Feb. 28, 2008
We roll into Houston late Thursday night and are welcomed to Texas with a good old fashioned Craw boil. Sara’s cousin, Danielle, had crawfish, spices, potatoes, and sweet corn ready to go when we walked in the door. Man, those things are delicious. This was just the beginning of what we called our “Texas Texas” weekend (italics to be read with the thickest Texan accent you can muster).
Feb. 29, 2008
I don’t know how you mark the occasion, but we celebrated the leap year by sleeping in. The rest of the morning was spent taking care of essentials; reorganizing the car, washing our dishes and doing some very necessary laundry.
Around three in the afternoon we made it out to Spring, Texas to meet with Mike McKimm at Cuvee Coffee. Three barista’s from Caffe Medici in Austin, TX were visiting Mike and we walked in just in time to snag some Rwandan coffee from Mike’s clover. Rather then wasting paper cups we lent them a few of our travel mugs, knowing we would see them again in Austin.
Mike started Cuvee Coffee almost ten years ago, but like many other small roasters we have met, maintained a separate full time job while he built up the company. In 2007 he made the transition to running Cuvee full time and has now brought in a second roaster, Clancy Rose (is that not a GREAT name?). Since going full time Mike has decided that he wants to offer greater support to the farms he knows produce great coffee and are more environmentally aware. With this in mind he has cut down on the number of origin countries he buys from in order to be able to purchase a larger quantity of coffee 
from the farms he does work with. Mike told us he thinks its “important to try to make a substantive difference”. Mike had to leave soon after we arrived to take his son to soccer practice, but we stayed to talk with Clancy about coffee roasting. Shortly into the conversation Clancy delivered one of our favorite lines on the trip: “Asking a roaster which coffee is his favorite is like asking a parent which child is their favorite”.
That night Danielle and her fiancé David took us to The World Championship BBQ Competition where we met up with Melanie’s former housemate Sam and his partner Scott. The World Championship BBQ night is considered the Mardi Gras of Houston.
David had a connection with one of the competition tents for free all you can eat BBQ and drinks. The six of us ate our fill and then wandered around the hundreds of Competition tents lined up to create a mini-town of BBQ and dancing. We even went to the Alamo –
March 1, 2008
Saturday morning Danielle came with us to Taft Street coffee. Taft street coffee was opened by a church in Houston, but the people who run it are not 
necessarily affiliated with the church. The lofty, industrial space was well designed; split into three rooms. Each room had its own feel with soft touches to warm up the environment. The entrance is through the café/bookstore with well arranged seating and meeting areas. Through a door on the left you can enter the large room which serves as the church sanctuary and doubles as an event/meeting place. In the 
rear is an art gallery which at that time was holding a well curated collection of inquisitive, religiously oriented contemporary art. The café is known in the community as a place of social activity and community building. That morning a group of young Obama supporters were gathered outside to prepare for canvassing, while a personal support group met indoors. Stopping to smell the flowers on our way out, we headed for our next adventure of the day.
Danielle asked Sara to be her maid of honor so we spent the afternoon dress shopping. Sara sampled some beautiful gowns while Melanie went on the hunt for the worst dresses ever. Much to our surprise, any of the dresses would make a beautiful bride. Pictures forth coming (oh, just you wait and see!)
Danielle and Sara headed home while Melanie took off to spend the afternoon on a poolside patio with Sam. That night Scott and Sam took us out to the Brazos River Bottom for cowboys, line dancing and two-stepping. Fan-Texas-tastic!
- Melanie and Sara Rose
Dani’s getting married!?