As I'm sure you've noticed, any given post written here is seldom about a single place or event. There'll be a few days- or a little longer- with nada, then suddenly five paragraphs detailing a trip all over town throughout the course of an entire day. That's just what we do, I guess. It comes from before we lived in Beaumont ( or "in town") and would save all of our outings for one long, busy, fun-filled day as a family. Every two weeks on payday, we'd do it all- lunch at our favorite chicken wing eatery, the same order in the same booth every other Thursday; then we'd go to the mall or run where ever we needed to go to pick things up; a quick trip to Spec's to refill the wine cooler and then off to the grocery store before heading back home to unload groceries and cook supper, usually followed by a rented movie. I know that sounds terribly routine and mundane, though there's something comforting about having that one regimented day per week to look forward to. I miss those much anticipated regular outings, but we're starting to get into a rhythm here. There's much more fun to choose from, and we're learning to incorporate it!
Now that I've given you a tiny glimpse into how we roll, let me share where we've rolled it (you know you love my dork-ness)! We started by heading down to the Quarter, since most of the tourists had left post-Mardi Gras. Greg's was having a The Tourists Are Gone, Let's Celebrate! sale, so we wanted to see what they had this month. We found a gorgeous antique armoire that we picked up for just a little over $200, as well as vintage milk glass cosmetics pots I'm going to turn into candles (at some point...). Being the most successful lagniappe [lan-yap] magnet I've ever seen, Shelby was given a tiny glass bottle and a pin that says "Shoney's is #1!" that she picked it out of the trinket box they usually have at the counter, for free. I swear, by the time that girl is 16, she'll have been given a free car and a full ride scholarship (let's hope that last one really does happen!). Along with an extremely heavy, three dimensional metal fleur de lis, little did I know that we were also making another purchase. There was a headless, handless statue of a Roman or Egyptian slave we had seen the last time we made a trip to Greg's. It was genuine marble, carved by an American sculptor in Italy back in the mid 1800's. It had been salvaged from actress Becky Allen's home after her death. I'd made several comments about how much I loved it, and to my great surprise, when I got back from Texas last week, it was standing in my living room! Dustin bought it for my birthday this coming Friday and had it delivered just hours after I left. And at 400+ pounds, I'm glad I wasn't here to watch those poor men deliver it. We're having some local sculpture aficionados from one of the auction houses do an informal appraisal, and things are actually getting quite interesting! Whether it's worth a fortune or barely what we paid for it, I love it just the same and love that Dustin surprised me with it.
After yet another rewarding trip to the antique store, we walked around Decatur a bit. We had coffee and their amazing flourless chocolate cake at Envie, then explored a few of the other kooky antique/thrift shops in that part of the Quarter. One such place had an interesting array of vintage military uniforms from all over the world, old Mardi Gras outfits, hats and a bunch of creepy, naked child-clown dolls.
Once we were done browsing, we got the car and drove to Dauphine where I wanted to buy some books for my grandparents. I'd been to Dauphine Books once last year before we moved. I love it. Over crowded with stacks of books everywhere and a lazy cat roaming around. When I told the woman what I was looking for (who actually remembered me from almost 10 months ago)- books about Uptown and the history of the area- she handed me an old aluminum flashlight and directed me to a thin, dark space between bookshelves to find my treasure. It sounds annoying to have to use a flashlight to find a book, but it added some excitement and adventure to the experience, and with the unique collection of books they have, it's why I'll keep going back. I decided on a small book with photos and histories of the iconic establishments in town, as well as a purple cookbook with about 50 or so New Orleans recipes that came to a little over $20.
Afterwards, I headed back to the car where the rest of the family waited patiently and we went to Samurai for sushi. It was great, as always, but be careful where you park. We didn't see any problem with parking near the House of Blues as there were several other cars. But when we came out, they were all gone, the HOB barricades had come out and we'd gotten our very first City of New Orleans parking ticket.
We drove around Uptown a while, just enjoying the scenery when our dear friend Frank, a paramedic with Dustin, called to say he'd be getting off work soon and would like to meet us at New York Pizza for a drink. En route, we got to see another common fixture in our community- a stumbling drunk. Stopped at a red light, we saw a man holding a beer can and walking his bike down the sidewalk, right next to the car. He paused, looked around, and then in slow motion half fell, half laid down on his bike. He just kind of held that pose for a minute, then started shaking his foot and talking to himself. I asked Dustin if we should call anyone, but there were already people taking notice (and cruel though it may seem to some, it's a fairly common occurrence) so we continued on our merry way. Frank was late, and he told us it was because he'd responded to the call about the drunk we'd seen. The man was unhurt, refused medical care and asked to be pointed in the direction of home. Having heard the joyous news of another bum left unscathed by their degenerate lifestyle, we had a few beers and some pizza to cap off a perfectly New Orleans day.
Now that I've given you a tiny glimpse into how we roll, let me share where we've rolled it (you know you love my dork-ness)! We started by heading down to the Quarter, since most of the tourists had left post-Mardi Gras. Greg's was having a The Tourists Are Gone, Let's Celebrate! sale, so we wanted to see what they had this month. We found a gorgeous antique armoire that we picked up for just a little over $200, as well as vintage milk glass cosmetics pots I'm going to turn into candles (at some point...). Being the most successful lagniappe [lan-yap] magnet I've ever seen, Shelby was given a tiny glass bottle and a pin that says "Shoney's is #1!" that she picked it out of the trinket box they usually have at the counter, for free. I swear, by the time that girl is 16, she'll have been given a free car and a full ride scholarship (let's hope that last one really does happen!). Along with an extremely heavy, three dimensional metal fleur de lis, little did I know that we were also making another purchase. There was a headless, handless statue of a Roman or Egyptian slave we had seen the last time we made a trip to Greg's. It was genuine marble, carved by an American sculptor in Italy back in the mid 1800's. It had been salvaged from actress Becky Allen's home after her death. I'd made several comments about how much I loved it, and to my great surprise, when I got back from Texas last week, it was standing in my living room! Dustin bought it for my birthday this coming Friday and had it delivered just hours after I left. And at 400+ pounds, I'm glad I wasn't here to watch those poor men deliver it. We're having some local sculpture aficionados from one of the auction houses do an informal appraisal, and things are actually getting quite interesting! Whether it's worth a fortune or barely what we paid for it, I love it just the same and love that Dustin surprised me with it.
After yet another rewarding trip to the antique store, we walked around Decatur a bit. We had coffee and their amazing flourless chocolate cake at Envie, then explored a few of the other kooky antique/thrift shops in that part of the Quarter. One such place had an interesting array of vintage military uniforms from all over the world, old Mardi Gras outfits, hats and a bunch of creepy, naked child-clown dolls.
Once we were done browsing, we got the car and drove to Dauphine where I wanted to buy some books for my grandparents. I'd been to Dauphine Books once last year before we moved. I love it. Over crowded with stacks of books everywhere and a lazy cat roaming around. When I told the woman what I was looking for (who actually remembered me from almost 10 months ago)- books about Uptown and the history of the area- she handed me an old aluminum flashlight and directed me to a thin, dark space between bookshelves to find my treasure. It sounds annoying to have to use a flashlight to find a book, but it added some excitement and adventure to the experience, and with the unique collection of books they have, it's why I'll keep going back. I decided on a small book with photos and histories of the iconic establishments in town, as well as a purple cookbook with about 50 or so New Orleans recipes that came to a little over $20.
Afterwards, I headed back to the car where the rest of the family waited patiently and we went to Samurai for sushi. It was great, as always, but be careful where you park. We didn't see any problem with parking near the House of Blues as there were several other cars. But when we came out, they were all gone, the HOB barricades had come out and we'd gotten our very first City of New Orleans parking ticket.
We drove around Uptown a while, just enjoying the scenery when our dear friend Frank, a paramedic with Dustin, called to say he'd be getting off work soon and would like to meet us at New York Pizza for a drink. En route, we got to see another common fixture in our community- a stumbling drunk. Stopped at a red light, we saw a man holding a beer can and walking his bike down the sidewalk, right next to the car. He paused, looked around, and then in slow motion half fell, half laid down on his bike. He just kind of held that pose for a minute, then started shaking his foot and talking to himself. I asked Dustin if we should call anyone, but there were already people taking notice (and cruel though it may seem to some, it's a fairly common occurrence) so we continued on our merry way. Frank was late, and he told us it was because he'd responded to the call about the drunk we'd seen. The man was unhurt, refused medical care and asked to be pointed in the direction of home. Having heard the joyous news of another bum left unscathed by their degenerate lifestyle, we had a few beers and some pizza to cap off a perfectly New Orleans day.
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