New Orelans Trip - XMas 07
Recently lordaerith and I visited my mother and sister in New Orleans for a week.
Let me tell you about it. No, it's too long, let me sum up : we drove in with iskanderia on Friday Dec. 21, went to the reception for my 10 year HS reunion, visited a bunch with artemis42 and daobear, had breakfast with the Mad Russian and her hubby, went shopping with queencimmy, went to a Solstice Party, ate brunch at Antione's with artemis42 and daobear, wandered around the Quarter, hung out at home, enjoyed mom's cooking and baking, helped around the house, played Guitar Hero, gave and received presents, saw Juno, enjoyed expected and unexpected visits with friends, got our hair done, talked about my Capstone project, worked on this fun game as a family, and drove home again on Thurs. Dec. 27.
lordaerith and I got up early Friday morning, grabbed some bagels, picked up iskanderia and got on the road. On the way there was talking, sleeping, and much listening to a series of Black Jack Justice episodes via Decoder Ring Theatre. I think we've made another radio drama fan. We hit a little bit of traffic around Baton Rouge, but it wasn't too bad. Got to mom's house around 5:30, after dropping iskanderia off.
We hung out with mom and rested a bit and then we changed and headed into the quarter for the reception for my high school's official 10 year reunion (instead of the un-reunion back in October). The reception was nice. Not as much fun or intimate as the un-reunion, but it was good to see the Mad Russian. It's always good to see the Mad Russian. And since we both had husbands in tow, it was good for them, since they already knew each other.
Talked with a bunch of people, a few I knew really well, but most I only partially and some I couldn't place at all. Was really glad that the one girl I was really really excited to see was also really excited to see me. :) Made me feel happy that at least someone cared who I was and really remembered me from HS. Also had a lot of fun shocking people with the fact that lordaerith took my last name when we got married. Found out that I'm not the only queer person from my class, which makes me happy. I was starting to worry that everyone else I graduated with was way too normal.
We left the reception early and went to hang out with artemis42 and daobear for a little while. It's always good to see them. Then back to mom's where I got to spend time with queencimmy.
Saturday we got up early and picked up the Mad Russian and her hubby for breakfast at Elizabeth's. I wasn't a big fan of my food, but the Prauline Bacon...mmmmm. After breakfast we dropped them back off at their hotel and after a brief rest at home, we went shopping with queencimmy. Oh Lakeside mall...you haven't changed at all. Got some good jeans advice from Cimmy and visited enemy territory Hollister which was very dark, with loud music and way too many "normal" people. It made me want to run to Hot Topic to get the feeling off of my skin. Went into William-Sonoma for pie weights for mom. While we were their we saw How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which we thought would be a perfect present for artemis42 and daobear (remember this, cause it's important later). Drove home, rested, and prepared for the solstice/engagment party.
Got todaobear's house fashionably late. I love what daobear's family did with the downstaris. Opened it up and made it such a great space to hang out. Was really great to see everyone. Had fun chatting and catching up. After a while some people decided to play One-Handed Trick Pool. In this game you're only allowed to use one hand, but you can use any kind of prop you want to balance the cue and get your shot (usually other parts of your body...or someone else's). We had a lot of fun playing and laughing. Finally the rain outside stopped and we all got into the hot tub. Mmmm...hot tubbing with friends in New Orleans on a chilly December night. Just how it should be.
Some pictures from the party:
People
lordaerith and I. I <3 my dress so much. And huge thanks to FireCat for the double-sided tape!
daobear and artemis42. This has to be one of my favorite pics of my girl!
Monkeys!
One-Handed Trick Pool:
See more pictures from the Solstice party
On Sunday lordaerith and I spend the day with daobear and artemis42. We started off with an amazing brunch at Antoine's and then took a stroll in the Quarter, down Charters and up Royal. Artemis had never gotten to see the stores on Royal, so it made her happy :). Then a quick jaunt over to daobear's for them to change out of fancy-restaurant clothing and then back to mom's for lots of hanging out and yummy mommy dinner and stuff. After dinner we exchange presents. When Artemis and DaoBear open up theirs, Artemis cracks up laughing. Turns out that DaoBear gave her the very same thing for XMas just before they left for New Orleans. Great minds or something...(see, I told you that was important to remember). Later that evening we're all hanging out playing this fun game and Guitar Hero when we hear "American Pie" being sung outside. Turns out it's a huge group of people who decided to come over. We ended up hanging out with them and playing Guitar Hero, and other fun stuff.
Monday was Mommy Day. For XMas we gave mom a day of doing whatever she wanted & helping around the house. First we dropped the boxes that Aerith made off at mom's school. Then we went looking for a kitchenette table and went grocery shopping. At home Aerith was awesome with helping with putting together and fixing stuff. He's so good at that stuff. I helped make meatballs and spaghetti.
Christmas morning we all got up late. We opened presents downstairs in the living room, just like we used to do. queencimmy really liked the Evil Hello Kitty that we got her :) and we surprised mom with a pair of earrings. I surprised lordaerith with not one, but two Worms games for the PlayStation. From him I got a series of Garth Nix books (I totally wasn't there when he bought them *coughcough*. From mom we got a huge KitchenAid Food Processor in a nice maroon, which totally matches none of our other appliances :). That afternoon mom, aerith and I went to see Juno, which was a really amazing movie. Late that evening we went to say good-bye to DaoBear and Artemis, who were leaving the next morning for New England.
On Wed. mom, lordaerith and I went to get our hair done at mom's hairdresser. I got my hair cut/styled and dyed just slightly warmer than my natural color. Good-bye "I dyed my hair a few months ago" look. I will not miss you. Had the hairdresser blow-dry my hair straight, which is always fun, especially because it always freaks out lordaerith so much :) After everyone had their hair cut (and mom had hers dyed), we went to Domilise's for Po-Boys. Oh roast beef po-boys with gravy, I miss you so much when I'm not in New Orleans. After that I had a meeting with AH (I need to come up with a name for her) about the totally awesome Capstone that I'll be doing this summer (which should get it's own post). In the middle of the meeting it started raining...that real New Orleans rain. Totally ruined my hair, but was awesome to hear (not so awesome to walk around in). Came home from the meeting to pies - one raspberry, one apple. Mommy pie. Mmm...pie. Hung out with queencimmy more after mommy dinner of steak and mashed potatoes. Sisters standing back-to-back playing Heart on Guitar Hero. We rock (on easy...). Some friends stopped by late that night just as mommy was finished making cupcakes. Mom showed them Mortensen Math, which was fun.
On Thurs. we packed up to go home, ate a mommy-made breakfast, and helped bring down a table from the attic and drove home. Got home around 10pm (would have been 9:30, but we had to stop at the grocery store).
In other news, being home is good. Our cats are cuddly. We bought a deep fryer for almost $50 off the ticketed price (floor model + 20% off coupon). I broke our Cocomotion (sadness).
Let me tell you about it. No, it's too long, let me sum up : we drove in with iskanderia on Friday Dec. 21, went to the reception for my 10 year HS reunion, visited a bunch with artemis42 and daobear, had breakfast with the Mad Russian and her hubby, went shopping with queencimmy, went to a Solstice Party, ate brunch at Antione's with artemis42 and daobear, wandered around the Quarter, hung out at home, enjoyed mom's cooking and baking, helped around the house, played Guitar Hero, gave and received presents, saw Juno, enjoyed expected and unexpected visits with friends, got our hair done, talked about my Capstone project, worked on this fun game as a family, and drove home again on Thurs. Dec. 27.
lordaerith and I got up early Friday morning, grabbed some bagels, picked up iskanderia and got on the road. On the way there was talking, sleeping, and much listening to a series of Black Jack Justice episodes via Decoder Ring Theatre. I think we've made another radio drama fan. We hit a little bit of traffic around Baton Rouge, but it wasn't too bad. Got to mom's house around 5:30, after dropping iskanderia off.
We hung out with mom and rested a bit and then we changed and headed into the quarter for the reception for my high school's official 10 year reunion (instead of the un-reunion back in October). The reception was nice. Not as much fun or intimate as the un-reunion, but it was good to see the Mad Russian. It's always good to see the Mad Russian. And since we both had husbands in tow, it was good for them, since they already knew each other.
Talked with a bunch of people, a few I knew really well, but most I only partially and some I couldn't place at all. Was really glad that the one girl I was really really excited to see was also really excited to see me. :) Made me feel happy that at least someone cared who I was and really remembered me from HS. Also had a lot of fun shocking people with the fact that lordaerith took my last name when we got married. Found out that I'm not the only queer person from my class, which makes me happy. I was starting to worry that everyone else I graduated with was way too normal.
We left the reception early and went to hang out with artemis42 and daobear for a little while. It's always good to see them. Then back to mom's where I got to spend time with queencimmy.
Saturday we got up early and picked up the Mad Russian and her hubby for breakfast at Elizabeth's. I wasn't a big fan of my food, but the Prauline Bacon...mmmmm. After breakfast we dropped them back off at their hotel and after a brief rest at home, we went shopping with queencimmy. Oh Lakeside mall...you haven't changed at all. Got some good jeans advice from Cimmy and visited enemy territory Hollister which was very dark, with loud music and way too many "normal" people. It made me want to run to Hot Topic to get the feeling off of my skin. Went into William-Sonoma for pie weights for mom. While we were their we saw How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, which we thought would be a perfect present for artemis42 and daobear (remember this, cause it's important later). Drove home, rested, and prepared for the solstice/engagment party.
Got todaobear's house fashionably late. I love what daobear's family did with the downstaris. Opened it up and made it such a great space to hang out. Was really great to see everyone. Had fun chatting and catching up. After a while some people decided to play One-Handed Trick Pool. In this game you're only allowed to use one hand, but you can use any kind of prop you want to balance the cue and get your shot (usually other parts of your body...or someone else's). We had a lot of fun playing and laughing. Finally the rain outside stopped and we all got into the hot tub. Mmmm...hot tubbing with friends in New Orleans on a chilly December night. Just how it should be.
Some pictures from the party:
People
lordaerith and I. I <3 my dress so much. And huge thanks to FireCat for the double-sided tape!
daobear and artemis42. This has to be one of my favorite pics of my girl!
Monkeys!
One-Handed Trick Pool:
See more pictures from the Solstice party
On Sunday lordaerith and I spend the day with daobear and artemis42. We started off with an amazing brunch at Antoine's and then took a stroll in the Quarter, down Charters and up Royal. Artemis had never gotten to see the stores on Royal, so it made her happy :). Then a quick jaunt over to daobear's for them to change out of fancy-restaurant clothing and then back to mom's for lots of hanging out and yummy mommy dinner and stuff. After dinner we exchange presents. When Artemis and DaoBear open up theirs, Artemis cracks up laughing. Turns out that DaoBear gave her the very same thing for XMas just before they left for New Orleans. Great minds or something...(see, I told you that was important to remember). Later that evening we're all hanging out playing this fun game and Guitar Hero when we hear "American Pie" being sung outside. Turns out it's a huge group of people who decided to come over. We ended up hanging out with them and playing Guitar Hero, and other fun stuff.
Monday was Mommy Day. For XMas we gave mom a day of doing whatever she wanted & helping around the house. First we dropped the boxes that Aerith made off at mom's school. Then we went looking for a kitchenette table and went grocery shopping. At home Aerith was awesome with helping with putting together and fixing stuff. He's so good at that stuff. I helped make meatballs and spaghetti.
Christmas morning we all got up late. We opened presents downstairs in the living room, just like we used to do. queencimmy really liked the Evil Hello Kitty that we got her :) and we surprised mom with a pair of earrings. I surprised lordaerith with not one, but two Worms games for the PlayStation. From him I got a series of Garth Nix books (I totally wasn't there when he bought them *coughcough*. From mom we got a huge KitchenAid Food Processor in a nice maroon, which totally matches none of our other appliances :). That afternoon mom, aerith and I went to see Juno, which was a really amazing movie. Late that evening we went to say good-bye to DaoBear and Artemis, who were leaving the next morning for New England.
On Wed. mom, lordaerith and I went to get our hair done at mom's hairdresser. I got my hair cut/styled and dyed just slightly warmer than my natural color. Good-bye "I dyed my hair a few months ago" look. I will not miss you. Had the hairdresser blow-dry my hair straight, which is always fun, especially because it always freaks out lordaerith so much :) After everyone had their hair cut (and mom had hers dyed), we went to Domilise's for Po-Boys. Oh roast beef po-boys with gravy, I miss you so much when I'm not in New Orleans. After that I had a meeting with AH (I need to come up with a name for her) about the totally awesome Capstone that I'll be doing this summer (which should get it's own post). In the middle of the meeting it started raining...that real New Orleans rain. Totally ruined my hair, but was awesome to hear (not so awesome to walk around in). Came home from the meeting to pies - one raspberry, one apple. Mommy pie. Mmm...pie. Hung out with queencimmy more after mommy dinner of steak and mashed potatoes. Sisters standing back-to-back playing Heart on Guitar Hero. We rock (on easy...). Some friends stopped by late that night just as mommy was finished making cupcakes. Mom showed them Mortensen Math, which was fun.
On Thurs. we packed up to go home, ate a mommy-made breakfast, and helped bring down a table from the attic and drove home. Got home around 10pm (would have been 9:30, but we had to stop at the grocery store).
In other news, being home is good. Our cats are cuddly. We bought a deep fryer for almost $50 off the ticketed price (floor model + 20% off coupon). I broke our Cocomotion (sadness).