| We
are two weeks into the New Year and how many of you are still
sticking to your new year’s resolutions? I listed a few
solutions to resolutions in the last issue and will offer a
few more in this issue. For starters, how about getting more
involved in your community? A good way could be by attending
Emerging Leaders Annual Vision Lunch scheduled for Thursday,
January 20th at the Four Seasons Hotel. This year's guest speaker
is Mayor Bill White. Individual tickets are $35 for Houston
Downtown Alliance / Emerging Leaders members and $40 for non-members.
If you'd like to reserve your tickets, call the HDA Office
at 713-658-8938. If you live or work downtown, another great
group to get involved with is the Downtown / Midtown Residents
Association. Visit www.dmra.org. There is a Houston Innovative
Professionals Mixer at Six Degrees Lounge (911 Franklin) on
Tuesday, January 25th at 5:30PM, see www.houstonnetworkingnews.com.
It’s my favorite lounge, so you know I’ll be there!
The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is coming to town March
1st - 20th. It seems like everyone becomes a cowpoke for a
few weeks when the Rodeo is here. The chili cook-off always
gets the Rodeo started with a bang. If you need to brush up
on your dancing skills in time for the Rodeo you can take Country
and Western dance lessons on Sundays at 7:00PM at Texas Tumbleweed
which is at 13101 Kuykendahl Road. There are beginner and intermediate
lessons. Everyone pays $3.00 and gets to enjoy the buffet while
learning the latest dance moves. It’s a nice way to meet
new friends too. Call 281-872-7829. If you are ready to get
into Rodeo-mode this month, there is the Katy Go Texan Committee’s
dinner dance on Friday, January 20th at Midnight Rodeo located
in Katy Mills Mall starting at 6:30PM. There will be a silent
and live auction, and all proceeds from the event go to a scholarship
fund. Tickets are $25.00 each and table sponsorships are $250.00
for table of 10. To buy tickets, contact committee member Chaille
Voelkel at 281-675-8400 or email her at cvoelkel@asag.net.
I attended this event last year along with about 600 other
guests. Say hello to Midnight Rodeo GM, Duane Thompson while
you are there. He’s THE man. Another tremendous quality
about Midnight Rodeo is their great drink special on Thursdays
that includes 50¢ bar drinks, 50¢ Coors Light (12
oz. draft,) 75¢ (most) longnecks, $2 pitchers of Bud Light
and $2 almost anything else. It is well-worth the drive to
Katy.
One of my
personal resolutions is to try visiting more new places. I
will do my
best to visit at least one or two spots I’ve
never been to each month and tell you all about them. Two places
I visited last month were D’Wine Restaurant at 4304 Westheimer
at Mid Lane and the Copa Room at 2416 Brazos Street in Midtown.
I was lucky enough to be invited to the M Bar staff Christmas
party and it took place at D’Wine. The food was excellent.
Some of the appetizer items served included bruschetta, pizza,
spanakopita, empanadas and black bean nachos. www.Citysearch.com named D’Wine as one of 2004’s Top Ten new restaurants
in Houston and the restaurant is featured in this month’s
issue of Envy Magazine. There is also a private party area within
the restaurant that doubles as a nightclub called Paparazzi.
You can find more info at www.dwinerestaurant.com. From D’Wine,
some of the crew caravanned over to the Copa Room for the Bartender’s
Ball, which was an Industry Christmas party. M Bar’s Event
Diva, Jenny Green and I arrived, and I slipped on some gravel
in the parking lot and I fell as we were walking to the Copa
Room. It was most amusing, and to the unidentified mystery guy
in the white sweater that picked me up and put me back on my
feet, thanks for helping a damsel in distress, whoever you are.
Deans Credit
Clothing 316 Main Street presents "Stripped," for
one night only on January 22nd beginning at 9PM. Sippora Gallery
will invade Dean’s for a showing of erotic artwork by my
dear friend, Maia whose art "stirs" the viewer. It’s
sultry, seductive, sassy and salacious. She also does works in
art glass and body painting and she is a wonderful human being,
to boot. See her work at www.erosartbymaia.com and several of
her paintings decorate the walls of Six Degrees Lounge, if you
want to see her art face-to-face.
There is
brand new place that a reader wrote to tell me about called
Escobar.
It is at 2905 Travis, Suite A, in Midtown. I
plan to check it out soon. The website looks impressive www.escobarhouston.com.
I’ll write more about it once I’ve visited Escobar.
Thanks to Andy Aweida for telling me about the place. If any
of you have already gone there, drop me an email and tell me
what you think.
Here are
some events happening this month at the Ruby Room at 509 Main
Street, above
Slainte. Each Monday features free poker
with www.nationalpubpokerleague.com.
Come play in the free tournaments at 7 and 10PM. There is a tailgate-themed
Media Mania party at
Slainte Irish Pub on Thursday, January 27th, which is a great
networking experience for those in the marketing, communications,
public relations, print, radio, television, advertising, visual
design, promotions, entertainment and hospitality industries.
Also invited are all Houston-area Chambers of Commerce and Interactive
Network Connection members. Media Mania is hosted by Envy Houston
Magazine and www.houstonqueenofclubs.com.
Drink specials will include $1.75 domestic draft beer, well drinks
and house wine.
Stanford University, as well as a few other Ivy League Alumnus
from other colleges, will have a cocktail party on the 27th in
the Ruby Room until 9PM. Contact me if you’d like info
about the Alumni Groups and I’ll put you in touch with
the Coordinator. On Saturday, January 29th at 6:00, there will
be a champagne reception for three artists featuring new paintings
displayed on the walls in the Ruby Room. Don’t miss the
big Super Bowl Bash on our big screen on January 30th. Party
reservations are being accepted. This is a great idea for a fraternity
party or an office outing. For further details about any of these,
or to book your own event in the Ruby Room, call 713-222-1033.
Is it a resolution
in 2005 for you to try to live well and eat drink and be merry?
The Tasting Room at 1101-18 Uptown Park hosts
Wine Tasting Events on Wednesdays at 7:00PM, along with music
by Jazz Two-Oh Jazzy Duo. The Tasting Room offers a variety of
user-friendly social wine gatherings. To uncork more details,
give them a call at 713-993-9800. If you are a wine connoisseur,
there’s a great group that hosts fabulous social events
and dinners centered around wine. Visit www.houstonwineclub.com to get on their invitation list. Also over in Uptown Park is
McCormick and Schmick’s Restaurant. I was an attendee at
their grand opening in 1999 and I fell in love with the place.
Houston Chronicle calls McCormick and Schmick’s "easily
the best seafood restaurant in Houston." They have a menu
that changes daily and includes fresh fish that is flown in each
day. Happy Hour is 3:30 to 6:30PM Monday through Friday. Last
month, my father and I dined there on Christmas Day and we enjoyed
it immensely. Call McCormick and Schmick’s, located at
1151 Uptown Park Boulevard, at 713-840-7900. They also have great
$1.95 food specials during happy hour. See a list of what they
offer at www.mccormickandschmicks.com.
If you got engaged during the holidays, Larence DeBose has a
travel website and one of the greatest things on it is the
Honeymoon Registry. Couples plan their honeymoon vacation and
their wedding attendees make gift payments to cover the cost
of the honeymoon. Anyone getting married can use the service
FREE of charge. The bride and groom simply select the destination
of their choice, plan all the activities they want and direct
everyone to the website. Go to http://www.ytbtravel.com/brier click on the EXTRAS tab and select GIFTS then click on Honeymoon
Registry. This website is also a good source for low-cost vacations
if you want to travel more often this year.
A big congratulations hug goes out to Carver Shivers for recently
becoming the President of the Professional Photographers Guild
of Houston for 2005. I wish Carver a successful year as "prez." Carver
Shivers is a fellow member of INC www.incinteractive.com, which
is my favorite networking group. I’ve been a member for
15 months now and it has really increased my business contacts.
The next big INC networking luncheon will be on Thursday February
3rd and it is open to non-members too. For information or to
RSVP, visit the website or call Joann Cooper at 281-497-0727.
NEWS IN THE BIZ: Lisa Johnson has left the Arrow 93.7 and is
now an Account Manager at 104 KRBE. Contact her and see how
she can help your business, in any capacity, by calling her
at 713-260-4463. Waitress-extraordinaire, Jerica Zonneville
has left the Flying Saucer and is now a part of the dream team
at Six Degrees Lounge. A huge "congratulations" goes
out to Jen Hogan and DJ Joey V, both of www.clubsinthecity.com notoriety. Jen and Joey got engaged on January 2nd at the top
of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas and she
called me immediately afterwards. It looks like I have a wedding
to help plan. Doorman John Delgado at Slainte also asked his
lady to marry him over the holidays. There is a new newsletter
called Image News and it is free to subscribe to, simply email
your request to bluimage@houston.rr.com. Also jumping on the
newsletter bandwagon is my girl, Angela Carrasco of www.houstonpartyratings.com.
To subscribe to her newsletter, drop her an email at angelaangela@yahoo.com with "add me to your newsletter list" in the subject
line. Check out this cool site: www.icon-magazine.com. Bocados
at 1312 W. Alabama is now open for brunch on Sundays. From
1:00 – 3:00, they serve $7 bottomless mimosas, $6 margaritas,
and $5 bellinis. Don’t forget to keep on eye on the live
music schedule coming up at the Meridian. Add www.meridianhouston.com to your favorites. The Meridian is at 1503 Chartres, between
Leeland and Bell, across 59 from the Convention Center.
DJ Thumpa will be leaving the Ruby Room for greener pastures
(his day job is demanding more of his time) and DJ Tommy (formerly
at Outback Pub) will be the new Thursday DJ beginning February
3rd. We’ll do a Bon Voyage party for Thumpa on January
27th and a kick-off party for our new "Party Gras" Thursdays
on February 3rd with DJ Tommy. $1 drink specials on February
3rd, kids, need I say more? Get your booty to the Ruby Room
on February 3rd. Make a reservation with me and the party host
who brings the most guests between 9-11PM will receive $100
in cold, hard CASH! Call me @713-222-1033 to book your party.
Start inviting friends and picking out your beads for the bead
contest. Every Thursday we will party Mardi Gras style.
There will be an extra edition of Queen of Clubs next week featuring
ideas for Valentine’s Day events, activities, gifts and
accommodations. Guys, this is the one day of the year that
can make or break you, so I will walk you through the process
and make you look like a hero, instead of a zero. Valentine’s
Day is on February 14th, so let’s get started early on
the planning. I’ll do my part to help you in the next
two issues. It’s one of the busiest days of the year
in the dining industry, so make your restaurant reservations
ASAP. Restaurant managers, business owners, hotel staffers
and promoters out there, please email me any events, specials
or products you want me to mention to help these gentlemen
make their ladies swoon with delight.
Another fantastic source to find out about Valentine’s
Day meal packages is Cleverley’s Newsletter. If you need
to find the perfect place to take your special someone, Cleverley’s
newsletter offers the most comprehensive list of upscale dining
recommendations. Cleverley has been dubbed the "Dining Diva" by
the Chronicle and the Houston Business Journal. You can sign
up for her free newsletter. Restaurants and clubs can request
information about listing their V-Day events by emailing Cleverley@CleverleysNewsletter.com.
Cleverley’s list even includes menus for this love-fest
of a day we call Valentine’s Day. See www.cleverleysnewsletter.com.
Even if you aren’t a romantic at heart, with a little help,
you can impress your special someone. The future of your libido
depends on this day. |
