if you ever are in Houston...

occasionally I still get emails from a little caribbean fusion restaurant in Houston, Texas. I haven't unsubscribed from those yet, for some reason. possibly it's because the owners were so gloriously nice to me last year when I was planning the reunion for our Purdue Rhetoric & Composition program. Heidi, the woman I spoke to about organizing our event at Calabash Island Eats, was the epitome of loveliness and accommodation. her venue was likewise lovely, and all the attendees at our reunion last spring seemed to enjoy the evening very much. the restaurant was close to the convention center, the weather and the space were as comfortable as anyone could imagine, there was plenty of food and drink, and we didn't go too much over our little budget.

just today (around 6pm EST, 3pm PST) I started calling around to potential reunion venues in Portland, Oregon. thanks (endless thanks!) to friend Ellery and his sister Bethany--both charming Portlanders--I had a great list of recommendations to work with. I'm slowly winnowing out the places that are too far from next year's convention center, places that look too small, places that don't seem to do private bookings, places that want more money than we can spend, and so on. there are 5 venues left on my potential venue list so far...

so this process is reminding me of all the phonecalls I made last year. all the harried restaurant managers and hospitality professionals who promised to call me back and didn't, or who never answered my emails, or who scoffed that I had waited until November to book this Wednesday night thing for April. Heidi at Calabash did none of those things, and made my job a thousand times less stressful. if you are ever in Houston, it is a place worth checking out.