Monday, July 30, 2012

Date night

Several months ago, we were invited over to dinner in Houston with a lovely colleague and his partner in the Galleria area, along with a few other work friends. Todd suggested we dine in; we could call in an order to Tony's and he'd go pick it up. Joe and I thought maybe we'd misheard or that there was a Tony's Italian Corner or something similar near their home - the only Tony's we knew in Houston was THE Tony's, generally considered, as their tagline reads, Houston's top destination for innovative fine dining. No, sir, Todd did indeed regularly order pick-up from Tony's, and we enjoyed an absolutely wonderful top-shelf dinner at their home.

Flash forward to this week, when Joe is working 12-hour days and I'm confined to the house with an adorable newborn, and he and I have been subsisting on quickly-prepared sandwiches and frozen dinners and occasionally Jack in the Box. We decided it was time to have ourselves a little Date Night a la Todd. Thursday evening, Joe called in an order to our favorite high-end Woodlands restaurant, Hubbell & Hudson Bistro (aka H&H), home of awesome chef Austin Simmons. I think they were a bit confused - unlike the take-out boxes at Tony's, our entrees and appetizers came in cardboard boxes and clear soup containers - obviously they don't currently have a lot of regulars ordering take-out (but that all may change now!).

Thanks to a bit of a scheduling conflict (Ethan opted for an earlier dinner seating than I had planned) our fancy-pants Date Night consisted of Joe spoon-feeding me foie gras, pork belly, and ricotta ravioli, while I fed the little one. Incidentally, if you head to H&H for your own Date Night (either in person or in the comfort of your home), by all means try the ricotta ravioli. The sauce, a white soy orange reduction, is to die for. Like, put the plastic soup container to your lips and drink the sauce good. Everything else I ate was also fabulous, especially the foie gras, and I hear that Joe's strip steak and mushrooms and potatoes were tasty, as always. 

The accompanying bottle of wine (I saved my glass for after the baby-feeding - something about nursing with a wine glass in-hand felt wrong!) was perfect as well. 2009 Nice Malbec Reserve, courtesy of the nicest (sorry) and most talented sommeliers I know, Ryan Levy and Ian Eastveld of Nice Winery. Looking for a gift for the oenophile in your life? Check out their wine club!

Of course, the best part about in-home fine dining is that it gives us more time to look at the many faces of Ethan Scott...








first outdoor walk! he's so teensy in that stroller (and in newborn clothes)!





Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Ethan Scott Perkinson


Ethan Scott Perkinson arrived at Saint Lukes Episcopal Hospital, The Woodlands, by the grace of God and with the help of Drs. Christina Frome and Holli DenHartog, on 16 July 2012 at 10:00 AM sharp, weighing in at 6 pounds, 15 ounces (3147 grams) and 19.5 inches (49.5 cm)!

He was a lot smaller than his mama predicted but, as suspected, he's pretty much all head. That big head has a bit of hair on it - we're not sure yet how light (and how red) his hair will be, but we'll keep ya posted!

For the ob/gyn and pedi crowd: PROM (technically, PPROM) at 36w6d, C/S for breech, Apgars 9/9.

Arriving at the hospital after the bag of water broke

One last belly pic! His head's still right there under my ribs!

Grandma meets Ethan

I love skin-to-skin (say Mama and Ethan)


Nana (Jessica's grandmother) meets Ethan

Dee Dee (Jessica's mom) meets Ethan
Grandpa meets Ethan

It's exhausting meeting all these people!


It's a bit startling too!

Dr Judy went a little crazy with the awesome crocheted goodies! Look at that darling owl hat!! Thanks so much, Judy!

Skin-to-skin with papa






Mama celebrating this amazing new person
We're headed home later today and Ethan would love to greet more visitors starting this weekend (7/21)!

Love to all!

Joe and Stacy and Ethan :)