Texas | the curious passport

Chelsea Wine Bar, El Lago, TX

I spent a late October afternoon gliding over Taylor Lake, just outside of Houston. Settling into a soothing rhythm of pulling my paddle through the water, knees slightly-bent, the pads of my feet gripping the wide board, I thanked my regular Pilates practice for keeping me standing upright. Steady strokes on each side offered a brief focal point for a scattered state of mind. Stillness found repetitive movement.

Afterward, we perched rooftop at Chelsea Wine Bar nearby. The rosé, paired with the gorgeous sunset pictured here helped to unwind as well.

Not pictured: The bevy of cakes that flooded our table once the sun went down. Hummingbird cake, Chocolate cake, White Chocolate Raspberry and Carrot. It was then that mind and body synced up; with crumbs on our plates and the sun completely out of site, we literally could not move.

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Saturated Saturday is a photo series highlighting some of my favorite images, with enhanced vibrant colors courtesy of the photo editing apps I like at the moment. These include: VSCO, Instagram, A Color Story. Most photos taken with iPhone 6s.

It’s 7:30 a.m. as wisps of fog hover above the trees that blanket Hermann Park. The orange glow from the street lights peek out from beneath them. I sip coffee from the umpteenth floor of the decadent Hotel Zaza, willing the caffeine to work its magic and motivate me to pack up strewn clothes and swag acquired from a whirlwind three days in Houston*.

I had been to Houston a few times several years ago and can still remember devouring coastal Mexican seafood dishes at Chef Aquiles Chavez’s La Fisheria and sipping refreshing Kentucky Mules at Okra Charity Saloon. Little did I know that my initial taste of Houston was just the tip of globally-inspired menus reflective of one of the most ethnically diverse metropolitan cities in the country.

“Whatever you want, you can find it here,” enthused one Uber driver on the way to Cypress Trails, where I would mount a horse for the first time since some friend’s single-digit birthday. It was a humbling experience to brace myself upright for two hours while Cytron, a mellow Arabian horse ambled through the peaceful trail.