French restaurants have been very kind to Houstonist. They reside in quaint little locales, offer crusty bread and real butter, and cook up delectable and delicate fares. We were delighted to learn that a new french restaurant opened on Colquitt just two weeks ago. The owners and chefs of Au Petit Paris, Eric Legros & Dominique Bocquier, have created a 'casual' neighborhood restaurant with a distinct Parisian feel. Though the restaurant lacks the pretentiousness of......

Several more venues are celebrating the holidays this week with showcases. The Meridian is hosting the annual Holiday Babes Christmas Party tomorrow night with our favorite local musical babe, Katie Stuckey. Verizon Wireless will be a haven for country singer/songwriter lovers tomorrow night (includes Roger Creager and Bruce Robinson). Warehouse Live celebrates twice with the Jingle Balls Friday night, showcasing local favorites Paris Green and Glass Intrepid, and their annual Eve of Christmas Eve......

Good morning, Houston. So you say you're a Dynamo fan, eh? Well, here's your chance to prove it: The back-to-back MLS champs are auctioning off a chance to get close to the team's two MLS cups — literally. If you win the auction, the cups will be dropped off at your house on Christmas Eve and picked up Dec. 26; in between, you can do whatever you want with 'em (within reason, of course).......

::Monday Night Movie at Domy:: Domy Books, in association with Domy Films, is pleased to present, MONDAY MOVIE NIGHTS, Mondays at Domy Books, curated by the Movie Dudes. Monday, December 17: Scrooge. What the DICKENS have they done to Scrooge? A 34 year-old Albert Finney stars as the penny-pinching old miser in this Dickens classic turned musical. This is a delightful musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol. Cold-souled Ebenezer Scrooge has a......

Tomorrow is the trade deadline for Major League Baseball, which is pretty much like shopping on Christmas Eve, but with Eric Gagne playing the part of Tickle Me Elmo. The much-maligned Astros have already made one head-scratching trade leading up to the deadline, picking up exactly what they needed in 3B/2B/1B/OF Ty Wigginton: another clean-cut white guy who plays no position in particular. But what is next for GM Tim Purpura? Mark Loretta (who has......

On Sundays, Houstonist runs opinion pieces relevant to life in Houston. The opinions expressed below are entirely those of the author. So it’s Christmas Eve, and you aren’t done with your shopping. Sure, you’ve carefully wrapped a present for your mother that is so amazing it will remove the memory of every bad gift she’s ever received, and your kids each have their own Play Station XVIII. But you still have to buy for your......

Happy Holidays! Chances are, you're reading this the day after Christmas, back at your day job after all-too-short a holiday, and the last thing you want from us is stuff about the holidays. But that's just too bad. Because, see, here in the Ist-A-Verse, we do things ahead of time. It might be December 26 for you, but that's what you get for not checking your Favorite Local Blog on Christmas Eve. Austinist is......

Know what is more fun than watching A Christmas Story on TBS or TNT or wherever on Christmas Eve? Watching it with a room full to the brim with other Ralphie enthusiasts at Texas Repertory Theatre. Today is the last day you can see the holiday classic acted out on stage at the theater, located at 14243 Stuebner Airline Road. Tickets are $30 and the show starts at 8 p.m. Go here or call......

Houstonist always has a big pile of tamales, a cauldron of our venison chili and a pot of pintos (to bean or not to bean - that is the controversy question) with all the sides (cheese, onions, corn chips, chopped tomatoes, sour cream, etc) for Christmas Eve. Finding a mean tamale in Houston is actually fairly easy, here are some recommendations for you, in case you need some and are behind the proverbial 8-ball, or......

Houstonist contributor Monica suggested this video, which we didn't even know existed. Made in the middle of their short career, Wham! decided to go for scenery on "Last Christmas" that we haven't seen since two Christmas Eve's ago -- snow. The video just taked you to the ski lodge where George Michael and his (ahem) girlfriend go to meet their friends. All throughout the video, George is obsessing over his lost love, who now......

Here at Houstonist, we don't get all of our gift purchasing completed by Halloween. Sometimes, we are in the mad rush on Christmas Eve ( Aunt WHO is going to be there? RATS - now, I need another gift!). So, if you are anything at all like us, and are still cramming gifts and tissue paper into those cute little gift bags, wrapping boxes up with bows and realizing you forgot someone important - today......

Still looking for the perfect gift for the person who has everything? Well, if that person happens to be a soccer lover and doesn't mind having a really cool present taken away from them, you're in luck: If you're willing to pay enough, you could have the Houston Dynamo's MLS Cup under your tree. No kidding. The Dynamo is auctioning off Christmas with the big silver trophy to benefit Covenant House Texas, an organization that......

Houstonist spends December either crazy busy or stupid tired, what with all of the parties, shopping, home decorating and general Christmas season ilk going on. We discovered these, "on accident" and even though we are pushing all of our limits, we simply cannot bring ourselves to endorse pre-cut, refrigerated cookies that come with their own icing. There is something so wrong with it, our sensibilities are offended. We may kill ourselves, figuratively, but the cookies......

Well, we shouldn't be surpised, but the kid in each one of us can be a little disappointed to hear that snow is not predicted to make another Christmas Eve or Christmas Day appearance this year. Houstonist was really looking forward to making a two-foot-tall snow man. (Would that be a snow little person? A snow dwarf?) Last year, we received our first December snow since 1989. We don't get many encounters with Old......

As we at Houstonist started our day, the Buzz's Brother Rod was playing a crowd favorite "Drive Thru Sing-a-Long" during which courageous contestants festively sang "Deck the Halls," hoping an unknowing drive-thru attendant would chime in with the chorus. (We'll sing with you … fa la la la la, lala la la!) To our dismay, it took over an hour and countless attempts for someone to win this reindeer game. So where's the holiday spirit?......

Houstonist hasn’t played in the snow since last Christmas Eve, so we’re thinking about putting on our OshKosh B’Gosh and trying to blend in with the other youngsters tomorrow and have snow fights at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The museum is importing 40,000 pounds of real snow for the 2nd Annual Snow Flurry. Santa will be there, along with live reindeer. The free event takes places from Noon to 4 p.m. You can......

It seems like only Monday we were bitching about how hot and dry it was. A few days later, and cold and wet weather is knocking on our door. A vigorous Canadian air mass is making its way through Houston today and Thursday, bringing with it cold air and moderate rain. In the city, temperatures will only rise to the upper 30s tomorrow before falling to below freezing Thursday night. There’s little chance for......

Houstonist knows first-hand how hard it is to find that perfect gift for friends and family. We tend to wait until Christmas Eve, and then hit the malls for gift certificates. Not this year. We found some unique items for your wide range of gift receivers: Kids: Want to teach your 6-year-old (or, better yet, someone else’s) how to use an ATM? The ATM Bank for kids accepts real money and even lets them use......