Monday, October 31, 2011

happy halloween! love, jared & frida

 most popular: marty as jared, the subway guy
most easily confused for anyone but frida kahlo: me as frida kahlo
best couple: becky & clinton as wayne and garth
happy halloween!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

empanada night

i am always looking for easy ways to use up leftovers and eat lots of vegetables. that's why marty and i are huge fans of homemade pizza - really, it's just a plate made of dough onto which we throw random chopped up goodies. i recently discovered that my grocery store carries goya empanada dough and was thrilled because there are literally a million different things that can be put in an empanada: chicken, beef, any vegetable under the sun, cheese, guava (for all those times i have extra guava lying around)... so, for dinner the other night i made onion and cheese empanadas (using a recipe from here) along with some delicious chimichurri. best of all, they were baked, not fried (i had enough grease-soaked empanadas in south america:)

Monday, October 17, 2011

oktoberfest

 one of my favorite fall activities is oktoberfest - it's an excuse to enjoy craft beers and brats while doing the chicken dance in marginally cooler weather. on saturday night marty and i met up with some of my work friends in kenner for deutsches haus' annual celebration. interestingly, new orleans has a very strong german presence... meanwhile, when i try to google "polish" and "new orleans" in the same search, all i get are nail salons (no joke).  

Friday, October 14, 2011

yard sale bandit

the last few weeks marty and i have spent our saturday mornings scouring the city for budget-friendly used shit treasures to dress up our home. although we have managed to find some amazing pieces, it hasn't all been smooth sailing. looking for yard sales on craigslist is like looking for anything else on craigslist - you're going to find normal people with decent taste and you're also going to find the people who are using their old crap as a ruse to kidnap you. my personal favorites included the girl who was selling the entire contents of her kitchen (such as half-empty bags of cornstarch and paprika) and the guy whose moving sale included his, ahem, used adult magazines.
i found this beauty in the lower garden for $8. its owner was giving away free beer with every $2 purchase. well played, lady. well played.
still haven't quite figured out what to do with this amazing ikat fabric... pillows? reupholstering this crazy/amazing chair i bought from the beer lady? 
for $5. right. 
 fiesta ware! in turquoise! this was one of those yard sale moments when you look around and say to yourself, am i the only one seeing this? is it a yard sale mirage?! and then you try not to knock anything over as you lunge at it. true story.
this is just adorable. enough said.
don't quite know what i'll do with these yet. i'm sure pinterest will hook it up.
a natural accent for our bedroom


Thursday, October 13, 2011

mom and dad visit - part 2

 following our swamp tour my parents and i went to middendorf's to re-fuel and relax on the breezy dock. the weather was beautiful, the coronas were cold and the fish was deliciously fresh. later in the day we went to art for art's sake on magazine, which the annual new orleans event i look forward to most. every antique store, art gallery and boutique on magazine opens its doors after hours and provides drinks, hors d'oeuvres (ya, i had to google the correct spelling of that), entertainment and discounts (!!!). basically, it's all of my favorite things in one evening (wine, cheese, music and deals:). 

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

mom and dad [finally] visit - part 1

 my parents finallyyyy came to visit last weekend to enjoy the beautiful weather and see our new apartment. the last time they visited together was over two years ago. dad came last year to help me move in (see pictures from our trip here, here, here, and here). mom visited a few weeks later during the Great Blog Hiatus and Computer Destruction of 2010-2011, so i don't have any blog posts to link to... but i can tell you that mom's visits always result it a lot of wine and shopping and marty having to drive us everywhere. to celebrate my parents' return to the big easy, we had an action-packed weekend full of my favorite things: beignets from cafe du monde, some yard sales, a swamp tour, a trip to middendorf's for their famous thin fried catfish, and a jaunt on magazine street for art for art's sake. and that was just one day :) here are some pictures from the first half of saturday...