Bored: Time For A Change

When I get bored I get this itch to change things: re-arrange furniture, organize drawers, straighten up cabinets, etc. I did a nice purging of my room on Sunday that made me feel accomplished. Butttt, I think I want to change the set up of my furniture. I am contemplating getting a love seat for my room which would mean getting rid of something too. I inherited some items when I moved in. AV left behind a desk, nightstand, and bookshelf. I use the nightstand, and the bookcase is in my closet housing my towels and sheets. The desk has my TV sitting on it along with a lamp, some pictures, candles, and other small random things. I would be willing to part with this for a love seat. With some finagling I think I can make it all fit! Doing this change should satisfy my itch for a few months.

Until I can get to doing all of that, I am going to change the background of this blog!

Nothing New

It has been a long, blah week. There isn't really anything new or exciting going on with me. I have put in my 40 hours and am now ready to relish in the laziness that is the weekend! I have no major plans lined up as of yet. I should clean my room and work on a few other little projects around the house. For now though I am content to bask in the conditioned air and watch crappy television. Happy weekend everyone! *Tomorrow marks 6 months until Christmas*

Nightmare

Yesterday I went out for a nice dinner at the Pelican Club with Brie, AV, Daniel, and Evan. We all enjoyed a delicious meal at a very appetizing 50% off thanks to Evan's employee discount! I rarely eat steak, but could not help but indulge in the fillet mignon. However, I think I am going to blame that medium rare steak for the craziness my subconscious came up with last night!

First off I was engaged to my high school boyfriend. Yuck. Then, when I was trying to tell him about some of the wedding plans I had come up with he informed me that we were not having a big ceremony, we were going to get married "over the mountain". Even in my "dream" I knew that it was a mistake to marry him. Then, as most of my mind's nighttime activities go, suddenly I was somewhere completely different, though still engaged. I was at my childhood friend's house in her bathroom shaving my head with an electric buzzer. (Think Britney Spears during her mental breakdown.) My mom came by and seemed mad but my defense was "you let Bryan do it". The battery kept dying and I was trying to find replacements because I knew I would look ridiculous with just the top part of my head bald.

I have no idea why I was dreaming about someone I dated over eight years ago, nor why I was in a house that I haven't been inside of in well over a decade. The hair thing could have sprung from the fact that AV was obsessing over my hair at dinner per usual. (He is super weird about my hair, I believe his latest comment was "you could get top dollar for you hair if you chose to sell it". Umm no thanks.) But I am not sure about the drastic hairstyle change!

I am hoping tonight I have much more pleasant dreams that involve me keeping my hair!

The Circus Is In Town

Last night I went to the Ringling Brothers & Barnum & Bailey Circus with Ed from work, his girlfriend, his 2 year old niece, and 7 year old nephew. We were kind of a strange group, but oh well. Having kids with us made me feel like a kid too! I am not around youngsters often, but I think I did a fair job of sounding enthusiastic when appropriate and keeping the older one entertained.

I have not been to a circus in years!! I was super excited about going :)

These tigers did not speak English. The guy in there with him was saying commands but I could not figure out what language they were in!

There were a lot of extremely flexible and limber people in this circus. Folks hanging in the air, jumping, flipping, walking on tight ropes, contortionist, you name it, they had it.

They managed to put 7 men on 7 dirt bikes in that metal ball! They were zooming around so fast, one mess up and it could have been disastrous!

Everybody loves the elephants! These large performers danced all over the place.

The show lasted about 2 and 1/2 hours so to me it was worth the price ($27 a ticket)

Lots of confetti for the finale!

Lists

Lists are taking over my life. I make them constantly for everything. I write them on paper, I type them into an app on my phone, I make them mentally in my head. They consume me. I have "To Do" lists that never end. I have "Need to Buy" lists for groceries, presents, and other necessities. I have a list of account login and passwords so I won't forget them all! My "Notes" app on my phone has a list of books I want to check out as well as a wish list for the house (luckily some of those items have been deleted since we acquired curtains and a new trash can). At work I make lists of products I need to package for Internet orders, as well as a list of things I can do when other work is scarce so I don't get bored.

I suppose that while lists are a major part of my life, that isn't such a bad thing. I enjoy the satisfaction of deleting something or marking through a task as I complete it. Sometimes I even put simple things on my "To Do" list just so I can delete an item and feel like I have accomplished something. (i.e. "Take a shower". Duh, I am going to do this regardless of whether it is written down somewhere, but once I am fresh and clean I can scratch through those words and smile!)

Today's "To Do" List:

--Finish project at Lakeside

--Finish special orders at the kitchen

--Go by the post office

--Dust bedroom

--Go through my room and set aside any items I don't want/need anymore so I can take them to Goodwill

--Shower (hehe!)

What A Wednesday

I am kind of in a crap mood. My day didn't start off on a bad note. I mean, sure I would like to have slept in a little later, but I knew I needed to get to work early since I had to leave at 3:00. Bare with me as I vent some in this post. Here is how my Hump Day has gone so far:

I went to Lakeside this morning to continue working on a project for work. This consisted of spending an hour on the phone on hold and an hour talking to a guy in Ohio about software I know nothing about. Because I was spending an uncomfortable amount of time with the phone squeezed between my head and shoulder I took my earrings off and sat them in front of the computer screen. They are still sitting there (hopefully) since I forgot to put them back in when I left. After all of that fun, I went to the kitchen to help out (i.e. do the things my co-worker didn't want to do). I spent an hour packaging marshmallows. This task sucks on a normal day, but it was worse today because I was attempting to avoid getting powdered sugar on my black shirt. (I did not know that I was going to be at the kitchen this morning when I got dressed. I have been sporting "cuter" outfits on the days I am at the store as opposed to my casual t-shirt and jeans look at the kitchen).

So I spent a few hours at the kitchen before heading to my 3:30 dentist appointment. I bought a Groupon a few months back for x-rays and a cleaning that I had been procrastinating on using, so today seemed as good a day as any. Well. Apparently my diligent flossing has been in vain because it turns out I have a few "flossing cavities". What the hell?! I have been brushing my teeth and flossing more in the past year than ever before in my life. Frustrating. Also, expensive. Great!!! Up until this point my day had been so-so, but this news of a dental dilemma left a sour taste in my mouth (not literally as I had freshly cleaned teeth). But despite this set-back, I had to chug on with my day.

I had been watching the gas prices at a few Shell stations around town looking for the lowest price. I knew that I had accumulated 50 cents off per gallon with my Winn Dixie card so I figured I would wait until my tank was pretty low (dad, pretend you didn't read that), find the cheapest gas, then smile with delight at my savings. Yeah, so I did the super-low-tank thing, but then when I used my GasBuddy app on my phone, which has always been very helpful and accurate, it led me on a wild goose chase all through Treme and the Seventh Ward. The first station I tried was not a Shell despite my app insisting it was. The second Shell was about 15 cents more expensive than my app said AND they did not participate in the Winn Dixie Rewards Program. So, in my stubbornness to get my deal I drove back to my side of town and went to a Shell I knew existed and I knew accepted my grocery card. Unfortunately this Shell no longer had their gas listed as $3.39 a gallon, but a whopping $3.60?!?! But at this point my low gas light had come on (again, dad, pretend you didn't read that) so I caved and spent $3.10 a gallon. I guess that is still a decent price. But I swear just yesterday prices everywhere were lower. We must be on a price increase swing again. Booo!

After typing all of this I realize that my day has not been *that* bad, it just had some bumps in the road I was not expecting. I did have a card from my Maw-maw waiting for me in my mail box when I got home so that put a smile on my face! Now that I have bummed around and refused to do anything on my "to do" list I feel like I have wasted what could have been a decent evening. But I am not going to beat myself up too bad, there is always tomorrow!

My First Second Time

When I visited Brie in June 2010 I went to the Cajun Zydeco Festival with Daniel, Evan, and Nick. It was my first taste of festival life in New Orleans as well as my first time hearing zydeco music. I fell in love with both! Yesterday Brie and I went to the 2011 CZ Festival; my first time having gone to the same festival twice!

The Cajun Zydeco, Seafood, and Creole Tomato Festivals are all rolled in to one weekend. They take place at the eastern end of the Quarter at the French Market and the U.S. Mint building. There is plenty to eat and three stages with various bands playing. It is free to wander through the area, the only cost is food and beverages.

2010 Photo

2011 Photo

Lost Bayou Ramblers

Check him out!

25th Annual Creole Tomato Festival

I like their slogan: "Get fresh with us"

Spinach & Crawfish Boat. The food at festivals never fail me!

Meow?

One of my favorite meals my mom fixes is Tuna Casserole. It is simple, to the point, and delicious! My dad is not a fan and thus refers to the dish as "cat food". If it is indeed intended for our feline friends then I say MEOW!

I had not partaken in this meal since before I moved to New Orleans, so earlier in the week I decided it was high time I whip out the casserole dish and get busy! Unfortunately, despite our plethora of skillets and pots, no one in this house had acquired a casserole dish yet, so off to Wal-Mart I went. Once I had procured all of the necessary tools and ingredients I hit the kitchen to create a "home cooked" meal! The only spin I put on it was I threw in some frozen edamame for some color (and nutrients!) HEAVEN!

2 cups of noodles (cooked in salted water & drained)

1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can of milk (after removing the soup, use the can to measure the milk)

1 large can of tuna (drained)

1 cup frozen edamame

Heat soup, milk, tuna, and edamame in a saucepan on the stove while the noodles cook seperately. (Mom says this "knocks the chill off" of those ingredients.) Mix all ingredients in casserole dish and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. YUM!

Summer Job

For the summer the packaging area that I work in is cutting its budget since the Internet orders slow way down during the hotter months. Because of this I have been asked to do a little bit of shifting around for the next few months (June-September). This way the kitchen and the stores can absorb my pay check into their budgets without cutting my hours. (I was told that the boss made it clear he wants me to stay with the company and wants to find things for me to do so that I do not seek other employment....flattering I suppose.)

I started this new schedule of sorts on Monday and thus far I have been at the Magazine Street store working on special projects on my computer. I am working with another gal to create party package options for customers. This way when someone calls or comes in wanting to have their kid's party here we will have some formal options to offer them. I have also researched large wine racks to accommodate around 100 bottles for the store to use (READ: I spent the day playing around on the Internet). The plan is for me to be in the kitchen at the end of the week. Most likely I will be assembling macaroons.

So, as for now, I can say goodbye to daily paper cuts and adios to the tape gun. Its hello laptop and aprons for a while!

Multi-Tiered Deliveries

I did some more wedding cake deliveries on Saturday. It is always cool to see the different places one can choose to get married at in this city. We have been to museums, restaurants, courtyards, and official government buildings throughout the greater New Orleans area. Here are the latest in Sucre designs.

We actually saw the bride at this delivery and she loved her cake. The purple around the layers matched her ribbon color perfectly.

This cake required some on-sight assembly. We brought it in two pieces; the top two tiers and then the three bottoms one. Also the roses were attached once we arrived.

This cake was set up at the New Orleans Museum of Art. It too came in multiple pieces that we put together there.

This was the groom's cake at NOMA. The helmet part is not actually cake and can be moved to any angle on top of the edible tiers.

New House Mate

The other day Evan, Brie and I sat down and composed an ad for Craigslist advertising Nick's old room. We listed all of the basics about the house, wrote a blurb about us and what kind of roommate we were seeking and sent our hopes of finding a sane, tidy, responsible person out into the cyber world.

By the end of the evening we had received several responses from guys and gals hoping to see the available space. Some emails were short and sweet ("Is the room still available? Call me.") while other people took the time to type up some information about themselves and what they were looking for. Once we had a good group of emails to sort through we set up appointment times for the prospective roommates to come by our house.

Evan invited AV over to scope people out since he is basically the fifth roommate here anyway. Andrew ended up swinging by as well so it was a group effort! Might as well let the new person know what they are in for, right?

We ended up seeing four girls and two guys. One girl was a "hell no"! WEIRD! Nice, but strange, and she looked like she had fallen off a bike or something because her knees and arm were all scraped and scabbed. Plus she was 19. No thanks. Two other ladies were nice and closer to our age but once they saw the size of the closet...I mean room, they did not seem as interested. Luckily one guy, the second person to come check us out, seemed like a good fit. We all agreed after he left that we liked him, but wanted to meet the rest of the people coming by first. And even though we had not specified in our ad, we had all agreed that we would prefer to have a guy move in to balance things out.

I am not positive as to when our new amigo will be joining us (Evan is in communications with him), but his name is Cameron. He is a chef originally from Mississippi. His girlfriend (who came over with him to see the house) lives a few blocks away and appeared normal. Other than that I do not know a great deal about him at this point. But we all got a chill vibe from him so we shall see!

Creole Creamery

Andrew, Brie and I hit up Creole Creamery today for some chilly treats. I stepped out of my comfort zone (which is mainly something chocolate based) and tried the sampler where you get four mini scoops of whatever flavors you would like. My little plastic boat held Sarsaparilla, Lavender Honey, Red Velvet Cake, and Dark Chocolate. I was pleased with my options. Since their flavors rotate so often I may give it a shot again on my next visit and try four more!!

Little Stinker

Since leaving Virginia I had not had the pleasure (sarcasm) of seeing any Stink Bugs until yesterday at work when I looked over and saw this gross critter crawling on a box! Ewww.

Tis the Season

Today marked the official beginning of the 2011 Hurricane Season. This got me to thinking about how here in The Big Easy time is not really defined by the terms that I am accustomed to. Instead of Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall, you hear people talk about "Shrimp Season", "Football Season", "Carnival Season", "Crawfish Season", "Festival Season" and now the dreaded "Hurricane Season". Food, fun, and fear (storms) help the locals divide their year into manageable increments since the weather does not conform to the traditional four seasons most are used to.