Scenes from a Spring-Inspired Baby Shower

Having been trained in hospitality design all these years, I’ve grown quite accustomed to months upon months of developing interior spaces to meet their fullest potential.  It often takes years to complete an entire project so when opportunities arise to design mini-events like birthday parties and baby showers for my gal pals, I often delight at the chance and dare to dream BIG!  A few measly weeks of planning sure beats years in the making y’all!

One of my best friends, Mary is having a baby girl so what better way to welcome our little Blake into the world than with a spring-inspired fête fit for a blossoming bun in the oven! 

 Buds of moss and succulent terrariums filled the space with garden adventures and gifts from Mother Nature. 

Dangling DIY-yarn spheres and wicker balls blend with the table scape to create an earthy environment grounded with sweets and treats.

Guests are entertained with food, photo booths, and face-painting fun...they'll never have a minute with nothing to do!

 Potted pint-sized plant gardens to take home and relive the memory of this magical celebration!

Congratulations Mary and Van, cheers to my newbie niece Baby Blake!  We can’t wait to smother the little angel, T-minus 3 weeks Mama!  Love you forever!!!

Photos:  Sutando Events (thanks Jim and co., more pix HERE), Ethan Bui, and me

Cake:  Taylor Cake Creations

Event Design:  Me, Julie Khuu Interior Design (thanks for all the helping hands Pandy, Mimz, Di, and boys, love uuuuuuu!)

{Asos dress, CZ Swimsuit cover-up (worn as kimono, similar here and here), Aldo sandals (similar HERE), vintage quilted bag (similar HERE), Arden B. earrings, Forever 21 necklaces, YSL arty ring}

 Hope it's a splendid start to a super-awesome week y'all!

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Food Porn Friday- Houston Eats Part II

Did I mention that I gained quite a bit of weight from this trip?  Need more proof?  Enter at your own risk kiddies, you might pack on a few just perusing this porn below…hummina hummina…holymoly I’m hungry again!

The Breakfast Klub

3711 Travis @ Alabama

Houston, TX 77002

(713) 528-8561

The BEST chicken and waffles I've EVER devoured to date!  The crispy spicy chicken was a great surprise to an otherwise common soul food staple.  And mind you I used to work right around the block from Roscoe's and B.Klub's flavors seriously kill their competitors'.  Don't even get me started on their grits (pictured bottom with deep fried catfish)!  Buttery melt in yo'mouth gooey goodness...Praise the lord I've gone to country heaven!

Locals start lining up at quarter til 11am just for lunch!  It gets cray up in here!

(Left)  They even package their own pancake/waffle batter for sale
(Right) What we girls do before we eat...prayers are soooo 2thousand and late ;D

Empire Cafe

1732 Westheimer Road

Houston, TX 77098

(713) 528-5282

I actually feel like I grew up on Empire Cafe.  After moving from Houston to California in the mid-80's, I frequent the spot on all my yearly visits (even though it's been 6 years since the prodigal son returned)...Love how local the joint feels.  Like I'd be a regular every morning for their house brewed java or home-cooked meals like Mama Italia used to make.

Fiorenza fettucine with grilled chicken and broccoli in a roasted garlic cream sauce.  After you've had fat-ass fettucine, it's hard to go back to regular half-inchers.  This one's monstrous and takes days to fork!

Chicken Roulade with stuffed spinach, mushroom and fontina cheese, topped with white wine cream sauce served with herb roasted potatoes and sauteed veggies.  Like the rich man's answer to Chicken Cordon Bleu...very fancy feasting for a cafe. 

Their house special pineapple spiced cake (right) is so moist and super dense, a single slice could feed an entire village and leave such an imprint on your palette, you'd be dreaming of it for days....Goes perfectly with the Sugar Daddy latte (pictured left) made with cream, hazelnut, and almond syrup...Scrumptious!

Kata Robata

3600 Kirby Drive

Houston, TX 77098

(713) 526-8858

Houston's super trendy sushi and Japanese tapas joint.  Like an Ikko (Costa Mesa) but not quite as refined.  We came for favored house specialties like Foie Gras + Unagi with bone marrow powder, Uni with King Crab Spoon and tobiko, and Sea Urchin Pasta...all of which were the bestie's FAVE dishes and ALL sold-out on an early Friday night.  What the hell dude??  Does this EVER happen to you?  I was soooo dang disappointed but oh well, maybe next year.  Here's what we had instead...

 Miso marinated black cod

 Yellowtail with jalapeno slivers

Kata Ramen in a soy sauce based traditional egg noodle soup with braised pork, boiled egg, and spinach.

New Zealand natural salmon sashimi.  Once you've lived on Alaskan wild salmon, you'll NEVER find anything that tastes quite the same.  This New Zealand breed was too mild in comparison.  I like my sake buttery with intense flavors...and no, that's not the mercury talking.

Chez Beignet

10623 Bellaire Blvd.

Houston, TX 77072

(281) 879-9777

How do you visit H-town and not have beignets every.dang.day???  It's like coming to SoCal and not visiting Disneyland!  I couldn't help myself...especially with a mug of homemade hot chocolate...OooOoooWeE honey!  The Southern beignet bell strikes again at the happiest place on earth!

Catalina Coffee Shop

2201 Washington Ave.

Houston, TX

(713) 861-8448

My uncle's FAVE coffee joint...They mainly feature coffee from Amaya Roasting Company (not like I know what that means but it's supposed to be bomb.diggity and super duper authentic)...Fell in love with their cappuccinos since friendly feline faces smile right back at ya...So Kawaii!

...and of course the obligatory vino and cheese night with the bestie...Miss you soooo much Trammy!  Just like old times again!

Off to Mammoth for the weekend where I’ll be shredding the slopes to shed this extra bulk!  I’ll be back to slim and trim in no time *crosses fingers*!! No one...I mean NO ONE dare ask me out to din until summer ya hear?!?  Unless sushi's on the menu ;D

Cheers to a super FAB weekend y’all!
Stay hungry, eat happy wherever you are!

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Houston Shops: Area

Finally home from Houston but far from settled into my normal routine.  It’s funny what you deem your “new” normal nowadays after back-to-back trips, peppered in with some crazy client scheduling, and a mini weekend getaway to Mammoth tomorrow that I still haven’t packed for.  I don’t even know why I attempt to unpack these days…best if you just pre-pack some suitcases for surf and sun, one for snow, and of course the obligatory Vegas with the girls valises.  Although that one would be an itty-bitty carry-on if you catch my drift ;D hehe

Anyways, got to shop my little heart out in H-town and came up with some darling design gems like Area in West U seen below.  LalalallalaLOVING indie-global-chic  these days…a little bit rustic, a whole lotta GLAM!

If you're in the Houston/ West U area, peep it out here:

Area5600 Kirby DriveHouston, TX 77005(713) 668-1668 Paloma from La Dolce Vita also did a super fab write-up of the space when they celebrated their 15th year in business...you can read all about her experience here as well! {Wearing:  Rich and Skinny cargo pants, BCBG knit, Jessica Simpson leopard scarf, F21 tank, Fringe boots from Nordstrom Rack} Hope y'all are enjoying the last days of winter!  It's super sunny and seriously so gorgeous in SoCal this week...there's no place like home! 

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