My Favorite Things from our Quick Trip to New Orleans

1. Collaborative Packing- This fine art nearly transforms the chore into fun. Nearly. I feel like we will spend the rest of our life perfecting the strategy and getting our time down. I think we have finally reached the point where it takes more time to unpack than to pack, but we still overpack every single time. Does anyone have any tricks for this?
2. Horse paintings- On Thursday, I genomed a lot of beautiful things from a gallery in Hong Kong, and was shocked just how often horse paintings still came up (historically, it makes sense, but horses still dominate the contemporary work as well). Jack Donaghy would approve (especially if you threw in some ship paintings).
3. Green Onion- Makes anything instantly seem super fresh.
4. The African Cafe in the Seattle Airport- On Friday morning when we walked by, "Circle of Life" was playing. That is how legitimately "African" this restaurant is. Also, they don't sell any actual African food.
5. Spiderman kid in the Houston Airport- I am not impressed by the Bush Airport; there are no maps, it makes no sense, and they only put moving walkways in places where you do not need them. It actually seems to want to impede your  ability to make decisions (we can all just imagine the political joke that will get me angry family emails here). Truly, this airport is a mess. On the other hand, there was a kid (in a suit no less) who was doing spin moves and casting webs all over the place. Why didn't Sartre say "Heaven is other people, at least the ones pretending to be Spiderman"?

6. Our First Kitchen Nightmares Restaurant- How did we kick off our trip to the Big Easy? By going to the place where the owner threatened to feed Gordon Ramsey to the alligators. And we ate alligator. The Boy read that the busy idiot brother is no longer attached and the place is pretty good now. I have fried oysters, and they were awesome, so I agree, though Gordon would not like the pictures in the menu. Also, we had the first of MANY super kickass New Orleans servers.

7. Late Night Beignets at Cafe du Monde- We planned on going for breakfast, but we just happened upon the cafe on our first walk around the French Quarter (drunks, but mostly sloppy not belligerent or angry), so we went for it. It reminded me of those dates  you go on where you are having such a great time that you add another activity on to the end. Just the kind of business you can't pull with spawn, and therefore a perfect part of our babymooning.

8. New Orleans Cemeteries- I knew that New Orleans funerals were these kind of joyful, musical events, but the cemeteries are also amazing. Like beautiful little death cities. Apparently because of where the city is built, bodies will eventually float back up if you bury them in the ground, which sounds pretty horrible for everyone involved. So this solution proves to be creepy and beautiful, while avoiding the body floating which is plenty creepy, but not beautiful.

9. Creole Tomatoes- I love a tomato, and love a tomato salad even more. I wanted to try the creole tomato, because it has a reputation for being really sweet and delicious. It reminded me of tomatoes people grew in Pennsylvania, but it still made me happy.
10. New Orleans Service- Almost all of our servers were awesome. We were nervous to go to Commander's Palace (we just feel like posers at fancy places), but the whole jazz brunch had a fun playful atmosphere, and our server was funny, odd, and really welcoming. God bless a server who can see you are pregnant and comes up with some cocktail ideas for you. Also, her food runner had a ridiculous mustache, kept dancing when he thought people weren't looking, and requested the band play slayer. He also gave the Boy a hat for finishing his dessert. I guess the focus on really capable and warm servers makes sense with the Southern hospitality deal, but it still caught us by surprise.

11. Pag's future career- Commander's Palace (and many other local restaurants) has a jazz brunch where a small ensemble plays while you eat. I can totally imagine Bullyhill Brass doing it, and we heard so many songs that I mostly have only heard my relatives play, so that was exciting.
12. Dude Pool- I was so excited to go swimming (seriously, the best feeling ever to walk into the pool right now), but it turned out to be very busy in the afternoon (despite the impending thunderstorm). It was busy with dudes, looking for hot girls in swimsuits. The ratio of men to women was like 10 to 1 (and most of the women were older or me), and the bros were each pretty bro-ish. Two women were at the pool, and I saw the men kind of circling, but neither woman looked all that interested. The Boy says New Orleans serves as the Las Vegas of the East, and it did have large collectives of dudes, but I have to believe Las Vegas pools are luckier for the men. Also, I would like to be a yenta and just brazenly force people's love connections.
13. Pregnancy stories- People in New Orleans were really friendly and ready to share their own pregnancy and delivery tales. My favorite/ the most traumatizing was told to us by a girl in a candy store, whose cousin gave birth to triplets when they thought she was only expecting one baby. I do not understand how this could possibly happen, but it is truly horrifying.
14. The Besh and his hair- We went to a John Besh restaurant, and they have all of his cookbooks right up front, so in case you didn't know before, you are eating a beautiful person's food. Also, the food was delicious. Best pasta ever (with more tomatoes!).

15. Street musicians who are really freaking good- the majority of the Seattle street musicians play acoustic guitars and mumble. On our last night, we just walked around the city, and we came across the best trio ever (though Nick felt they played the same song too long). One of my favorite moments of the whole trip.
16. D2, DC, and too much time in the airport- We showed up at the New Orleans Airport 2 hours before our flight (our standard time) at 11 AM. We were through security at 11:06. The terminal only had 12 gates. We perhaps made a mistake, but we had a fun time doing laps in the airport, because we are weird like that.
17. Pens that explode- About once a year, I have a pen destroy my hands, some chunk of clothing I am wearing, and The Boy's fledgling belief that I am sort of like an adult. It's worth it to use nice pens, not horrible ones like he does.
18. The Sadness of a Trip being over being Replaced by the Comfort and Drive of getting back home- I think we get sad every time we have to leave, and this trip was perhaps even worse, because we knew we wouldn't be adventuring again any time soon. But you get home, and you can be in your own bed,  and you start checking things off your list, and it mostly feels really good. Back to work!

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100 Things I Love this Week Part 3- Wedding Stuff

 

51. Jill at Shear Expressions in Franklin PA- If you need an updo for any reason and you are in Franklin, you would do yourself a big favor to go to Jill. She is so fast and she does a really beautiful job. I am so glad that we went to Shear Expressions for our wedding hair-I have been in plenty of wedding where the hair made things run behind, but they went so fast that we actually started the day ahead of schedule! It was a wedding miracle!

 

52. My whole Bridal Party's hair- I mostly just let the girls do what they wanted, and everyone looked so beautiful. I hope they felt that way too, because who likes not feeling pretty when you put the effort in? I thought they all looked gorgeous!

 

53. Princess Cupcake Charm- A Little nod to original wedding theme (Disney Princess/ Seven Deadly Sins at the FHS Track with a wheelbarrow and Celine Dion). Mostly, they fell apart or got lost, because apparently the charms weren't made to actually be used, but they still made me happy. And I got to kick mine to Shell once it fell off.

 

54. Technology- There is a lot to be said about Aunt Ann not being there, but being there for decorating, for getting ready, for the ceremony, and for the reception. Even if she just looked like a phone with a pretty cool white cover. I know it's not the same as the real thing, but it is a whole lot better than nothing, so I will be thankful for it forever and ever. 

 

55. Getting honked at by cars- it cracked me up. It will probably never happen again for a happy reason, not a mad reason, so I enjoyed it.  

  

56. Getting our picture taken on my grampa's antique firetruck- My grammy was not too excited about the idea when I asked her, but both she and my Grampa looked pretty excited about it on the day, and getting those pictures there will mean more to me than pictures at some random place that is just photogenic. I am lucky that people will humor me!

 

57. Having liturgy we really cared about, and a priest who really seemed to care about us- I loved that Bishop Sean was so open to our changes in the liturgy, because the politics inherent in their wording meant so much to me. He was also extremely caring in the last few weeks leading up to the wedding. But one of the very best surprises of the day was  Bishop Sean's homily. I didn't know it, but I had taught a devotional on one of the same texts we chose, so he spoke about what i had said as this high schooler on a mission trip and applied it to some of the things we had insisted our wedding was about. It was an important reminder of the things that matter to me, which surprisingly haven't changed that much since I was 18. It was just incredibly special, and I will remember it forever.

 

58. The Boy's cousins at the wedding- Is it a pleasure for every bride to see their new in-laws get into the party? Because if only Josephine and Nonno had danced, I think on some level the party would have been a success. I felt it was a major win that they all at least seemed like they were having a good time. 

 

59. These asparagus- this is definitely in the top ten wedding decisions we ever made. They were delicious, and phyllo-y, and cheesy, and amazing. And my Nana was the best and saved me some. I only have good things to say about all of our vendors, but JPC was really the bomb and the food was ridiculously delicious. I didn't hear any complaints. And if someone had complained about the asparagus I would have made them leave! (I kid) 

60. And while we are on the subject of how awesome JPC is, I have to say I loved all the flowers too. They really made some gorgeous miniature centerpieces and I loved our bouquets as well. I was just so happy to see how beautiful they turned out, and I loved all the little vessels they dug up for the flowers as well. I have to say, no that I am slowly gaining some perspective on the event, having great vendors really makes a world of difference, and pretty much all of ours were the bomb.

 

61. Marrying into a family where the Cousins will lovingly help me pick the bugs out  of my dress- The thing turned out to be a bit of a cesspool. But a very pretty one, so I won't complain too much. And I love the Boy's cousins Kristy and Kari, who got in there and picked them out.

 

 62. Chalk and big fluffy white dresses- Mostly I am just happy they talked her into wearing that thing at all, because when we tried it on her she was not having it. Even a little. She apparently freaked out the morning of the wedding too, but with a little encouragement from her dad, she held it together, and she rocked the dress most of the day. Pretty much the cutest kids in the whole world. 

63. Bullyhill Brass- Hearing "Wolverine Blues," even from a distance across Anchor Village, just makes me smile.  Same with "Just a Closer Walk with Thee." The sounds of these guys playing are just pure happiness and home to me.

 

64. Doing family pictures at Cocktail Hour- Sure it made things a little more frantic, but it also marked out a chunk of time with each branch of the family once everyone is already feeling festive and fun rather than stuffy. I would highly recommend this strategy to people who really don't want to spend their day stuck in the church taking pictures. 

 

65. Cornhole- My nana and Poppop made the set and it was a big hit I think. I never got to play at the party, but it looked like someone was always playing! 

66. This man's dancing- Amazing.

 

67. Jeremy Ganss- I think I will write specific notes for all the vendors later, but JG didn't even play ABBA, and I still love him. He was on point all night, never played one of those songs that cleared the floor, and genuinely seemed to be having a good time himself, which makes a big difference. Best DJ ever!

 

68. Also, our photographers. They made us robot heads, and they were amazing.They also actually already put up a blog of our pictures, which was totally unexpected, but is why we can show some of those pictures here! Check out the blog at http://www.firstblushphotos.com/blog/?p=1435 !

69. The Photo Booth Pictures! We got these back the next day and I love them so much they make me want to cry. I am just so happy to see everyone having a good night and I wish I had just camped out in there all night! My biggest regret (well, tied with that I never fixed my bangs!) is that I didn't get in here with my cousins.

70.  The lego cardbox- it turned out to be a real tour de force. I am pretty sure no one has ever seen a cardbox like this one, so I am pretty excited it came out so weird and wonderful. Well done to the Boy and all his brothers, biological and honorary!

 

71.  Reuniting with former tutors! Just seeing all these faces made me smile, and they were such a fun addition to the wedding and reception. Hoping that things go according to plan, and this wedding kicks off real planning for an annual tutor reunion!

 

72. Glow Bracelets- Why do they make people so happy? I truly have no idea, but man, they were all over them. Definitely a good investment.  

   

73. Our dance floor! My dream was that it would look glowy and magical, and it looked glowy and magical. Kudos to my dad and pretty much everyone at decorating for making it happen, but as the sun went down it became really clear that we had made something awesome! I was pretty excited about how it all turned out, not to toot my own horn, but this was one of the coolest parts of the party, I think.

74. Having my Bridal F-ing Powers for one day- I never really got into the center of attention thing, but I did love that badass things can happen when you are a bride! After the reception my dad realized he had lost his car keys, and after excessive collective fretting, a call to AAA, and lots of walking around with cell phone lights, I was walking out to talk to my dad and I just stepped on them. It was AWESOME!!! I never have that kind of luck, but that day I did, so yay bridal powers!

 

75. The Boy- Ok, I promise to keep the gushing to a minimum, but I am pretty excited to have signed up for a lifetime with this person. Anything good that came out of this wedding, at its root, comes from a partner who said " Sounds cool, how do we make it happen?" I feel like it shows one of our most formidable compatibilities; I am always plotting an adventure, and he is ready to help make it happen. Plus, he has great dance moves, real confidence, and looks pretty damn cute in a bow tie and suspenders.

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