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    Home and Deranged

    Giving up on growing up: How I spent my tax refund

    Caroline Gallay
    Apr 16, 2010 | 2:24 pm
    • I ditched my piggy bank in favor of a legitimate savings account
    • I'm almost looking forward to nights of bypassing happy hour for laundry, andthat is truly horrifying
    • Yeah... this isn't going to work out

    I barely recognize myself these days. It’s not a new hairstyle, a bad tan or a new brand of makeup. It’s a propulsion toward (slight) maturity that’s too disturbing to celebrate.

    Two weekends ago I got rowdy enough at a friend-of-a-friend’s boyfriend’s crawfish boil that I had to go through strangers’ mail in the morning to locate an address where I could tell a cab to retrieve me. I then took that cab to Easter service.

    I know that might not sound like the behavior of a mature adult, but if you knew me in college, we can call it progress.

    Then on Wednesday, despite my most ardent desires, I did not spend my tax refund on shoes. I didn’t spend it on happy hour, either, or even rent.

    Instead, I put the entire refund into a low-interest savings account. And, for the first time, this newly opened account was not nicknamed “Spring Break, What What” or “Nautical Wedges.” It’s called simply, “Rainy Day.”

    And, though it pained me, I set the account up to debit my checking account every month on payday before I so much as lay eyes the money I’m parting with in the name of fiscal responsibility.

    And it gets weirder.

    The same night, I broke it off with a guy I’d been seeing on and off since September because it just wasn’t going anywhere. (He’s good-looking and a ton of fun, but he lives in Louisiana and has his text messages set to auto-delete — neither are qualities I look for in something serious).

    The old me — the me I knew — would have at least waited until Sunday (when he returns to the swamp) to take optimum advantage of the free meals at better-than-usual restaurants, but it just didn’t seem time effective.

    I’m applying cost-benefit analysis to relationships now, apparently. Normal.

    And when a still-in-college friend texted me in the middle of my workday to spill deets on a great (and very recent, as in just happened) hook-up, I swiftly responded: “It’s, like, two in the afternoon!” “Go to class!!” and, “Bless you,” in rapid succession.

    Before you know it, I’ll be skipping happy hour to get some laundry in and read myself to sleep.

    I'm almost looking forward to it, and that's truly horrifying.

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    This Week's Hot Headlines

    French pastry chef picks Houston for U.S. debut and more top stories

    CultureMap Staff
    Dec 20, 2025 | 11:00 am
    Cafe Feuillette Jean-François Feuillette
    Photo by Sébastien Dray
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    Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston news of the week, beginning with a French cafe's upcoming U.S. debut. Plus, inside the hottest new bar in the Heights. Catch up on our most popular stories below, then visit this guide for festive weekend fun.

    1. French pastry chef perks up Houston with first U.S. coffee shop and café. A French coffee shop and cafe is coming to Houston. Pastry chef Jean-François Feuillette will open the first U.S. location of Café Feuillette in River Oaks District next year.

    2. New Houston cocktail bar serves up a house party fueled by music and martinis. It hasn’t taken long for Houston cocktail fans to discover Donna’s. Since it opened Thanksgiving weekend, the new cocktail bar in the Heights has been packed with people eager to check out the project from Anvil owner Bobby Heugel and veteran Houston bartender Jacki Schromm.

    3. New York Times critic awards Houston restaurant 2 stars in glowing review. Let’s just call 2025 the year of ChòpnBlọk. In a review published December 16, the New York Times awarded the Houston restaurant two stars (“very good”).

    4. Family-friendly Houston restaurant picks Missouri City for 6th location. A family-friendly Houston restaurant will soon open its sixth location. Local Table is expected to open in Missouri City in January.

    Coming soon to Missouri City. houston.culturemap.com

    5. Food experts draft the best dishes at Vietnamese restaurants in Houston. On this episode of “What’s Eric Eating,” CultureMap editor Eric Sandler recruited five of his friends and colleagues to select their favorite dishes at Vietnamese restaurants in Houston via a fantasy football-style draft.

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