A Win-Win at the River Oaks

Yesterday I read that Mark Cuban of Dallas Mavericks fame would be putting up his Landmark Theatres company for auction. What exactly does that mean for us Houstonians? I think it means that the River Oaks Theatre is threatened--yet again.

Courtesy txnco38 on Flickr

Coincidentally, my husband Chad and I had planned to go there last night to see Win Win. (We tried to see it last weekend, but it was sold out--for good reason.) 

Win Win 

Making a night out of going to the River Oaks, the last historic movie theater in Houston that is still used for its original purpose, to me, is always a treat. I won't argue that the smaller upstairs theaters could use some retrofitting, especially now that we Americans are not only super-sized but also accustomed to either the recliners in our home media rooms or the cush seats with cupholders at our more recently built multiplexes. Hands down and blind-folded though--on any night, Chad and I would choose two hours of feeling a bit squeezed to watch a grade-A film (with a glass of wine, if so inclined) over the crowds, pay-for-parking and often so-so selections at our local megaplex.

Courtesy Houston Deco

We had dinner before the movie and decided on visiting Tony Mandola's in its Miracle Location on Westheimer. While we would normally have chosen somewhere walkable in the River Oaks Shopping Center, we wanted to patronize the former tenant in its temporary locale. We're looking forward to Brasserie 19 opening in its old place and, of course, to Mandola's returning nearby on Waugh. Often overlooked, and with less fanfare, Epicure Café is a such a gem. We enjoyed a fresh mint tea and shared a slice of cheesecake there after the movie. I always feel like I'm in a European café there, which is an accomplishment worth noting in our sprawling city.

Epicure's pastry display courtesy www.julieheinrich.com

Call me a "Preservation-preferring sentimentalist," but if the River Oaks Theatre is ever demolished, it will be such a shame for the Magnolia City. I so respect Bryan Caswell for making El Real happen in the old Tower Theater on Westheimer. (If you haven't been yet, it is scrumptious, no-frills Tex-Mex and a great use of the space.) And hopefully something good will become of the Alabama Theater. But with what Weingarten did on the northwestern corner of the River Oaks Shopping Center, where Three Brothers Bakery used to be, not to mention putting in a third Starbucks within a baseball's throw (two visibly located across the street from one another and the third inside Barnes & Noble), I can't help but fear the future of the theatre and our city's oldest auto-oriented retail center. If we're going to be a city made up of strip malls, at the very least, shouldn't we protect our first?

El Real in the old Tower Theater

But I'll climb off of my soapbox and give two thumbs up to Win Win, a terrific movie starring Paul Giamatti and showing now at the River Oaks. Whatever ends up happening to the venue, I'm thrilled to know that indie films will be available Downtown soon, when my first movie star crush Robert Redford's Sundance Cinemas takes the place of the old Angelika. There's a bevy of great stuff happening Downtown, and this will most certainly be a strong addition. They signed something like a 50-year lease, so no endangerment in my lifetime at least! But for the River Oaks, it will take more than that for our future generations to enjoy it.

Bettering Our Bayou Trails

Lady Bird Lake Hike & Bike Trail 

I have an affair with Lady Bird Lake (formerly Town Lake) in Austin. Don't worry, my husband Chad knows! We both love Austin, but it's the lake and its hike and bike trail that get me every time. I love watching the kayaking, rowing and stand-up paddlers, the dogs, the strollers and exercisers, the soccer players at adjacent Zilker Park, the bats at Congress Avenue and the Austin skyline, ever-changing. While we both wouldn't mind living in that great city again one day (We both lived there for college.), for now we will just be visiting. While Houston has no Colorado River running through it, we do have a very prominent bayou: Buffalo Bayou. Sadly, we have not given it the attention it deserves.

So, what is a bayou? According to dictionary.com, a bayou is:

 –noun, plural -ous. Chiefly Lower Mississippi Valley and Gulf States.
1. a marshy arm, inlet, or outlet of a lake, river, etc., usually sluggish or stagnant.
2. any of various other often boggy and slow-moving or still bodies of water.

I strongly believe that our marshy arm and the hike and bike trail around it could be so much better than it is today. Maybe it will never be the caliber of Lady Bird Lake, but it can most certainly be better than it is today. After all, we have the skyline, the bats, the exercisers, the dogs and the occasional strollers.

While Houston gets a bad rap for its hot, humid weather, just this week we have had some bluebird days. Perfect days for a bike ride, wouldn't you say? There aren't many cities where you can go on a pleasant bike ride this time of year. New York City, for instance, received 19 inches of snow yesterday, God bless it.

Last month we had some similar beautiful days, so Chad and I decided to go on a bike ride around Buffalo Bayou along Allen Parkway and down Memorial Drive. I brought my camera to document the ride. I felt a bit like Aron Ralston in 127 Hours. (Great movie, by the way!) Look at these photos--the sad trails and happy improvements--and imagine the possibilities.

Sad trail

Happy! A new pedestrian bridge at Montrose 

Sad trail along Memorial Drive, great skyline

Sad trail under Memorial Drive nearing Downtown

Happy! Improvements underway, connecting to the Heights

Happy! Sabine-to-Bagby Promenade

Sad trails headed west toward Waugh

Oh-so-sad trail at Montrose and Allen Parkway

Sad trail along Allen Parkway and by the Wortham Fountain

Close-up of the Wortham Fountain and a happy, hopefully inspiring, image to leave with you

While the Buffalo Bayou Partnership has made tremendous strides the last several years in improvements, there is still a long, long way to go. Think about Austin's Town Lake. I know we can get there. While this blog's namesake harks back to an old Houston nickname unbeknownst to many today, the "Bayou City" is not. Let's own up to it!

Plant a Tree!

Budding lemon, May 30, 2010

It is often suggested that one should plant a tree before they die. I remember helping my sister and mom plant one on the Briargrove Elementary grounds. When I drive by, I always wonder if that little tree is still there, what with all the changes that have been made to that campus since the early 80s.

My husband Chad and I would like to plant a tree of our own. While we haven't scratched it off our list yet, a previous owner of our home did. Fruit trees! And we are lucky to be enjoying the fruits of their labor. 

They are both still young--one Lisbon Lemon and the other a small orange variety called Dwarf Calamondin. When we first moved in, the calamondin orange tree had much fruit on it. We plucked them all off, and sadly it did not bear any fruit last year. However, this year the fruit is back, but still teeny tiny.

Teeny tiny calamondin oranges

On the other hand, the lemon tree was bare when we moved in and has remained so until this past May. One day I walked outside and was amazed by the little bitty bud on it. (See the opening photo above.) 

Lemon tree before we bought the house, November 2008

Lemon tree this week, January 2011

Is that amazing growth or what?! We have no idea how big and fruitful these trees will get, but are excited to watch them grow and enjoy their fruit.

Close up of growing lemon, September 11, 2010

Close up of ripe lemon, January 11, 2011

While I did use a lemon a month or two ago to freshen up our garbage disposal, we had not tasted one until the other night. It was delish in our peppermint tea! A fresh batch of lemonade would be in order...if only it were summer.

Peppermint tea with fresh lemon juice

So, hopefully now I have you wishing you were growing your own fruit in your backyard. If so, lucky for you, tomorrow is Urban Harvest's annual Fruit Tree Sale! It will take place at the University of Houston Robertson Football Stadium from 9AM-1PM or until sold out. They will have a host of fruit trees, from Darlene sweet domestic muscadines to Bloomsweet Asian grapefruits. I cannot advise you on what to grow in our climate, but the good people of Urban Harvest should be of help.

Personally, I would not mind adding an avocado (mmmmm!) or fig tree to our yard, but I am just not sure where they would go...unless we unearthed our Cycas revoluta, which would be fine by me since they are toxic to pets. But, even if we don't make room this weekend, there are several organizations in Houston that provide opportunities to plant trees, like Trees for Houston and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.

So in closing I will leave you, my beloved reader, with a Chinese Proverb: The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.

Merry Christmas Lights!

One of my favorite things to do at this magical time of year is to drive around at night listening to Christmas carols and admiring Christmas lights. I have to say that this year in particular the Magnolia City has done an impressive and inspiring job. The Woodland Heights neighborhood, who hosted Lights in the Heights a couple weekends ago for the 24th year, was quite a sight. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me then. But, I did take a spin the other night with my camera and snapped a few beauties in Montrose, Boulevard Oaks, Southampton and River Oaks. Enjoy! And from our house to yours, Merry Christmas!

 

Montrose

Montrose

Montrose

Boulevard Oaks

Boulevard Oaks

Southampton

River Oaks

River Oaks

Easy As Pie

With Thanksgiving only a day away, many are surely gearing their appetites for a feast. From turkey to mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce to pumpkin pie, this is by far my favorite meal of the year, and I know I am not alone. I always love an excuse to bake, and Thanksgiving is one of them. I tore out a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie with Marshmallow Meringue from Southern Living recently. I consider myself a baker, famous among friends for duplicating Magnolia Bakery's delicious cupcakes, but I had never baked a pie before the one in this here post. Additionally a fan of sweet potatoes, I had never had a Sweet Potato Pie. So, I thought I'd make things right and document the effort here. After all, the magazine called the recipe "Easy As Pie," how hard could it be?

Doesn't that marshmallow meringue just look divine?

The instructions say it will take 20 minutes ("hands-on") and 2 hours, 30 minutes ("total") to prepare this.  While I had never baked a pie before, the experience I did have baking gave me doubts. Twenty minutes just seemed awfully quick...but I forged ahead with high hopes.

I tried to make the ingredients look pretty here for a photo, like my friend's professional cooking blog, NotThatMartha. How did I do? I think I managed to squeeze everything in but the corn syrup (more on that later).

Here I am preparing the crust. Yes, those are black-eyed peas in the parchment paper. They are used to weigh the crust down--to mold it--and then are tossed.

There she is baking in the oven. I covered only the sides with foil, a tip from one of my cookbooks.  (The recipe at hand actually suggested covering it entirely.)

I bought all the ingredients at Whole Foods, and they did not have marshmallow creme (likely because it is full of unwholesome stuff). I improvised by making my own marshmallow creme with 16 marshmallows and 2 teaspoons of corn syrup over a make-shift double-boiler.

Here she is after the bake. So far, so good... 

Now it was time to add the marshmallow meringue and bake it for 6 more minutes. It sure didn't appear to have the fluff from the magazine. I gave myself the benefit of the doubt though, thinking maybe the fluff will happen in the oven. I'd peek, and still no fluff. A few more minutes. A few more. And a few more. Finally, after at least 3 times the amount suggested, I pulled her out.

And, voilà...

So maybe it didn't turn out quite as fluffy or mouth-watering as the Southern Living one. It took me a "total" of six and half hours (not including the trip to Whole Foods), so beware of magazine recipe timelines! Admittedly, I was in uncharted territory. 

I think it tasted pretty good. Different, but good nonetheless. The pie was my contribution to John Daugherty, Realtors' annual Thanksgiving lunch. I didn't come away with the accolades my cupcakes bring, but at least I had some leftover pie to share with others. My mom politely said it wasn't my best. Luckily for the Covey side of the family, I will be bringing mashed potatoes and a green salad this Thursday.

With so much to be thankful for, I  want to say that I am thankful for you, my beloved reader. I wish you much success in your kitchen this week. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Anthropologie in Real Estate

 This is a test.

Rorschach Card 1

It is intended to be like the Rorschach inkblot test. Remember that from Psych 101?

I am asking that you look at the following five spreads from the new Anthropologie catalog. You may look at each spread as long as you like. 

Print it,

rotate it, 

look at it however you wish!

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

 

What do you see?

Did you see what I saw? The paper doll cat dressed in Victorian clothes wearing a bonnet? (Because I love cats and old stuff, I cut this out of the real catalog and put it on my fridge!) Did you see the black-and-white spotted llama? Did you see the owl? The cat wearing a dog sweater?

I thought this catalog was so creative. But, I missed the clothes! I missed the boots on the sheep. I missed the Christmas ornaments hanging from the white parrot's beak. And I missed the feather-boa pillows under the Papillion.

I bring this up because Anthropologie is only trying to do what home sellers everywhere are trying to do: move product. If you can't see the product, it makes it quite a bit harder to sell.

Eliminating clutter is so important in getting a house ready to sell. If you are selling, remember that buyers are there to look at the house, not your wedding photos, your kid's honor roll ribbons or your rare collection of ostrich eggs. For a quicker sale, clean out 2/3 of your belongings. You will be amazed at the difference it will make!

Greetings from the Magnolia City!

Many of my beloved readers and clients might not know that before I became a REALTOR®, I was employed in the publishing industry for a number of years. I majored in Advertising at the University of Texas and was part of the creative sequence. While I complemented my major with a concentration in Business Foundations, my heart leans to the creative. My first "real" job was as an advertising sales assistant in San Francisco for a premier West Coast publishers’ representative firm. While it put me in the magazine business, it was not what I was seeking to do. I wanted to write and be on the creative side of the business, not in sales. To get more relevant experience, I wrote copy for a start-up website delivering online content until finally landing the job I wanted--an editorial position at a magazine. I worked as an editorial assistant at Golf Magazine in New York, mostly doing research, copy editing and small writing assignments but occasionally getting to interview famous PGA players and actors with a penchant for golf. It was great! But after two-and-a-half years I decided I'd had enough of the long New York winters. When I moved back to Texas, I helped launch Houston Magazine. I wrote articles and eventually became the associate editor doing a number of things, but mostly writing and editing. It was a fun job with good people and was a great way to reconnect with my hometown. I just didn't feel that Houston offered the progressive career in magazines like New York did, and I knew I would not be moving back to New York soon. Don't get me wrong: I heart New York! But my roots were planted in Texas, and that's where I saw them growing old.

My roots also have so much real estate in them, from my grandmother to my mom and now almost everyone related to us! So my blog is a way for me to merge that creativity that I enjoy with my real estate career. But sometimes I feel stifled by the fact that my blog is about real estate. I want to blog about real estate, home maintenance and the like, but I don't want to feel boxed in anymore. Real estate is my career now, but it is not everything I am. I like photography, eating out, bookstores, interior design, window shopping, antiquing, old buildings, baking, etc., etc.

So, much like the Future Mayor of Cherryhurst's blog post, "We Need to Change," I hereby declare that H-Town w/Emily Covey will from this day forward be called Magnolia City.

Magnolia City? Yes. It is one of the earliest of Houston’s many nicknames. The Texas World, a newspaper first published in 1900, is said to have labeled Houston "the Magnolia City," but the nickname had been in use among the locals since the 1870s. Areas of east Houston, particularly Harrisburg and Magnolia Park, were once natural magnolia forests that were wiped out by urban sprawl by the 1920s.

To me, the title represents not just where I am writing from and where I am working, but what Houston once was, what it is now, and what it can be. I am hoping that this change will allow me to blog in a more free-wheeling style--and more often. I'm not sure exactly what this means yet, but I hope it works out better for all of us. I feel better already!