New Orleans

It is hard to boil a weekend trip down to just a few words. Especially about a place like New Orleans.
New Orleans is an older city that sits in a bend of the Mississippi river, in fact one of the nicknames of the city, "the Crescent City" comes from the location of New Orleans on that bend. It was primarily a French settlement, and it is one of the few places in America where French speakers and French language things outnumber Spanish. However, what that really means is that New Orleans has a little bit of a feel of Europe while being firmly rooted in the South.
What does that mean? Well, the French Quarter is made up of town homes and tighter quarters in European fashion. Residences, commercial property, bars and restaurants all share the same space on the street. There is a lot of beautiful architecture and very ornate balconies everywhere. And while the city is showing it's age, it has a definite beauty to it. Maybe it's not age, but damage from Katrina, but I don't remember N.O. before Katrina (the last time I went there I was maybe 15) so I can't say what has changed.
But everywhere you look there is Southern Hospitality, the food and many of the drinks are Southern. The people are definitely Southern (we were at a CVS and my husband couldn't figure out what was wrong with the cashier, she was just too friendly, and I had to tell him, it's the South). And the weather was Southern. It was March and we were in shorts and sundresses!
N.O. also reminded me a lot of Austin Tx, in that in many ways it's a much bigger city than it's population would suggest. The number of restaurants that served decent food and drinks could have supported a much larger city. There were also places that were soley dedicated to one type of food, Like Beignets or Muffalatos. That is hard to find in bigger cities like DC or Houston. There were also so many musicians in N.O. almost every little place in the Quarter had live entertainment, and for cheap! In so many other places live entertainment is a rare treat, but in N.O. it was everywhere.
On our last night we made our way to Preservation Hall for some good old fashioned Jazz. For ten bucks you could listen to three hours of Jazz, if you chose. There were no frills, just the Jazz players, some fold out seats and a little lighting. But the Jazz was VERY good.
And once you get out of the quarter and view some of the old style mansions in the Garden District you almost want to move to New Orleans, until you remember that it's spring and in another month it will be a hundred degrees in the shade and you won't want to eat or even lay down because it is just TOO hot! So you go back home.

the weight wait

I have finally admitted to myself that something needs to be done. I think because I've NEVER had to worry about my weight that I just assumed that one day I would bounce back to my college body. Without having to lift a dumbbell, or ride a bike. But I was out at Forever 21 on Friday and I saw myself in the mirror surrounded by people who can shop at Forever 21 and I realized that something needs to be done. It didn't sink in right there. I got home and looked in our mirror all by myself and it didn't look as bad, but in the back of my mind I knew it was a LIE!
This knowledge has been building for some time, hence the giving up of elevators for lent, but it has been battling against my natural laziness. I HATE to exercise! Which is partly why I love Yoga so much, I get the full body workout without the horrible feeling of sweat, and without gasping for air. But I think I'm going to have to add a cardio, or something. Yoga alone is not going to cut it.
Of course, as I thought this to myself this afternoon, I was eating a candy bar, and after Babes went to bed I ate a huge bowl of pudding topped with extra whipped cream. I know it's no justification but there was a lot of screaming today and a VERY grumpy, VERY destructive toddler, sometimes chocolate is in order.

Spring is coming

*Sigh* I saw the first of the blooms start appearing on the trees today. Usually I am very excited for spring, but not so much this year. This year the warmer weather is a harbinger of our impending move. I knew it was temporary when we came, but I didn't realize how comfortable I would become. I know most of it is because of Babes. She has become very attached to my mom and my father in law, I feel almost guilty knowing that I will be taking her away and she will not be able to just call Big Mama or be only two hours away.
It is also VERY easy to live here. I don't have to think 6 weeks into the future in terms of supplies and toys. If I want something I can just go out to the store. And as bad as it is, I even find things I didn't know that I needed (which is why it's probably better that we are leaving the US).
We even have a very nice weekly routine. Our days are filled with activities that keep us busy and often take us away from the apartment.
Though it might be nice to get away from the depressing ever present news about the economy, the housing market, and the DOOM TO US ALL!

Days like today

Days like today make me miss California. It's the days where the sun is shining, the wind is soft, and it seems almost too perfect to be real. These are what I remember in my mind as California days, the only difference is that in California I knew that tomorrow would be just like this too, and the next day, and the next..... Here they come along like sea shells on the beach, here is one, that is cracked, oh here is one that is chipped, oh here is a perfect one, oh, no the next one is not so good. It is sad, but quintessentially Californian, that what I think of doing on days like this is driving. Rolling the windows down, cranking up the music and driving along the Ocean. The road stretching on in front of you to the horizon, the sun glinting off the ocean on your right and the desert flat and dry on your left. *sigh*
Instead, Babes and I went out to the play ground and I let the wind toss my hair around for a little while. Not the same.