Lifestyle

The Art of Christmas Cards and Christmas Card Etiquette

: Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 12-12-2024

2024 Christmas Card, color pencil drawing.

Is the tradition of sending Christmas cards lost or passe’? In an age of emails, texts, and the US Postal Service hemorrhaging $11 Billion in 2024, is snail mail a forgotten tradition? Researching the dos and don’ts of Christmas Cards is tricky. There is not enough written about sending cards. And often what is said is antiquated. This post explores the art of Christmas Cards and Christmas Card etiquette. I make my own cards and have for decades. There were years when I would hand paint or draw every one of them. In recent years I have made the image, …continue reading

The Thirty Day Diet Challenge: losing weight with healthy choices.

: Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 07-17-2024

At restaurants stick to salads. (Monarch, Galveston.)

The Thirty Day Diet Challenge No bread, pasta, or wheat products. No fast food. No fried foods. No snacks or chips. No sweets, candy, or dessert. Diets are tough. Fitness gurus advise against diets and rather advocate healthy lifestyle choices. That’s well and good but sometimes body fat gets the better of people. It’s easy to gain weight and tough to shed it. Follow the Thirty Day Diet Challenge with me and see how we do. June 18: 183.6 / 25.6 The scale can’t lie. Weigh daily …continue reading

TroysArt’s 10 great gift ideas for him!

: Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 11-26-2023

At a birthday party last month at a club a few blocks from a friend’s home, I asked how we would carry all the gifts back at the end of the night. She asked what kind of gifts people would bring a sixty-year-old woman. To which I answered wine and Yankee Candles, of course. At a certain point, people become impossible to buy for. And gifts can become predictable or mundane. A grown-ass man just goes out and buys what he not only needs but wants. So what do you buy for the man who has everything? Guys don’t wear …continue reading

Camping is just code for drinking under the stars

: Destinations, Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 03-08-2018

We took a group selfie. (From left: Michael, Skip, me, Delta Dawn, & John)

March 2018, Guadalupe River State Park – Walking the dog, I gaze toward the heavens to watch Southwest jets in airways that traverse the city of Houston and I imagine what destinations are in store for the passengers aboard. I yearn to visit new places, but travel is not always about boarding a plane. Travel can be just a matter of picking a place to go. So in conversation with my friends Skip and John, I mentioned that I was overdue for camping, to which Skip reminded that it had been nine years and a dog ago since joining them. …continue reading

Another exciting Best Friends Brunch benefitting aniMeals

: Entertainment, Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 02-20-2016

Troy Broussard & Delta Dawn, 2016 Best Friends Brunch benefitting aniMeals.

My dog should be an international socialite… Once again this year Delta Dawn rocked the ballroom of a fancy hotel! The occasion was another exciting Best Friends Brunch benefitting aniMeals on Wheels at Houston’s fabulous Hotel Zaza. aniMeals on Wheels, a division of Interfaith Ministries Meals on Wheels program, was conceived after Interfaith administrators for the Meals on Wheels program questioned drivers about what they were learning on their routes. Seems recipients were not finishing their meals in order to save portions for their pets. The aniMeals program was created to provide pet food so that home-bound seniors would not feel compelled …continue reading

Remember that time I was on TV? The Big Switch

: Entertainment, Furniture & Design, Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 11-22-2015

Troy Broussard of The Big Switch, cover of OutSmart Magazine, November 2002.

Does anyone remember that time I was on TV? The Big Switch was a home design challenge sponsored by Houston PBS KUHT, Houston Chronicle, OutSmart Magazine, and Bassett Furniture. Emmy award winning Ernie Manouse hosted the two day challenge in which designers Jennifer Lowe and myself transformed the interiors of neighboring Habitat for Humanity homes. Not only did we have two days but we had a budget of $1,500, part of which we had to use at least one piece of Bassett furniture. The Big Switch was the most watched original program in the 2002 Houston PBS broadcast season. Incidentally, …continue reading

The art of yachting Puerto Vallarta

: Destinations, Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 09-26-2015

Kirk Longmire, Troy Broussard, & Kristy Phillips on a yacht in Puerto Vallarta.

Paraphrasing Carly Simon, I walked into the party like I was walking onto a yacht… and I was walking onto a yacht! It was a party too. TroysArt readers know that I recently spent time on the west coast of Mexico and this as promised is the second of two posts about the adventure (see: TroysArt – Our swank soiree in Sayulita) specifically dedicated to the art of yachting Puerto Vallarta. But first a refresher of our cast of characters. We were all guests of Rob Taylor and Kristy Phillips celebrating Rob’s birthday in Sayulita. Also present were Rob’s son Trey …continue reading

Our swank soirée in Sayulita!

: Destinations, Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 09-24-2015

“Dinner with great friends and this memory" by Raj Kalra, Sayulita.

Though I had never heard of Sayulita, Mexico, I jumped at the opportunity when invited by Houston attorney Rob Taylor and his beautiful girlfriend Kristy Phillips to celebrate Rob’s birthday. A variety of photos and tags went up on social media over the past week followed by an avalanche of questions. So naturally this TroysArt post is about what to expect and where to go based on our swank soirée in Sayulita! But first we must define the motley crew assembled for the occasion. The group included: Rob’s son Trey Taylor of Houston and his girlfriend Elizabeth from Orange; Rob’s daughter Lacy Taylor from San Francisco with …continue reading

In memory of Sandra Prather Broussard

: Lifestyle, TroysArt : Written by Troy Broussard : 08-06-2015

August 6th, 2015 – Today would have marked the 69th birthday of my mother Sandra Fay Prather Broussard. This special TroysArt post is dedicated to a life that touched so many and a life that ended too soon. The daughter of Bob & Fay Prather, she was born in New Orleans and grew up in downtown Jennings and with her sister Charlotte was third generation in the Prather home on Nezpique Street. As a youngster Sandra was known as a firebrand with pigtails, coveralls, and her notorious bag of marbles roaming the alleys off Main Street and the yards of the …continue reading

Galveston, Tropical Storm Bill, and the art of hurricane panic

: Destinations, Food & Beverage, Lifestyle : Written by Troy Broussard : 06-18-2015

The unsinkable Graham Gemoets, Galveston.

I love Galveston—it’s such a short drive from Houston but such a world away from the city. My buddy Graham Gemoets has a charming little getaway there near The Strand. With Mother’s passing and as hard as I have been working I felt long overdue for a trip and quality time with a friend. Mr. Gemoets is almost seven feet tall and more outrageous than can be recounted here–he should have his own TV show. Anyway, a Tropical Disturbance, soon to become Tropical Storm Bill, was churning in the Gulf with all spaghetti models projecting a route directly to Houston. But I …continue reading