Retail wrap
Target + Neiman Marcus recently announced the Holiday 2012 collection, which will hit the stores on December 1. Twenty-four of the nation’s most influential designers will create a one-time-only holiday collection available at all Target and Neiman Marcus stores. Prices will range from $7.99 to $499.99.
Macy’s launches an exclusive, limited-edition collection with Nicole Richie in September. The Nicole Richie capsule will pay homage to the fashion icon’s lux bohemian style, ranging in price from approximately $49 – $149.
Pinot’s Palette, a popular arts and crafts studio, will open its doors in September in Sugar Land Town Square. Art teachers direct students with step-by-step instructions on how to recreate the night’s featured painting.
Edward Sanchez’s Vanity Lounge arrives at West Ave. Sanchez and his business partners, Diane and Michael Caplan, will open the Vanity Lounge next to Katsuya in late August 2012.
IKEA powers up their solar panels at the Houston store! This investment reinforces the company’s long-term commitment to sustainability and confidence in photovoltaic (PV) technology. IKEA owns and operates each of its solar PV energy systems atop its buildings – as opposed to a solar lease or PPA (power purchase agreement.)
Gardner Landry recently launched the Sessanta Linen Camp Shirt, originally modeled after one of his grandfather’s camp shirts from the Dolce Vita-era Italy. (Sessanta means sixty in Italian, and 1960 was the year Fellini’s film La Dolce Vita was released.) Each shirt sports its own unique hand-dyed pocket created by local, innovative fabric artisans.
H&M announces an exclusive collaboration with Maison Martin Margiela for Autumn/Winter 2012.
destination
Lowe Enterprises Investors has acquired the Hotel Derek. LEI plans to establish further betterments, investing at least $4.5 million in the 314-room boutique hotel situated in the Galleria area. LEI also owns the Hotel Driskill in Austin. Destination Hotels & Resorts is widely acclaimed for operating premier boutique hotel properties.
Hotel ICON celebrates its historic home’s 100th year with the savings of a century. Make off like a bandit every Friday and Saturday with the “100 for $100” package that showcases the Union National Bank building’s just completed multimillion dollar redesign, including refashioned Congress Street entrance and gorgeous new guestrooms, for just $100 per weekend night. Based on availability for double occupancy and excluding tax through September 8, 2012 only. For reservations, log onto hotelicon.com or call 713.224.4266.
dinewrite
Uchi will host Community Table Dinners on the second Monday of every month. Space is limited to ten people and reservations can be made by calling 713.522.4808. At $45 per person, each guest will enjoy a 5-course meal.
Cordúa Restaurants is celebrating their 25th anniversary by featuring a new 8/8 bar menu and 88 Summer prix fixe to kick off the year-long celebration. The significance of 8/8 88 represents the opening of Michael Cordua’s first restaurant almost 25 years ago in 1988.
Craft Beer Fest is back for Labor Day weekend! According to Brewers Association records there are now almost 2,000 craft breweries in the United States. The three-day event celebration will showcase two signature events: BrewLicious in the Ballroom and BrewHaHa Grand Tasting, both of which have VIP experiences, as well as the regular ticket. The festivities will begin on Friday, August 31, with BrewLicious in the Ballroom. Located at the Moody Gardens Hotel’s Francis Anne Moody Ballroom, this spectacular evening for suds sippers is for the serious beer and culinary enthusiast.
Chef Aquiles Chavez has a hangover cure! La Fisheria announces his new Sunday Brunch addition from 11:30am until 3:30pm, Sundays in the beachy-feeling turquoise house located at 4705 Inker, just off Shepherd south of I-10. • BRIO Tuscan Grille will open its first Inner Loop site in the former Pesce space in Upper Kirby on August 16.
024 Grille opens in the heart of Memorial City. Executive Chef Dagan Lynn leads the team behind a new local bistro and steakhouse offering a contemporary evolution of the classic steakhouse in a West Houston hotspot sizzling with style, an energized lounge and a savvy menu featuring only the finest available 28-day, wet-aged steaks, ocean-fresh seafood, Colorado lamb and lighter local favorites.
Ava is moving upstairs with Alto Pizzeria in the West Ave. shopping center! Stay tuned for more info.
Through the month of August, support the Houston Food Bank by indulging in Houston Restaurant Week! Enjoy special menus at the finest eateries throughout town. www.HoustonRestaurantWeek.com
Petite Sweets can now be enjoyed by your four-legged friend as well! With the launch of its “Pooches are our Passion” menu, the dessert café now allows pets on their patio. Chef Susan Molzan has even created a special pupsicle for dogs looking to beat the heat with a refreshing treat. www.petitesweetshouston.com
For art’s sake
Architecture Center Houston and AIA Houston present the 2012 Texas Student Biennial Exhibition comprised of work from all eight schools of architecture in Texas. On Friday, September 7, ArCH will host a Dean’s Roundtable Discussion featuring the deans of all eight schools and moderated by Texas Society of Architects President-elect and former University of Texas School of Architecture dean, Larry Speck, FAIA.
And it’s back! From the same people who created the Mixed Media Music Series at the Museum of Fine Arts, MFAH Mixed Media Designed by IKEA launched last month, transforming the museum scene on select Friday nights. These night-owl events, presented once a month from 8pm until midnight, will feature cocktails and dancing amidst a finely tuned rotation of diverse, high-energy live music and DJs. The schedule continues with parties on August 24, September 21, October 26, November 16 and December 21.
The MFAH received a major $100,000 grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. This grant will help fund the MFAH’s workshops and tours on the topic of caring for fine and decorative arts objects made of silver, covering everything from handling, cleaning, photographing, displaying and properly storing such works. Lectures, special events and presentations will also be announced, and will make the collection more accessible to both scholars and the public.
Development
The Children’s Museum of Houston is opening a second location with the help of the George Foundation. The foundation pledged a $1 million challenge grant to the Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center slated to open in the summer of 2015 at the Imperial Development. Once completed, the center will hold six different exhibits and an outdoor space to enhance education and expand cultural awareness of the kids that visit.
Goodwill Industries of Houston issues call for donations with new “Vote for Jobs: Donate to Goodwill” campaign. The campaign is tailored to encourage donations during the summer months, since we all know that, ahem, business is down as opposed to the rest of the year. The profit generated from the sale of donated items is used to create employment and provide job-related education, training and placement with Houston-area employers.
Texas parents of an 11-year-old, non-verbal autistic child with a vision impairment and cerebral palsy released a communication app for iPad®, iPhone® and iTouch®. urTalker Pro allows users to communicate simple to complex phrases through a picture exchange system which is preloaded in the app with pictures and sounds. It also allows users to add their own categories, photos, images, voice recordings.
Andrea White challenges middle school readers to help amplify her next novel, Time Angel, via the internet. The Texas children’s book author whose fascinating futuristic novels attract junior high readers and unintentionally teach them some world history has launched a unique interactive “e-book” that provides students the rare opportunity to become “Editors for a Day.”
Greenlink bus service is now in operation in downtown Houston, through a partnership between the Houston Downtown Management District (Downtown District), BG Group and Houston First Corporation. The route spans 2.5 miles with approximately 20 stops and seven buses operating Monday through Friday, 6:30am to 6:30pm.
Brilliant Lecture Series announces Betty White as the next speaker at Cullen Theater-Wortham Center on September 22. Check out brilliantlectures.org. Tickets will be priced from $35 – $200.
Reliant is bringing customers a unique electricity plan featuring an innovative learning thermostat to help manage home electricity use. Reliant is the first and only electricity provider in Texas to offer the Nest Learning Thermostat with the new Reliant Learn & Conserve Plan. The Nest Learning Thermostat™ learns about the customer’s lifestyle and automatically adjusts itself when they’re away; guides them to energy-efficient temperatures when they’re home; and frees them from programming hassles by creating a personalized schedule based on temperature-change history.
FITNESS
THRiVE is Houston’s first integrative health studio offering group and private fitness, yoga and nutrition services providing a cutting-edge, well-designed space where people can systematically work toward reaching realistic and long-lasting health and image goals. Unlike traditional gyms, THRiVE does not require membership fees, allowing its clients to enjoy health services when they want, and how often they want. THRiVE will also have the ability to custom tailor a complete health regimen for someone seeking to incorporate these three concepts on a permanent, yet realistic basis in their lives.
FUEL KITCHEN & HEALTH BAR launched a new summer menu featuring more than a dozen amazingly nutritional, tasty and healthy meals created by their Cordon Bleu-trained chef. Visit them soon and sample their new tasty dishes: Summer Gazpacho, Whipped Kabocha Squash with Candied Pecan, Moroccan Spiced Grilled Chicken, Gingered Beef, New York Style Cheesecake… just to name a few. In addition to these new menu items, a number of their popular dishes have been tweaked in response to customer feedback. Their new protein cheesecake has been so popular that they now offer it in multiple flavors. Most have zero fat! And the new New York Style Cheesecake has a multigrain crust that’ll have your mouth watering for more. It’s amazing as a protein packed snack or equally satisfying as a dessert and either way it will keep your taste buds happy and your body lean and fit. Also they have developed a new line of summer smoothies and freshly squeezed juices to energize, cleanse and reinvigorate your body for the best of all that summer has to offer.
