The Skeleton House

Tons of houses all over town really do it up with their Halloween decorations! Lots of spider webs on fences, large faux spiders on the sides of homes, etc. But there is a house a few blocks from my place that has what I think are the coolest decorations! You can tell they have put a lot of thought into pulling this off. I refer to it as the "skeleton house" for reasons you can see below:

Just a large, nice home on a corner lot on St. Charles... but the front yard has been taken over by dozens of skeletons!

I love their play on words! The day I stopped and snapped these pictures there were about 10 other people admiring the place as well. Not your typical scary stuff, but definitely fun :)

Happy Halloween!

Interesting Interviews

Yesterday I conducted a bunch of interviews with people who responded to a Craigslist ad I had posted for seasonal help. I shook a bunch of sweaty hands and gave the same schpeel over and over about what we are looking for and what we expect. I had some no-shows, some late arrivals, and a lady who showed up with her 1 year old in a stroller because her babysitter was sick. I saw a lady who was missing the teeth on one side of her mouth, a man who brought me pictures of the aerosol cans he use to package, and one guy explained his tardiness saying he wrecked his bicycle and then had to catch the bus across town. Despite some of the interesting people I met, I found a few that just may work out!

Rock 'n' Bowl

Last night a bunch of folks from the kitchen got together at Rock 'n' Bowl for an evening of fun and a little healthy competition! It was nice to see everybody in "civilian" clothes and not wearing their chef attire. Plus, for once our conversations did not revolve around around cakes, deliveries, and holiday projections!

Bowling shoes look great on everyone. (NOT!)

I certainly did NOT miss my calling as a professional bowler! Even taking in to account that I have not bowled in many many years, I was just plain awful!

The Company Burger

AV, Evan, and I checked out a new spot on the up-and-coming Freret Street near our house, The Company Burger. It was hopping for a Sunday afternoon! They have a couple different burger choices as well as a variety of sides you can pick. I got the single, hold the pickles, add arugula, plus a side of tater tots for fun!

Something unique: they have a mayo bar that includes a variety of flavors of the yummy spread! I mixed the garlic and basil mayo for my burger. Super cool!

Oh, we saw James Carville grabbing a bite while we were there too! Everybody (except vegetarians and the occasional weirdo) loves a good burger!

Hodge Podge

My life recently:

• Often at work I put my iPod on shuffle and let it entertain us throughout the day. Last week the Beach Boy's "Little Deuce Coupe" came on; after listening for a while Ed said "what is his little loose goose?".
• NPR was doing its fall fundraising drive last week. Since I listen to NPR every day on my drive to and from work I decided to donate. It feels good to support something that I value.
• One of the FedEx drivers asked me if I was married. When I said no, he said "oh, you look like the married type; you're organized. Most young gals aren't this organized." I am not sure how to take that.
• I made pumpkin muffins this weekend. For some variance, I mixed dried cranberries in some and pecan pieces in others. Delish!
• In an effort to get my bed away from the multiple drafty windows in my room, I rearranged everything into a new configuration. I am hoping this will make the cooler months more tolerable at night. While this time I had a legitimate reason for moving my stuff around, normally I just get tired of things being in the same place all the time!
• Took my second trip to the Superdome. This time it was a night game with AV. We left during the 3rd quarter when the Saints were up 41-7. The final score turned out to be 62-7. I actually feel bad for the Colts. They have not won a game this year and we pulverized them!

I Do Love Free Samples

I greatly enjoy receiving free samples in the mail. The other day I came home to a cute little box from Target; inside was a make-up bag filled with samples! Shampoos, conditioners, make-up remover, lotion, etc. Plus a booklet of coupons for a bunch of personal care items.

With free samples I get the chance to try products that I would not normally go to the store and buy on a whim. Now if I like the sample size item I am more willing to purchase a full-sized unit. Plus the miniature size is perfect for tossing in my travel bag!

Volunteer

Last weekend I was asked by a friend to fill in for her during a shift as a volunteer for the New Orleans Film Festival. I had to go to the Prytania Theater and man the merchandise table. It was pretty simple work. I sold festival t-shirts and posters while wearing a cute little "volunteer" tag. I got a little bored after the film started and all of the patrons were inside the theater. Therefore I took a few self-portraits on my phone!

I got to keep the t-shirt and learned a lot about the festival that I did not even know was going on. It involved about 10 different theaters/screens around the city showing lots of new films, documentaries, and shorts over the course of a week. Pretty cool event!

Queen

There is the Queen of England, actress Queen Latifah, queen bees, the Freddie Mercury led group Queen, Dairy Queen, and lovely Queen Anne's lace. But after a recent trip to the mall, the world now has an official Queen of Cardigans. Me.

Brie picks on me for having so many cardigans, but I just can't help myself. They are great for transitioning summer tops into cool weather attire. My wardrobe includes 17 cardigans to date in multiple colors and styles. I am the official Cardigan Queen :)

The Great Procrastinator Extraordinaire

I am procrastinating. My bedroom looks like a bomb went off in it (as it often does). I know I need to clean/organize it. I have plans to do so. But right now I am feeling lazy. I have hung a few shirts up in my closet. I put my latest Netflix DVD out for the mailman to retrieve. Yeah, that's about it, I have a lot more to do!

But before I get down to business: I want to ramble for a moment.

My decrease in blogging is directly correlated with my increase in working. I swear, I am going to be so sick of the word "holidays" by the time the holidays actually get here! All of this planning and figuring and scheduling is extremely stressful. My gray hairs are multiplying every day.

October might just be one of my favorite months for the fact that sooo many horror/scary movies are on TV!! (The Hitcher is on as I type this!) I do love a good scare.

The Saints are doing well. They are 4-1! Woo hoo! Tomorrow they play Tampa Bay.

My allergies have been acting up recently. Fair amount of sneezing happening. I think it has to do with the weather changing.

Well, I think I have wasted enough time. Now to tackle my to-do list!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend :)

Weekends Are Too Short

I think I am going to lobby for a 4 day work week with 3 days off to relax and get everything done that you don't have the time or energy to do on your work days!

Today I slept in, worked on some spreadsheets for work, went to Tracey's with Brie to catch the game (see picture below), watched the Saints squeeze out a win against the Panthers, worked on spreadsheets some more, dyed my hair, re-folded a bunch of shirts that tend to get disheveled in my drawers, watched Dexter followed by Pan Am, and am now winding down for the night.

Mondays just come too quickly.

Baru Brunch

Brie and I checked out Baru Bistro & Tapas on Magazine Street today for brunch. They are a Latin/Caribbean joint I have been meaning to check out. The weather was nice so we dined outside and people watched. I got the Tacos de Carne Asada with coconut rice. It was quite tasty and a colorful presentation.

Sucre D-Day

Yesterday was the day everyone has been working towards and stressing over for weeks. We launched our new website and along with that big change we introduced new chocolates, different shaped marshmallows, and new tins for our cocoa and pecans. It might not seem like much, but there has been a lot of planning and figuring to make sure things go off without a hitch. I think the site looks very nice and the new chocolate collections are cool. They retired some flavors and introduced some new ones (olive oil chocolate anyone?). And to go along with our website switch-a-roo we changed over from UPS to FedEx. So lots of changes have occurred in the Sucre world. All are hopefully for the better! Check out the new site www.shopsucre.com

Special Delivery

Yesterday, after a day that can only be described as "definitely a Monday", I came home to not one but two packages! The first large envelope I broke into contained magazines, coupons, and the latest edition of the Rockbridge Advocate (so I can catch up on my VA gossip)! The second squishier envelope held a surprise for sure! Waiting for me was a 3lb. bag of seasoned flour! Haha! I love that stuff; it is great for breading whether it is deer meat or squash for frying. Yum! I have not been able to find it down here in New Orleans so my thoughtful mom decided to mail me some! Awwww! Thanks :)

Workaholic

Work has taken over my life recently. I always put in a lot of time, but this 60 hour week wore me out. The extra hours were the result of a combination of end-of-the-month inventory, meetings/trainings with FedEx (we are in the process of switching to their services), filling in for one of the girls in the office who is out of town, and helping deliver wedding cakes. Instead of boring you with inventory information here are pictures of the cakes:

Mardi Gras themed "topsy turvy" cake (the layers are crooked intentionally)

Simple wave cake with green ribbon and hand piping went to a hotel in the Quarter.

This cake went onto the Natchez. There were 3 old-timey maps painted on the middle layer and parts of a compass painted on the top and bottom layer (you can't see the part of the top layer in this photo) One map was where the groom is from, one was where the bride was from, then one was of Lake Pontchartrain where they are together now. Awwww.

Another Mardi Gras themed cake. This one was delivered to Mardi Gras World! I need to check that place out sometime!

When we were leaving Mardi Gras World I snapped this picture of the Mississippi. Yesterday was gorgeous!

Today I am relaxing, watching the Saints play, doing a few things around the house, then watching the premier of Dexter!! Tomorrow will start another crazy week!!