oak street po-boy festival

 fresh off the coattails of our lawmakers' decision to promote childhood obesity, the city of new orleans (being the picture of health, after all) hosted probably the most highly-anticipated food festival of the year: the oak street po-boy festival. in an attempt to beat the crowds - because, you know, god forbid we have to wait in line to buy a 3rd, 4th or 5th po-boy - we skipped breakfast and hit the fest at 11. by 11:15 i was satiated and by 11:30 i had commenced self-loathing. thankfully oak street is long, parking was limited and the temperature hit 80 degrees by noon, so by the time we reached the car, i had sweated out at least one of the po-boys and an entire beer (which, in my mind, means i broke even by having one normal-sized meal. go me). 

ya. i don't know.

the bread had more security than herman cain.

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).  

street fare derby

 a few weeks ago my friend liz and i went to the street fare derby at the fairgrounds, a festival dedicated to the food truck scene here in nola. all of new orleans' foodies were out in full force, so we only got to enjoy one dish and a disproportionate amount of cocktails (in our defense, the lines at the bar were way shorter). 

well played, the big cheesy.

most delayed post ever - jazz fest!

 now that my computer is back in action and i have a proper place in which to organize my photos - as if keeping them on several, easily misplaced sd cards wasn't a brilliant idea - i can start re-enjoying them here on this humble little blog. during the first weekend of may, marty and i got to go to jazz fest (my first time!). stupidly i didn't realize that jazz fest is so much more than a music festival - it really celebrates the culture of the city and the many cultures that contribute to it. in addition to enjoying ms. lauryn hill, who miraculously took the stage on timeish, mystikal (yes. mystikal.), and anders osborne yum, i got to meet and speak to dan baum, the author of nine lives: death and life in new orleans*, see mardi gras indians, and participate in a real haitian "second line" with RAM. to top it all off, i got to hang out with my friends AND eat some delicious food (helloooo, cochon de lait po' boys!). definitely one of my favorite festival days ever.

b.t.dubs, we here at choosing change heart festivals... check out our adventures at strawberry fest, blues & bbq fest, lolla, cajun zydeco/creole tomato/louisiana seafood fest, oyster fest, and of course, wednesdays at the square here and here    

 mustaches are quickly becoming my favorite thing ever, probably as a tribute to this guy

*read this book. read it if you think you know everything there is to know about new orleans, read it if you know nothing about new orleans. it'll teach you a lot.

pontchatoula strawberry festival

festival season is definitely upon us! i spent the weekend eating and sweating my way through two festivals - french quarter festival and the pontchatoula* strawberry festival. i didn't take any photos at the french quarter fest because i was concerned about injuring my camera with the gallons of water that were pouring from my face and hands. in pontchatoula the situation repeated itself but i'd never been so i couldn't not photograph the experience for my mom. i walked away with some delicious pepper jelly, a tray of 12 cartons of strawberries (jarring adventures to come!), and some lovely tan lines.

*good luck pronouncing that, chicagoans!

wednesday at the square!

my favorite weekday new orleans activity has returned! after work today becky and i headed to wednesday at the square to see trombone shorty, eat some crawfish queso and relax a little after a long day. the weather was perfect, the music was amazing (we'll definitely be going to see trombone shorty again this weekend at french quarter fest!), and it was just what we needed to get us through till friday!