I would like to start this post with a big fat kudos to my wonderful hubby for buying the Audubon Family Membership a few days ago. Absolutely the best $130 we ever spent. I look forward to mild, sunny days spent making faces at chimps and rainy days perusing the jellyfish reproduction tank.
The day got off to a rough start- at 8 am while on the phone with my mother, I randomly decided to check the website of one of the schools we're applying to for Shelby to start next Fall. I had been convinced the deadline was the 16th, so hadn't been worried. But no. It was today. By 4 pm. I got off the phone and thanked all that is holy that the MIL got us a printer/ scanner/ yada yada for Christmas. I got all the documents copied and the form printed and filled out, took a shower, washed my mop, applied make-up and put together a non-homeless person-looking outfit in just over an hour. I deserved a cookie. I tore across Uptown to hand deliver the goods and disaster was put off for another day. The whole Kindergarten application process is insane here. I mean, meet-and-greets in November? Deadlines in December? Admission testing? For 4 year-olds?? I didn't jump through this many hoops trying to get into college. Insanity at it's pinnacle. But I'm positive our future little Mensa member has nothing to worry about. As long as we accrue all of our parents' points on time.
After the madness of the morning, and the triumphant end to my frantic-ness, I redeemed my afore mentioned cookie in the form of a cafe au lait and a blueberry muffin from Cafe Luna. I got Dustin a cafe Americana and a cinnamon chip muffin. We split the muffins three ways between the three of us and relaxed a bit before continuing our day.
And this day included surprising Shelby with a trip to the Audubon Aquarium! To say she had a pretty good time would be an obvious understatement. We saw everything they had to offer, avoiding the wet and unbelievably cold weather outside. Sharks and frogs and Nemo and otters, as well as a tropical bird that was really pissed off people where in the Amazon habitat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to goose Dustin near the python case and get the reaction I did when he and I visited in March. I was surprised the kiddo didn't seem very interested in the penguins but freaked out over the egret tracks in the floor of the Mississippi river area. I was less surprised she didn't want to touch the stingrays or sharks, though she did make me touch them so she could watch and ask me about it. They said it was the last time the shark would be out for people to get close to and touch, so I'm glad we were there for it. I know that particular baby shark is used to being handled, and he's probably always that docile, but I always feel like those "touchables" at aquariums are just waiting for me to reach into the water before they decide to find out for the first time what people tastes like.
After taking in all that the aquarium had to offer, and taking what I believe to be some of the best photos ever taken with a camera phone, thank you very much, we decided to continue the theme and grab some sushi. Seeing all those majestic sea creatures in artificial habitats gave me a hankerin' for some fish. But instead of our old standby, Samurai (which was only a block or two away) we decided to try a place on St. Charles. We were looking for Sushi Brothers, but their parking lot happens to be across the street from them, right next door to a different sushi restaurant. We really hated to park in someone else's lot, but hated even more the thought of walking across four lanes of traffic in the blinding frozen rain. Sorry, Sushi Brothers. Maybe on a warmer day. I am glad we gave Hoshun a try, though. I loved the atmosphere inside, very Asian-chic, although every now and then there would be just of a touch of the oddly Victorian. And I love oddly Victorian. They have an awesome looking wine bar, and have totally been put on the Romantic Date Night List. The food was divine. I had Blue Moon beer on a whim, and it was quite tasty. Dustin, of course, had Nola. Shelby and I split the miso soup, a much larger portion than expected (with fried wontons!), and ordered shrimp tempura for the table, which came with three panko shrimp, and tempura veggies including a slice of sweet potato, zucchini, red bell pepper, mushroom and a huge head of broccoli. I love me some tempura, but this happened to be under cooked and flour-y tasting. Dustin likes the raw flour taste, so he thought it was great. Had it been cooked longer, I'm sure I'd agree. Dustin had the spicy salmon, the spicy tuna and a crawfish roll, I had a salmon & avocado and crunchy roll, and Shelby had her very first personal California roll (she usually gets one crab stick), which she finished all on her own (six pieces of sushi is a lot for a little girl! I was impressed). I'm sure it helped that they gave her her very own kids-chop-stick-connector-helper-thing. Which I brought home. The sticky rice was a bit loose, though, which I learned when I kerplunked my first piece into the communal soy sauce, but it tasted good, so I can't really complain. It came to $40 or so, which was good for 4 beers and so much food. Hoshun= two thumbs up.
The day got off to a rough start- at 8 am while on the phone with my mother, I randomly decided to check the website of one of the schools we're applying to for Shelby to start next Fall. I had been convinced the deadline was the 16th, so hadn't been worried. But no. It was today. By 4 pm. I got off the phone and thanked all that is holy that the MIL got us a printer/ scanner/ yada yada for Christmas. I got all the documents copied and the form printed and filled out, took a shower, washed my mop, applied make-up and put together a non-homeless person-looking outfit in just over an hour. I deserved a cookie. I tore across Uptown to hand deliver the goods and disaster was put off for another day. The whole Kindergarten application process is insane here. I mean, meet-and-greets in November? Deadlines in December? Admission testing? For 4 year-olds?? I didn't jump through this many hoops trying to get into college. Insanity at it's pinnacle. But I'm positive our future little Mensa member has nothing to worry about. As long as we accrue all of our parents' points on time.
After the madness of the morning, and the triumphant end to my frantic-ness, I redeemed my afore mentioned cookie in the form of a cafe au lait and a blueberry muffin from Cafe Luna. I got Dustin a cafe Americana and a cinnamon chip muffin. We split the muffins three ways between the three of us and relaxed a bit before continuing our day.
And this day included surprising Shelby with a trip to the Audubon Aquarium! To say she had a pretty good time would be an obvious understatement. We saw everything they had to offer, avoiding the wet and unbelievably cold weather outside. Sharks and frogs and Nemo and otters, as well as a tropical bird that was really pissed off people where in the Amazon habitat. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to goose Dustin near the python case and get the reaction I did when he and I visited in March. I was surprised the kiddo didn't seem very interested in the penguins but freaked out over the egret tracks in the floor of the Mississippi river area. I was less surprised she didn't want to touch the stingrays or sharks, though she did make me touch them so she could watch and ask me about it. They said it was the last time the shark would be out for people to get close to and touch, so I'm glad we were there for it. I know that particular baby shark is used to being handled, and he's probably always that docile, but I always feel like those "touchables" at aquariums are just waiting for me to reach into the water before they decide to find out for the first time what people tastes like.
After taking in all that the aquarium had to offer, and taking what I believe to be some of the best photos ever taken with a camera phone, thank you very much, we decided to continue the theme and grab some sushi. Seeing all those majestic sea creatures in artificial habitats gave me a hankerin' for some fish. But instead of our old standby, Samurai (which was only a block or two away) we decided to try a place on St. Charles. We were looking for Sushi Brothers, but their parking lot happens to be across the street from them, right next door to a different sushi restaurant. We really hated to park in someone else's lot, but hated even more the thought of walking across four lanes of traffic in the blinding frozen rain. Sorry, Sushi Brothers. Maybe on a warmer day. I am glad we gave Hoshun a try, though. I loved the atmosphere inside, very Asian-chic, although every now and then there would be just of a touch of the oddly Victorian. And I love oddly Victorian. They have an awesome looking wine bar, and have totally been put on the Romantic Date Night List. The food was divine. I had Blue Moon beer on a whim, and it was quite tasty. Dustin, of course, had Nola. Shelby and I split the miso soup, a much larger portion than expected (with fried wontons!), and ordered shrimp tempura for the table, which came with three panko shrimp, and tempura veggies including a slice of sweet potato, zucchini, red bell pepper, mushroom and a huge head of broccoli. I love me some tempura, but this happened to be under cooked and flour-y tasting. Dustin likes the raw flour taste, so he thought it was great. Had it been cooked longer, I'm sure I'd agree. Dustin had the spicy salmon, the spicy tuna and a crawfish roll, I had a salmon & avocado and crunchy roll, and Shelby had her very first personal California roll (she usually gets one crab stick), which she finished all on her own (six pieces of sushi is a lot for a little girl! I was impressed). I'm sure it helped that they gave her her very own kids-chop-stick-connector-helper-thing. Which I brought home. The sticky rice was a bit loose, though, which I learned when I kerplunked my first piece into the communal soy sauce, but it tasted good, so I can't really complain. It came to $40 or so, which was good for 4 beers and so much food. Hoshun= two thumbs up.
We finished off the evening by grocery shopping at the Rouses down the street and getting what we neded to restock our bar after the holidays. When we came home, Dustin used his new bartender app on his MyTouch to create a drink called California Cocaine. Intersting title, tasty drink. Though a word of caution- one is plenty. Yummy cocktails and discount previously viewed movies from Blockbuster made for an awesome end to the day.
I couldn't find a recipe for California Cocaine, but this one is close. Rather than grenadine, use one shot of Blue Curacao and make sure the rum is Malibu. It's much tastier than anything you'd do with a rolled up Benjamin.
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