Howl At The Moon

Sneak a peek at the treats for Houston SPCA's annual Howl-O-Ween Ball

It's a night you won't want to miss.

Photo courtesy of Houston SPCA

It's that spooky time of year again, where Houston's animal lovers don their best costumes and put their best fundraising foot forward to help the community's dogs, cats, birds, horses, and more.

The Houston SPCA's annual Howl-O-Ween Ball is happening Friday, October 25, and will offer guests an evening filled with cocktails, dinner, dancing, and live and silent auctions.

All money raised supports the Houston SPCA’s mission of improving and protecting the lives of local animals and alleviating their suffering and abuse.

This year's raffle presents a one in 250 chance to win a remarkable necklace from the de Boulle Collection featuring a stunning, 7.90 carat pendeloque pink tourmaline.

de Boulle necklace Houston SPCA You'll want to buy your raffle ticket now.Photo courtesy of Houston SPCA

The pink tourmaline, renowned for its rich and vibrant hue, exudes a captivating glow, making it a focal point of the necklace. Set in 18K white gold, the center pendant is surrounded by glittering diamonds. The chain also features rose cut diamonds. All in all, the necklace is valued at a whopping $10,000.

For official raffle rules and details, visit Houston SPCA’s 2024 Howl-O-Ween Ball Raffle.

Also up for grabs in the live auction are two incredible experiences:

The Ultimate Gig 'Em: A highly exclusive, 50-yard-line Kyle Field Legacy Suite for 10 people for a 2025 Texas A&M football game, along with 1 parking pass. The catered suite includes a bartender, bathroom, and four flatscreen TVs. You'll feel right at home in the "Home of the 12th Man!" Mutually agreed upon game; must be selected at the beginning of the season; non-transferable. Kindly donated by Frances Moody Buzbee and Tony Buzbee.
Texas Party For 10: Enjoy a weekend getaway at a beautiful Galveston beach house. The package also includes an intimate dinner for 10 in a wine cellar at The Bryan Museum, followed by an exclusive VIP tour of one of the world's largest collections of historical artifacts, documents, and artwork relating to Texas and the American West.

The ball is chaired by Zane and Brady Carruth, with honorary chairs Annie and Bob Graham, Evelyn H. Griffin, and Tommy Harper.

This highly anticipated event — which is part of the Houston SPCA's 100-year anniversary celebration — will be held in the Equine Rescue Arena at the William & Evelyn Griffin Campus for All Animals. Tickets for the Howl-O-Ween Ball are on sale now.

galas fundraisers animals halloween raffle promoted

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).