Blissful on the Bayou: June 2011

June 22, 2011

YOU ARE ENTERING A NO STUDY ZONE

J and I stayed busy this weekend, although not with school work. There were more fun activities on the agenda! We had brunch at Elizabeth’s on Saturday with our old friend Bernard J. Lanier (aka BJ, Beejer Weejer, BJers) and his lovely wife Samantha. BJ is actually the one who introduced J and I during that eventful Mardi Gras so many years ago. Guess that makes him our matchmaker, our cupid, our shadchan. BJ and Samantha live in Washington, D.C. but happened to be in NOLA for a wedding. It was wonderful catching up and remembering the good old college days over some praline bacon (yum!) and Eggs Elizabeth (grilled french bread topped with ham, poached eggs and hollandaise). I forgot to take pictures but pulled a few off the internet so you can see how great the food was. After brunch J and I hit golf balls at the City Park driving range. I am predicting that J will be ready to join the PGA tour any day now. Then we took Bayou and our newest addition to the family, Walnut, to City Bark. J and I are dog sitting Walnut for 3 or so months until my parents move into their new place in Chicago. I wouldn’t say Bayou and Walnut are friends yet, but I'm sure they’ll be buddies soon enough. Next up was dinner at Parkway Bakery & Tavern with friends. You will not find a better roast beef po’boy in the ~~city~~, ~~state~~, world! Yes, it is incredibly messy but so worth it! After devouring some delicious po'boys it was off to the Howlin' Wolf to see my friend Tim's band Birdfinger (http://www.myspace.com/birdfingerband) play. Tim is the lead singer/guitar player. And let me just say that I was impressed. Tim is so quiet and reserved but on stage... pure rock star! So yeah, J and I had a blast this past weekend and surely kept busy. Next weekend's agenda will consist of the library, coffee and tons of textbooks.

Time for the photo roundup...

6/18/11 - praline bacon (http://www.elizabeths-restaurant.com/)

6/18/11 - Egg's Elizabeth (http://www.elizabeths-restaurant.com/)

6/18/11 - Walnut & Billie Lu Bayou at City Bark

(http://www.nolacitybark.org/)

6/18/11 - roast beef po'boy from Parkway Bakery & Tavern

(http://www.parkwaybakeryandtavernnola.com/)

6/18/11 - take #1 and take #2... who knew this would be so difficult?

6/18/11 - 3rd time's a charm... Michelle, me, Zach, J, Kristina, Sarah

6/18/11 - Michelle, J, me, Sarah @ the Howlin' Wolf

(http://www.thehowlinwolf.com/)

June 16, 2011

CHI-TOWN

As of last week, my parents are no longer Minnesota residents. A quick recap of their lengthy moving past.... Maryland to New York, New York to Alabama, Alabama to Louisiana, Louisiana to Arkansas, Arkansas to Minnesota, Minnesota to another city in Minnesota and last but not least, Minnesota to Illinois. That's right ladies and gentleman, this is their 7th big move! Can you believe it? They said goodbye to the suburbs of Minneapolis and are saying hello to the suburbs of Chicago! Now instead of a 20 hour drive my parents will be 15 hours away from NOLA. Good thing we have J's parents "close by" with only an 8 hour road trip, right? What we wouldn't give to have some family nearby. Wishing lots of GOOD LUCK and FUN MEMORIES to my Mom & Dad on their next big adventure in the Windy City! Get unpacked quickly. I don't know about J but I'm ready for some deep dish pizza and a Cub's game!

old house in Victoria, Minnesota

new house in Glen Ellyn, Illinois

(the one in the middle with the dark brick and wood door)

June 15, 2011

YOU AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A HOUND DOG

J and I drove to Memphis, Tennessee last Friday... home of the blues, birthplace of rock and roll, barbecued pork capital of the world, home of Memphis in May and location of Elvis' Graceland! We spent the weekend celebrating the nuptials of my childhood friend Kristen Beazley (now Mrs. McGlasson!). Kristen and the rest of the Beazley family (Father: Tom, Mother: Kappi, Sister: Dede) moved next door in 1986 when my family lived in Reisterson, Maryland. I have great memories of growing up with the Beazley girls! We shared clothing, watched Hey Dude on Nickelodeon, sang along with the Beach Boys, vacationed in the Outer Banks, got soaked on repeated rides of Canyon River Rapids at Hershey Park, ate lots of Cup O Noodles and played regular games of Kick the Can with the rest of Walgrove Court. I cried when Mr. Tom got a new Headmaster position and the family moved to New Jersey. My 2 best friends were gone :( Lucky for me, our parents managed to keep in touch, without the help of Facebook and cell phones mind you. Some feat, right?! And now here we are 25 years later... So lots of congratulations to you Mr. & Mrs. McGlasson! Thank you for letting us share and take part in your special day! Hopefully Dede will get married soon and we can do it all over again!

In addition to the Beazley crew, J and I got to see my parents this weekend! We had not seen Keen Kaiva and Brian "Mos Def" Huff since Kyle's winging this past February in Pensacola. 4 months is too long :( And... the icing on the cake... wait for it... we got to see Benjamin and Alisha! We had not seen Benjamin since his return from Iraq so it was wonderful hanging out and spending time with the two of them. You'll notice Kyle is not in a single photograph below. He was missing in action... busy flying naval helicopters in San Diego or something like that ;)

Without further adieu... pictures from our weekend in Memphis...