This will be Josh and my first Valentine’s Day as a married couple. So I thought rather than focus on the traditional gift giving this year, I would share some ideas for subtler gifts and experiences.

Josh and I have made a point to write notes to each other on Valentine’s Day. It reminds us of what is special about our relationship, and provides a moment of reflection on how far we’ve come. PH Design Shop in the Rice Village is a perfect spot to find some amazingly beautiful cards with just the right amount of romance and cheesiness for the occasion.

Etsy will always be a great place to find handmade gifts. Maybe I’ll steer Josh to this site.

My husband is a book lover, so this year, I might head over to Domy Book Store and find some things there that I know he would love (in addition to me). A collection of love stories edited by Jeffrey Eugenides might make the cut.

But if I think about it, we definitely don’t need more books in our house. At print from justafewprings.com of an art work made from the spines of romantic books would be better?

Recently, we’ve gotten into cooking together. The tasting, the adventure, it can be a great couple activity. And rather than going out this year, I was thinking we could take a trip to Penzey’s in the Heights and find some intoxicating spices for an exotic evening of flavor.

If a gift is what you are looking for your chef partner, Penzey’s has great gift boxes and these measuring spoons would be a great addition.

If there’s one spot we will always end up going to for dinner, it’s Divino. This sweet spot of Italian food and delicious wine will consistently deliver. It’s also where we met, so a Valentine’s Day dinner might just be in our cards.

In addition to reading, cooking, and eating, Josh and I love music. And there are few songs that will forever inspire romance for us. And if it’s on vinyl, even better. Cactus, Black Dog, and Sound Exchange are some great places to find records in Houston.

With a Girl Like You – The Troggs

Song for You – Alexi Murdoch

Love and Some Verses – Iron & Wine

Home – Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

“Home” is a favorite of ours, and we danced in the moonlight to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros playing live in Marfa, so it kinda has to be on the list.

It Was You – Aretha Franklin

A version of “It Was You” was our first dance song at our wedding. Nothing beats Aretha. Except maybe Etta. And this year honoring her sultry voice might be part of our evening.

Sunday Kind of Love – Etta James

If you must give me a gift of jewelry, it’s not like I’ll refuse it. These earrings from Anthropologie would make me smile for sure.

Or what about a road trip?! Instead of a bunch of roses that will die in a week, take a trip to the Antique Rose Emporium, just an hour and a half outside of Houston. Maybe you could bring back a plant to remember the day with. And have roses for years.

So turn up the volume, crack a smile, and get ready to walk down memory lane. Listen by clicking on the link below:

Writers in the Schools Mixtape
by Students of WITS Creative Writing Camp at Annunciation Orthodox School

In this Hear Our Houston audio tour and contribution to Unexpected City, writers Diana and Steven Wolfe stroll from their first Houston residence, a house in the Heights at 920 Ridge where they lived together thirteen years ago. Turning left onto Julian Street, they pass under the oaks and crepe myrtles to Bayland Street, where “if you look down to your right the streets just become this whole cathedral of overhanging oaks that are like protective Heights spirits, and they make it feel beautifully warm and welcoming.”

Listen by clicking on the link below:

Oaks and Crepe Myrtles in the Heights (mp3, 12 MB) by Steven and Diana Wolfe

The living room inside 920 Ridge Street in 1997

Part of the back yard at 920 Ridge, 1998. L-R: Colleen Toporek, Naeem Murr, Julie
Chisholm, Kate Schmitt, Christopher Bakken

Have a seat!

The lovely crepe myrtle on Julian

A view looking East down Bayland

View Larger Map

Indre Rapalaviciute on Indiana Street. All photographs by Rose Kuo

OffCite presents a new submission to Unexpected City, made by Indre Rapalaviciute and curated by Carrie Schneider with photographs by Rose Kuo. This piece is an audio recording of a stroll along Peden, Waugh, Nevada, Commonwealth, Indiana, and Dunlavy streets ending at the Pralaya Yoga Studio. Listen by clicking on the link below. For more information on Schneider’s project visit Hear Our Houston.

We Are All Weird Birds: A Stroll Through Montrose (mp3, 13.1 MB) by Indre Rapalaviciute

In his essay, “Walking Houston,” published in the Winter 1987 issue of Cite, the poet and scholar Edward Hirsch described Houston as “uninhabited” because “almost no one seems to stroll through it either by day or by night, taking one’s time to explore and enjoy it, leisurely looking around and peering into windows and arcades.” Hirsch argued that the notion of the flâneur, as characterized by Baudelaire and Walter Benjamin, is obsolete in Houston. He writes, “To be sure, walkers exist in Houston, but from the city’s point of view they are negligible and don’t count since they are mostly accidents and mistakes: the stubborn, the inconvenienced, the poor.”

Rapalaviciute’s recorded stroll, 24 years later, agitates against Hirsch’s dismissal of walking Houston. Her relaxed and meditative manner should not be mistaken as inconsequential. Rather, the project that Carrie Schneider has undertaken to collect such strolls is a form of activism through leisurely observation. Envisioning Houston for the flâneur could change design by encouraging people to create and appropriate spaces not for the driver wrapped up in steel but for the ambling and curious walker. Schneider’s description of the project underscores this low-key and yet transformative potential:

As you know, Houston is a pedestrian-hostile place where walking is nearly a radical act. Cars may get you to your destination faster, but you miss the charm, quirkiness, and participating-with-life feeling of traveling by foot. These user generated walking tours will provide audio accompaniment to walks around the area. Producers take a walk, recording their thoughts, observations, stories, memories, and information about the area along the way.

View Walking Tour to Pralaya Yoga in a larger map

Scenes from Rapalaviciute’s Stroll, photographs by Rose Kuo

Two words: breakfast cupcakes. They exist. Right here in Houston, at locally-owned and operated Crave Cupcakes. Why not visit one of Crave’s two locations (one in Uptown Park, and one in the Rice Village area) and pick some up for a surprise breakfast in bed? Or for the more traditional cupcake experience, try their Sweetheart Box. For truly decadent, made-from-scratch cupcakes, check out Sugarbaby’s Cupcake Boutique in the Montrose area. They offer twelve flavors every day, as well as cupcake “miniatures” and Dean and Deluca Coffee (drool). Go hardcore local with your shopping at Celebrity Cupcakes on University Boulevard. Not only is Celebrity locally owned and operated, they offer ingredients that are “[s]ourced locally and organic whenever possible, including dairy from Texas farms, organic milk, fresh fruit and cage free eggs”. They even offer some gluten-free options for significant others who can’t handle their wheat.

Crave: https://www.cravecupcakes.com 713 62 CRAVE
Sugarbaby’s: http://www.ilovesugarbabys.com 713 527 8427
Celebrity: http://www.celebritycupcakes.com 713 667 2253

High Gloss

Diamonds not in the budget this Recession? High Gloss can help you out. They’ve been providing Houstonians with jewelry and gifts at prices to fit any budget for over seventeen years. Tucked away in Uptown Park near the Galleria, High Gloss has a clean, modern storefront housing just two rows of glass cases. At first glance, it looks like a minimalist art gallery. But once you start exploring, you’ll find that the cases contain drawer after drawer of jewelry, accessories, and design objects for men and women. The store carries vintage pieces and collectibles, as well as eco-conscious jewelry.

Shown in the image above: Bangles made by artist Thomas Mann, who calls his work “techno-romantic.” “The Couple” Necklace by Kristen Lora. Kristin’s work incorporates humor with clean, uncluttered, contemporary lines. And for a clever twist, see the “Have a Heart” necklace by Margaux Lange. In her Plastic Body series, Margaux re-purposes mass-produced materials, such as Barbie doll parts, to create handmade wearable art.

1131 Uptown Park Blvd # 6. 713 961 7868 http://www.highglosshouston.com

Feto Soap

Do you like the idea of sweets, but don’t want to indulge? Then check out Feto Soap at Hello Lucky (http://www.hello-lucky.com/) in the Heights. Based in Austin, but sold locally, Feto Soap makes delicious-looking vegan goodies for your bath and shower. So you can have the decadence of a lemon bar or chocolate bon bon without the calories. Feto Soap is individually owned and operated by Lisa Chouinard and you can find more information here: http://fetosoap.com/shop/ And while you browse Hello Lucky, check out their other locally made gifts for everyone from kids to adults.

Hello Lucky 1025 Studewood Street; 713 864 3556

Buffalo Bayou Tour

If you are a nature lover and would rather spend your Valentine’s Day enjoying the temperate Houston weather in February, then you might enjoy a Buffalo Bayou tour hosted by the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, a non-profit organization. As part of the revitalizing of the bayous here in the city, you can participate in the Cupid Cruise on February 14th. You and your date will be taken around on the Spirit of the Bayou pontoon boat for a cozy cruise with chocolate bites and bubbly drinks. You will get to see one-of-a-kind views of downtown Houston while you enjoy the feeling of a river tour. Seating is limited so call soon if you’re interested. If the cruise isn’t your taste, there is a general Boat Ride on February 12th. These 30-minutes rides let you glide along the bayou, spot the occasional alligator, and have a picnic lunch on the new Sabine Promenade. So treat your sweetheart to a new way of seeing Houston!

http://www.buffalobayou.org 713 752 0314

Chocolat du Monde

This is how you say “yum” in French. Owner David Heiland brings the chocolatier’s skills he gleaned from his years abroad to Houston’s Rice Village. This one-of-a-kind store is the only place in Texas that sells Leonidas, a Belgian chocolate that Heiland has flown in every week. Chocolate du Monde carries everything from cordials and chocolate-covered berries, to artfully decorated, delicate truffles. They even offer sugar-free options and gift wrapping. The owners are inviting and eager to answer any questions you might have. Visit them on Morningside Drive or on their website.

5302 Morningside, http://www.chocolat-du-monde.com
713 520 5600

Installation Antiques

The name “Installation Antiques” is spot on for this Heights curiosity shop. Since 1995, owners Becki and Jur van der Oord have been collecting antiques big and small, and repurposing them as unconventional, sculptural installations. The designs are elegantly simple and modern, and the inventory is in perpetual flux. Cases of jewelry and small found objects fill the front of the store, while larger furniture and wall art populates the rest of the raw, industrial space. If you want to find something truly one-of-a-kind for your special someone, Installation is the place to check out. And if you’re too overwhelmed by the vast selection, don’t worry – they offer gift certificates.

611 West 22nd Street. 713 864 6125. http://www.installationsantiques.com

Leviticus Jewelry

For a more dramatic jewelry gift this Valentine’s Day, look to Houstonian Tara Levitin’s Leviticus Jewelry. Her signature line uses mixed metals and stones to create artistic and unique gifts that are beloved by locals and celebrities alike. You may have seen her collection in Elle or Bust, or perhaps on the ears of Big Love’s Ginnifer Goodwin. Pieces range from one-of-a-kind charm necklaces and repurposed antiques to necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets all with a modern feel. Levitin’s work is sure to impress anyone with an eye for fashion and pieces are affordable without compromising quality.

Shown in the image above: Vintage lovers locket, an antique brass floral detailed locket with original lovers photos adorned with a flower or the wishing well necklace charm. For those looking for something with an edge, try the squid tentacle ring or the brothel token bracelet.

http://www.leviticusjewelry.com

Winter Street Studios
For the art lovers out there, Winter Street Studios will have their Second Saturday Open Studios on February 12th so you and yours can peruse some of Houston’s finest artists. With the building open to the public and studios open to browsers, you may find a new artist or piece that catches your eye. With over 75 studios and 87 artists in Houston’s largest space dedicated to original visual fine art, your fancy is sure to be tickled by emerging and established artists alike.

2101 Winter Street, 713 862 0082 http://www.winterstreetstudios.net

Houston Museum of Natural Science

Every year the Houston Museum of Natural Science hosts a fun, alternative Valentine’s Day celebration and this year doesn’t disappoint. The evening of February 14th will be Cultural Feast–How Sweet It Is! Taste Bud Tripping with Miracle Fruit. Held in the Cockrell Butterfly Center, you will get the pleasure of sampling the Miracle Fruit berry, which tricks your taste buds and makes food, even lemons, taste like sweet morsels. As you walk through the Butterfly Center, lit especially for the evening, you will sample appetizers including chocolate, tropical fruit, and honey. There are only four times allotted so buy your tickets in advance and support your local museum while you impress your date with sweet science. Tickets are on sale now at http://www.hmns.org or call 713 639 4629.

Farmers Markets
If you’re looking for something more relaxed to do this Valentine’s Day, head to a local farmers market. Get the ingredients for a romantic picnic from neighborhood farmers, feed each other homemade vegetarian tamales, drink fresh-squeezed natural juices, buy your sweetheart a bag or a necklace made by a local artisan, or pet a baby goat. Urban Harvest, a non-profit group, holds two markets; Monica Pope’s restaurant T’afia hosts one; and there’s another on the Rice University campus.

If none of these great gift ideas met your needs, read our blockbuster post from 2009, Will You Design My Valentine? Great Gift Ideas for Your Love Bun.

The Beer Can House. All images courtesy of the Orange Show.

OffCite presents the sixth submission by a commenter to the original Unexpected City challenge post. Click here to learn about making your own submission.

My favorite place to take out of town guests is the Beer Can House at 222 Malone. Begun in 1968 by the creator John Milkovisch, the house is a great example of dedication and whimsy. Walking up to the house, you can see the extensive number of beer cans that were used to cover the house. If the wind is blowing you can hear the tinkling of the wind chimes that were created with the tops of the beer cans. As you stroll down the driveway, there are quirky objects like marbles placed in the concrete.

The home before becoming the Beer Can House.

Drawings of beer can hanging methodology by Julie Birsing.

Morris Architects

If you thought that stylish living for pets began and ended with couture rain coats, high-design pet carriers, and organic day spas, you can now add innovative, state-of-the-art doghouses to the list. For years, creative individuals have been using their talents to design and build functional (and stylish) doghouses for their four-legged friends. Last year, Houston Pavilions hosted its first Barkitecture design competition, bringing together designers, architects, builders and artists who constructed dozens of unique homes for man’s best friend. Here are a few of the houses from last year’s competition:

Page Southerland Page

Harrell Architects

Newberry Campa

Dump Truck

English Associates

Architects Without Borders

This year, Barkitecture is back and seeking participants for its second annual competition on Saturday, October 23. If interested, please visit barkitecturehouston.com to sign up by August 1 and learn more about participating. All houses will be publicly displayed at Houston Pavillions and auctioned off in a silent auction benefiting Pup Squad. While there is no entry fee, participants are asked to cover the costs associated with designing and building the doghouse. Doghouses can be as wild, crazy, conservative or refined as you can imagine. Aside from raising much-needed funds for charity, the doghouses will also be eligible to win Peoples’ Choice, Kid’s Choice, and Best of Show awards. Better yet, if design is not your thing, you can attend a “Yappy Hour” event from 5pm to 8pm on Friday, October 22.

Joe Ross, designer with PH Design, holds up covers from Cite 81.

A new issue of Cite is currently at the press. Subscribe or join now to get your copy. For the last few days, I have been conducting press checks with graphic designers. I find the process so fascinating I would like to share some pictures and basic explanations of how offset printing works. As the sole full-time staff person with Cite, my understanding of production has become more intimate, though I don’t know all the terms and am more lay than expert.

Aluminum sheet etched with text and images.

Heidelberg press.

Paper enters the press at one end.

A press worker adding yellow ink to the press.

Printed sheet emerges from end of printer.

Printed sheets are reviewed at a lighted table.

Pound of Flesh Paperweight by Walteria Living, found at Kuhl-Linscomb.

Get this: nobody knows which of three martyred St. Valentines we revere on February 14^th – the priest from Rome, the Bishop of Terni, or the man of unknown rank martyred in Tunisia. But the darkest secret behind this celebration honoring the unique spirits of the ones you love? The Church can’t even recall the gifts of supreme sacrifice these poor Valentines offered up to achieve their holy statures.

But you, my dear sirs and madams, are expected to forge on ahead. To out Valentine the saints and deliver up gifts that are thoughtful and romantic. The kind memorable enough to remain rippling in the recesses of their recipients’ memories forever. Or at least until next year.

Oh, don’t worry: we’ll help you avoid the obscurity of being yet another person unable to deliver something with pizzazz on this special day with a few traditionally inspired, yet 21^st century gift ideas designed to keep the love alive year round…
Morsels.Even the most diehard sweet-tooths we know would actually trade several pounds of waxy lumps of “chocolate” in the quintessential, heart-shaped boxes for just five or six artesian sweets – and Houston is the city to buy them in. The love handles and the taste buds will remember you fondly if you make the effort to seek out a luscious, locally-made delicacy.

If you’re looking for something with a little “ooh la la”… think Parisian macaroons from Maison Burdisso (www.maisonburdisso.com). These French pastries consist of two delicately crunchy cookies brought together with either a light cream or fruit compote filling. They come in an incredible array of flavors, raspberry, green tea, orange, Espellete chili pepper, Armagnac, just to name a few. Jackie Burdisso, the creator of these inspired pastries, will be taking special orders for heart-shaped macaroons until February 7^th. Don’t forget to ask about her hand dipped, exquisite truffles while you’re on the phone.

Traditionalists know the value of a good idea: and if you or your loved one is one of those folks who can’t make it through Valentines’ Day without a bonafide chocolate, head over to La Villette. Their divine dulce de leche chocolate bon bons will make you proud. (www.lavillettecatering.com, 1716 Bissonnet, 713-521-7550)
Jewelry. Nothing to dampen the mood like an expensive gemstone or gold bracelet procured via slave labor. Memorable, sure. Just not in the right way.

If shiny and sparkly are for your valentine, however, don’t fret. Houston has many alternatives to the large jewelers that don’t pay attention to where their goods come from. From simply stunning lockets to lavish diamond necklaces, there are plenty of antique jewelry gems at Past Era (www.pastera.com, 2311 Westheimer, 713-524-7110) for any budget. This bow-topped Victorian flower basket locket seemed like the perfect bit of history to give to your special someone… maybe with a photograph?

More of a modern look to your girl? Melissa Borrell (www.melissaborrell.com) is a local jewelry designer whose work can be found from the MoMA Design Store to Houston’s very own MFAH Gift Shop. Her work ranges from one of a kind silver pieces to pop-out, flat pack jewelry. We particularly liked the large red garden pop-out earrings.

If you’re in the market for something more unusual, recycled, and a great conversation starter, maybe an asymmetrical necklace made from Coca-Cola bottles would be up her alley. Smart Glass Jewelry (www.smartglassjewelry.com) has many lines made from different types of recycled glass.
Clothing. And so, allow us to suggest the belt buckle. Every time your loved one undresses they’ll be thinking of you – how can you do much better than that? And you can find fantastic, locally made designs at Hello Lucky (www.hello-lucky.com, 1025 Studewood Street, 713-864-3556).

Ah-hem, you say. Where’s the cheap lingerie? We’re talking subtle this year, remember. So as not to make you look desperate. And if the lover in your life has breasts (small or large), we suggest a gift certificate to Oprah’s favorite My Intimacy (www.myintimacy.com, the Galleria). Your love will receive a proper bra fitting and a well-made, beautiful European bra that fits. She’ll leave the pack of 80% of American women who wear the wrong size of flimsy droopiness and begin running with the pack of women who look as sexy with their sweaters on as they do with them off. Sexy. Subtle. And she’ll love you for it.

Flowers. When googling Valentine’s Day flowers we stumbled across infinite references from women noting the dozen wilted roses their lovers picked up on the way from the office had led to some serious feelings of dampened ardor. But we’ve got a few solutions we think you’re going to like.

A tin flower bouquet from Uncommon Goods (www.uncommongoods.com). It’s pretty, made of recycled goods, and will last a lifetime.

Love that has both a sense of humor and an undying love of humanity? You could also try the environmentally sensitive, veritably hip and trendy gift of the moment: elephant poop roses, also from Uncommon Goods (www.uncommongoods.com). Really. They don’t stink, they’re unusual, and they help save the elephants.
Sexy Lighting. You just ask Blanche from a Streetcar Named Desire about the importance of romantic lighting. Most people make due with a couple of candles, but those waxen standbys leave you in the dark before the evenings out. Which is sometimes the point, but then, what about the next day? And the next?

The venerable St. Valentines might roll over in their respective graves before admitting it, but church can be an awfully sensual lighting experience and there’s the stained glass to thank for that. Of course, you don’t need to buy your own small European chapel like the Menil Museum; you can just flex your antique shopping skills for a couple weeks before the holiday, and come up with a small panel that will let the love light shine year round.

You’re itching to spend a little more on something more creative and mysterious? Kuhl-Linscomb (www.kuhl-linscomb.com, 2424 West Alabama, 713-526-6000) has your back. Their hanging Zettel’z lamp by Ingo Maurer filters light through sheer, vellum-like Japanese paper with notes already written on them.

You’ll want to use some of the 49 blank squares provided to scrawl your own love notes, and let them emblazoned for years to come.

Straying slightly off the subject – if you’d be hanged before dangling your poetic love proclamations from the ceiling, you might consider the subtler but still sexy choice of a Pound of Flesh. No need to file a court order, Portia: this is a beautiful, bronze paperweight shaped like an actual human heart designed by Walteria. The staff at Kuhl Lindscomb tell us it’s so popular they can barely keep it on the shelves.
Imagination. All this talk of love notes has left you trembling because of your infamous two-left-tongues? That’s why they make poets.

Is your lover well-versed in love poetry? Our literati pals suggest you try: Pharaoh’s Daughter or The Astrakhan Cloak by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill. The Wild Iris by Louise Glück. Captain’s Verses by Pablo Neruda. Bright Existence by Brenda Hillman (for the broken hearted). Assembling the Shepherd by Tessa Rumsey. And Her Soul Out of Nothing by Olena Kalytiak Davis. M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A by A. Van Jordan. Please by Jericho Brown. The Heat Bird by Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge.

And our one and forever true love, go-to classic is something we’re too attached to not to mention: Pablo Neruda’s Twenty Love Songs and a Song of Despair. If you don’t have it, start there. A gaggle of teen boys once accosted one of us at a bookstore in Brooklyn, claiming they’d been trying but couldn’t find “any love poems anywhere.” The relief in their postures and on their faces when they perused the first pages of the book is among her fondest memories of living in the city. And for the even more traditionalist: Shakespeare’s Sonnets are not such a bad choice.

Any of the above books can be found at or ordered from Brazos Bookstore (www.brazos.booksense.com,  2421 Bissonnet, 713-523-0701).

So much sincerity not your style? You can try buying the tongue in cheek, Porn for Women at Sig’s Lagoon (www.sigslagoon.com, 3710 Main Street, 713-533-9525).
Music. Tell her how much you love her with a song. Or maybe someone else’s song if you’re not up for composing your self. Take a classic approach with “Ella (Fitzgerald) and Louis (Armstrong) Sing Gershwin.” Even the least coordinated can find a slow dance or two on this album. And the chemistry between the two soulful artists is extremely catching.

For more of an avant-garde, rock and roll love song, check out The Velvet Underground and Nico, produced by Andy Warhol. A perfect song to wake up to after Valentines day, “Sunday Morning” starts this classic. Nico’s voice is always harmonic and soul stirring, but “I’ll be Your Mirror” is the most love filled of her songs. (Just a warning: a third of the album is filled with pretty out-there stuff, so if you are new to The Velvet Underground, you might want to start with “Sunday Morning” and “I’ll be Your Mirror”… both are available on iTunes.)

If neither classic nor avant-garde is his or her (or your) thing, maybe you both could fall in love all over again with some classic pop love songs by the Cure, re-done by great Indie musicians. Just Like Heaven: A Tribute to the Cure features new artists like The Submarines performing “Boys Don’t Cry,” Dean & Britta singing a thrilling version of “Friday I’m in Love,” and Grand Duchy putting their spin on “A Strange Day.”

Some other amazing love songs:

* Sufjan Stevens is best known for his sad, slow songs, but he does have two beautiful love songs, both off the album Seven Swans, “The Dress Looks Nice On You” and “To Be Alone with You.”
* One of the sweetest folk love songs, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” by Ramblin’ Jack Elliot will make you cry it’s so beautiful.
* Tom Waits scratchy voice soulfully sings “I Want You,” off The Early Years Vol. 2.

If you’re more of a true rocker, the Black Keys have a couple songs that tell a story of love, “You’re the One” is off their album, Magic Potion; and “The Lengths” can be found on Rubber Factory.