Un-Touristy Tourism

So the nice thing about staying with locals was that we got to do lots of New Orleans things, only some of which were touristy. We of course did Cafe du Monde.

Jackson Square and the French Quarter.

That's right, Eddy is nerding up the FQ. But we also had some amazing parade experiences! Laura and Kijai took us to Pride and to an amazing second line!

In second lines, parade goers march alongside the parade and dance along to the brass band. It was great fun, but also really freakin' hot.

To keep parade goers happy, there were plenty of mobile coolers and also truck bars.

If ever you have the opportunity to see a second line in NOLA, do it. And bring ice water.

Improvised High School Reunion

I recently missed my 10 year HS reunion (for the second time-ish). I couldn't attend, because of conference travel in NOLA. The good news (other than the fact that we went to New Orleans) is that my BFF from HS lives in NOLA!

When I wasn't at ALA, Laura and Kijai showed us the town!

We even got friendly with their sweet little rescue Chicory.

More on what we did to come!

Let There Be Light Fixtures

And the Lord sayeth to them, "We're having company and our dining room has no light fixtures." So we decided to whip some up from scratch. We got some string and wrapped it around some balloons.

Then Eddy did some wiring.

And voila! Light fixtures extraordinaire.

They are not quite finished yet, but they were finished enough to garner the admiration of Rebecca and Alan last weekend.

Eddy also wired some lovely bedroom lights--pictures to come!

The Accidental Electrician Weekend

...that extended beyond the weekend into a full week's worth of work. That's what happened to us last weekend. Fresh of a plane from Hawaii, we decided it would be a good idea to tackle our dining room light fixture project. We're having Rebecca and Alan over for dinner this weekend, so it's time to get some light in that room. Well, we got a little ambitious at Lowe's and we purchased light fixture supplies for the bedroom AND for the dining room. We divvied up the work--Eddy started wiring the light fixtures in the bedroom and I started creating dining room light fixtures from scratch.

We started strong.

Look how excited Eddy is to put holes in our walls.

But then it somehow became 2 AM and we were going a little less strong.

There were mistakes, there were tragedies, there was some crying and a whole lot of laughing. Long story short, it took us the weekend and all of the next week (and then some) to get both light fixtures somewhat in place for our company. We'll snap some shots on Saturday to share on the blog.

Surfing USA

We did more than just eat in Hawaii. We also surfed.

Okay, Eddy actually surfed.

I would argue that I look better on my fake surf board in a sweater and a dress. Just sayin'. That's all of the Hawaii for now. Dad took some great pictures that we will share later.

Hawaii Edibles

There are lots of amazing things to eat in Hawaii. There are probably other things to do on the island, but, let's face it--my family is primarily concerned with what we can eat. Probably the most alarming food we saw was the "Cobb" salad--the most delicious form of cannibalism ever.

Kauai is known for its coffee. Here's Eddy sampling some at our favorite plantation.

The island is also flush with feral chickens.

Chickens are potential food, right? Right. However, you are not allowed to give food to the potential food.

Catch-22. After a long week in delicious Hawaii, Eddy needed to stop by Hee Fat.

QT in the HI

We just got back from a relaxing family vacation on Kauai! We had lots of quality time with my family.

Even Captain Duvet came!

It was probably the best vacation ever. We'll make a couple of other posts throughout the week to show you what we did.

Other than peering off of this bridge, that is.

The Eatery

The dining room is the least finished room, but here's a glimpse. Think: new light fixture and window treatments. Think: coherent decorative theme.

Waving kitteez!

Here's the dining room hallway-ish place with a view into the kitchen. (It's larger than a hallway, smaller than a room. Not really sure what it is...)

And here's the kitchen!

Here it is again.

So that's the tour! Welcome to our new home!

The Blues

Just past the purple bathroom is our bedroom.

Say hi to Captain Duvet. Here's our little rocking chair zone.

And makeshift bedside table with a view into the sunroom.

It basically doesn't get much better than this sunroom.

Here's the couch with a little window into the kitchen and a glimpse of the double doors into the dining room.

And the Asian corner.

I actually wear that hat outside to garden. For real.

A little built-in window seat where we keep our cookbooks.

And even more theater chairs!

Here's a view into the dining room where we'll be headed next.

Flying Purple People Eater

Off of the living room to the left is our front office. Here's Eddy's zone:

A view toward the front windows (complete with robotic cat feeders).

Here's Nicci's desk.

And on to the purple bathroom (there's a second bathroom too, but it's not nearly as cute as this one and it's basically overrun by cats. You will never see it. Trust me. It has a strange faux wooden cave shower. Need I say more?)

So, yeah, the purple bathroom. It's purdy.