The Hipster Stamp of Approval

Meghan and I had a very eye-opening realization this past weekend. As we planned my time in Houston, I wanted to make sure that I went to the coolest restaurants, bars, shops, etc. that Houston had to offer. Meghan and I, of course, always have a tendency to gravitate towards a very specific type of place. Some may like to call it the "hole-in-the-wall" or the "not-so-mainstream" hangout, or dare I say...hipster hangout? Yes, that's right. Meghan and I may not be the biggest hipsters, we may not even be hipsters at all, but where do we feel most comforable? In the presence of hipsters. What can we say? We're indiekidz at heart and the "Hipster Stamp of Approval" is a must when venturing into the unexplored abyss of a new city.

See? Indiekidz. Tried and true.

Upon realizing that the Hipster Stamp of Approval was a necessity in our search for fun places in Houston, we decided to visit Brasil, a local coffeshop, in the heart of the Montrose district. This place was super cool. Even in the sunny 100 degree weather, Brasil offered a dark, cool place to eat, study, catch up with friends, or....blog! Red Velvet Love Affair was a "Brasil-Inspired" blogpost, and look at the piece of work that turned out to be. Captivating, I know. Meghan and I spent a good two hours there for lunch one day munching on quiche and fresh salad, and then went back for more a couple of nights later and enjoyed a soy mocha/blogging session. Quite frankly, I could probably sit there all day and be perfectly content. Sidenote: Why can't all of our offices just be in coffeeshops? A girl can dream, right?

The second restaurant that received the "Hipster Stamp of Approval" was Beaver's Icehouse. Beaver's, from the outside, doesn't look too intriguing. Beaver's from the inside? Awesome. It's a like an indie Texas bar. As contradictory as that sounds, for Beaver's, it works! Meghan and I had fun with their extensive drink menu and each had an "El Diablo" - a sweet, yet spicy Texas drink. We also decided that, heck yeaaahh, we can handle the gigantic, probably meant for five men-BBQ sampler. And not only did we "handle" it, we dominated it. And then...well...we didn't really eat for the next 24 hours, with the exception of red velvet brownies. But that's a whole other story...

Moral of this blogpost? If you can't seem to find one place that would be fit for the presence of hipsters, then you should probably get as far away from that city as you possibly can. The Hipster Stamp of Approval: the perfect tool for navigating yourself from the Applebees of the world to the Satchels of the world in unfamilar, unexplored territory.