The stores that call my name...

There are stores around Houston that call to me at night. Late, late in the dark of night I hear their voices. They know my name. They seem to know my weaknesses. They prey on my love and adoration of them. So today, I share with you the stores that haunt my dreams and call to me to come and shop and spend and smile.

Target. Yep, the mom store. Who doesn't love Target? Can you leave Target without spending

at least $100??? If so, can you teach me how? I can't do it. I go in that place to buy shampoo and I leave with shampoo and a new dress for me and shorts for the weeone and workout dvd I'll never use and Starbucks drink. It's true and it's an illness. Is there a 12 step program for Target?

The Container Store. I am convinced that if I JUST have the RIGHT containers my life will run smoothly. And so, I seek those magical containers at every opportunity. Again, an illness...but one I know I share with others. Is it wrong that I take comfort in that?

Sur La Table. If you read this blog then you know I love to cook. And one of the things I love the most about cooking is the "stuff". The mashers and pots and pans and peelers and doodads and things that I didn't know I needed and then I walked into Sur La Table and their very knowledgeable staff corrected my ways by making me understand how earth-shatteringly important is was that I own THIS vegetable peeler...not the one I've used for 10 years! Oh, SLT, how I love you. One of these days I'm going to take the Knife Skills class at Sur La Table so I won't be afraid of the beautiful and sharp knives that I found there that I just.had.to.have!!!

DSW. There was a time, before the whole saga-of-the-foot when I was known for my very cute and sassy shoes. I long for that day again and hope that with the power of physical therapy and pain, I will someday be able to wear a 4 inch killer stiletto for an entire work day. For now, I have been shoved over into the flat shoe section, but DSW doesn't let me down. They still have adorable shoes for me....I wonder if their bottom line has felt the pain of my decrease in shoe shopping since my surgery?

Central Market. If you live near one you should RUN - do.not.walk- and visit it NOW!!! This is the produce lovers dream store. It's not your run of the mill grocery store and don't expect to be able to find oreos or diet coke (although rumors are that's changing), but if you need a particular variety of japanese eggplant and you'd like that to be organic...CM's your place. Not to mention that there's a very cute butcher behind the meat counter....I think he's there on Tuesdays and Saturdays...but I swear I'm not stalking him. =)

And then there's Spec's. You guys heard a lot about Spec's during my 30 Days of Beverages in August. It's the liquor store of all liquor stores. The best one is the one downtown (which I affectionately refer to as "the mothership"). They have a great deli, so I like to go hungry and have lunch there, too. I think what I love the most about this place is the staff - incredibly nice, incredibly knowledgeable and willing to help someone looking for a $10 bottle of red as readily as someone looking for a case of $200/ bottle red. Gotta love it.

Penzey's. Spice Central. Penzey's is an odd one. Why, you ask? Because at Penzey's I find that I can get a better quality thing for less money. Seems like a very odd concept in this world. If you like to cook, like I do, then you could probably spend an hour at Penzey's despite it being a smallish store. You could probably start to find ways to use a spice you've never heard of just because it smells sooooo good (they have smelling jars of everything!). And the weeone loves it here too - she loves the smells, but mostly she loves the coloring table by the checkout!

There are a lot of great stores in Houston that I love, but these are my stomping grounds, the places you might run into me on any given day. They're the short list of stops I might make to pick up "what I need for dinner" or what "the weeone needs for school" or "what I have a craving for" on any given day. What stores call your name?