Mardi Gras 2014

Mardi Gras is back in full swing!  Curtis once again got to stock up on "throws," load his float (with help this year) and "ride" with the Knights of Ecor Rouge, who's theme this year was "Night of Knights."  Here's an article slideshow about their parade.  To make it even more festive Louis & Sophie came for a long weekend to join in the fun!

Here are some highlights of the festivities so far:

Curtis is on the left! 

Post-parade

Curtis' float while it was still in the barn

Louis & Sophie waiting for the parade

Christine with the best work friends :-) 

Christine before MOT's ("Mystics of Time")

Waiting to go downstairs after "Callouts"

Christine & friend Megan

Lakers-Rockets Game with Jackie

When I decided to fly out to California the Friday before Thanksgiving to attend Aunt Julie's memorial service, I knew that I had to work in something fun with my new found time in California.  I'm usually only there for a few days with enough time to see family and friends and maybe go to one favorite restaurant.  With 10 days, I knew I had a rare opportunity to do something extra, and something to take my mind off of why I was in town early.  

With the Lakers coaching change and the additions of Steve Nash (who was injured) and Dwight Howard, I thought a Laker game would be fun, and it was. 

Seats were pretty good :-) 

Jackie and I met up for dinner at the Yard House (one of my faves) at LA Live before the game, and watched a great Lakers game against the Rockets and Jeremy Lin/James Harden.  Very fun outing and well worth it - I'm just sorry I don't have a picture of Jackie and I :-(. 

Fall 2012: Doggy Date in New Orleans

In Mid-October, the three of us drove to New Orleans to meet up with our friends Samantha, her mom Carolyn, and Sam's puppy Maggie at a dog park. 

Kenny was excited about the road trip.  Although when we hit bad traffic and were stuck on the freeway for  awhile, all he wanted was to be on my lap - he didn't like being stuck in the back. 

Kenny & Maggie

She's so pretty.

Kenny and Maggie hit it off okay, they were fine in the park but back at Carolyn's house Kenny got a little scared for a bit so we had to keep them separated.  But after awhile they both calmed down and were able to co-exist while we had a nice dinner together.  It was a fun visit :-). 

Fall 2012: Louis's Visit in September

*this is the first in a series of brief recaps from our Fall - 
backdated to correspond with the time the events took place*

In September Louis came to visit and go to an Alabama football game with us, against Ole Miss.  It was a fun, albeit very tiring day trip to and from Tuscaloosa, along with a visit with Kenny and meals at Cracker Barrel, Moe's and Waffle House.  

For the two of us, it was great to have a visitor from home and a close friend to catch up with for an entire weekend. We were sad to see him go - but perhaps he will come back for Mardi Gras! (hint, hint) 

Obviously, someone was happy to see Uncle Louis.

We pre-gamed at the Houndstooth, one of the big bars in T-Town. 

Our seats were pretty good, not cheap, but good.

Kenny was sad to see him leave.  Louis was probably less sad, since he had an allergic reaction to him  on Sunday.

Paint and Pals

Last night Curtis and I went on a triple-date with some of his work friends and their significant others. We went to Paint and Pals, which is a place where you get to paint on a canvas based on whatever you want. Once a month they have a date night where you BYOB and guys get to paint for free. After painting we went to dinner and then over to one of the houses to hang out.

Anyway, we were happy with our work, it was very fun :-)







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Nick in Alabama

Our good friend Nick came to visit us last weekend! We did so many things: we had nachos and our first bushwackers at Tacky's Jacks on Friday, which is on the causeway between Mobile and "Baldwin County" (where we live). Saturday we went to a street party in Mobile, and watched the Stanford-USC game, which was insane. And on Sunday we went down to Orange Beach so that we could put our feet in the gulf and play around a bit, before we took Nick to the airport. it was a really fun weekend!

Beautiful, soft sand

Nick doing the Heisman, that's what 2 days in Alabama does to you.

pretty sky.

pretty water, definitely needed the sunglasses out there

 

I also have video but my usual blogging iPad app isn't working so that will have to wait. I'm sure Curtis and Nick don't mind. 

Stanford-UCLA game pictures

We had a great time!














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Andrew & Stacey's Wedding

Curtis and I spent out anniversary weekend in the Bay Area, spending Saturday at our high school friend Andrew's wedding. We had a wonderful time celebrating Andrew & Stacey, and catching up with Adelyn, Ed, and Brian, who came from New York for the wedding.

Adelyn & Christine

We didn't photograph well together that day... oh well :-)

The Capo Crew at the wedding

The Bride and Groom put this at our table, how nice was that!!!

The Capo crew w/ the Groom

The beautiful couple

Curtis & Andrew, enjoying the music

Yes, Curtis arranged a "What is Love" attack on the groom.

Adelyn & Christine w/ the new husband

We stayed in Walnut Creek near the wedding that night. The next day, our anniversary, we drove to Stacks, walked the Dish, and then checked in at the Westin in Palo Alto. That night we went to Il Fornaio for a lovely anniversary dinner, and we drove back on Monday. Overall it was a great weekend!