This is a medley of random goodness you may receive when you come home for Thanksgiving. While it’s mostly for me, I feel that this illustrates how little good things in life do occur, so we shouldn’t discount them so readily.

• Goodness of girlfriends: The heading is from my good friend Mitza who I always spend time with in Houston and drink bubble tea. She loved the earrings O and I got her for her birthday. Her friend also just got married on the Rachael Ray show.
• Goodness of roads: Holy cow is I-10 fantastic now that the construction mess is done in my neck of the woods Trust me, Houstonians need a gabazillion lanes on the freeway and double-laned HOV lanes.
• Goodness of capturing memories: My dad got me a new camera. My old one broke within in year randomly (gray screen in both display and viewfinder, yet it still took photos). But very soon, my new camera will touch my hands. Yay!
• Goodness of junk: My dad also handed me three 1 GB USBs because they give them out like candy at his conferences. Since this is not the first time he has done this, I’m already sharing with someone who needs one.
• Goodness of food: Self explanatory. Nothing beats home-cooked meal!

Despite the paper I have to write and a project (with a terrible client) that I have to do, this holiday break is only going to get better! Plus I can’t wait to see two of my bestest friends in the world in a few days.

Yeah, not dollars, unfortunately.

But hey, I’m still proud of Houston for this:

City to plant 1 million trees

Hurricane Ike uprooted thousands of trees as it made its way across Houston more than three weeks ago. But now the city has a plan to replace those trees and plant many more in an effort to go greener, KPRC Local 2 reported Monday.

Houston Mayor Bill White said the city would plant 1 million trees in the Houston area within the next five years.

Recently I’ve had this insatiable urge to be in/near water, so I’m wanting to hit some of the pools (like Hamilton, Barton Springs, or any pool for that matter).

There’s been some hype about a new restaurant called Olivia that I want to try. I really like the design of the building, although it reminds me of The Grove in Discovery Green in Downtown Houston. Prices are a little steep for Austin, but the duck confit risotto sounds like my kind of dinner. (There is also hype around mulberry, a wine bar, in the 360 condos downtown.)

Not only that, I almost died of giddiness when I found out that a drive-in theater actually existed in Texas. I will not be happy until I have been there.

The night cannot be complete without a sugar high from eating cupcakes at Sugar Mama’s. I actually didn’t really like the ones from Hey Cupcake or Whole Food’s, so hopefully this place will be good.

Okay, I’ve planned a day-long date with an imaginary boy…