It\u2019s the dance floor at South Beach nightclub in Montrose.<\/p>\n
The swirl of lights, the smiles of strangers, the crystal chandelier and, of course, the blasts of cold fog that envelop the floor after midnight. It\u2019s chaotic and euphoric\u00a0\u2014 sensory overload in\u00a0the best way.<\/p>\n
For a few hours, I just dance. My shoulders\u00a0drop. The tension I carry there all day finally lets go. No deadlines. No drama. Just me, my people and the music.<\/p>\n
Houston is one of the biggest cities in the country\u00a0\u2014 and that can sometimes make it feel lonely. It\u2019s easy to get caught up in the hustle. This series is about changing that. It\u2019s a celebration not just of the places but of the everyday moments that bring Houstonians joy. It\u2019s also about making room for stories that disrupt\u00a0an algorithm made to reward outrage, conflict and bad news. Those stories matter. But so do the ones that remind us why we love living here.<\/p>\n
My happy doesn\u2019t always have to be loud. Sometimes it\u2019s a great margarita, the people you love and the perfect patio. That\u2019s La\u00a0Mexicana Restaurant for me. When I\u2019m stressed, sad, happy, overworked or just plain hungry, it\u2019s\u00a0the place I always end up. I\u2019ve celebrated birthdays and anniversaries with family and friends. I\u2019ve run into coworkers and sang along with mariachis.<\/p>\n
The patio is big, always cool in summer and warm in colder months. It looks out to the corner of\u00a0Fairview and Montrose\u00a0\u2014 a microcosm of Houston itself. At any moment, you\u2019ll see a bright yellow Ferrari, a procession of slabs, a parade of LED bikes. More often than not, there\u2019s construction happening nearby. I\u2019ve seen couples arguing at the red light and bartenders from nearby clubs rushing in for to-go orders. Years ago, I interviewed Damian\u00a0Chapa there, who played Miklo in the cult classic \u201cBlood In, Blood Out.\u201d Waiters, cooks and customers swarmed him for autographs.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s ordinary and exceptional at the same time. And it\u2019s a personal thing. I\u2019d\u00a0love to know, what\u2019s your happy in Houston?<\/p>\n
Not just a list of places. I want y\u2019all to really think about it. What\u2019s the Houston place, thing or moment you come back to over and over? Why does it matter to you? What does it feel like when you\u2019re there? Tell me the little details that make it special: the sounds, smells, people, memories or routines that bring it to life. Maybe someone else can experience a little bit of that joy themselves.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the dance floor at South Beach nightclub in Montrose. The swirl of lights, the smiles of strangers,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-378612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}