Saturday brunch

I tagged along to K-man's haircut in the french quarter yesterday because I knew I could convince him to get brunch at a restaurant right on Jackson Square I've been wanting to try--Stanley. I'm so happy I did because brunch was amazing! I had the eggs benedict with fried oysters. SO GOOD. Look how perfectly the eggs are poached.

 

(crappy phone pic, sorry)

Afterward we went to the Faulkner bookstore down Pirates Alley.  All-in-all it was a delightful Saturday morning.

I hope you all had a great weekend!  We're back to school tomorrow. Where did the summer go?

Update (with a side of makeup).

Sorry for the lack of posts peeps.  Here's why:  I volunteered to take over a colleague's class who had to have emergency surgery. So that means I'm now teaching 18 credits. Wow, one more class has made me crazier than a chicken with it's head cut off*.  The moral of the story? I no longer have time to post.  Things WILL pick up after April, I swear.  Don't give up on me.  I'll post when I can.


Now, the side of makeup.  I *lurv* the new Clinique Chubby Sticks.

I got the color "fuller fig," honestly though, I think all of them would be flattering.  Here's why I love this product:  it is a perfect mix of lip balm, lip gloss, and lipstick.  It is moisturizing, has a sheen, and a hint of color.  Very flattering and easy to use.  FYI: it also works great as a cream blush (I CANNOT be the first to discover this).  Seriously.  Go buy this now.



*In New Orleans on fat Tuesday there are "marching clubs" (comprised entirely of men) that go out in the morning asking neighbors for gumbo ingredients (okra, sausage, etc).  The key ingredient is a live chicken. The men then go to a yard/field, get drunk, and the game is to set the chicken loose.  Whoever catches the chicken wins and gets to cook the gumbo. How's that for tradition?

New Orleanians have serious stamina.

Finally. Here's my Mardi Gras post.

First, let me say New Orleanians are serious about carnival season. These people party for a literal month before Ash Wednesday. 60+ parades, parties, and picnics. All events include alcohol and a lot of food. Carnival is a commitment. After the big parades, 400 city workers come out to clean the streets and prep for the next parade. I have no idea how many people it takes to clean the French Quarter. I cannot believe the city is still partying by Fat Tuesday.  Here are some pictures from the Monday before Mardi Gras.  Monday is called Lundi Gras.

First, we decided to be a little touristy and go to Acme Oyster house for lunch.  Here's a car in the parking lot.

Then, we went down to the French Quarter to go to the Lundi Gras celebration on the river walk. The royalty for the Zulu Krewe is unveiled at this celebration.  There is also a ton of crafts, food, beer, live music, and amazing fireworks. This is definitely where all the locals were.

Then we walked down to St. Charles to watch the Krewe of Proteus parade.  It was such a different feeling from the parade we went to in uptown (closer to neighborhoods).  Downtown was completely overtaken by tourists.  There was this weird mix of people:  To my right was a family with a small daughter trying to catch stuffed animals and such.  To the left was a group of drunk 20 year olds wearing t-shirts with a delightful photograph of a fully nude woman with something precious in her mouth. We still had fun though.  Here are some of the floats. Disclaimer: some of them kind of suck; it's really hard to get good pictures in a crowd of thousands :)

I saw my first New Orleans celebrity on Fat Tuesday.

I saw him coming out of a gym in Metairie. He's here for HBO's Treme. I haven't watched it because I don't get HBO, but I hear it's good.

He's played a number of compassionate characters. Unfortunately, I will never see him as anyone but the tragic character he played in "Dancer in the Dark". This movie ripped my heart out and stomped on it. Heart-breaking.

(do not read this as "this movie was terrible," it was absolutely fantastic. If you ever decide to watch it, have tissues on hand)

Happy Mardi Gras Everybody!

For now, I'll leave you with this.


We went down to the French Quarter last night for Lundi Gras. I will post fun pictures soon.

Note: This is seriously a city-wide holiday here. Everything is closed; restaurants, grocery stores, even the post office.

Carnival season is crazy...

Here's my schedule for the week+
Tomorrow:  Josh Ritter at the famous Tipitinas

Thursday: krewe of Muses

Saturday: krewe of Endymion

Tuesday: Fat Tuesday, need I say more?

Chewbacchus

This is officially my favorite Mardi Gras Krewe:

link: http://www.razzamatazproductions.com/chewbacchus.html
Heh, their dues are $42. (Don't worry if you don't get this, but it is the answer to the question in the universe.)

On a side note, here's a conversation K-man and I had yesterday:
He was telling me something about Corvette Summer, a movie Mark Hammil did in between episode IV and V,

Me: "Was that before or after Mark's accident?"
K-man: "He had his accident during Corvette Summer."
Me: "Oh, ok"
pause
K-man: "Wait, how do you know about Mark Hammil's accident?"
Me: "Don't you know who you're married to?"
K-man: laughing--"My awesome Star Wars nerd wife."

Endymion

K-man and I splurged and got tickets to go to a party at one of our favorite restaurants for one of the biggest parades during Mardi Gras, Endymion.  The ticket includes an open bar, sidewalk seating during the parades, lunch, and dinner (it's an ALL DAY event). I'm so glad we got our tickets because guess who the Krewe of Endymion picked as one of the Grand Marshals? 

The Silver Fox!!

That's right, I'll get to see these baby blues in person!

Image via CNN.

What have I been doing?

I made 9 pairs of slippers:

look at how cute the baby slippers are!


I stayed home with a sick cat :( then went to Pittsburgh for Christmas.
I made my hubby take me to Primanti brothers. How many times do I
have to see this on Food Network til I try it?
Delicious! I could only eat a third of it though.
We had some good sushi:
Try the quail eggs, soooo good!
(I hope this doesn't gross anyone out.)

We had a great New Years!

We started at Ralph's on the Park for dinner.
Seriously, so good. I had the "scallop-wrapped bacon" which was
pork belly surrounded by four scallops.
It may be the best thing I've ever eaten.
Top Chef has not been lying to me
about the wonders of pork belly. WOW.

We then went to a famous hotel/bar called Columns
to ring in the New Year:
Tipsy Catie stole those glasses about a half-an-hour after this.
I feel pretty guilty about it now :(
I seriously might take them back.
Happy New Year everybody!
I hope you have a good one.

Today (Thursday) is twelfth night, the first day
of carnival season here in
New Orleans. I'll eat a King Cake in your
honor!