feast for four

a very Marin thanksgiving:

• turkey
• stuffing with oysters and ground pork tenderloin
• cranberry sauce with Grand Marnier
• mashed potatoes
• sweet potato casserole
• corn pudding
• baked green beans
• butternut squash soup
• white wine
• pumpkin pie
• peach pie
• ... a la mode

Thanksgiving Pre-Game

Warning: This entry is entirely about food.

This weekend has been spectacular.

Friday afternoon was the "Aron Block Party" which basically meant a few hundred pizzas and a few hundred beers. All free.

Right after that was Thank God It's Newcomb which meant free cookie cake, cheese and fruit platters, snowballs, and of course, pizza.

And there was the architecture Thanksgiving/auction thing also, but I was too full to walk over there and eat more.

Last night was the best on-campus dinner ever.

Some friends and I did an early Thanksgiving potluck. We had a thirteen-pound turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, the stuffing, roasted potatoes, sweet potato fries AND sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, four kinds of pies (apple, pecan, chocolate and pumpkin), and wine and beer. Stephanie opened the night with a spinach crab dip appetizer (that felt very "Maryland") and and closed it with hot chocolate "flavored" with mint schnapps. I was the taste-tester and thought the proportions were ideal even though some thought the hot chocolate was a bit strongly flavored.

After that Lauren and I went to Cooter Brown's, which was fun even though my stomach was too full to hold any significant amount of beer. A few friends came and went, but we had fun. Because we were so full, we actually did not get cheese fries even though we felt we should have them for the sake of tradition.

For dinner today, Stephanie suggested Raising Cane's. It was amazing. No surprise there.

As Amelia has quoted me (correctly!) in her away message:

"We should have Thanksgiving every week!"

thought of the morning

When the trainer at the gym looks at you like he's spotted a long-lost friend seen a ghost, that's probably . . . not good?

MRS. Peacock???

[Okay, maybe not, but it was too funny not to use...]

Jacque and Jason are getting married!

CONGRATULATIONS, J&J!

The happy couple here in New Orleans for Halloween weekend

Just a minor FYI for those of you not already notified by facebook through her profile, our walls, or the menacing stalker-feed.

Oh. My. God. We are old, but this is cause for celebration.

Even if I don't know what I'll be doing the rest of my life, at least I know what I'll be doing the first weekend of next August. Not being a bridesmaid but still obligated to attend as if I was one.

I guess that ends the JacqueAndrewTara speculation from drunk daiquiri Sunday at the levee about when this would happen...

Tara, stop crying. The fact that Jacque's first priority is an open bar for the reception is proof not only that she still loves us but also that she wants us to be happy! The girl's brilliant.

sexual chocolate!

That may have been misleading. There is nothing remotely sexual nor remotely chocolate (unless you count the ice cream) about this post.

Friday night
was pretty laidback. I went with some friends to The Creole Creamery. Four of them attempted the Tchoupitoulas Challenge, and the rest of us were there for moral support.

Wes, Julie, Amelia, and Lauren were all defeated by their sundaes.

Sadly no one succeeded, so after a heavy amount of water and an even heavier amount of quality girl bonding bulimia time, we went to Bruno's to get food and, oddly enough, no drinks. I was surprised by and impressed with the quality of their burgers and cheese fries.

Saturday night
was supposed to be laidback. I was going to study and go to bed early after watching with Peter one of the funniest movies ever. It was on TV so no cussing, but it was still hilarious. I'll give you two hints. The first is the name of this post, and the second is this currency:

Yes, that is Eddie Murphy.

And then Shannon called and announced she was "doing something crazy tonight." My first instinct was coke off a stripper, but she meant that she was going out and drinking. This might not seem like much, but Shannon is usually responsible and whatever. It was Jenna (and coincidentally/auspiciously her boyfriend Jerry's) birthday. They and a bunch of their friends were originally going to Bruno's? Maybe? But we wound up everywhere else. The night began at Fat Harry's, and then proceeded to Delachaise (a lesbian? wine bar), and then danced on to F&M's, and then stumbled into The Palms. It was a fantastic night, and Jenna and Jerry are decidedly the cutest couple ever. In fact, if they weren't so cute, I'd hate them. Just the right amounts of genuine sweetness and bickering sarcasm. We left the bar past five in the morning after way too many drinks and Jenna meeting some guy we're going to call "Scott."

Aurell, JJ, Jerry, Jenna, myself, and Kristin

Sunday night

was mostly recovery. I went to dinner at Mona's with the Pitt St. Pretties, and we debated the issue, "Having sex or being called someone's girlfriend? Which should come first?" No pun intended.

Tonight
was fantastic! Whitney and her friend took on the Tchoupitoulas Challenge, the mountainous ice cream sundae of eight scoops, eight toppings, whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries. Her friend Emily gave up with an amount left that was something between Amelia and Wes. Miss Walker on the other hand...

33 minutes!

She's amazing and joins Matt and me on the ice cream parlor's plaque.

No, I don't know how I managed or if I'll ever do it again.

Why...

...does everyone else look cute and I look like an idiot???

That was the question Ryanne posed when she walked into Lauren and Stephanie's apartment before 80s Night.

The answer: Because we didn't get the memo "tonight is the night we all dress in eighties garb."

And we might've, had she actually sent one out.

She was rocking the side ponytail though.

We went to One Eyed Jack's to meet up with Bryan&Co.

Easily the best post-Katrina 80s night...

Easily the best Thursday of senior year so far...

The place was packed with dancing people, the mix of music was top notch, Ashley Merhottie was there, Tara made a post-Vaughan's surprise experience, we drank a lot and smoked just a little, and I even got a cigarette burn or two from She of the Spectacular Boobs.

Drunken Debauchery December is on its way, and I can't wait. "Be there or suck at life," says Chad. He informed me yesterday that he'll be back in New Orleans before the semester ends.

That is motivation to study hard and spend easy in preparation.

Chad: andrew you really need to write a book
Me: "how to go to college but not really?"
Chad: no, your book should be like, i do all the shit other people wish they did all the time but only do once in a while

For anyone else who missed the amazing new Spider-Man 3 trailer last night, here's a link to it.

what a glorious day

I registered for my classes for my final (say a prayer) semester at Tulane, Britney Spears has finally sent off a long overdue Fed-Ex shipment, and LOST aired its mini-season finale!

My afternoon was pretty laidback. Shannon and I went to Whole Foods, Café Luna to visit JigglyJuggs and get some cold beverages, and Blue Frog Chocolates. I like Shannon for several reasons among which are the facts that she likes dark chocolate probably as much as I do and that she hates the taste of coffee. (Those who know me well know I don’t like coffee, I just enjoy the tastes that cover it up like caramel and, today, mint chocolate.)

After that I came back here and shaved and got presentable, and Lauren and I went to The Melting Pot and caught up over a bottle of wine and cheese and chocolate fondues. Granted, we got drunk and missed the first quarter of LOST. Of course we'll see it as soon as possible, but the food was worth it.

I feel bad because in our tardy absence we missed Whitney and Wes, but I'll make it up to them... somehow.

Immediately after the episode ended, I received irate phone calls from Whit and my mommy. Whitney had a problem with not enough happening in the episode, and a very medicated (antibiotics!) mommy was upset about the break in the season. I bitched about the break already months ago. As an alumni of the school of I-hate-reruns, I completely prefer six-new-episodes-straight and eighteen-straight even if it means some waiting in between.

So in honor of the good day, I'm posting one of my favorite pictures ever from Esquire magazine. To me it is a symbol - Notice the Mardi Gras beads! - of New Orleans and Britney in 2005 before the catastrophes of Katrina and K-Fed. New Orleans is on its way back, now let us hope Britney is too.

And in honor of the also smoking hot Evangeline Lilly, here is what I think should be Kates next flashback on LOST:

the week's off to a good start.

Okay, so I'm behind again but not as badly as before. Sunday the internet wasn't cooperating, and yesterday I kind of got drunk randomly. Bygones.

David's birthday celebration was on Saturday night at Cooter Brown's. Several of his friends, several beers, several orders of cheese fries, and several shots. Fun David came back for the night, and it was good times. Even though he refused to do a body shot off of Peter, who was even conveniently sitting next to him, Fun David gave us a rendition of the power ballad "The Power of Love" on the car ride which segued into "Get Low" when Lizzie changed the station. And then he kind of got pushed fell into the bushes.

Any night that involves David looking like this halfway through...

...and looking like this by the end...

...is a good night.

Last night was supposed to be serious studying, but leave it to David to give me a present (screening passes) on his birthday, so Guy, Whitney, and I drove out to Elmwood but found out the Babel screening was already full. So we went to Applebee's Neighborhood Bar and Grill – Hello, Jewelyn "Humpy" Wellborn – and got dinner and more importantly drinks. We had the nicest, most patient waitress ever. The major question of the night was which TV show had the theme song "Closer to Free" which was playing at the restaurant.

Everybody wants to live
How they wanna live
And everybody wants to love
Like they wanna love
And everybody wants to be
Closer to Free

All three of us wondered independently before discussing it, and everyone immediately thought of "Friends" and then immediately knew that was wrong. I actually guessed correctly but wasn’t assertive enough, so we kept guessing and eventually called Tully who provided us with the answer.

After that, Whitney and I came back here and put a serious dent into a handle of Bacardi and watched The Rules of Attraction with Carrot Top's commentary. Hilarious even though neither of us is actually a fan of Carrot Top. Nate came home from his latest interview with news of a conquest to that, so we did a shot to it.

Then Whit-Walk and I decided to go to The Palms and drink some more and then The Big Easy.

Yeah, I’m nuts. What else is new?

And this is the TV show for those of you who care:

this cover is for Adrian.

quick poll [Steph won by three.]

David's birthday celebration at Cooter Brown's was fun. Lots of beer, lots of cheese fries, and even lots of Fun David! I guarantee a few more pictures and a few more details soon, but first I'm taking a quick poll:

Which hot babe should be my new desktop background?

Lizzie (above) or Stephanie (below)?

Readers: Feel free to set one as your desktop background and to respond by comment, IM, E-mail, text message, messenger pigeon, any mode of communication...

Mom: Peter's candid portrait skills put mine to shame.

pictures worth 861 words

"Virginia" and I completely sober - ha - at Boot happy hour

Tara and I at Uptown Cajun during her birthday celebration

the end of the pub crawl

Lizzie doesn't remember this picture at Phillips.

Matt, the newest member of Cowboy Mouth

after a night of drinkin' and dancin' at Vaughan's

seemed mandatory at the time

a women of Walmsley weunion:
Tara as matador, Alison as Kelly Kapowski, Jacque as Jacque, and Rachel as bellydancer

how we dressed for Rocky Horror

Wes on Frenchmen St. = Andre Agassi

Stephanie the Roller Girl found someone else wheelin' down Frenchmen St.,
Joe, a Mighty Duck CAPTAIN even

November thus far...

November has been pretty laidback so far. I had my English midterm on Thursday and apparently don't know the difference between feminist writers (surprising) and mistook Charlotte Bronte for Jane Austen. Oops, whatever. Jane "&" Austen wrote those other books like Sense & Sensibility and Pride & Prejudice. It could have been worse. I could have wrote in the essay that Alison Phillips or Andrew Marin wrote Jane Eyre. Speaking of Alison, I was able to give her a whole calendar of feminism on Thursday night. Let's backtrack.

Becca gave David and me her passes for a screening of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan which was really funny and I'd say I recommend. It's too offensive to be taken seriously and aside from a rather eye-gouging nudity scene - You'll know it when you see it - I kind of want to watch again. It just came out yesterday. So after the screening we went with Becca, Matt, Lauren, and Bryan&Co to Phillips where I bought enough promotional Patron shots to get a free Girls of Phillips Calendar. (It's full of the cocktail waitresses and bartrendesses and now hanging in my kitchen.) I tried to give it to Alison when she and the girls picked me up to go to Vaughan's a few minutes later. She's derided it before, but she graciously refused.

Friday was just class and then sitting and then going to Rue De La Course with Rachel to read for class and then sitting some more and then going to Big Easy with Andre Agassi aka Wes because we were both hungry at like one in the morning.

Now I should get some work done before going to the gym, showering, finally shaving after a few days of not, and going out tonight.

Let's hope I can get back into the rhythm of regularly updates.

back by popular demand

Once upon a time in October 2006, Andrew never actually updated his journal, which has happened before but not during school, so he wrote an entry after the month ended detailing in run-on sentence that his high school English teachers would detest exactly what he did during that month: With Stephanie free of the LSAT, her birthday was finally celebrated and involved a good amount of Harrah's, drinking on the patio, drunk people at the piano bar, and Pat O'Brien,s Tara turned 21 about a week later, and she and Andrew celebrated by making a spectacle of themselves with a spectacular pub crawl that semi-began with margaritas at dinner at Taqueria Corona and pre-gaming at home but really began with Abita Amber at Cooter Brown's, then bypassed the closed Daiq-Shack, and into Madigan's, then Uptown Cajun, then TJ Quills, then past an early-closed Vera Cruz in favor of both Bruno's, and after Phillips was sadly closed as well went to The Palms, and then The Boot, and then The Palms again for a long timg, dancing and drinking and dancing and drinking and then doing five shots each to hit the 21 mark before going to Big Easy to get laughed at by the workers and then taking a picture with the Tulane sign before the sun came up, there were more birthdays and parties (kegs for Curry, Chris' graduation celebration, and the noise-violatin' gettin' shut down Freaky Friday the 13th all come to mind) that were fun as well, and lots of barhopping and picture-taking, some of which the subjects don't remember, but that's okay, and Cowboy Mouth played a show for homecoming (which Tulane won against Army), and Andrew couldn't refuse to go since Curry was in charge of it and it was his birthday and personally invited and recommended that people go, and it was loud but the band basically forced people to have fun and brought Matt on stage because he didn't look like he was having fun, and as a finale brought literally everyone on stage to sing their last song, and Lauren got into med school, so that was celebrated with brownies and champagne after anticipating the victory a few nights earlier by going to Phillips after David and Andrew went to AEPi's Original Sin and Zeta Psi's Bayou Bash and tried to remember how they went to several of these parties freshman year and didn't get tired of them then, went with David and Peter to go see The Departed which was violent but amazing, and everyone should see it, and watching the new mini-season of Lost which will be over sooner than it should be, and random nights of hanging out with Adrian or running into him and/or his friends at various nightlife locations here in uptown (funny that Adrian and Andrew both went to the Jazmine Café on separate occasions without hearing from each other and really liked it and thought it was cheaper yet better Viet food than at home), Halloween was suddenly here and began a couple nights early, naturally, and there were lots of parties, and people madly hunting for costumes last-minute, and most of the girls dressed like sluts because that's what the holiday celebrates, and there were lots of Quail-Men (Nickelodeon's Doug, anyone?) but they were all cool, and there were at least five of them throughout the “long” weekend even though the best costume this year I think was the Two-Face walking around Frenchmen with half a head of make-up, half a wig(?) or half a dye job, a suit half in animal-print and “matching” shirt, tie, and probably hands and shoes even though they weren't seen, and Stephanie and Andrew went to The Rocky Horror Picture show which was disturbing/entertaining as ever and got hooked up with VIP passes (thanks David) and sat in the front and experienced rice, water, the actors, the candy, and all such antics even though Stephanie thought the walk to McAlister was really long because they were dressed funny, and Ted suddenly decided to tell us that he was leaving for Texas but with much less notice and fanfare than last time and apparently this time for real, and conversely Jacque was back in town, so that was fun and it was like old times except with legal drinking and going to the levee with her and Tara and talking about how no one - not even Jacque surprisingly – knows what they're doing with their life, what the Pitt St. Pretties are doing with their Thursday is going to Vaughan's Lounge to see Kermit Ruffins and drink with professors and eat late night red beans and rice, which is fun and they've taught Andrew to go (he goes to Café Luna, their workplace, a lot to visit also), Tara is really into the red wine and split a bottle of it with him and Alifun even though Alifun only really drinks a glass, but it was the thought that counts because red wine is medicinal for tragedy, and then St. Joe's and Monkey Hill and other places twenty-one year olds can go, and pictures that people don't remember. The end.

So if you really want to kill some time, wrestle your way through that. It'll be like reading James Joyce but without the intellect and deftness in the writing or Victor's chapter in The Rules of Attraction without the sex and drugs.

There will be pictures as soon as Microsoft PictureIt repairs itself.

my Halloween costume...

...for the (probably small) percentage of you who haven't seen it yet.

I realize it's November, and I apologize for the lack of updates... particularly to those I've failed to provide with procrastination reading and most especially to those who have voiced concerns. I promise a summary of the month of October 2006 in the very near future.