onetwothreepeaceful

Sooo I'm pretty excited to because today marks the beginning of a new weekly co-feature (if that's a thing?) with my dear friend Cara! Each Wednesday we'll be listing five things that...well. You'll just have to follow along and see! Muahaha.

This week's topic is Five Things I Love About Where I Live. 

Normally I won't be this chatty for these posts, promise, but I have to clarify something here. A list like this seems so quick, fun...easy. But if you know me personally, you know that Houston is kind of like...the bane of my existence. I could go on for daaaayz about the things I love about Austin or San Marcos or various friends' couches that they were gracious enough to let me crash on when I was between leases, but ummm...Houston?

What I love about this place? My neighborhood? My city? Maaaybe I could list some things I love about my state (see above paragraph) but these five things had me reaching, I mean REALLY scraping the bottom of my brain, which is kind of sad, maybe. Should it really be that difficult to list things you love about the place you were raised, a place so familiar you know it like your own skin? It was much easier to think of all the things I completely and utterly despise about this doubletroubleshitcity (technical term coined by my bff and I- we grew up next door to each other)...but this is supposed to be a fun feature! I mean.

Houston for me will always be a little bit of love and a lot more hate, for reasons I won't go into and others I just can't explain. Like I'm proud to rep my city when I don't live there. It's not that I mind being from Houston...it was just never meant to be my home. And that's ok; these things aren't permanent. 

SO. Before I keep rambling about things both unnecessary and ridiculous, I give you one of the most difficult (so stupid, I know) lists I've ever had to make. But then that's kind of the point of the feature, I think, to present something that's maybe a little more thought-provoking than it seems at the surface. Who knows. 

Five Things I Love About Where I Live

1. The abundance of local thrift and antique stores, as in 5-15 minutes away, without having to go all the way into the city. I live in the burbs, so this is a plus. Sometimes most times it's like sitting on a goldmine. 

2. Houston has a really great museum and theater district. I can't even begin to deny that. From hole in the wall converted warehouse to the Alley, there's plenty to do, and most of it on the cheap! Also, the nightlife variety is pretty great, though I tend to stick to music venues and my Midtown watering holes (ummm, do I sound like a brochure/tour guide? Anyone? Because I'm annoying myself now). 

3. Free Press Houston and 107.5 The Eagle radio. When I was away I'd stream it online, because no oldies stations in the area compared. And Free Press, well. They're just awesome. 

4. I'm 25min from the city (well, MY part of the city- Montrose whaaat) and 40min from the beach. And the closest mall (10min away) now has an H&M (!!!) so my life is happyhappy.

5. I'm proud to be a native Texan, though technically I'm half Cuban. There's something about this state, about southern culture. About the incredible mix of people. Houston is it's own melting pot- like you left a 4billion-count box of crayons in the car and they melted into a big blob in the sweltering heat. Maybe every state is like that, I don't know. But being an American, to me, is like having shallow roots. I'm not bashing my country, but our cultural shtick is that we HAVE no culture, no tradition, because we ARE that melted mess of crayons. That's not a bad thing, but I love Texas (again, this may be similar for every state) because there's so much pride in being from here or living here. I mean, so much. It's everywhere. Lonestar state, I love you. PS don't mess with Texas (I need to get one of those bumper stickers asap). 

What're some things you love about where you live?