delinquent

So, yet again, it appears as if I have hopped off my blogging bandwagon. Truthfully, I have been preparing my house for new furniture. We painted the living/dining areas, made a guest room into a game room, and sawed a couch in half (long story). That led to lots of night of being extremely busy or tired, and no time to think about a wedding. But, a few weeks ago, I got an email from Campbell's Catering about an Open House at the Patio on Mercer. We decided to go check it out. Campbell's is on the preferred list for Paraiso Maravilla, which is currently (still) our wedding venue pick and we didn't know what their food would be like. We made the drive out to the Patio (off of Edloe and Richmond) and were far from impressed. The place bills itself as Houston's newest patio venue. It is off of a side street that would be hard to find without the aid of a GPS. There is an old brick building next to it that is run down and just plain ugly. The patio is climate controlled, as promised, so that was nice, but it was far from large. If there were a light rain storm, it would protect all of the event guests from the rain, but should rain come down hard and sideways, guests would be soaked. There was not enough indoor space to accomodate many people at all, parking was a complete nightmare, and from beyond the covered patio, there was a large parking garage looming overhead. The Patio is a good idea in theory, but short of being used for corporate parties, I don't see it getting a lot of attention from Houston event planners. The event was also one of the most disorganized I have ever seen. At most events, you get an opportunity to chat with a representative from each company if you want. This event was total chaos. Like I said, we went for the catering. The only food we sampled from Campbell's were dips that we could have gotten from HEB's Cooking Connection and quesadillas that were made to order on the outdoor grill. The quesadillas were good, but let's face it- I could do that. So, the jury is still out on the quality of Campbell's. I would be willing to try a tasting there, but if their handling of my event was like the handling of this one, I would be livid. The night wasn't a total wash, though. We tried some of the sample cake, because, let's face it, Andrew and I love to eat. It was from a company called Edible Designs by Jessie. I had looked at their website before and I wasn't too impressed. But, this cake was delicious... super moist with lots of flavor. The buttercream frosting on both (a white cake and a chocolate) was light, not heavy and thick like most. They actually tasted different from one another, whereas most buttercream frostings just taste like sugar. I was really impressed. I looked at their site again this evening, and while I may like cakes on other sites better, I think that Jessie just hasn't done a cake that matches my tastes yet. I think the potential is there to make my dream cake. Another plus is that the shop is located really close to my parents' house, so it will be really convenient to get over there when it's time for a tasting :) I love Open Houses, especially when I find something I didn't know I was looking for!