Gish Picks: Week of May 26, 2010

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WHAT'S NEW THIS WEEK?

Summer's here and if you're like me, you need help finding cheap fun for your family. Doncha worry! Houston offers so many ways to kick it up in the summer -- from water parks to family movies to easy field trips -- and they're all included in my new write-up on summer fun. Get some great ideas by taking part in on a discussion I started on my new GISH PICKS Facebook page -- please join in and share YOUR ideas for summer fun on a budget. And if you want to get some ideas for year-round money-saving, check out what Vicki Powers has to say.

Kids have a great time in the summer -- but parents don't always because we still have work obligations, outside schedules to keep, and kids to entertain. I hope you'll take some time to GO FIND FUN with your kids from my list of ideas (pick just one idea a week!) and if you need bigger breaks, sign your kids up for summer camps -- there are so many great options to choose from. You still have time to sign up and, if money is tight, many of the camps offer scholarships, which I have listed in THE SUMMER BOOK.

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend! Before I sign off, I have to give you a little bit about its history: it was originally called "Decoration Day," and was a day of remembrance for those who served and died as a member of our Armed Forces. Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic and was first observed on May 30, 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

Work up an appetite and head down to Discovery Green for the Flavors Festival which takes place this Saturday, May 29 from 9am-9pm and is hosted by Cleverley Stone, “The Diva of All Things Delicious.” Houston has over 11,000 restaurants and this festival celebrates them and the flavors that make Houston one of the most diverse culinary cities in the world. Represented will be everything from renowned chefs and restaurants to small, independent, ethnic restaurants including European, Asian and Latin cuisines. There will be culinary student competitions and professional chef competitions, eating competitions, bartender demonstrations, live music concerts and a unique food tasting experience with a huge variety of food samples. Join the eating contests if your stomach can handle it – there will be four categories -- “who can eat the most ice cream, " “who can finish one watermelon the fastest,” "who can eat the most jalapenos" and "who can eat the most tomatoes" – and each winner gets $300 and a $100 gift certificate for Mo’s…A Place for Steaks (wait a few days before using that one!). There will be chef demos from 12:15-3:15pm and a chef competition featuring culinary student teams from the Houston Community College Culinary Arts Program. Kids can go wild in the “Kids Zone,” which will have the ever-present inflatables, face painting, balloon animals and more.

Tickets are $9/advance and $15/door; kids under 10 are free. Tickets do not include food samples, which are $1-$5/each. Bon Appétit!

FOOD AND FLOWERS AT BARRINGTON LIVING HISTORY FARM

See the birthplace of Texas while enjoying “Food and Flowers: A Day in the Garden” this Saturday and Sunday (May 29 and 30) at Barrington Living History Farm. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department at Washington-on-the-Brazos present this event celebrating springtime in Texas. Kids will enjoy learning about the foods pioneers grew to feed their families in the Brazos Valley in the 1850s and seeing the heirloom varieties Republic of Texas President Anson Jones may have been growing on his farm. Everyone will get to dig in the dirt and help pick vegetables to be cooked over the hearth, make a sachet to sweeten up a drawer or closet and even take home a garden in a bag so that you can watch your own flowers and vegetables bloom. There will be demonstrations of seed-saving, hearth cooking and making herb vinegars in the kitchen.

Barrington Living History Farm, home of Dr. Anson Jones, last president of the Republic of Texas, is located at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site off Highway 105 on FM 1155 between Navasota and Brenham, about 1.5 hours from Houston. Hours are Saturday and Sunday, May 29-30, from 10am-4:30pm. Spend the night and you can enjoy Blue Bell ice cream at the Blue Bell Country Store (the factory doesn’t offer tours on the weekends, however), more than 40 bed and breakfast inns, wineries, Brenham's Main Street District and more.

Tickets are $5/adults; $3/students; children 6 and under and State Park pass holders are admitted free.

FAMILY-FRIENDLY MAGIC AND COMEDY IN TOWN THIS WEEKEND.

Magic and comedy are a perfect way to ease into the summer this weekend. The Curt Miller Magic and Comedy Show comes to Houston's Hobby Center for the Performing Arts this Friday, May 28 through Sunday, May 30 with shows at 7:30pm on Friday and Saturday and 2pm on Saturday and 3pm on Sunday. Magician and illusionist Curt Miller blends dazzling magic with great clean comedy in a theatrical show that includes people floating, sawed in half, and vanishing right before your eyes. The Curt Miller Magic & Comedy Show has performed in venues throughout Las Vegas and all across North America for over 25 years and this special Houston engagement will feature the world premiere of a brand-new illusion never performed on any stage, anywhere.

Tickets are $39.35 and $49.25.

THIS WEEK'S ATTRACTION...JAPANESE GARDEN AT HERMANN PARK. For more attractions, go to www.gishcreative.com/attractions.htm.

If you want to get out of the country without spending a dime, visit the Japanese Garden at Hermann Park. It’s a peaceful pocket of space near the Sam Houston Monument (Sunset at Main Streets) that was designed by world-renowned Japanese landscape architect Ken Nakajima as a symbol of the friendship between the U.S. and Japan. Recognizing Houston's thriving Japanese community, the garden is built on 5 acres and combines a traditional Japanese Garden design with native Texas plants. It’s a great place for undisturbed picnics, so pack up the kids and get out of town!

Hermann Park, presented to the City of Houston by George Hermann in 1914, is Houston's most historically significant public green space. Over the years, the Houston Zoo, Miller Outdoor Theatre, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Rose and Japanese Gardens and one of the first desegregated public golf courses in the United States all have added to the Park's importance as a recreational destination.

GISH PICKS is a free weekly email in which I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests. I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families.

Do you have something you would like to promote on Gish Picks? You can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below.

The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so GO FIND FUN! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find.

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For more about my marketing company, Gish Creative, and the services we offer, please click here. You are on this list because I thought this e-newsletter would be helpful to you or because you signed up for it. Please feel free to tell your friends to subscribe by clicking here. My goal is to serve as an information resource for Houston parents through my various endeavors, including:

GISH PICKS, which is online (www.thesummerbook.com/gishpicks_archive.html) and in the Houston Community Newspaper group (www.hcnonline.com);

THE SUMMER BOOK®: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS (www.thesummerbook.com) which comes out annually on March 1 and is sold at bookstores all over Houston, including Barnes and Noble and Borders; and

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS, PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS, and ART PROGRAMS that cover topics such as summertime fun, passion-finding (for adults, children and parents and children together), marketing, historic preservation, art classes, and activism. All of these services can be tailored for any audience and budget.


Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.532.1173 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com and: www.saveourlandmarks.org © 2010 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World