Still More Mardi Gras

Let's see ... where were we.

On Saturday, we went off to the local PJ's (coffee shop) to get some good coffee and check our email. (This so-called wi-fi throughout the city? Not so much. But at most coffeeshops and restaurants ...)

We also got some superglue to fix Eddie, the gnome.

After we grabbed some late lunch/early dinner, I got a call from Michael: could we please go to the grocery store and pick up eight bottles of chianti, for the tables? Sure, no problem, I said.

Dick and I ran out and picked them up. We put them in the trunk, and as we started to drive off, I heard a "clink" in the trunk. I immediately stopped. "Should we put them in the backseat?" Well, we hemmed and hawed and finally Dick said, "I'm sure it'll be fine." I drove very very carefully the short distance back to the house.

The next thing we know, after having an entire lazy day, we were suddenly pressed for time to get ready for the big event. Not helping were the lack of mirrors in the house ... "Who's stage managing this thing?" Shelley quipped.



Finally, we were all dressed in our formal wear (and I have to say, it all travelled very well, without incident or wrinkles!) and headed out the door. We thought it might be worthwhile to at this point move the wine into the backseat just to avoid possible trouble ...

... too late. One bottle had bitten the dust. We now had seven bottles, and a trunk full of chianti.

So there we are, in our formal wear, trying to blot it all out with paper towel, trying desperately not to get the RED WINE on any of our clothes ... and mmmmmmmmm the car smelled really good after that! (ahem. not.)

Quick phone call to Dane: Which is more important? Us arriving with eight bottles of wine, or us arriving relatively on time?

On time.

A little bit like old home week inside the Alario Center - got to see Mary Lee Gibbons, Lara Grice, Kara Hadigan, Leon Contavesprie ... even Steven Marlborough!

The ball began, and everything I had ever been told was correct: gay balls are way more interesting than the straight ones. (Feel free to insert any joke there.)



Shelley made the comment that if we just swept up after the crystals that fell off costumes, we could fund our theatre for a year.



After the ball, we headed back to Dino's (where the Parking Easter Bunny did us proud and quite impossibly got us a space right in front of the bar!) and hung out there till we just couldn't any more.



Here we thought this was the big night of our trip: who knew, there was so much more still to come ...

More New Orleans

Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to note from day one of the adventure - two celebrities on the plane. Taylor Hicks, of American Idol fame (the girls in the seats behind us insisted on singing to him from 20 rows back periodically thoughout the flight ... oh the joy) and Nancy Lenehan, who is one of those actresses whose face you always know but never the name. (As it was, we spent the entire flight trying to figure out something specific we'd seen her in this season, and standing collecting the luggage in New Orleans it finally hit me - MY NAME IS EARL.

OK. So we're up to day two. We sleep in a little bit, and are greeted by Michael's mom with coffee and King Cake. King Cake. If you don't know what that is, well, I feel sorry for you. :)

First thing - Shelley checks in on her luggage. Oh, they tell her, it's only gone on the truck as of 11:45 this morning. Well, we have to leave at 12:30 to meet my dad for lunch. By this time Michael's parents are both gone, and we finally leave a note for the delivery people to leave the luggage at the back of the house.

Off to Metairie, to meet my dad and my cousin Nichole at Bozo's. Now. My dad originally said Mandina's - which I was DYING to go to as they were finally re-opening after a year and a half - but we had big dinner plans that night and I didn't want to indulge quite that much. So I told him to pick somewhere else. He picked this place because I'd "be able to get something light".

Yeah. Well, only if your version of "light" is fried. All fried. All the time. I shouldn't have been surprised but ... ugh. I settled on a bowl of gumbo.

It was good to see Nichole. She's getting married next month ... she's only seven years younger than I am, but I still think of her as being so so young. LOL. She's great though; one of the few sane people to spring from my family. And seriously against all odds.

Home again, home again. And shock of shocks - no luggage! She calls ... they say it'll be another hour, there's only one person ahead of her. An hour later? They say it'll be several hours, and there were several people ahead of her. She complains, she argues ... none of it will make her luggage magically appear. I loan her clothes and makeup (thankfully I'm too lazy to hem my pants!) and off we go to the French Quarter, where Michael joins us at Court of Two Sisters where Erin cooked us a fabulous meal JUST FOR US. Her first ever tasting menu as a chef. it was spectacular. :)



We all went out afterwards ... we talked, we drank, we drank ... I don't think I've done shots in about six years. Oy!



Oh and the good news? Shelley's luggage appeared around 10pm that evening, after claiming they couldn't find the address ... and according to the Sullivans, they were pretty surly about it when they did arrive. The bad news? Eddie the Garden Gnome suffered an arm break. (More on Eddie later ... but just think about how hard luggage has to be thrown around to break something made of cement.)

Adventures in NOLA

It all began on Thursday morning, as waiting in the various lines every step of the way proved the necessity of being there two hours ahead of flight time. But hey, less time to sit in the terminal.

A few hours later, we're in New Orleans. All is well and good until ... we discover Shelley's luggage has not joined us. Nothing to worry about, they say. They didn't LOSE it - they knew exactly where it was. Which was - on the next flight in. The nice lady said they'd even deliver it when it got in. OK. Not ideal, but ... fine.

We get the car and head out to scenic Algiers to the Sullivan residence (that's Michael's parents) where they greeted us with open arms. And dinner! Michael and Dane both came over as well, and we had a lovely meal.

Status check on Shelley's bags: Delta says "oh, well, the delivery service won't actually deliver after 10pm, so it'll be morning before we can send it." Again, not ideal, but fine.

The five of us packed into the little rental Hyundai (and just as a point of interest - this was a MUCH better car than that last thing I rented!) and headed across the river to Dino's for a drink or two.


As I wrote about last time we were here, it's always a little weird to try my old life back on for size. Seeing how it still fits pretty comfortably. Even with the addition of husband. And this time, even with the addition of Shelley. It still all fits, all works, and feels like the five of us have been through the 13+ years together. Is it the city? Is it the alcohol? Is it the fact that I tend to gravitate towards the same types of people, so that they fit together nicely as well?

Mardi Gras 2007

OK, so really that's a bit of a tease post. 'Cause right now, it's 9:30 pm on Tuesday and aside from the two hours (not together) I got on the flight home, I haven't slept since Sunday night. I'm lucky I can string a few sentences together in the first place!

I will however provide you with one photo in honor of Her Majesty Queen Armenius 2007 (flanked by Shelley and me).



And just as a point of interest. Should this ever come up for anyone else. If you've got a rental car, and you should accidentally spill an entire bottle of red wine in the trunk ... well, just know that all is not lost. After soaking up as much as possible, and dousing it over a period of several days with about half a bottle of Febreeze, and airing it out for an hour or so ... well, yes, there's still a scent - but by this point, it smells like a pleasant grape air freshener.

Seriously.

I am remiss.

I have neglected the blog.

I have been so insanely busy that I'm often lucky to get my name right.

There will be lots to report ... soon.

Leaving for New Orleans in the morning (ask me if I've packed yet! Ha ha ha ha ha!) ... I don't think I'll be bringing the computer this trip, so odds are good I'll have to wait til I get home to post about my adventures.

And it's Mardi Gras, so I anticipate adventures.

:)