"It's Zydeco, Matt!"

G and I trekked down to New Orleans this past weekend for a wedding. Having not been on spring break in six years, I mistakenly made the faux pas of wearing a black cardigan out the first night. My Miami spring break in college came flooding back to me as I had to reevaluate my going out clothes from Boston Conservative to New Orleans Fun. We arrived the night of St. Patrick's Day to a boisterous crowd of spring breakers and locals on Bourbon Street...and my mom who greeted us coming out of the wedding she was crashing at the hotel. With wine in her hand and beads on her neck, we foresaw a fun weekend, and headed out right away to join the fun.
The city of New Orleans still has a fighting spirit, if not hampered somewhat by post-Katrina beauracracy. There's rebuilding and jobs to be had, but a lack of housing for potential workers (and a half million residents who have not returned) have created an air of interrupted activity. For example, the toilet in our hotel room was broken and the first room we were given did not even have beds made (due to lack of staff), but we eventually settled in. Saturday morning we ambled over to the French Market for beignets and cafe au laits at Cafe Du Monde. Three powdered sugar covered beignets might not look like a lot, but by the time I finished the second one, I was barely able to carry on.
We trolled the streets that afternoon...the weather was balmy and music was everywhere. Even desolate and deserted areas were enlivened by music. We toured a mausoleum-filled cemetery and parks and galleries. Saturday evening was a pre-wedding party at the Rock N Bowl where we mingled with the bride's and groom's families, and again, my mom (upon meeting and introducing myself to someone, the response would invariably be, "Oh, you're Nancy's daughter!") and Marvin. We bowled, G for the first time, and snacked and drank beer, all while listening to wonderful local music. Later that night we went out in the French Quarter again, and ordered famed sazeracs.
Early Sunday was prioritized for eating and making sure we had real gumbo and/or jumbalaya. So we again started off with beignets, then made our way over to the Acme Oyster House with Lesley. Having recently got over a bad stomach virus, I opted out of the oysters, but did order the fried shrimp po-boy. We also had giant styromfoam cups of frozen margaritas and daiquiries-- more than we'd ever be able to fully consume. After lunch and a little more walking, we rested before the big event.
The wedding was beautiful and fun, with Caron and Tom reading their own vows. The judge who married them was brief but thorough and after the ceremony, the staff quickly set up dinner tables and the buffet. The band (again, wonderful New Orleans music) was already ready to go. We enjoyed the oysters rockefeller, blackened chicken, fried catfish and more gumbo! The band played and everyone (but Marvin) danced and had a great time. It's important to note that the mark of a good wedding must be realizing that you have to take your dress/suit to the dry cleaner AGAIN, even though you only wore it for 5 hours.
Our flight left early the next morning, so we said goodbye to the music, balmy weather and good food that night.

Shopping, Food and Clubs

Aside from the normal attention to family, friends and World Peace, there are three things I hold dear: shopping, food and clubs. Shopping is on hiatus until after Easter-- I gave up non-essential shopping for Lent so I could better guage spiritual needs to worldly needs. So far it's been a week and I'm doing well, not feeling undernourished or overly deprived. It helps, too, that I recently got a pay cut at work.
The New York Times highlighted my other passions, sometimes in tandem!, very clearly yesterday, however. I was pleased to see not one, not two, but three articles on Trader Joe's! Soon a store will open in New York-- Bostonians had this to hold above New Yorkers heads for awhile, but alas, New Yorkers will soon enjoy this food shopper's paradise for themselves. From one of the articles:
"Long before Trader Joe's went national, its inexpensive but unusual products — things like wild blueberry juice, Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil and frozen chicken-lemon grass spring rolls — inspired an intense following among American food lovers, rarely seen in the aisles of a supermarket.
The stores are small, the selection is uneven and the corporate culture can be described as dorky. But because its products are often not available anywhere else; because they mysteriously appear, disappear, then reappear on the shelves; or perhaps simply because they often taste very, very good, Trader Joe's has become tremendously popular among Americans who like to be entertained and educated by what they eat, as well as nourished by it."
The article also highlighted the making of the spicy Thai Chili Lime Peanuts-- a new household favorite for us.
The Times also featured an article on The Dames of Beef-- a group of 12 or so women in New York who meet once a month to get cocktails and eat at one of New Yorks older eating establishments (before it's demise, The Russian Tea Room came to mind). This club has few rules, but one it does have is that one must be female. This pulled at my heartstrings for my love of Book Club, where just this past Friday we gathered to snack, drink Floot (a delightful sparkling wine beverage enjoyed out of a can and with a straw. It comes not from France, or even California, but Indiana. Which explains the can.) and play karaoke on Steph's PlayStation 2. Ahem, and discuss the book. Our club has remained female only for the past several years (we've had a few men, but they haven't stayed long) mostly because we read books of interest to woman and discuss things men probably don't care to discuss, or if they do, the prefer to in the company of other men.

Moral Dilemma II

Zara and I met for a meeting of the minds last night. We ate sushi, caught up on life stories and reminisced about the past and the decions we'd made (such as spending one Valentine's Day together eating dinner at the Coolidge Corner Clubhouse; an odd choice such that not even we can recall why we would choose to eat at a sports bar anytime, but I'm sure blue cheese was involved on a salad or wrap, and that probably tipped the scales in favor of said eatery). We've remained friends throughout the years due to our consistent natures-- I can still regale her with a story of debauchery and she can still recommend very bad tv shows that I should (or maybe shouldn't) tune into. We were barred from the Gap, due to an early closing time (7 pm!) so couldn't fully relive our time spent in Coolidge Corner in years past.
I'd also like to post an update to Moral Dilemma. The other evening (the coldest evening of the year) I stopped in the Coop on my way home for a few dinner items, and toothpaste. As I checked out, I took the time to button my coat, put on my hat and gloves and then grabbed my bags of groceries. When I got home, I realized I had grabbed the bag of groceries of the guy behind me as well. It was all food that I would have picked out (feta cheese, grilled eggplant, candied pineapple...well, maybe not). I knew the right thing to do was to go out in the cold and return it, but I also figured he was long gone and the store had probably already remedied the situation. Still, it was a Monday night and there was a long week ahead for bad karma to catch up, so I asked G to drive me back and return the groceries. I went inside and the cashier said knowlingly, "oh, yeah, right." But having done that, the week has gotten progressively better...