Daydreaming of Fall at the Laundromat

So here I sit, blogging from the local Laundromat... the one that appears to have no air conditioning. Also the one claiming to have $1 washers that I just had to feed 20 quarters into to run a load. Sad, I only brought 25 quarters... for my 5 loads of laundry. Our washer has been broken nearly a full week now. Two people have come to "look" at it. No one has came to "fix" it. Considering that New Orleans is a two-showers-a-day kind of place, because it is so.... warm, we have accumulated a pile of towels in a week. Every single one we own actually. The clothes situation is even worse. Two showers a day implies two sets of clothes per day as well. So... no clean underwear, no clean shorts, you get the picture.

After I get my 20 quarters deposited and one of my loads of clothes tossed in, I turn around to see 4 little bitty washers with little bitty signs that say: $1.00 washers. Great. I try to get my quarters back. No luck. I've been sitting here almost 40 minutes in this sauna of a Laundromat and realize I have no money to use the dryers. Terrific. It costs $5 to use a dryer!!!

Next door there is a $3 car wash... too bad I don't still have my quarters... I could just spread out ALL my clothes on the top of my car! Surely that would have worked. The regulars are all looking at me like I am crazy as I read the machines and try to figure out how to operate the damn things. It would help if all the instructions weren't rubbed off and the words on the knobs weren't faded.

Did I mention the heat index broke 100 degrees today? Oh, and I'm on my third change of clothes.

Fall, where are you?

After dinner at EAT, we headed over to The House of Blues for our first ever Burlesque show! Afterwards, Café Du Monde of course. What a way to spend a Saturday night!

NOLA Sculpture Garden

City Park is one of our favorite places in town. It's literally thousands of acres full of walking and biking trails, waterways, playgrounds, green space, recreation, and art. The NOLA museum of art is there as well as the sculpture garden. There's even a 24 hour café on site. There's a live oak forest full of gigantic oak trees with branches so large and heavy they literally are on the ground. There's pavilions and fountains and beautiful stone bridges. This time when we went walking, we brought the camera!

Our First Jazz Brunch

We've been wanting to go to a Jazz Brunch since our first trip to New Orleans in 2008. Just about every upscale restaurant has one every Sunday but I'd say Commander's Palace, Court of Two Sisters, and the Palace Café are the most famous and popular ones. We were lucky enough to get reservations at The Court of Two Sisters for this morning. When we made the reservations, we had no idea the cost of the brunch- we were just excited we got in! Well.... here's what $29 pancakes look like (that's each)!  Luckily they came with bananas foster topping, amazing grits and hash browns, bacon and Andouille sausage, bread pudding, turtle soup, king cake, Cajun omelets, homemade biscuits, ambrosia fruit, and a smorgasbord of other tasty treats! It was worth it :)

Beach Bound!

Saturday night after dinner at Chef John Besh's Domenica, we wondered... what now? The beach seemed like the only reasonable answer. So we let the top down on the Mustang and hit the beach road. We made it just in time for sunset. Beautiful.

NOLA for Life

Today Matt and I represented the agency I work for at a community resource fair and volunteer event. It has amazed me to see the sense of community and the neighborhood pride in New Orleans. People come together on a regular basis to not only celebrate and have a good time, but to advocate, offer support, rebuild, clean up, and stay connected. Today's NOLA For Life event was about uniting a neighborhood community known as "Gert Town" only about two miles from our house. They were celebrating the re-opening of their neighborhood playground and park. There were almost 200 volunteers that showed up to replace street lamps with energy efficient bulbs, create a community garden, clear and mark emergency water drains, and tear down abandoned houses. There are events like this every weekend, proving how dedicated a huge population of New Orleans is to rebuild their city, decrease violence, and connect people with the resources they need. It makes me happy to see it. Oh, and we got to meet the mayor. Pretty cool!

Acme Oyster House

Dinner at Acme Oyster House: I had fish and shrimp. Matt ordered a soft shell crab Po' Boy.

Beignets!

There's no such thing as too much Café Du Monde! You know you want some beignets!!!

Tuesday Night Walk

After dinner Tuesday, we went to City Park for a walk around the lake. City Park is 1300 acres full of beautiful scenery, lakes, a sculpture garden, art museum, arches, gazebos, bridges, a small amusement park, an outdoor café with live music, and sports fields.



Beach Day!

Took the Mustang to the beach today. Nothing like riding with the top down!

Dinner & Dessert

This week we've had some really good food! Tonight we ate at a local Mexican joint called "The Velvet Cactus", or as Matt keeps calling it "The Toasted Coconut". They had the most amazing cheese dip! Afterwards we had gelato at La Divina!

 

 

First Day as Supervisor of Development

I started my new job today as Supervisor of Development at The Guidance Center. I am so excited to combine my experience in mental health services and my MBA. Not only will I get to create brochures, websites, and promotional materials, I'll get to be out in the community meeting people on a normal basis. It seemed as though the perfect way to celebrate my first day was with beignets at Café Du Monde. It always turns out to be almost a 2-hour ordeal by the time we walk 6 blocks to the streetcar, ride the streetcar to the French Quarter, walk about 6 more blocks to Café Du Monde, eat beignets, and then do it all in reverse! It's worth it every time though. Delicious!

WEEKEND: July 6 & 7

Saturday (July 6) we took the "River Road" and visited some of Louisiana's famous plantations: Oak Alley, Laura Plantation, the San Francisco Plantation, and a few others:

 

Sunday (July 7) we went to the New Orleans Zoo! I'd say the flamingos were our favorite: 

4th of July in NOLA

Independence Day was a big day for us. We spent the daytime hours landscaping our mini-backyard. We went to our friends' house for grilled burgers and hotdogs and then... FIREWORKS on the river! The French Quarter was busier than we've ever seen it. Street cars were packed. The weather was absolutely beautiful though. It was the first 4th of July I can remember where it didn't rain a drop.

The First Three Days...

Day 1: Taking Care of Business- took care of things for our new jobs, went grocery shopping, had lunch at VooDoo BBQ, and ate dinner at Italian Pie. July 1.

Day 2: Making it official- we both got Louisiana driver's licenses and then... bought a new car! We cooked our first dinner in our New Orleans house. July 2.

Day 3: Fun, Fun, Fun- took the new car out for a spin and spent the day in Uptown on Magazine Street. Then we enjoyed dinner and gelato with friends. July 3.

Our Mid City Home in New Orleans...

It took some searching but we finally found a three bedroom mid-city house close to the canal street car line! Now we can walk a few blocks, hop on the street car, and head to the French Quarter any time. It is awesome to have three bedrooms too. I have my own scrapbooking room and we have more than one closet! We even have a tiny backyard for barbecues and a garden. Our guest bedroom is ready for visitors :)

Moving Day!

We don't know what we would have done without our families! Thanks everyone for helping us move!