A familiar taste of home

I know we didn't move to a different country so there are some of the same restaurants like I had at home that are right around the corner from me now.  Yet there are some in this state that are far out of reach and there are some that are completely missing.  For example, all the common burger joints like Wendy's, McDonald's and Burger King are all here.  There are even Chick Fil-A's that are available, but there are only a handful in the whole state!  (Unfortunately, there isn't one near me).  What's missing and what I surely do miss is Taco Cabana.  Man, I can think of several things that I liked to eat there.  The one in particular that I miss is the quarter chicken meal.  Mmmmm....  Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that there are IHOP's here.  The nearest one is a few towns over, but it is here.  It used to be a little tradition with my husband and me to eat there on one of the mornings during the weekend a time before the baby was born.  As thoughtful as my husband is, he offered to take me there one day for breakfast.  The one thing I can't deny is that they have the best pancakes ever and I was happy to have a familiar taste of home to be able to enjoy here in this new place.

Trying to meet new people

So I am a stay at home mom of a now 9 month old and I needed to start making mom friends for me and my daughter.  Good thing I live in an age where you can pretty easily find groups online.  I managed to join a couple of them so me and my little girl can meet new people and get out of the house.  Well, an obstacle I've just learned that I need to overcome is finding the perfect time of day to attend these things!  If you are a mom, then you know what I mean.  Right now my daughter naps twice a day and unfortunately most of these playdates are schedule right smack in the middle of her morning one which seems to be the most popular time!  Anyway, so far we've been able to finally get to one of them.  I met some new moms and found where there is a park near me.  Little by little I am getting acclimated to this new place.

The Malls around here

Well, i finally went to two of the nearest malls around the area.  The one nearest to me was a little disappointing, but I think it was because I was looking for something in particular that I did not find.  I was looking for curtains and a curtain rod for my little girl's room.  The only department stores that were in this mall were Macy's, Sears and JCPenney.  Unfortunately, they had a sad selection of home goods overall.  This is the reason I concluded that this mall was "small."  I don't think I've been back since, but I will give it another try in the future for shopping in general, especially since it is so close.  The other mall that is about 20 minutes away has recently been updated according to my husband.  It literally is a bigger mall and has more department store selections and even an "upscale" area of stores.  Besides the upscale part which is available in Houston (but not in every mall), this size and selection of mall is what I'm generally used to.  Needless to say, I really miss the selection of stores that I had available where I moved from.  Shopping is not the same anymore.=(