New Orleans History

New Orleans- as seen on historical marker I saw along the Mississippi River in the French Quarter.

What a weekend to be in New Orleans!

This was a beautiful and eventful weekend to be in New Orleans. It was the first weekend of JazzFest, the Zurich Golf Classic, the Bubba Gump Shrimp "Run, Forrest, Run" 5 k race, and in general, just wonderful spring weekend!I think our across the street neighbors are a little too into the JazzFest spirit. When we came home Friday, as you walk out on our front porch, this is the image you see. I mean, we are all excited about JazzFest, but The Pot-O-Gold is not the one memory I want to take home from it! In all seriousness, I'm not quite sure why they couldn't scoot the potty into their driveway or somewhere a bit more discreet. (It is for the painters that are working on their house) But, in general, BM and I just thought this was the funniest thing EVER.

"Streetcar Named Inspire" cont'd

I've been taking more Streetcar pics for y'all around the city as I see them. Here are a few I have seen recently...(on Fulton Street near Harrah's Casino Hotel)

(Inside Hilton Riverside Hotel)
(in front of New Orleans JCC)(in front of Whole Foods- yes, those are all beer bottle caps)(outside of Superior Grill on St. Charles Ave.)
(inside Astor Crown Plaza Hotel lobby on Canal Street)

Funny story... the bellman at the Astor must have thought I was a tourist and saw me taking a picture. He asked me what I thought that was I was taking a picture of and of course I said a streetcar. I assumed he would tell me most people thought it was a trolley or a cablecar or something, but he said, "oh no, most people ask why we decorate our caskets so beautifully in New Orleans!"

Weekends... Gotta love em

Not much going on in the Monkey House right now. Today was absolutely gorgeous and we made the most of it. This morning LM and I took our routine walk around the park with some friends and then coffee at the coffeehouse. Then I headed to the Freret Street Festival with same girlfriends and we had a fun time people watching.

I put sunscreen on my face but didn't think about applying anywhere else and came away with a ridiculous sunburn which is going to look very silly when I wear something with a different neckline. The sun totally knocked me out and I took a long nap and then ordered Chinese food from our favorite, August Moon Restaurant.

(Check out this sunburn. Ignore stain on shirt from Chinese food mentioned above!)

I'll leave you with some cute pics of BM and LM from our trip to the park yesterday afternoon.(I think Big Monkey is looking quite handsome in this pic)

Call me a Mah Jongg Maven

Before Hurricane Katrina, we had about 20 women who met weekly to play Mah Jongg at each other's houses. It was an awesome time and we all made some great friends and had great memories from it. Since then, we have often tried to get the momentum going again but after a couple of weeks, it peters out and we end up having a long dry spell. I tried to break the current spell by hosting a game at my house last night. I made enchiladas, set up the folding table, put out the sets, and waiting for the crowd to show. We had about ten ladies come and a great time was had. Hopefully, we will be able to start up a weekly game again.
I won on a great WINDS hand. I was pretty impressed with myself!

A Streetcar Named Inspire- continued

This weekend I was out and about and, for some reason, I wandered into the Lakeview neighborhood of New Orleans. This is a part of New Orleans near Lake Pontchartrain and City Park which was right where one of the levees broke in Hurricane Katrina. My Grandparents lived in this neighborhood for almost 40 years until their home was destroyed by flooding. They have since moved into a retirement community and what was once their home, a home I spent much of my childhood in, is now just a concrete slab. Sometimes I like to drive around the area, look at the slab, and see how the rebuilding efforts are going in that part of the City.

During this weekend's visit, I stumbled upon these artists' tribute to Lakeview and decided to add them to our collection.

More to come...

A Streetcar Named Inspire

The YLC (Young Leadership Council) in New Orleans has commissioned 80 replica streetcar sculptures which have been painted in tons of different ways representing different aspects of New Orleans. The project is similar to the cows in Chicago, pigs in Seattle, and the previous fish in New Orleans. Click here for the press release on the project.Anyway, they are really pretty cool so I decided to start taking pics as I come across them and post them on here for y'all to see. I found these first three examples in the French Quarter last month.

Review of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I saw this movie tonight. I started crying when it began and didn't stop for three hours. That's not to say the movie was all that sad, but I pretty much cry at AT&T commercials, so you can't go by me.

I enjoyed the movie, but, of course have some comments. The movie starts with Benjamin being born to a family in New Orleans. His father sees what he is and promptly leaves him on a fellow New Orleanian's doorstep. The movie seems to be a parable for life, told like a fable. Because of this, I really think they should have left more to my own imagination. They really drew out every detail for me which lead to some unbelievability. But, in general, the story was good and, I would suggest seeing it.My favorite part about the movie, though, was the fact that New Orleans really becomes a character in its own right within the movie. The scenes were shot beautifully, showcasing our wonderful architecture, streetcars, French Quarter, parks. I really enjoyed recognizing places around the New Orleans and seeing them as I do everyday and how they might have been years ago.
Unfortunately, the director felt the need to bring Katrina into the story which was completely unnecessary to the plot, if not just awkward. Last, I have to say, Brad Pitt is just HOT! He just gets hotter and hotter... one day I will tell y'all about the time I saw him at Big Lots last Christmas. Yes, I said Big Lots!

Halloween in the Suburbs!

Long, Long ago I heard tales of a place far, far away where houses have over 3000 square feet for under $300,000, where children play in the cul-de-sac without parental supervision, where neighbors know each other by name, and where hords of city folk travel to have the true Halloween experience. Where is this wonderful land, you ask? Yes, visitors, it is a place we call... The SUBURBS!!!Unfortunately, living in Uptown New Orleans does not make for kid-friendly Halloweening, so we packed up the Little Monkey and headed to the 'Burbs (Harahan to be exact). This place is crazy! Every block has houses with live bands in their garages and some houses even offer free daquiris for the adults. By 8pm, the whole neighborhood looks like Mardi Gras day it is so packed.

The Little Monkey had a great time on his first trip trick-or-treating. He definitely did not quite understand the concept but enjoyed taking candy and then offering it back to the giver (which everyone thought was hilarious). Next year he will be back in full force!(Remember our friends, The Triplets?)

Popeye's Fried Chicken- A True New Orleans Halloween Lunch!

My office had its annual Halloween costume contest and Popeye's Fried Chicken lunch today. I can only tell you that riding back to the office in a car filled with 100 pieces of Popeye's Fried Chicken is a New Orleans girl's wildest dream! They really should bottle that smell and sell it as perfume... Now that would attract some men!

A beautiful blog post about New Orleans

Thanks to Elle at Maxwell the Tatooed Boy for this beautiful post about her home town New Orleans and why she misses it. It is a really moving tribute to the City. Check it out if you get a moment.