Most people have mentioned what I would suggest, so I'll just quickly do a list reaffirming some:
The
GALLERIA is like my second home. Neimans at one end,
Nordies on the other. Tiffany's, Movado, Ralph Lauren, Jimmy Choo, Burberry, LV, Sephora, all sandwiched in between those. While I certainly can't afford those kind of things, it's always fun to window shop ^_^
The
Rice Village, located around Kirby & University, is a great place for light shopping and good eats! My favs: Ruggles & Hungry's (right across from each other), Black Walnut Cafe, and THE CHOCOLATE BAR! I loooove [dark] chocolate, so this place is like a small slice of heaven. Candy store on one side, cake on the other, with ice cream in the middle. I would skip the giant cakes (like 8" tall) they have on top of the glass in favor of some of the smaller ones IN the glass. If you like dark chocolate, get the
Black Russian - dark chocolate moouse toped with a zig-zag of chocolate syrup and chocolate/white-chocolate coffee beans. Mmmm...If you're not a big fan of chocolate, there's the Tuxedo Cheesecake (I'm not a huge fan, but many friends are).
Really, anywhere up and down Westheimer has good eats. Seriously, that street probably has more restaurants in one vicinity than a small country.
If you like Thrift Store shopping, there's a Buffalo Exchange down Westheimer, closer to Downtown. There are other thrift stores around it, like Taxi Taxi, or a few boutiques, like Wish (not really worth the prices there, IMO). Katz's is near this area, and also, an fine Italian restaurant I used to work at, Michelangelo's.
If it's Asian you want, then Houston is probably on par with or second to LA (IMO). Haven't been to NYC, so I can't say. Chinatown used to be located in Downtown, but moved to SW Houston to a street called Bellaire. There are plenty of places there to eat, like strictly pho-only shops, Vietnamese sandwich shops, Dim Sum, or the standard Vietnamese or Chinese restaurants.
Feel free to PM me for details if you want/need more info! I'd be happy to help