H-town highlights

My youngest sister will be visiting soon from London, so we're starting to make a list of all the spots she wants to hit in her week back home. Her agenda is typically a mix of old favorites and newbies that have cropped up since she moved across the pond (many of which she finds out about before I do!). Here's what we've got so far:
- Snowblock Shavery
- Green Vegetarian Cuisine (Everything can be made vegan, and the desserts automatically are!)
- Blue Leaf (Housed in an old bungalow with another chic little shack in the back, I fantasized a little bit about buying the property when it was for up sale a year or so ago, and enjoy strolling through it now as a shop--which is probably better for all of us.)
- And I'm so excited to check out Glazed and their vegan donuts!

Any suggestions from my readers?

- L'Editrice

Additions, 7/22/14: Tout Suite Cafe (I hope it's open in time!)
                               True Food Kitchen (I loved it in San Diego--so excited it's in Houston now!)
                               My Flaming Heart (Probably my favorite store in H-town, aside from
                                                            Ten Thousand Villages, of course.)
                           

Noshing in Nashville

I got quite a bit of time to explore Nashville this past weekend, and I loved it--particularly the eating scene. Now, I'm sure most people who think of Nashville food think of barbecue, but as a vegan my food searches are a little different. And Nashville did not disappoint!

My new recommendations for any veg heads visiting Music City:

• The Wild Cow (they even had vegan queso!), 
• Sunflower Cafe, 
• and the "V for Vegan" pizza at Two Boots.

All were delicious and had cute locales and decor--something that can sometimes be hard to come by in veg/vegan restaurants. (In fact, they may be putting my Houston go-tos to shame in that respect.)

As for the non-eating tourism, I:

• visited the Parthenon (really!) and Vanderbilt,
• walked over the Shelby Street Pedestrian Bridge to explore the scene on Lower Broadway, then enjoyed the view and the Jazz and Blues Mixer happening on the bridge on the way back,
• checked out the outside of the Grand Ole Opry House and (only some of!) the inside of the Las-Vegas-meets-Venice-meets-San-Antonio-meets-only-in-America Gaylord Opryland Hotel,
• and went to the famous Hatch Show Print Shop and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

If I went again, I would skip the Country Music Hall of Fame and instead go see the "Grand Ole Opry"--I was really tempted to this time, especially since my favorite Pretty Little Liar, Aria (Lucy Hale), was performing, but I'd thought the ticket price was too much for standing room only, all that was available by the time I tried. I would also skip Woodland Vegetarian--yes, the food was good, but it didn't live up to all the hype I'd been hearing, plus it was a little chaotic in there.

- L'Editrice