Family and New York

Hello! Well I've been away for a while so what have I been doing? Well After our well deserved break from the many visitors we just lay low and waited for the family to arrive for Christmas. I had such a fantastic Christmas. Yes the boys did spend most of their time on their phones and were completely disengaged. But still when they did manage to come up for air it almost seemed like they were enjoying themselves. I basically spent a week being a personal New York tour guide "and on the left the Empire State Building, and on the right Grand Central Station". Most of our time was spent at home watching bad movies and snuggling on the sofa. Hipster Dufus completely outdid himself with his conveyor belt of consistently delicious food. And really that's what Christmas is all about. Family, food, TV.

It's been a week since my family left and I miss them like crazy. It was really special to have them here in my personal space. It made New York real, it hadn't seemed like I was really living here without them in my space. It always seemed like something was missing. But now I can remember the time we went here or there and it just brings the city to life for me. It has been an absolutely epic year for me. Many low, struggles and success and triumphs. It feels amazing to have finished it on such a high.

Southern Belle

N'awlins, New Orleans, the city that care forgot. Whatever you chose to call this place it has a new, very intimate ickle place in my heart. We decided to go to New Orleans as a holiday from entertaining the many guests we've had recently. This is why I've been away from blogging because in the last two months EVERYONE decided to come and visit. Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy to you all finally decided to get off your asses and actually come and see us. But in the future, can you talk amongst yourselves and try to space it out please? Unable to say no to the one's we loved we ended up with 6 days alone from the beginning of October to mid November. Needless to say a city called, 'the city that care forgot' was a much needed destination for us.

New Orleans is just beautiful. The pace of life is slow and relaxed. A far cry from the constant hustle and bustle of New York. There's no pushing or shoving, people take their time enjoying life as it comes. Most of our days consisted of long walks taking in the gorgeous architecture. The streets are full of pretty quaint little houses in traditional brick or our favorite wood, decorated in an array of colors. The main objective seemed to be to get the right combination of two colors. Southern hospitality is a real thing! We encountered this as soon as we arrived on our first night. We entered a restaurant 5 minutes before closing time and were welcomed with a 'hey y'all' and anything off the menu. Only when we finished did they continue to close. It felt like an inside joke, it seemed difficult to believe that people could be that nice and polite.

Southern cuisine is especially amazing. I had heard good things from people that had been and it surprised me as it didn't come in the packaging that I was expecting which made it even better. Southern cooking is very homey, it's simple but jam-packed full of flavor. We made sure to try as much as possible from traditional cocktails of sazerac to the sweet deep fried pastries known as beignets (which I'm completely addicted to). The creole dishes such as gumbo and jambalaya were so tasty. We had these a couple of times but my favorite was at a place called Jacques-imo's. For our seafood fix we went to a place called Bacchanal, somewhere that you would never find as a tourist. This recommendation came from a previous n'awlins resident, located on the outskirts of town and standing alone on a block of houses facing an abandoned railway. But by far my best food experience in n'awlins was coming across the wonderful Tee Eva's Old Fashioned Pies and Pralines. This tiny place consisted of a window where you placed your order and there was only room for two tables. Tee Eva only makes pies, all different types. Unsure of the place and having already had lunch we ordered one pie each, hipster dufus wanted the crawfish pie and I the pecan. I asked to taste his and after one bite decided to go back and get my own. That's just how tasty they were. I absolutely can not wait to go back to New Orleans.