Whitney White Linen Night

Well, we did it again: got seduced into attending White Linen Night, aka The Great New Orleans Sweat Stain Rodeo.
I think this time we kind of got it right: we staged a car downtown early in the day to set up a quick get-away, then took the streetcar later that day. We came prepared with a chilled bottle of white wine, a grapefruit-club soda concoction,  and cups (usually lines for refreshments are tragically long, but this year the process seemed smoother, so we might skip the BYOB next time).

Hiding behind the Monster van pouring our drinks

We made sure we were early enough to see some of the galleries before the crowds were too large. We ran into oodles of friends, as usual, and left before the streets were too packed and warm. I ordered sushi take out and we picked it up on the way home so we could enjoy something light to snack on.

Look at all the white people!

The sushi was an afterthought, but the original plan was to have ice cream at the house, and we made sure we ate the ice cream, too. It was welcome after a long warm evening!

Abe shaved his head. Dig the scalp sunburn!

Oh and of course, must do a white linen outfit review:

I bought a frumpy tube top dress for cheap and folded it over to cute it up, and added color with turquoise canvas wedges and mother of pearl and crystal jewelry. And then I carried a turquoise book around with me all night because it matched so well.

August humidity

Pretty much every run starts like this:

Like my husband's classy bike seat cover?

And ends more like this:

Blazing sun!

The strange thing is that those dark, overcast skies are much harder to run under. It's so muggy and humid I struggle to breathe, and when the sun rises and burns off some of the moisture I actually grow more comfortable. The hard part about running in the deep south is that there really is no break from the hot temps. Even when we have a "good" year like this one (by that I mean no record breaking heat), our heat is so consistent throughout the day that there just isn't a cool morning or evening time to run. For example, this morning I would have had to start my run at 3:00 to save 2 degrees F temperature, but the humidity would have been exactly the same.
It sucks.

Thoughts from my morning run.

I'm probably the only runner in the world with a high-heels injury. Too many date nights.


We have a Quaker meeting house in New Orleans (We do. It meets in the Methodist church on Carrollton.)? I wonder if anyone I know is a Quaker?


A mimosa date! How cute (A couple passed, one carrying OJ and the other carrying champagne).


Um, lady, while you're chatting on your cell phone your dog is eating another dog's poo and your kid just threw his paci out of the stroller. Here's your paci kid, this isn't a game. I'm not picking it up next time!


One of these days I'm going to die up on this levee, run over by a texting biker.


Ouch. Those spandex bike suits aren't for everyone.


This is very interesting. A dog is chasing a rabbit down the side of the levee, which spooked a horse who skittered into a goat's path and now a guy in his underwear is trying to catch the goat. I thought I lived in the city.


Ha! Those are Christmas boxers!


Gah! Train! I hear a train! Must speed up! Must sprint! Must beat train!


Oh, that was a tug boat, not a train.


What the heck are they doing in the river? Ah, dredging the Mississippi. That's interesting, and a little messy (It's very messy. I got a thin dirt film just from running by).


Hi mayor Landrieu.


Five miles in and I can wring about a cup of sweat out of my clothes .


You know how we call the fruit and color both orange? I wonder if that translates to other languages? As in, are the Dutch words for color and the fruit the same, too?


If that kid leaves that Gatorade by that tree I'm stealing it.


Hi James Carville.


No giraffes out at the zoo today (My run takes me past Audubon Zoo). Maybe it's too hot. Or maybe they're off necking. Tee hee!


I'm not going to stop to cross Magazine Street. I have a crosswalk and I'm not afraid to use it!


Eh, maybe I am afraid to use it. Why is there an 18-wheeler on Magazine Street anyway?


I've said it before and I'll say it again. Your dogs do NOT want to be friends. They just want to fight or mate. Stop trying to introduce them mid-walk.

Oh gosh lady, please put your lovely hair in a ponytail, I'm hot just looking at it all sticking to your neck.

Will that mom notice if I snitch her kid's Cheerios out of the stroller as I pass? 


Hi guy from church who never recognizes me outside of the pew (and whose name I don't know).


Shoes are saturated. This should make my closet smell lovely later.

I wonder if the milk is too far gone to use in pancakes? 


Oh, heavens! A herd of bikers beat me to the water fountain! What shall I do! I think I will honestly die if I have to wait two more seconds for water!


Ah! Help! Now they're all taking turns filling their water bottles! Nooooooo!


I guess I'll wring out my clothes again while I wait. That should scare 'em. Must be at least another cup (I think it worked).


Why is it that "natural" fluorescent bulbs always look the least natural?


Hi Arnie Fielkow.


Didn't I just pass that lady three minutes ago? Or is it just that everyone wears the same race T-shirts?


Please, no traffic on St. Charles, if I have to stop to cross the street I won't want to run again.


Yay! Last block! Almost home! I might make it home before heat stroke sets in!


CRAP, where is the house key?! Oh yeah, in my key pocket, duh. 


Should I strip on the porch and wring my clothes out one more time? Nah, that's not nice to the neighbors....

Foody Friday: A nice Malbec

I adore Malbec, especially alone: just a nice glass of wine for dessert (or in addition to dessert. Or as pre-dessert. Whatever).

Crios Malbec with the cool smiling hand

You should try this one, it's lovely.

I wear tacky shoes

I'm getting old. You want to know how I can tell?*  I bought a pair of incredibly tacky shoes - in full knowledge of their tackiness - simply because they are comfortable. And that, my friends, is a true sign of aging.

I gave you a break from my linoleum to show off my hardwood floors

These are silver flip flops. And by silver I mean mirror-shiny, perhaps to trick you into thinking that they are genuine sterling. This blinding shininess is topped with a truly superfluous rhinestone at the thong. Oh, and the soles have embossed leopard pattern on them.
But they have awesomely comfy straps.
*Besides the wrinkles and the affinity for coupons, I mean.

Nate's visit

Last week...yeah, a week behind, I know...my family came over to see my younger brother Nate while he was in town for a wedding. He moved to Pennsylvania last year for grad school, and we hadn't seen him since.
Nate is crazy.
He's in school to teach and he fits the "absent minded professor" bill nicely. For example:

He stayed overnight with us while he was in town, but "forgot" to tell us that his friend was staying, too. We do not have a spare bedroom and we only have one sofa. Someone got the floor.
He borrowed our spare house key, but when he left he put an extra key on the coffee table...the WRONG key. I do not know where this key came from but it's not ours.
We planned a brunch with him and the family, which he was excited about, and then he made plans to have breakfast with a former professor. So he had brunch and breakfast, back to back.
He traveled with just one small backpack. I assumed a change of shoes or clothes would be in there. Nope. Just his wedding gift for the bride and groom and some big heavy book.
He forgot to check into his flight early both on the way there and back.
He threw out his boarding pass when David checked in for him (Nate frustrates David, who is ultra-prepared for any situation) but I fished it out of the garbage.

Sometimes I wonder how that child is still alive, or how he went to Europe this summer and didn't get kidnapped or robbed.
Does your family have an absent minded professor?

Date night, Anniversary-style

This week David and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary, or so I told everyone. Really it was our fourth. I told you I'm no good at math.
On our wedding day we had dinner at Emeril's NOLA restaurant (we had a morning wedding and knew we'd be hungry after an early brunch) and we make it a habit to return there each anniversary, just to confuse the waiters. They read notes in their "client files" about a wedding on July 28th and think it's our wedding every time we come in (my brother was a waiter there when we got married and made extensive notes to make sure we had exquisite service).
For the second time in our four years of visits, we got prime parking. If you've ever been to the French Quarter you know what a bear parking is. Please observe this dark image from the interior of our vehicle. Note the restaurant sign right across the street! The trick is that the "No parking loading zone" signs across the street say "From 8 am to 6 pm" in tiny print underneath. Score!

I wore a very unflattering little black dress I bought on Ebay for $1 (free shipping) several years ago. I have altered it twice and it stills fits oddly. Basically if I cut off my boobs everything would be in the right place, but then none of my other clothes would fit, so that would be a dumb move.

Yes, we keep a football on our bookshelf.

Of course the food was delicious. It always is. And since the portions were large I took the rest of mine to work later. Yummy!
We don't normally do gifts for our anniversaries, but David surprised me with gold earrings. Back in December I mentioned that I wanted real gold hoops - they are so practical and it's just not worth it to buy plated jewelry, it ages so fast. David went out and bought them and has been saving them since January for an occasion! But it does make me feel a little like a kept woman. I'd be more comfortable if he'd holler at me to put dinner on the table and iron his shirts or something. 


If you're attached, how do you celebrate anniversaries? 
And would you rather...
Get a gift for an occasion (like a birthday)
Or
Celebrate by going out to dinner, a concert, or another event?