Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Heights Happenings: September 19- September 26, 2012

Friday, September 21, 4 pm - 6 pm: Party on The Porch at One Green Street
  • Visit the Heights new “organic lifestyle destination” for drinks and eco friendly mingling.
  • OGS will be serving up Green Tea ‘Tinis and the weather is supposed to be beautiful!
  • 3423 White Oak
  • Also, did you know that OGS loves to collect items that can be repurposed and made into something new? Whenever they can divert something from the landfill they are happy to do so. In September they are collecting black and brown belts, the wider the better, any condition.

Saturday, September 22, 6pm- 9pm: Opening for Focus On Fiber Exhibition at 18 Hands Gallery
  • This special member show features members of HAFA (Houston Area Fiber Artists)
  • “Houston Area Fiber Artists is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to maintain and advance fiber as an art form through the education of its members and to promote appreciation and encourage support of fiber as an art form by the public through exhibitions and educational activities.Members are involved in the creation of original design in fiber media: baskets, clothing, dolls, felt, books and paper, jewelry, quilts, stitchery, weaving, surface design and more.”
  • Opening Reception: 6-9 PM at 18 Hands, 249 W 19th St

Sunday, September 23, 8 am- 2 pm: Heights Urban Forestry Day
  • Reserve Your Pair of Free Trees courtesy of APACHE ENERGY and the Houston Heights Association
  • RSVP: urbanforest@houstonheights.org Include: Name, address, email
  • Drop by or stay for an extended visit. 
  • Tree pick up is at the HHA Fire Station at 12th & Yale between 8 am and 2 pm.
  • Free. One pair per household address. Pair of trees may be planted in ROW or on private property.

Monday, September 24, 7 pm: Somewhere Between at 14 Pews
  • “In profiling Chinese adoptees in contemporary America, Linda Goldstein Knowlton's deeply moving documentary illustrates that even the most specific of experiences can be universally relatable. Of the roughly 80,000 girls who have been adopted from China since 1989—a decade after China implemented its One Child Policy—the film intimately follows four teenagers: Haley, Jenna, Ann, and Fang. These four wise-beyond-their-years, yet typical American teens, reveal a heartbreaking sense of self-awareness as they attempt to answer the uniquely human question, “Who am I?” They meet and bond with other adoptees, some journey back to China to reconnect with the culture, and some reach out to the orphaned girls left behind. In their own ways, all attempt to make sense of their complex identities. Issues of belonging, race, and gender are brought to life through these articulate subjects, who approach life with honesty and open hearts.”
  • 800 Aurora Street
  • $11. Buy tickets here

PLAN AHEAD

Saturday, September 29, 6 pm- 10 pm: Harvest Moon Art & Social
  • Organizer Gordon Greenleaf says “The Harvest Moon is supposed to inspire us to clean house to start afresh. This notion has inspired us to part with some antiques and interesting objects around the house, collected during our antique shop days.
  • So we have been cleaning up, painting and decorating odds and ends of furniture, decor and 'objects' to put up for sale for the holidays."
  • Basically, get ready for some unusual and fun items mixed in with the paintings and photographs presented at this show. Should be a unique experience if nothing else!
  • The Gallery at 3202 White Oak- in that sliver of a space next to Montrose Skate Shop


  • “It doesn’t matter if you’re a young family on the way up, or a senior couple looking to downsize and simplify life, bungalow living in Norhill has something for everyone. The arts and crafts architectural style predominant in Norhill has undergone a rebirth of popularity, not only in Houston, but in historic communities from coast to coast.”
  • Many of the homes in my wonderful neighborhood have been lovingly upgraded with larger kitchens, luxurious bathrooms and extra closet space. Most importantly, many offer the trademark front porches so vital to the sense of community in The Heights.
  • The Norhill subdivision has green parks and esplanades and has been preserved with  more than 90 years of deed restrictions. The end result is a well preserved collection of bungalows.
  • The Norhill Neighborhood Association invites you to visit six outstanding examples of bungalow living at its finest.

OUTSIDE THE HEIGHTS

Thursday, September 20, 6:30 pm: Grandfather Child and Folk Family Revival at Discovery Green
  • Grandfather Child is making waves in Houston and beyond with their powerfully dynamic, genre-bending approach to music and performance.  The steel guitar driven group features the preaching and singing of Lucas Gorham, hard driving grooves from Ryan Chavez and multi-instrumental genius from Geoffery Muller.  New West Records releases their debut, full length CD/LP, Grandfather Child, in August 2012.
  • Folk Family Revival’s brings a passionate blend of rock, folk, bluegrass, and country music together for a uniquely Texas sound. Brothers Mason, Barrett, and Lincoln Lankford team up with Caleb Pace to create a tight and inspiring band.  The band’s debut release from 2011, Unfolding, shows the talents and promises of a young band from Magnolia, Texas gaining momentum with every show.”
  • Show is family friendly. Blankets, lawn chairs, and picnics are welcome, but NOT glass containers or alcoholic beverages. Concessions are available for purchase at The Lake House. 

Sunday, September 23, 4 pm- 10 pm: MFU Houston Awareness Event Food Truck Festival
  • Join Houston’s Mobile Food Unit Collective as food truck owner-operators show Houston’s civic leaders that Houston supports the proposed Mobile Food Ordinance changes! 
  • This is Houston’s first mobile food party, put on by mobile food vendors, for mobile food vendors! Many of your old favorite trucks will be there, with a few new trucks to try as well.
  • Participating trucks will (probably) include: Eatsie Boys, Goodie Box, Pi Pizza, Stick It, Happy Endings, Coreano’s, Bernie’s Burger Bus, Golden Grill, Porch Swing Desserts , Waffle Bus, A Tribe Called Feast, Snow Angel Snowcones, and Soulcat Cuisine
  • Photobooth provided by Digital Memories Photobooths

Saturday, October 6, 6 pm- 9 pm: The Super Awesome Art Show!
  • Ready for some super awesome art? Then join War’hous Visual Studios for the Second Annual Super Awesome Art Show’s opening night. The art show will feature creations by 50 Houston-area artists under the age of 16, plus select works from patients from Texas Children's Cancer & Hematology Center Arts Program. 
  • Each piece of art will sell for $50, with all proceeds benefiting the center’s art program. Live music by Damon Allen, food trucks, drinks and interactive activities for guests and children.
  • War’hous Visual Studios, 4715 Main Street

IN OTHER NEWS

Registration is now open for the 7th Annual Heights Bicycle Rally & Scavenger Hunt on Sunday October 7.
  • The Rally is open to riders of all ages and designed as a casual, self-paced ride. This is not a race!  Choose between a 20-mile course through the Heights and near-by neighborhoods, a shorter 5-mile ride designed for kids and their adult companions, or do both! 
  • All riders receive a Rally Card, Route Map, and Scavenger Hunt Clue List.  Prizes are awarded to the riders who correctly identify the most mystery sights along the route. 
  • Both of the routes will start and finish at Marmion Park, 18th Street and Heights Boulevard.
  • After your ride, enjoy a Party In The Park starting at 3:30 pm, and Awards Ceremony and door prize drawings at 4:30 pm.  Music - Food - SudsSoda – Fun!!
  • If you sign up before October 3, the entry fee is $20 for the 20 mile ride and $10 for the 5 mile ride. For those who sign up the day of the rides, the fees will be up to $25 and $15 respectively. All packet pick-up is on Rally Day at Marmion Park beginning at 8am.
  • More information and registration applications can be found at the Houston Heights Association website www.houstonheights.org

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Heights Happenings: September 12- September 19, 2012

Wednesday, September 12, 6 pm- 9 pm: BB's Cafe Heights is adding some "mood music" 
  • For their 1st night of live music, BB’s welcomes The Mighty Orq, who has
  • been performing his blues-rooted brand of Americana around the world.
  • He has won three Houston Press Music Awards, one being "Best Blues"
  • this year.
  • 2701 White Oak
Thursday, September 13, 5:30 pm- 8:30 pm: Write Now! hosts Houston’s 3rd “Postcrossing” meet up
  • If you are interested in "postcrossing," please come to the third meet-up, this Thursday. Current group members will offer tips and instructions on how to participate  and the many different things available on the website and the forum. 
  • The group is considering an unused postcard swap, so if you have cards you may want to trade, bring them.
  • Postcrossing is an online project which allows its members to send and receive real postcards from all over the world. The project's tag line is "send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world!” The idea for the project was created by Paulo Magalhães, who started the site on July 14, 2005. He was simply motivated by the fact that he liked to receive mail, especially postcards. “The element of surprise of receiving postcards from different places in the world (many of which you’d probably never have heard of) can turn your mailbox into a box of surprises – and who wouldn’t like that?”
  • 3122 B White Oak
Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm - 9 pm: ROASTED: Unlicensed Sexually Oriented Businesses
  • Organized by Children At Risk and hosted at A 2nd Cup, Roasted will be not only a public awareness event, but a public engagement event. Attendees will have the opportunity to become educated on the hot topic of human trafficking in the Houston area. Roasted will also act as a launch pad for those who desire not to simply hear statistics, but to also take action. Through presentations, interactive technology, and conversing with others who share the same passion, guests will become more informed and empowered to generate change in their own homes and communities.
  • 1035 E 11th (Next to The Vineyard Church)
Saturday, September 15, 6 pm- 9 pm: Sketchy Neighbors Creature Feature #2 Silkscreen print show
  • Join your Sketchy Neighbors for a creepy, crawly Creature Feature #2 Silkscreen print show. 
  • One night only hosted by Burning Bones Press. 1518 Yale

IN OTHER NEWS

Carolers and other festive types needed for Holiday Home Tour
  • Music is in the air as the Heights gears up for the Houston Heights Association’s annual Holiday Home Tour Carols by Candlelight scheduled for Friday, November 30 and Saturday, December 1, 2012. Carols by Candlelight brings a new dimension to the annual event by featuring live entertainment at each of the six tour homes. 
  • Event chair Leann Mueller is seeking carolers, choirs, harpists, handbell choirs, as well as string and brass ensembles, to perform holiday music on the lawns or porches of each tour home. Children and adult performers are welcome. Each performer will receive a complimentary ticket to the Holiday Home Tour.
  • For more information, please email holidaytour@houstonheights.org. Please include all pertinent contact information. Deadline for participation is October 31, 2012.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

One Cool Shop: One Green Street

It was pretty sudden. As if overnight, the much lauded One Green Street was leaving it's West U address and coming to the Heights. The move might be considered a downgrade by some in 77005, but One Green Street proudly proclaimed "It had to be The Heights" across every avenue of social media.

Oustide of One Green Street, you're greated by Seedbombs. "Throw + Grow" grass and wildflowers!

I stopped by One Green Street's One Green Party on August 25, to get a first hand look at what an "organic lifestyle destination" is and what it was going to do in the Heights. In addition to a super friendly staff and a great looking revamp of the former Artful Corner, I discovered some pretty cool products and an owner with a solidly green mission: to make you healthier and happier by offering alternatives in a widely varied roster of products, promising to make the decision to buy and use them "hip" and easy.

If you're someone who's interested in more natural alternatives, Sherry Eichberger has spent hundreds and hundreds of hours researching products for you. She has looked high and low for items that are good for people and good for the environment. From lip balm to mattresses, Sherry has searched out what she considers some of the safest, most natural, least toxic products available for you and your home. Her passion for healthier living is fully embodied in One Green Street.

One Green Street is comprised of quadrants called The Gathering Place, Whole Body, Healthy Home, and Full Circle Fashion. In these rooms, Sherry has compiled items that are unique, inspired, fun, stylish and conscientious. You can read the labels if you want, but you don't need to. That leg work has been done for you. Instead, spend your time asking Sherry or store manager Yuliana to tell the story of how and where the product was found, about the small business behind it, what makes it special enough to land in the store. 

Gorgeous jewelry, much of it locally made, in Full Circle Fashion

Currently the store carries 3 lines of eco-friendly handbags, 
including these that can also charge your cell phone!

One Green Street's brand established itself quickly and after three years in business has a trusted reputation in the eco-conscious community. These days vendors offering natural products actually seek Sherry out, instead of the other way around. Not everyone will make the shelves. Sherry has established a vetting process "with 'local' as the number one priority." Sherry explains that "It is important for me to know my vendors, their story; eventually meet them and introduce them to my customers, the One Green Street family. Going right to the source of our product offerings sets us apart."

With all her first hand knowledge of the products, it's hard for Sherry to identify a favorite. "I personally choose every single product on our shelves because I love them for one reason or another." With that said, I was able to get an enthusiastic endorsement from her for the W3ll People cosmetics. Based in Austin, Sherry has gotten to know the founders personally. She knows their mission, how and why they chose their ingredients, and how they work. All this knowledge has made her a loyal fan! "I only use W3ll People and my skin has never looked so good!" 

W3ll People: Hippie Tested. Diva Approved.

Whole Body includes personal care for men

While W3ll is Sherry's favorite, it isn't the store's best seller. One Green Street shoppers who want an all-over eco friendly lifestyle flock to (and buy) the SKOY cloth. "People are always trying to kick the paper towel habit and if it can be done, SKOY is the ticket," says Sherry. These cloths are compostable, biodegradable "and do an amazing job in all areas of the home." 

Bamboo towels and other eco friendly items for The Healthy Home

So, why the Heights? 

OGS called the Heights its "One True Home," but why? Sherry and her husband have spent the last 25 years in Spring, raising two kids and eventually releasing them to their own, adult lives. While the Eichbergers were in the suburbs, Sherry's brother and sister-in-law chose the Heights. Residents of our amazing neighborhood for 30 years, they've surely seen a lot of changes in the Heights. Even through the ebb and flow of life in the Heights, Sherry was enamoured. With weekly visits to her brother's home, she grew to love and admire "the warm sense of community" and "the care and concern for maintaining the integrity of the original homes" plus the support of local businesses. This way of life is, she points out, "very sustainable." Her family shared with her "their own love for The Heights: simple living." It's special to them that they can be "close to downtown [while] maintaining the history and character of one of the oldest neighborhoods in Houston." This fits with Sherry's personal mission for her store. One Green Street "is very much about community, repurposing, reusing and it seems the people who call The Heights 'home' have that same ethos, in line with who we are as a business and who I am as it's founder. The grass roots atmosphere here speaks to me on so many levels. I do believe that we have finally found our 'one true home.' "

Welcome to the neighborhood Sherry and One Green Street. We do indeed hope you feel at home!

Sherry Eichberger and store manager Yuliana De La Rosa

For more photos of the party, check out the photo album on Facebook

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Heights Happenings: September 5- September 12, 2012

This is the same thing that happened last year. I took my kids away on summer vacation and had a heck of a time getting back in the swing. I missed last week but trust you were all able to find something fun to do, even without my help. I am excited to share some cool neighborhood stuff with you, so I'm forcing myself back behind the laptop and off we go...


Saturday, September 8, Noon to 4 pm: Second Saturdays Craftacular is back! 
  • In front of Hello-Lucky on Studewood, you’ll find lots of new goodies by local crafters, artists, and designers. Everything is hand crafted, local and spectacular.
  • Katherine Adams of Therein is the Artist Coordinator for this month.
  • 1025 Studewood

Saturday, September 8, 5 pm- 7 pm: Houston Heights Woman’s Club Clubhouse Centennial Celebration
  • In 1912, the women of the Houston Heights Woman’s Club borrowed $1,200 to build a clubhouse on land donated by Mrs. D.D. Cooley. The building at 1846 Harvard was completed in September, 1912. This September marks the Centennial birthday of the Clubhouse and all the many HHWC events which took place within its walls. 
  • This event marks the final party in the HHWC’s year-long celebration of clubhouse history. The Centennial Committee has planned an enjoyable evening for friends and neighbors, with light food and refreshments. Please join the HHWC to wish a Happy 100th Birthday to the Clubhouse, a Heights treasure and piece of Texas history.
  • 1846 Harvard

Sunday, September 9, 8:30 pm- 9:30 pm: Happy Belly Good Karma Yoga Class
  • Join Happy Belly this and every Sunday as they host the Good Karma Charity Class. Proceeds go to charity of the month. Teachers donate their time and practice good Seva. Open up your hearts and your pocketbooks. Check out the charity of the month and class schedule at http://www.happybellystudios.com/community/karma-classes
  • 920 Studemont

PLAN AHEAD

Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm - 9 pm: ROASTED: Unlicensed Sexually Oriented Businesses
  • Organized by Children At Risk and hosted at A 2nd Cup, Roasted will be not only a public awareness event, but a public engagement event. Attendees will have the opportunity to become educated on the hot topic of human trafficking in the Houston area. Roasted will also act as a launch pad for those who desire not to simply hear statistics, but to also take action. Through presentations, interactive technology, and conversing with others who share the same passion, guests will become more informed and empowered to generate change in their own homes and communities.
  • 1035 E 11th (Next to The Vineyard Church)

Saturday, September 15th, 10 am -12 pm: Bayou Village School Mindful Parenting Workshop
  • The class will explore: Discipline, raising a connected child, meaningful praise, the importance of simplicity and rhythm in the life of a young child
  • Bayou Village School -- In The Heights, 1123 Yale Street
  • $10/individual and $15/couple - Childcare available for 3-11 year olds
  • Presented by Keri Tegtmeier, Director of Great Oak School -- a Waldorf community in North Houston
  • Contact Bayou Village School to register for this event:
  • bayouvillageschool@yahoo.com or 713-499-0598


IN OTHER NEWS

Fall Is Upon Us
  • I know. It doesn’t feel like it, but it is indeed time to turn our minds to fall, at least in the garden. Wondering what your seasonal undertakings should be? Check out Buchanan’s Native Plants’ Houston Gardening By The Month page. Apparently we are in the midst of hummingbird migration! How exciting! They know it’s fall, even if we don’t.

Doing Good In The Heights
  • Heights Interfaith Ministries Food Pantry continues to supply food and other necessities to local families in need. They have been working on being more active on Facebook and need your support. Please LIKE the HIM Food Pantry page and stay aware of their work and their volunteer/donation needs.