Houston!!

Hey hey!

So a month ago, a few girl friends and I went to Houston, TX for my friend's 25th birthday! It was my 1st time to Houston, I've been wanting to go for a long time, but let's just say...next time, I would do things a little differently. I learned a few lessons on this trip lol smh. Don't get me wrong though...we had fun!

If you know me, you know I am going to write in chronological order, but my lessons learned came at the end of the trip, soo if you want to see how irresponsible I am, feel free to skip ahead lol. If not, you can enjoy the weekend with me :)

At least I thought I was! haha

I got there on a Friday evening; my friend Gus picked me up from the airport and I chilled with him and his boys until my friend's flight got into town. I hadn't seen him in over a year, so it was nice to catch up with him.

One of my best friends :)
One of the few people I trust!

Was able to squeeze in a workout in his apartment complex
while I waited for my friends! Staying fit doesn't stop on vacation!

That night after my friends landed, I met them at the hotel. We stayed at DoubleTree Suites by the Hilton Hotel and had a very nice suite. I loved it; full kitchen, big bathroom, exercise room, awesome pool & cabanas, down the street from the mall. The only downfall was that breakfast was not included, but I would definitely stay there again!

Friday night we went out to Grooves (Restaurant & Lounge). It was fun. Very different vibe/atmosphere than we are used to on the East Coast, but it was cool. It was packed, had a hookah section, bars/tables, dance floor, and played good music (the DJ even played a little soca!).

The trio reunited! <3

Saturday, we did kind of a lot of driving during the day...we had to go back to the airport to pick up Lauren's luggage, went to the mall, hung at the pool, and had some bomb food at Seasons 52. The thing with Houston is that everything is so spread out, so driving different places seems to take forever! Saturday night we went to Venue. Once again, the inside was on point! The insides of these places are just so...I wanna say elegant, but that's not the word I'm looking for lol. Anyway, it was also packed, the music was okay (mainly rap which I'm not fond of), people seemed to be having a good time though, oh and Nelly was there that night (I've met him already, so I wasn't pressed about meeting him again :)). We were going to go to the strip club after Venue (we actually made it to the parking lot), but a few girls we were meeting changed their mind, so we didn't go in. Next time I'm in Houston though, I will have to check it out because I heard they have one of the best!

Riding in the car. I look soo tired. I'm always running
on little to no sleep :/

Splurged a little at the mall! Got a mini one though!

Lauren and I

Poolside chatting w/my boo :)

Bday gurlll!

Muah

Trio <3

The Galleria Mall

Chicken Pesto Flatbread from Seasons 52... Soo good!

Amazing dessert our waiter gave us for free! 

Birthday girl! 

Gabby and I...quick bathroom shoot lol 

Gus and I at Venue 

The girls!

Venue Nightclub

On Sunday, once we were up and about, we went to get breakfast. Then went to a day party at some bar thinking it would be a good time, but one of the NBA finals games was on, so there wasn't really any music and people were just sitting around. It would have been good if we hadn't eaten already, cuz then we could have just got wings or something & watched the game, but we did. So we didn't stay long. Therefore, Lauren and I did got a quick pool sesh in :)

Typical me :)

Sunday night...lol...smh. Let's just say...I missed my flight Monday morning. I'm laughing, but it's really not funny lol. Basically, I was a little too excited about finally going to a Reggae night and had a little too much to drink...from Ciroc, to Patron, to who knows what else. We all pre-gamed in the room then headed to the bar. By the time we got there, I was pretty much done. But I had a blast! I was sooo happy to hear Caribbean music again and I literally danced all night; that's all I wanted to do lol. But as time went on, I got worse and worse. That's where my memory pretty much ends...dancing on the dance floor. My flight was scheduled for 8am the next morning; when I booked it, clearly I thought that would be okay, but I was clearly wrong. I woke up at 11:15am! I woke up in a panic because when I opened my eyes it was bright out and I knew it should have still been dark. I was like WTFFFF!!! Obviously, I wasn't feeling the greatest. All I could do was shake my head. I called the airline (Spirit Airlines) to try and catch another flight later that day, but there were no more flights going to Oakland that day...wtf?! So I had to wait until the next morning, same time. Which meant I would miss work that night. So I had to call off. I didn't care about having to call off, but I thought I would owe my travel company money if I did, but in the end I didn't, so it was all good. I didn't even have to make up the day...basically I just didn't get paid. So that night-luckily, I stayed with Gus (because my friend's flight left that evening) and had to take an Uber to the airport in the morning. It all ended up being okay, but I was still mad at myself.

In the end, I lost out on a lot of money! Which I wasn't happy about. Between switching flights, extra day of dog boarding for Carson, extra day at the car lot, the Uber to the airport, etc., everything just added up. But I could only blame myself. Lessons learned: Lesson 1: Know your limits! You would think by now I would know how much liquor I can handle, but I guess I don't. Although, to my defense lol, it is hard when your body and metabolism is continuously fluctuating :). Lesson 2: Do NOT book super early flights on a Monday when you are on vacation. Lesson 3: NEVER book with Spirit Airlines if you can avoid it. Yea they are usually cheaper, BUT they have limited flights and all these extra hidden fees. It's ridiculous! Since when do you have to pay for your seat on the plane?! Lesson 4: Do not schedule a flight back on the same day you have to go in to work. You never know what could go wrong with your flight.

So yea, my first time to Houston, doesn't hold the best of memories for me lol. I had been wanting to go there soo bad too. I would definitely like to do it over again, and not just because of Sunday night. I want to explore more of Houston and it's touristy things, cuz their nightlife/club scene isn't really for me. Too much ratchet rap lol...how do you dance to that?! haha.

The calm before Sunday nights storm :) 

Tuesday morning...thinking on my flight back home...

Well anyway, hope you learned a couple things from me in this post! Don't make the same mistakes :)

Until next time!