algiers point with britten

algier's point is a short trip over the river from new orleans proper, and never throughout all my visiting to the city have i been afforded the chance to go to the west bank before, so i was happy to take up britten on her invitation to show us around. the above shot looks very rural, but there are actually pubs and cafes around, and even mardi gras world is located over here. all of the floats are built and housed in this space year round and every mardi gras it hosts mom's ball, an event i would imagine puts the folsom street fair in san francisco to shame.


we walked up along the levy and found this little playground next to the river. the massive puddle is probably from last week's heavy rain.


did you know that old algiers is the brooklyn of the south?



we stopped by a british pub called the crown & anchor where i drowned myself in my new favorite beer, strawberry abita, and we asked each other questions from 90s trivial pursuit for a good hour or so. i had to include this terribly dark photo so you could see the little kurt cobain game piece that i immediately claimed as my mascot. britten was a cappuccino and nathan was a pda. not surprisingly, no one went for the dot com stock certificate. some 90s stuff you just can't really get nostalgic about.


we took the ferry back to new orleans just as the sun was setting. i love being out on the water! we'll hopefully be boarding the natchez some time this week for a jazz cruise. tourists!

sliver by the river

britten took us out to a part of town i don't often get to, the riverbend section of uptown. hugging the mississippi and positioned on higher ground than some surrounding neighborhoods, this area is called the sliver by the river and it happens to be where britten's grandmother first planted stakes some fifty years ago.

after a fine dining experience at cooter brown's we walked around the corner to visit marie, a woman i've heard so much about over the years. she lives in a lovely house with many many rooms the likes of which i will never possess in california (see grand detail above). marie was in the middle of her french studies when we called on her; she is preparing for her annual trip to france this summer.


strolling back to the car from marie's, we let the railroad guide us.


with our backs to the railroad tracks, the mississippi lies just over this hill. britten wanted to take us berry picking by the water, but the river is mighty high these days preventing us from reaching the bushes that grow wild nearby.

i have no idea what's going on

yep, like san francisco, new orleans boasts many random street performers.

i can't say i don't miss the robo-dancing tin men, the tree man of fisherman's wharf , or naked yoga man back home, but it was nice seeing the ladies bring something to the table.

french quarter fest

our first two days in new orleans have been blessed with amazing weather. the night before our arrival, there was a huge thunder storm that just drenched the city and tempered the heat of last week.

we had no idea until after we booked our room that the french quarter fest is happening this weekend, and we managed to hustle down to the quarter (on foot!) to partake in live music and luscious dripping food at jackson square. i was particularly pleased with my new best friend, abita beer (a local brew), and delighted to dine in the grass on oyster and artichoke florentine (pictured above) from the bywater barbeque booth. while most of the food we tried was pretty tasty, i was happy to find an alternative to po'boys and bbq'd what have you.


we met up with our new orleans friends on this balcony overlooking royal street. view left...


and view right. lovely!

crawfish season

not in town an hour and we had to get some crawfish after we heard about a great place just blocks from where we are staying in the garden district. big fisherman seafood serves up all the classic components to a crawfish boil separately so you can pick and choose exactly how many soft, slippery heads of garlic or half cobs of corn you want. nathan was apprehensive about eating garlic gloves whole, but he changed his mind real quick. he even seemed to favor them over the boiled potatoes he usually likes.

one of my favorite parts about eating crawfish is how informal it can be. you don't need plates and you don't need utensils. you're pretty much eating out of a plastic bag or off a length of newspaper. paper towels are helpful, but there isn't much point in using them until you're done eating.

we just got up (about noon in new orleans, 10am in san francisco) and nathan is tying his shoes to hoof it back to big fisherman for some more sausage and garlic for breakfast!


our little apartment has a private porch that opens on to a patio. these boids were having at their early supper the same time we were settin' to have some crawdads.

we're here!

new orleans beckons

all week i've been getting excited about my upcoming holiday in new orleans and special little things keep happening to assure me that the time for me to return to the city i adore is right.

after reading the new orleans design guide on design*sponge earlier this week, i was gifted this wonderful snow globe from my wonderful work associate jill. it doubles as a calendar which i love love love. i teared up during a staff meeting because i couldn't go to mardi gras this year, so everyone i work with knows how much i love new orleans.

more buttons!

i have been very busy trying to get lots of stuff done before leaving for new orleans, including making sure that little otsu has more than ample stock of my embroidered buttons.

here is the second spring batch that i will be dropping off today after work. i'll be in the neighborhood to watch fast times at ridgemont high at dolores park later this evening. hopefully the beautiful weather we're having today won't abandon us completely once night falls.

parlez-vous français? do you wanna?

when i was in art school, my friends and i would bring each other gifts that we found on the street (ask rick about his vintage sewing desk!) like this briefcase filled with vintage instructional français tapes and booklets. bob brought it for me, and i've always liked it, but it is time for it to leave the shoebox. if you like to have it, leave a comment, otherwise i'll be dropping it off at out of the closet when we get back from new orleans in a week or so.

unfortunately the verb wheel won't be included as pictured. that one went fast!


merci!

organized

with our departure for new orleans fast approaching (saturday!), i decided to get all my ducks in a row so i could efficiently shoot 'em down this week before vacation.

while out at little otsu delivering buttons, i picked up one of their cool new planners. you can see that my week is already filling up!

i've been using little otsu planners for the past few years, and i especially love them because you fill in the dates yourself, so you can start using one whenever you like. the little otsu annual weekly planner vol. 2 is illustrated by one of my favorite LO artists, martine workman. it comes with lots of neat line drawings of houses and a fun little question about yourself to answer every week. you can get it here for $16.

oma!

nathan and i made our long awaited visit to san bruno to see my lovely oma this weekend. here she is, successfully masking her disdain for being photographed. she has the sweetest little bee broach peeking out there by her collar bone.

i get my quirky sense of humor from her, which is a viennese trait apparently, or so she insists. this was the first time i was able to see her on my own without my parents in almost 20 years, and it was nice having her almost completely to myself. she is a marvelous women and a wonderful storyteller. we got to hear a few about my dad when he first moved out of the house and another one about my grandfather's narcolepsy.


viennese pride!!


i make it a point not to weigh down my blog with apologies for sparse entries or blurry photographs. oma's flowery wallpapered bathroom with matching scale is too amazing not to document. i refuse to use flash. sue me.

little otsu delivery

after a long bout of procrastination, i delivered the first portion of a huge batch of embroidered buttons i've been working on for little otsu. i had fun selecting fabrics that are spring and summer appropriate-- was ready to move on from all the burgundy and brown i was using before xmas. i used some new fabrics, including some from carol lintner and jenny rinzler's quilting stashes. such kind and generous ladies, those two!

flea market, solo

sunday was long and productive for me, and it started early with a trip to the alameda flea market, the crown jewel of northern california flea markets.

content to just stroll about, i quickly concluded that flea markets provide the absolute best people watching. i love seeing what items people are clutching to their chests or pushing around in carts. i even got to eavesdrop on a couple conferring over potential purchases via walky-talkies!!

it is certainly true here, sometimes one man's junk is another man's treasure.


i initially thought i wouldn't buy anything, but the shape of this little 4 pleased me so. $6, not much of a haggler.


my favorite purchase is this little cast iron trivet. $5, also no haggling. it's worth more than that to me!

p.s. laura normandin hand cut these felt trivets that are on view at rose and radish. one of my favorites is the lower left one which you might find familiar...

not at work for a change

heck, this past week was pretty busy at the store (worked six days in a row... booo!). once monday rolled around, i was content to sleep in (till 9) and then watch live w/ regis & kelly. when my tummy started growling for lunch time, i walked a block over to whole foods and got a delicious sandwich to eat in the park. one of my favorite parts about walking everywhere in this city is spying little bits of green determined to grow out of the most inhospitable looking nooks and crannies.


i finally splurged on some saint benoit yogurt from sonoma county. i love that it comes packaged in a ceramic jar that you can return to the market to be recycled for a future batch. they offer redemption coinage for such returns, but i bet most people keep them for other uses at home. how did it taste? light, tangy, and honey sweet. and it has a layer of cream on top!

dioramarama

saturday night, i managed to stave off collapse and went out to not one, but two parties. first, we headed to cristina and jenny's for the heated's ep release party and ogled all the little dioramas they made for cristina's first video the current or the undertow. i was really digging the faucet in the restroom that appears to be fashioned from three nails. ingenious!


i wish piglets hung out at my local bar.


farm animals getting sloppy drunk. it gets dodgey when you have to imbibe on every take.