to illustrate a point

Two photos from parties last weekend. The first is an example of an "appropriate" college picture for announcements and publication intended for extended family and people-I-don't-know. The second could be considered thoroughly "inappropriate."

Erin, the hostess with the mostess

Dillon giving me a shot "to cure senioritis."

birthweek pictures

Here's just a sampling of pics from last week I got to transfer when Getaway was cooperating this morning. I'll load all the photos from last week/end as soon as I finish my last papers and screenplay and no longer have to worry about losing stuff if my laptop decides to have another aneurysm.

Puja, Whit, and I pregaming my birthday at Las Palmas

Monica and Adrian on the Uptown Cajun porch

Josh the pool shark. He might remember this.

about 50% of the writing on my arms at the end of the night

Miss Mule and Louisiana Strawberry Queen pageant winners after dinner

sexy seniors! Chi 'O7

"walk of shame" & "stride of pride"

the rest of birthweek 2.0

Tuesday

Unless I’m forgetting something other than visiting Alison for strawberry birthday cake, Tuesday was pretty typical. Terrorism. Lunch with Tara. Screenwriting. Dinner with Ben. If I forgot something significant that you were a part of, please let me know!

Wednesday

Classes. As a belated birthday present, LauRu treated me to the gelateria, the name of which escapes me, on Oak. While staring at the paninis and talking about food, we realized we wanted non-dessert food. (Apparently we were both busy and had gelato as our breakfast.) So we went to Philip Chan’s Asian Cajun Bistro for dinner. We split a seafood tempura trio appetizer of shrimp, crawfish, and squid (family members: very much like the baked squid Dad likes) with a chili dipping sauce. Lauren ordered the pineapple prawns, and I got the soft shell crab, which like the other seafood was lightly beer-battered. It was quite the late lunch.

Back on campus, I went to a meeting for the terrorism debate we had Thursday. (More on this later, believe me.)

Then Tara treated Alison, Rachel, and I out for our birthdays to Côté Sud, a charming little French restaurant. That might have been the best birthday present ever. Thank you, darling.

We split escargots and garlic bread with mozzarella for appetizers. I had the saumon crème d’epinard (salmon with spinach cream over rice and vegetables) for my entrée. And we split a chocolate mousse layer cake and Poire Belle Hélène (poached pears, vanilla ice cream, melted chocolate, and Poire D’Anjou liquor) for dessert.

When I was returning home, I saw a bunch of familiar faces walking around in black. Lauren and I ended up back at our apartments at the same time, and while discussing our plans (or lack thereof) for the week, I realized what the somber occasion was: Fun Lauren’s funeral. I missed the service because I would have cried too much. She was buried next to the late Fun David, who passed away about a month ago, but whom I plan on resurrecting come May.

Thursday

Worst technological morning of my life. My computer malfunctioned, so I couldn’t even open my “domestic spying program” position paper for the terrorism debate. After two hours of messing with Getaway, I called my professor. He told me to just focus on the debate. So I went to the computer lab and started typing up notes and talking points, but when I went to the printer, the printer queue was about 23 names long. So I e-mailed my notes to (myself at) the other lab.

When I tried to print there, the computers told me no printer was installed. Great. I bypassed the busy library since I was already late to class and made a last attempt at Cudd Hall. Printers not available there either. Thank God the debate went well anyway because at that point I’d memorized almost everything from having to look at it so much.

Tara had a meeting so no lunch. David and I went to the grocery and Wendy’s. That night I missed Alifun’s (and slightly my) birthday celebration since my ride bailed due to sickness. I went with Ryanne et al to the bird flu BLew birthday bash.

Friday

So I skipped out on 80s Night with Whit and Puje because of my morning class, but when my classmates and I got there, we found it had been cancelled. I wished I had stayed in bed. Calc.

Pop. Bank with Ben. Shower and shave. 543@1.

That sounds like a strange countdown. It means dinner at five (o’clock) for three (people) at ONE (restaurant and lounge).

Shannon, Jenna, and I celebrated her long-awaited return. (It’s been about a week, but the girl called me last weekend to ask – "don’t get excited but" – if I would be her date to formal if she drove back for it.) Clearly I said yes, and she drove back.

I had a fried soft shell crab & escargots (atop herbed risotto with a leek & bacon meuniere sauce) for my entrée and a flourless Swiss chocolate cake (with real whipped cream and Louisiana strawberries) for dessert since someone wouldn't share even though she didn't finish hers. (Nothin’ but love, Shanizzle.)

Jenna and I did a quick-change into our formal dress clothing and then went to The Boot a little overdressed. Then we got on the drunk bus to the Board of Trade Plaza, which was a beautiful venue.

Chi Omega Formal was fun. All the Chi Hos looked gorgeous, especially the seniors. There was just a little bit of drama but Jenna and I just drank it away laughed it off. It’s only natural after four years of grudges and drama that a little alcohol would bring it out at the end. But it was still a fantastic night.

Saturday

David and I got up to go to Crawfest bright and early to have three pounds each (of the three tons) of crawfish for breakfast. The bands were good. The food was great. There should have been beer, Cynthia. I slept most of the afternoon away before going to Ralph & Kacoo’s with Shannon for (Gabby’s) Mikey’s birthday dinner.

Besides the bottles of Pinot Grigio the birthday boy ordered that prompted Gab to swear he’d be sorry on her birthday, seafood was the highlight. Shan and I split a she-crab soup (which was not authentic Maryland but still very good), and we all split gator bites (blackened and fried), and crab-stuffed mushrooms for appetizers. I had the Shrimp Charles: Gulf shrimp stuffed with lump crabmeat and topped with hollandaise sauce and more lump crabmeat. Then Shan and I split a huge slice of key lime pie (with real key limes).

I showed up a little late to the "Party of Shame," the Phi Sigma Pi date party. Lizzie, my lovely date was still sober and glowering, but we remedied that problem with drinking and dancing. Lots of that. It was F&M's. That’s what F&M's is for.

There aren't many significant stories. (Okay, there are a few about Stephanie, but ask me in person. She shot me a Lizzie-Shame-Glare-Minus-The-Squawk when Max, our knight in shining armor who drove us home, asked if she was a Hot Mess.)

Sunday

...was pretty much sleep and recuperation. Mass. Sunday night supper. Molly (who I met at a previous F&M's date party, on the pool table, and was present last night) mused and reminisced(?) on the fun. You can reminisce without remembering!

I was wrong, 21 was not the last good birthday. Like last year, some people couldn’t make it to the real day, so they insisted on celebrating later in the week. Except unlike my last "birthweek," food replaced drinks this time.

Thank you everyone who took me out to eat, bought me drinks, greeted me, etc. I have amazing friends and am grateful for y'all.

Oh yeah, pray for Adrian. It’s hell week.

Where'd the weekend go?

Friday was classes then groceries. Then began the back-to-back laser tag nights. Yeah. Apparently when you turn 22 you want to reaffirm your youth, so you decide to play laser tag. Ryanne and Ben, indepedently of each other, both wanted to play laser tag for their birthdays. Friday was Ben's night. We went with Katy&Co. After that I had made a raspberry tiramisu for Tara since she wasn't at Italian Night, so she and Ian came over. They approved. (Personally I prefer the strawberry version, less tart and less sweet. The raspberry version looks better though because it's a burgundy color and the berries require no chopping and distribute more uniformly.)

Shannon came over to have tiramisu also and convinced me to go to Beaux Arts Ball, the architecture party, at the last minute. I didn't have a costume ready. The theme was ConNEXTion. So she wrapped me in packaging tape because tape connects things? Whatever. Beaux Arts was fun. All the architects were drunk as usual.

The rest of the night is a bit of a blur: The Boot, J(ai)L Hall, The W Hotel, and then some French people's party somewhere.

Saturday was pretty chill. Laser tag again that night, Ryanne's "party." We had to split up into two groups of four because there weren't enough slots for all eight of us. Stephanie and I were on the red team and were assigned the code names "Cinderella" and "Aladdin." I had a lot of fun shooting the bitchy old couple who made two kids give up their vests and guns 'cause they accidentally let too many people in.

After that was a quick trip to the Big Easy because Lauren was hungry, and I just hung out at home the rest of the night. Mommie Dearest, which I'd never seen, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, which is one of my favorites, were both on TV. MD is a fucked up movie.

Sunday I made "macaroni" (really penne) and cheese from scratch to tide me over until Mexican Night. I'm never going to make the orange crap that comes out of the box again.

Mexican Night was a huge success although apparnetly "Mexican" is synonymous with "dip" because we had at least four of them. But one of them was Stephanie's guacamole, so I was automatically satisfied with our menu. We also had chicken and vegetable fajitas, Mexican lasagne, beans and rice, various forms of corn chips, a cake decorated with a Mexican flag, "Dos Amigos" ice cream (Mexican vanilla and Mexican chocolate), and of course, the strawberry tiramisu that we pretended was Mexican.

Just like Thanksgiving and Italian Night, we all said what we were thankful for (but Mexican things this time.) I guess that went succesffuly and unoffensively.

Some of us stayed after to watch The Oscars, but by the end only Becca, Leah, and I were left. I was happy because all of my predictions (Babel, Little Miss Sunshine, Helen Mirren, Martin Scorsese, Pan's Labyrinth, and THE DEPARTED) won except one.

some overdue new year's pics

Kamikaze shots all around

Jägermeister... dirndl and all

Cranberry likes the aviators.

Aaron also likes the aviators; Eliza likes Aron.

Ona's and my annual new year picture

Nate is drunk-dialing his mom, and Mere is of the opinion he shouldn't.

Suze4Booze & Rew4Brew at the end of a long night of drinking.

yeah, I know...

I've been pretty bad at updating since the new year, but I promise that will change when I get back to school. New Year's was fun. The theme was "come as your drink." (We each brought the appropriate ingredients, and theoretically, dressed like the cocktail.) So far the quest for a Wii to play the Zelda game my brother gave me for Christmas has been unsuccessful. I let Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic take over my life for a few days, but I've beaten it. I've been hanging out with Ludovic a good amount, I went Georgetown barhopping with the Pats the other week, and I got to catch up with Marguerite (I was her prom date in senior year of high school) at a small get-together my brother had for her sister and his other ex-girlfriends and friends. Good times. Tonight is back-to-back Top Chef episodes that I haven't seen, packing, and then going to bed for my rather impromptu trip to Chicago tomorrow morning. There will be, at the least, pictures of the past month when I get back although I'm not sure if I'll update from here Saturday night or from back at school Sunday or Monday.

2007

The End of an Era Party was fantastic. Pictures and anecdotes coming soon. Happy New Year!

last post of the year

Instead of packing I went to get sushi for lunch at Ninja with Lauren then flew home. (I travel light.) Back here I've gone out to eat a lot, done last-minute gift shopping at malls and been unsuccessful, watched Casino Royale a second time with my mom, saw The X-Men Trilogy again with Adrian but out of order, been searching for that Wii thing, and gone to a few Christmas parties.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'06 was pretty much The Best Year Ever...
Let's close it with the killers' new single.

'tis the season

This is by far the longest entry I've written a while. Mad props and a little extra holiday cheer if you get through it all.

Wednesday night Rachel (Kinks/Prudence Rachel) and Wes convinced me to take a study break from my last final and go to Celebration Under The Oaks in City Park with them, Tara, Alison, and some other friends.

It put me in the holiday spirit! We roamed around Storyland with all the fairy tales, bedtime stories, and nursery rhymes and took pictures like we were little kids.

They had all sorts of fun including Christmas trees decorated with ornaments schoolchildren made, a Cajun night before Christmas, a living nativity scene (that we missed), rides, Santa, and a laser light show. And if you like little light-up villages, you'd love the miniature New Orleans city, with distinct neighborhoods and streetcars even.

Thursday morning I took my last exam of the semester. Freedom!

To celebrate, Rachel, Tara, Becky and I went to Nirvana and over-ate as usual. Well, Becky didn't but whatever.

That night I got to see Alifun for the second night in the row! (But not in her actual home of course.) Since her boyfriend Frazer was getting kicked out by his landlord for no good reason, she decided to host her graduation shindig there... aka "The Loudest Party EVER" and give that landlord a good reason. Alison... always stickin' it to the man.

After that I met up with Shannon AND Jenna to celebrate J's last Thurs before she graduates college. We hit up Bruno's and Miss Mae's. I'm glad Jenna takes the "calcium" - She must have meant vitamin C. - in her screwdrivers so seriously.

Then those two decided to go home and talk to/about their long-distance boyfriends or something, so I stayed out and hit up Grits (ugh, very briefly) and then F&M's with Audrey, Aurell, and Dalia. A blast from the past, Jason "Delt" Talley, was kind enough to give me a lift home. (We ran into each other outside F&M's.)

Friday I got up by sheer will power alone (and David surely would've woken me had I not) to go with him to Dunbar's for some serious artery clogging. We both got gumbo, red beans and rice, and their perfected fried chicken. That was entirely too much. We went to Winn-Dixie right after, so he could pick up the applesauce and sour cream for Lizzie's Christmakkuh Party. It was hard to walk.

Back on campus, while David entered cholesterol-induced-hibernation, I went to wish Tara happy holidays since she was leaving early the next morning. I miss my JigglyJuggs already. It was SO hard to walk the two blocks to her office.

That evening was the Christmakkuh party! Lizzie decorated her apartment with lights, two-dimensional-tree, faux-fire, and blue stockings. She also served her guests latkes and kugel. Delicious. There were also several kinds of holiday cookies, chocolate coins, and a butter/cheese/caramel popcorn tub.

Drinks were not lacking either. My contribution was hot apple cider, and Chris' was eggnog. And... there was Manischewitz. Then for some reason Rachel (Virginia Rachel) suggested we play Drinking Dreidel. (I abbreviated it to "Drinkel.") And for some other reason, David and I thought it would be a great idea! The three of us (with just a little help from Jon and Graham, who each played 5-10 minutes of the game) finished two battles of Mani.

Drink(ing Dreid)el was not a good idea. And neither was the rum that followed when I decided to meet up with Conrad, Ben, and Katy. But hey, I had to see them before they left for Christmas.

Saturday I was actually productive and cleaned my room and some of the apartment. Miss Molly called me in the afternoon to tell me about her Catholic Center Christmas Party at her house and how I HAD "to bring Whitney!" It made my afternoon.

Too bad Whitney left the other day. The party was still fun. Lots of friends and some friendly, familiar faces. A million kinds of cheese with crackers, jellies, and vegetables. Bottle beers and fine wines. Some amazing chili with sides of rice, corn, salad, coleslaw, and rolls. And too many desserts (if there is such a thing).

I love family parties because meeting people's parents, children, siblings, and other relatives is one of my favorite things.

An assortment of pastors, both past and present, were there too. As I was leaving, Fr. John said "God bless you," Fr. Jose said "Be good," and Fr. Carl said "You must be going to another party with maybe food but surely drink." Which do you think knows me best?

I went to "Welcome back Dooner, Cya Later Brandi" (in reality spelled "Brandie" with an E) at the Nashville House to celebrate Dooner's homecoming and Brandie's departure.

And besides those two parties I managed to go to Snake & Jake's Christmas Club Lounge with Lauren and Sarah. (Decorated for Yule all year but Lauren had never been and Sarah and I thought it a perfect time to go.) And somehow some of the Nashville House die-hards and I went to Bruno's before calling it a night an hour or so ago.

Sunday. It is SO time for bed.

December?

I suppose it's time for an update.

The rest of Thanksgiving break I spent with my mom since my dad left on a well-planned trip the day after Thanksgiving and Adrian was seeing all his friends back from college for the first time. We shopped, cooked, played with our dog, saw The Prestige, saw The Departed (again), and ate a lot.

Since coming back here it's been the usual weekly stuff... grocery shopping, visiting Tara at Cafe Luna, going with Lauren to Cooter Brown's, having Bubble lunches with Rachel, going to classes, and studying. Ugh. But the semester's almost over anyway. And I saw Casino Royale, and, very minor nitpicking aside, it was awesome.

The Phi Sigma Pi "pick your poison" party was this past weekend, and the lovely Lizzie asked me to be her date. She was a Bahama Mama, I was an Irish Car Bomb, and everyone else was costumed as another alcoholic beverage. After the party at Grits officially ended some of us wound up at F&M's and then utilized Tulane's wonderful Safe Ride back to The Big Easy for late night food.

Mixed Drinks: Screwdriver, White Russian, Long Island
Iced Tea, Irish Car Bomb, Dirty Girl Scout, and Muff Diver

Last night Becca made chili and of course served it with sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese. AND she made brownies with frosting. Dinner was awesome, and the lucky group she served sat around watching (critiquing) Wife Swap and Supernanny... mostly because I think everyone was too busy talking to get up and change the channel.

lost weekend / found food

This was a ridiculously amazing weekend. I sat a lot and ate even more. Don't read this on an empty stomach. It might make you hungry. It's all about food.

So early Friday morning (e.g. 2:00 a.m.) while at Big Easy Cafe with Whitney and Tully, I found out that Whit-Walk has a penchant for LOST much like some of my other friends. And she hadn't seen the second season at all because she was in Australia. So we got all excited and talked about it.

Friday for lunch David had the brilliant idea of going to New-Dunbar's on Loyola's campus. Delicious. Fried chicken and jambalaya and seafood gumbo. For dinner I went with the girls to La Crepe Nanou. Pate and cheese plate, French onion soup, and a ridiculous amount of leg of lamb.

Then we went to the Daiq-Shack (the daiquiri place on riverbend) and bought a gallon of "push-up" and watched Clue.

Saturday I went with Rachel to her friend Adam's Mexican independence day party. I didn't stargaze at the premiere. Instead I was eating chips with unfinishable amounts of pico de gallo and guacamole along with grilled pork and jalapeno poppers. (All of this made from scratch, mind you.) Then downing it all with Dos Equis and Negro Modelo beers .

Then for dinner, Whitney and I ordered chicken and sausage gumbo, house salad, and grilled shrimp po-boys from Uptown Cajun.

Sunday Whitney, Tully, and I tried to go to Kyoto. (It's the only uptown Japanese restaurant I haven't frequented.) But it was closed, so we went to Hana instead. Oshi zushi box and Hana special roll.

Then for dinner I went with Whitney and the Brittanys to her family's for dinner. Roasted turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, vegetables, mushroom rice, lots of wine and beer, and a huge red velvet cake and ice cream in honor of her 21st birthday which I think by now has lasted longer than both Becca's and mine combined.

No going out or eating out for a while... with a few exceptions I already have in mind.

Oh, and Whitney and I watched the entire second season of LOST in one weekend... in between meals... while drinking daiquiris and beer.

So yeah, I think this is the first "best" weekend of senior year and in the running for one of the best weekends I've ever had.