta. Several times in fact. My Grandpa LOVED this place and when my mom and I were taking care of him in his later years, we would eat there every couple of weeks or so. I haven't been in years... Sad considering I live much closer now! They used to have pretty good refried beans and good guacamole... The cheese enchilada's weren't bad either. It was always fairly cheap... so for the price, it certainly couldn't be beat.

I'll have to convince my husband to go over there one night and I'll let you know how it is now.

I noticed yesterday morning that they have started tearing down part of the strip center on the Durham side. Maybe they're taking out parts of the strip to add more parking? I'm actually happy they're putting a Kroger fuel center in... Now I can use my points!

I used to bag groceries too, and we learned all of the bagging "rules" you mentioned. You left out an especially important one - Cleaning products (AJAX, bleach, etc.) never go in the same bag as food.

It really irritates me when supermarket employees don't follow these rules. Some don't even ask if you want paper or plastic, they just start putting everything into 50 gazillion plastic bags; many of which are over-stuffed and break on the way to your car.

Several times, I've asked baggers to stop, I'll do it myself.

AMEN! I worked at a small town Wal-Mart when I was in college... even though I didn't start out as a cashier, we were still trained on the registers and HOW TO BAG GROCERIES! It makes me very annoyed when people don't properly bag my groceries. I too, try to group them together either on the belt or in the cart on how I would like them bagged, but still several times have asked the bagger to stop and just let me do it. lol gah! It's not hard!

which is all well and good except that Party Boy is only about 1/4 as awesome as Arne's!

I know! They didn't have anything I needed for my brother's wedding party! I found everything I needed at Walmart, of all places! I'm certain Arne's would have had a better selection though!

Whaaat

This is terrible news. I went to Frankel's this year for Halloween because it was closer, but I had no idea Arne's took damage and was closed. I used to go to Arne's several times a year.

Status report on Party Boy, ASAP!

Party Boy is open for business and didn't appear to have any damage from Ike when I was there in early November.

My kiddo's don't run around the tables, etc... But a toddler is only going to be so quiet and if you're setting next to us, she's likely to talk to you and "disturb" your otherwise peaceful dinner. If it bothers people, obviously I discourage her from speaking to them... but over all, I'm not going to tell my child to not be friendly and socialize with people. I don't feel the need to squash her bubbly happy personality. That said, if the atmosphere/environment ALLOWS her to wander around a little, I don't have a problem with it. That doesn't mean that I "passively parent" in any way.

Let me be the first to say "Adios".

ditto that.

I obviously don't go over there often enough, I didn't know it was closed until I tried to go there a couple weeks ago. Their website says temporarily closed, so I'm hoping that means they are going to fix and re-open!

Party Boy just doesn't carry NEAR the variety of stuff that Arne's does... Made my venture to find pretty embossed napkins a couple weeks ago, quite the journey!

Our oldest goes to St. Rose of Lima Catholic School in the Garden Oaks area... both my husband and sister in law attended St. Rose growing up. It's gotten smaller since then, but is still a very good school. My daughter is thriving there and now LOVES school. As long as we live in the Heights area, she will attend St. Rose, as will my youngest if we are still in the area when she is school aged.

Going over my check list

flashlight - check

batteries - check

tequila - check

Okay. I'm ready.

That's pretty much my checklist too. Though the first to go will be the Mudslide mix in the fridge!

That's really sad about the dog--hope he was ok.

We don't rely totally on the dog. We still have window and door sensors on. The dogs are just back-up. It's amazing that I'm surrounded by people that stay home during the day but every time we've gotten things stolen (even in broad daylight) nobody sees a thing. I'm always glancing out my windows and door at the street and neighbors houses when I walk by. I always watch if I see an unfamiliar car at the neighbors house to see if they knock on the door or try to get inside if the neighbors aren't home. Wish the neighbors took it upon themselves to help keep a watch out for the neighborhood.

Ditto. If we would all look out for each other, we'd have a much safer neighborhood. I do the same now, but I grew up in that type of neighborhood. Moving into the Heights has been a huge transition for me for this reason... I couldn't even tell you my neighbors names, they aren't very friendly at all!