Happy Monday y’all. By the time I finish this and / or anyone reads this (if anyone ever reads this), it will almost certainly no longer be Monday, so a less depressing greeting is probably appropriate. But…whatever. So I was just at Bungalow (the most basic bar name ever?) watching the Texans on MNF and left at halftime with every intention of working out when I got home, but somehow I found myself wandering around Target for 30 minutes, and now I’m wearing Christmas pajamas, doing a facemask, eating 9 day old Trader Joe’s pumpkin pie directly from the box, and burning a candle called Maple Cinnamon Pancakes that I found in the back of my cabinet while I watch the fourth quarter. Oh, and I guess I’m also typing this nonsense.

Took a quick look through the past month of random pics I’ve taken / made my friends take of me because I am the worst, and I have been alllll over the place lately. Some new / newish places and lots of old favorites, plus I just want to share some super exciting other pieces of my life, since I know the off topic personal anecdotes and ramblings are what y’all are really here for. We’re looking at multiple posts’ worth of nonsense here, so I’ll try to keep them brief, but seeing as we’re now two long paragraphs in and I have yet to say anything even remotely of substance (or even compose a proper sentence, for that matter), this feels unlikely. Will I even actually get around to finishing TWO blog posts this week?! History suggests no. But only time will tell.

Anyway, let’s talk about coffee!

The Roastery

That incredible new two-story HEB in Bellaire is a solid additional fifteen minutes away from my normal HEB, which technically isn’t even the closest grocery store to my apartment (by far), but this is where I decided to do my shopping yesterday because IT’S A TWO STORY HEB AND IT HAS THIS COFFEE SHOP INSIDE OF IT. And to answer your next question, any of you who only met me within the past two and a half years, yes, I do cook; stop looking surprised. I’m actually…pretty good at it? I used to make relatively elaborate themed baked goods for different holidays and events to give to my friends…like, on a regular basis. And y’all thought I was basic NOW. My college roommate likes to tell this story about how she once tried to get me to go out on a Friday night and I told her I was staying home to make pumpkin bread. I really hope that exact scenario never actually happened, but it seems plausible. Anyway. The Roastery is a legitimately good coffee shop and cafe that has formed a partnership with HEB, which means that if the HEB on Washington is ever completed (I’ll believe it when I see it), it will be to home another location of The Roastery. The coffee was solid, the space was cute, and apparently they REALLY want you to “HAVE A GREAT DAY,” because it says it twice on the cup.

Coterie

We just got MORE good coffee downtown!? The sign for the place actually says “craft liquids,” which even I have to admit sounds pretentious, but I still liked it. Hence the aforementioned sign, the concept is a coffee/wine bar, with food and pastries. The food menu was very limited at lunch the day I went (we got pizza), but it was also one of the first days it was open, so I don’t know if that will eventually expand. Most importantly, though, the coffee was good (it’s a sister shop to Southside, so expectations were high). And this place is so prettyyyyyy! The Liz-approved light fixtures, the wallpaper, and even the presentation of the coffee with the cute little gold spoon will fulfill all of your Instagram needs.

Some Old Favorites…

HOLIDAY SLOTH THEMED SLEEVES AT SLOWPOKES. I LITERALLY WENT THREE DAYS IN A ROW (which really doesn’t sound unreasonable except that it’s at least twelve minutes away from my apartment and in the complete opposite direction of anywhere I would be regularly going). I JUST LOVE IT SO MUCH.

I’ve been going to Boomtown Main St. (formerly The Honeymoon, but it’s pretty much exactly the same thing) on a weekly basis now for lunch. My work BFF and I always sit at the bar and the bartenders inevitably try to convince us to order cocktails. I’m not going to tell you if they have ever been successful in this endeavor. They have excellent avocado toast, for all you non-home-owning millenials, and Boomtown coffee (obviously).

For someone who works (sort of) in the accounting industry, I spend a truly irresponsible amount of my paycheck at Prelude…it’s one block from my building and I may or may not have set a recurring meeting in Outlook thirty minutes before it closes every day entitled “last call for non-terrible coffee.” It gets me probably 85% of the time. And it is the best coffee you can get downtown, hands down (ah, I wasn’t even trying to be cute there, but look at that).

Bonus Nonsense - Black Friday Recap!

If you followed our Black Friday adventure on Instagram (before we gave up and got tacos), you may have seen my lone purchase. It’s a Chemex (a pourover coffee maker), and on sale at World Market it was $32, including the special fancy filters. Also, I look happier in this picture in which I am hugging a literal coffee pot than I ever have about anything in my entire life. Sooooo I don’t know what that says about me. But I tested it out last night (using the coffee I ordered from Maine, obviously), and I already feel more sophisticated.
My next home (apartment) decor project is officially going to be a bar cart. It took a great deal of self-restraint not to impulse purchase this one (it was/still is 40% off what a deal?!), but I think I can hold out until Christmas.
I went to Target on Thanksgiving night (it’s my personal tradition, judge me) and DIDN’T BUY ANYTHING. I’ve never entered a Target and left empty handed, and on pre-Black Friday of all days?! Also, I would like to point out that the checkout process at Target on Black Friday is actually faster than any other day of the year (not hyperbole). They have this thing down to a science.

Thanks for reading. Stay tuned.

<3 liz