A Whole Lot of Nothing and a Whole Lot of Stuff

Design by Anne Taintor. My sister just gave me napkins with this phrase on them. Love em!

Last week I went to the Book & Author Dinner here in Houston and I totally enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed meeting Julie Powell of Julie & Julie fame and Charlaine Harris, the original creator of the True Blood characters. I'm not a vampire show fan but the writer herself was so inspiring.

An added bonus to the night was meeting Alison Cook, the restaurant critic, in person. She is SO COOL! I can't wait to go on a tour of Houston's chicharrones with her.

I wasn't planning on a quiet calm night tonight but it ended up working out that way. My friend was going to come over with her girls and her nephew and she canceled on me. Her kids were tired from their Fall Festival. We had ours today too but my little one napped so he was ready to play.

So we're just hanging out instead. Just relaxing and sipping on a Bloody Mary.

Recently I think I talked about taking the Strengths Finder test. It was either here or on my skirt! blog.

I took it for work and then I bought the book for my husband and he took the test too. I think it's a great barometer to help you become aware of your strengths.

I found out that they have the same book for kids. It's called Strengths Explorer. It's for children ages 10-14, but I think my daughter can handle the test. Once she takes the test and I take a look at it I can see how I can apply it or tailor it to my five year old boy.

I think that lately I've been going about things the wrong way. Instead of focusing on his weaknesses I'm going to start focusing on his strengths. He's such a smart little boy, but he's full of energy and he doesn't make the right decisions many times. I know he has it in him to make the right ones. So that's my goal. I ordered the StrengthExplorer book today.

My daughter is a born winner in life. She's self-motivated. She's the kind of person that's a self-starter. I hardly have to tell her to do her homework. She takes out her books when she gets home and starts working. She goes on the computer to the different sites she has to go to and does the extra work. She's just a doer. I know that if she keeps on the same path she will be successful.

My friend Lizbeth Ortiz had a phenomenal art show at Bohemeo's on Tuesday. I want to buy something from her. I bought a tiny heart in a box that is too cute, but I'd like to buy one of her larger pieces.

Next week my high school celebrates FIFTY YEARS! They are having a all alumni reunion anniversary. It should be a great event. I'm looking forward to that. It will be held at the high school and we'll be able to visit our old stomping grounds.

Some of Houston's Best Kept Secrets

Sculpturworx- David Adickes Studio
2500 Summer Street

I've known for a long time that local artist David Adickes had his studio on Summer Street near the Heights, but I had no idea that I had driven past it so many times in my life. It's right up the street from the new Target off of I-1o. The studio is up Sawyer from Target and to the right on Summer Street.

The coolest thing about the studio is that the yard is full of sculptures. Most of them are behind a tall fence but a couple are out in the open, like Obama. It's like going to a museum or art gallery exhibit.

For those of you who aren't familiar with David Adickes he is the sculptor of the famous tall Sam Houston in Huntsville and the man with the cello downtown in front of the Lyric Center. He's also created the president's heads on I-10 & 45 and the big Beatles statues.

My sister visited this weekend and we went to Sculpturworx as well as Casa Ramirez in the Heights. We had a wonderful time on 19th Street walking through some of the shops.

My sister came bearing gifts. She brought the kids a really cute and old book "Millions of Cats" by Wanda Gag. They loved it.

She also brought me the cutest little blue apron with shoes all over it and she got me a 2010 Anne Taintor calendar.