People who know me, know I’m not fond of meetings. In light of that, it is funny how often I find myself attending meetings. However, if you must you must and, when you must, you may as well make it as pleasant as possible, right? On a recent evening, a meeting was held in my home. We extended out the dining table to make a long “conference” table and then added some food and flowers in order to create a friendly, relaxed environment. Here is how it turned out.
Sometimes, there are just things about New Orleans that make me smile. Running errands in New Orleans is unlike running errands in many places. For instance, on the way to the grocery store, this is just one of the sites you might see:
Beads hang from tree like this giving them beautiful purple, green, gold and pink colors. They also adorn the live oaks along the parade routes all year round. The evidence of beads that were caught by the trees instead of the people lining the streets. Read more…
Whew, we made it through Christmas, Carnival, Mardi Gras and Valentine’s Day. Now, I feel like “resting” my eyes (and body) for a few weeks before Easter and the festival season. The Carnival/Mardi Gras decorations are all down (although, I did find a bit of tinsel that I missed this morning).
You may remember how the mantel looked for Mardi Gras:
All tinsel, glitter, lights and sparkle. I loved seeing this every day. However, now it is a bit more serene:
Green plants, the doves that have appeared in so many places in my home (and on my table and porch . . .) and a couple of colored candles. I did opt to leave the “JOY” letters in place that were added at Christmas. I just really like them there. Read more…
Rex (or the School of Design as it is officially named) is the big parade on Mardi Gras day. Its monarch serves as the King of Carnival. The organization is quite civic in nature, with its Pro Bono Publico foundation donating over two million dollars to local public school initiatives since its inception. Over the years we have collected a variety of Rex memorabilia.
Each year the organization issues a ducal badge to its members. There is a corresponding ladies’ pin, which members may purchase for wives and female friends or relatives. Here are the ones for 2013, reflecting the theme “All Creatures Great and Small”. It is inspired by the gauntlets worn by the 1886 Rex.
If you’ve never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, you might find things a bit confusing. Since moving to New Orleans, I know, I have found myself explaining to friends all over the country about Mardi Gras and Carnival and Krewes and parades and well, the whole mystical, magical, crazy, fun season.
The Carnival season begins on January 6th which is known as Twelfth Night or The Epiphany. You can read more about Twelfth Night here and here. This is traditionally when the Christmas season ends. Carnival is celebrated by many with parties and balls. In New Orleans, it is often “Krewes” that lead the celebrations. While the celebrations are ongoing throughout the Carnival season, they all culminate on Mardi Gras day Read more…
Getting around in New Orleans during all of the Superbowl and Mardi Gras festivities can be challenging. My husband and I headed down to the French Quarter yesterday and opted to ride the very busy streetcar. This was a great way to avoid the traffic and parking challenges in the city.
Heading back home, we got back on the streetcar and enjoyed a surprise performance on board. This was the drivers brother-in-law. Ha – what a fun ride. Only in New Orleans. Enjoy!
As promised, here are more pics from the Nyx Myx Masquerade Ball. First, let’s talk food.
Here is the menu from the dinner portion of the ball. – YUM!
The dessert was a work of art. See the little Nyx candy in the whipped cream in the middle. Beautiful and edible! Everything was deeee-licious.
Did you notice the hot pepper jelly vinaigrette mentioned for the salad. It was incredible, so I had to find a recipe for it. I found this recipe online and it was very good. I made it with Tabasco Hot Pepper Jelly and put it over butter lettuce with blue cheese and toasted pecans. Easy and yummy – I highly recommend this.
Okay, back to the ball. Read more…
