Who Dat....

Looks like Santa Claus came to town and he was wearing Black and Gold cuz baby... we going to the Superbowl!!!! Looks like I wasn't joking when I said it felt like Mardi Gras... looks like Mardi Gras as well... without the massive crowds. Greg and I started the afternoon walking down to the gas station to buy some beers. We were supposed to head over to a friends house, but we never made it because we ran into craziness on the circle.

Greg ran back after a few minutes so he could grab his trumpet. The trombone player didn't really play but rather "honked cuz he believes." But Greg got a lot of good practice in... especially When the Saints Go Marching In. He must have played that song a hundred times.
After a couple of hours hanging out in the circle, I was starving. I wandered across the street to our favorite bar, Circle Bar, and to my surprise they had food. Beans and rice, hot sausage and crawfish cream pasta. Needless to say... we never made it to our friends party. We had food, friends and beer... a TV in the bar and a big screen outside in the circle (I have no idea how they got a signal).

I have never heard an entire city scream at one time. What an experience! It was unreal!! Greg played during every break and with every touch down and the entire bar sang along with him.

All I Want For Christmas is the Saints in the Superbowl!

We are all caught up in Saints fever down here. Having come out of the doldrums of winter... at least for the time being, it 66 degrees outside, slightly overcast and Sunday breezy beautiful! Living a mere ten blocks from the Superdome, people began traipsing by in there black and gold as early as 10am. The feeling is very much like Mardi Gras weekend, but to be savored by the locals alone. This is for New Orleanians. Those who grew up here (easily identified by High School association) and those who choose to live here and deal with the difficulties and sadness that is incorporated in everyday life as this city traverses the ever difficult task of rebuilding. But today is different. Everyone is out on their front porch cleaning and preparing for the game, block parties are ensuing, streets are filled with the smoke of burgers and sausages grilling, music is blaring in every direction and everyone who passes by greets each person with nervous excitement... Who Dat... who dat.. who dat!

It has been very difficult for this city to move forward since Katrina and to some extent this may come from the type of people who live in New Orleans, but who help create what we love about this place. New Orleans is full of musicians, artist, performers, and above all dreamers. For these masters of culture life since Katrina has been an uphill battle. Today is for dreamers because today people are full of dreams. Buying into the dream of what it might mean to see our team in the Super bowl. In preparation of this possibility (and possibly due to the gorgeous weather) our block seems to be full of cleaning. Cleaning out the house, the car, the garden... the soul. Neighbors on both sides of our house are out cleaning, including ourselves. Maybe its that we would normally procrastinate until the evening and then convince ourselves that its too dark or maybe its for the new beginning the Saints might be bringing New Orleans. In our house this morning the Christmas decorations came down, the tree went to the curb, the kitchen was cleaned from top to bottom and loads of laundry have been washed, dried and wait to be folded. We can't put it off for tonight... because tonight is GAME NIGHT!

As we all wait for kickoff to slowly get closer and closer. As Saints fans grow from a trickle to a river of black and gold on the sidewalks out front... a possibility hangs heavy in the New Orleans air. The possibility that 2010 will be the year of New Orleans! A new mayor will be elected this year, the MR.GO will close (one cause for the devastation of the lower 9th), the port will expand, levees will grow and maybe... just maybe... the Saints will go to the Super bowl.

Oh...just in case the title seems a bit late in the season...just know that the song is timeless!

Household Climate Security & Salmon

The chilly among you will be happy to know that we took charge of the climate change issue in our household last night. Using the most inexpensive materials available, we taped large sheets of plastic over our downstairs windows in an attempt to keep the evil cold at bay. I applaud our wisdom and the courage it took to face down such a threat to our home's climate security.

Delicious salmon for dinner tonight, from the kitchen of Chef Rosie. On the side, spinach salad, drizzled lightly with local honey, topped with goat cheese & chopped green onion. The sauce on the salmon consisted of a mysteriously fragrant & mouth-watering blend with a Moroccan mustard base (mustard by dulcet). I'll try to convince Rosie to post the recipe so we can try it again soon!

One thing about dinner we talked about the other night: hope it gets warmer again soon in New Orleans because we keep eating dinner in front of Hulu, straining our ears to hear the soft laptop speakers when the 15 year old Boston Acoustic ones emit too grating of a digital buzz. Can't wait to sit at our dinner table while we share culinary pleasures.

Its the Beginning Again...

This week was a big week in our household. I turned in the first draft of my thesis getting me one step closer to finalizing this chapter of my life... and completing my masters degree. Greg on the other hand was accepted to the Loyola Music School where he will begin his Master's in Music Performance this coming Monday. This will be my last semester in grad school and his first (again). For this reason and for the fact that we are beginning a new year, one in which Greg and I are living together and planning our futures together, we are starting a blog to commemorate the moments to come. The great thing about life is that we are always learning, reinventing, re-imagining and re-finding ourselves. The best thing about my life is that I get to do this with Greg who believes in me, who pushes me to be my best, who challenges me to learn more about the world, who debates with me, who loves me, and who nourishes my growth, strengths and whims.



This week also marked the beginning of carnival season here in New Orleans, which means that our two year anniversary is fast approaching. A date is so lackluster that Greg and I decided that our anniversary should always be celebrated on that notorious day in which Greg asked me to be his... Lundi Gras! So this year it looks like our anniversary will be on February 15th! This will be a very busy carnival season for us considering the above mentioned events in our lives, but we hope to fill our blog with stories, pictures, recipes, music and memories. Tonight the Jazzholes are playing at the Circle Bar and I need to go get dressed and support my love. He is on a path to combine two of his great loves... music and history. This medley of interests led him to Jazz, because to live is to rediscover life everyday.

We shall not cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.
-T.S. Eliot