News from NOLA

And life goes on....

2014-07-20T14:24:00.000-05:00

Hi all!

Since my last post, and with very mixed emotions, the Monkeys have moved from New Orleans to Palm Beach, FL. We are having a great time now living in a place others vacation, but we, of course, miss NOLA.

I've started a new blog about my adventures on my way to turning 40. Come check it out and give me a shoutout to know you are still around...

40x40n15.blogspot.com

Zurich Classic, Jazzfest, and a great chance for New Orleans kids!

2013-04-27T08:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, my work hosted clients at the 18th hole executive suite at the Zurich Classic golf Tournament. It was a great, relaxing day with awesome food, bloody mary's, and an exhilarating day watching golf (I say this in jest because I really don't follow golf or enjoy it) but the atmosphere well made up for it.

One thing I thought was cool is that Humana, the healthcare company, is doing the Humana Walkit Challenge, where golf fans attending the tournament can pick up a free pedometer at one of the multiple Humana Walkit stations on the course during tournament week, and Humana will track the steps of each participating fan for a chance at earning a brand new playground in an area of need in their local community.
This year’s Humana Walkit Challenge will be a national competition to see which 2013 PGA TOUR event generates the most steps taken by fans. The tournament with the most recorded steps will win a new multigenerational playground from Humana and KaBOOM! – a national nonprofit organization that has built more than 2,200 playgrounds.

So, get out and walk, New Orleans!

I'll leave you with a picture of my and my friend at Jazzfest last year. I'm excited to be heading to Jazzfest today with my whole family! What a great weekend to be in NOLA!!

Circus Circus!

2013-03-20T21:12:00.000-05:00

Sunday afternoon, Little Monkey and I took a trip to the circus! We had an awesome time. It was the Jerusalem Shrine Circus and I was pretty impressed by the variety and quality of the acts. Before the show, they had elephant rides, pony rides, pictures with a snake, bounce houses and face painting. As you can see below, LM chose to get his face painted like a snake. He kept making me take pictures of him so he could see himself (he was very impressed).

His two favorite parts were the Human Cannonball and the Lions. I'd say I was most impressed by the motorcycles. They had this small metal cage and put 6 motorcycles in it and they drove around and around and upside down without running into each other. It was unbelievable!

We had a great time together and he was completely zonked out by the time we got home.

The problem with bananas.... (Making banana bread from a store bought cake mix)

2013-03-17T23:14:00.000-05:00

I'm on the fence about bananas. I like them right before they ripen when their stems still have just a hint of green. One day past that stage, and they are dead to me.

Which brings me to the problem with bananas.... gnats! As soon as they pass the perfect stage, I ignore them and they attract gnats. This grosses me out and I usually just throw them away... until about a year ago when pinterest rocked my world!

I was pinning and randomly came across a pin for Artsy-Fartsy Mama's post on Easy Banana Bread using a store bought yellow cake mix. I ran to the cabinet but only had some crumb cake mix. I figured I'd swap out Fartsy's yellow cake mix with the crumb cake, and voila... the best chocolate chip banana crumb cake you will ever know!! Its totally moist and delicious and super easy. And Big Monkey LOVES it!

Normally I make it in two loaf pans but last night, I tried it muffin style and they were even better than usual. Give it a try....

Feel awesome in your workout wear!- Ellie monthly subscription box

2013-03-10T23:23:00.003-05:00

This year, my new year's resolution was to get rid of all my nasty, old workout clothes and really get some things I feel great in. I think this will help with my motivation and just make me want to get out there an run. So, a few months ago I joined a monthly subscription service that makes great looking workout wear. The new brand is called Ellie and I'm in love with the style and the material! All the material is moisture wicking and drifit but most importantly I just look damn good in it :-) I've pretty much been wearing the leggings and long sleeve shirt, and adding my Uggs, as my goto outfit this winter.

Anyway, I made a video you can see here letting you know about the brand and showing the pieces I've gotten and worn so far.

Use my link here ELLIE and get 20% off your first month's order. You can cancel anytime or return something you don't like or doesn't fit. Shipping is free to you and back if you don't like something.

Let me know how you like it.

Getting back in the running game....

2013-03-09T09:48:00.001-06:00

So, since I ran my fastest half marathon at the Jazz Half in October (1:55), I have been seriously slacking in my running and exercising in general. I have a pretty hard time getting out of bed in cold weather so I'm hoping spring will reenergize my routine. This picture sort of motivated me. Maybe it's time for some new, fun running gear?

I also need my running buddies to get their butt in gear. Knowing someone is waiting for me to meet them, always makes me get up in the morning.

Calling all New Orleans Moms for a casting call!!

2013-01-03T23:16:00.001-06:00

Are you upbeat, energetic, and do you love to entertain? Have you always dreamed of "being discovered"?!

Today might just be your lucky day!

EBlock Casting is holding a casting call for women (New Orleans locals only) who are married with children and enjoy frequently hosting football parties for friends and family at home. Must also enjoy preparing homemade recipes and snacks on game day. Energetic, upbeat personalities are a plus!

If this sounds like you or someone you know, please email eblockcasting@gmail.com. Candidates must be available in New Orleans the week of January 28, 2013. Deadline is January 8.

Let me know if you get discovered and I'll say "I knew you when...."

Who is still out there?!

2012-12-28T21:28:00.001-06:00

Hello all! I've been gone quite a while from blogging land and I'd love to know who is still out there? If you are still out there, please leave a comment and let me know you still get this feed. I'd love to catch up on some of the old blogs I used to read.

In 2009 I joined Facebook and it sort of took over my need to have a blog, as I could keep in touch with friends and family easily through that medium, BUT lately, I've been missing the ability to really write and express a greater range of things that a blog allows.

So.... I thought I'd come back and get caught up and see if I still like blogging...

Just to catch you up quickly, Little Monkey is now five years old!! And, he is such a good boy. Just very sweet, caring, and loving. We feel very lucky to be raising him. Big Monkey is doing very well. I'm still running. I've lost about 17 pounds since 2009 and just ran my fastest half marathon in October coming in at 1:55:00 which I was very proud of!

I'm very excited to have the holidays behind me and looking forward to spring in NOLA. With Mardi Gras AND the Superbowl in February this year, I should have lots of "News from NOLA" to bring to you in the coming months.....

This is a test of the emergency iPhone system

2009-09-13T21:32:00.001-05:00

This is only a test. Do not be alarmed if you feel extreme jealousy that you can not update your blog remotely as i am doing using my new iPhone app.

Anyway, found this app and testing if it works...

Little Monkey heads off to the big leagues!

2009-08-30T21:48:00.005-05:00

Little Monkey has his first day of school on Friday (a half day for practice). As you can see above, Big Monkey and I saw him off and he was so excited to have new friends and toys to play with, he didn't even notice when we left the room. Also, pictured below is his official "first day of school bento box". I have been stocking up and making lists of what I will send him to school with for lunch. Do you think I have a chance of winning "cutest lunch contest"? Is there such a thing?

Thanks for your support!!!

2009-08-21T19:36:00.001-05:00

For Local Blog
in New OrleansI won! That's right... I am now officially your pick for best parenting blog in New Orleans. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Does blogging make me an exhibitionist?

2009-08-16T22:29:00.004-05:00

Tonight Big Monkey and I got to go on the elusive "date night" since LM is spending the week with his grandparents. We went to see Julie & Julia and it was, of course, charming and adorable.

It touched, although not as thoroughly as I'd have liked to see, on the life of a blogger, and her relationship with her blog and her readers. As a blogger, I often ask myself if I am sharing too much. How often have you, as a blogger, written down what you are truly feeling, only to hit the backspace because you know you are sharing too much? You think twice, not because you don't feel the need to "get it all out", but because you fear what people will think about you once they learn what you really have to say. How many times have you asked, would this be better, for me and the reader, if I was just completely anonymous?

And that leads to the question, why do I blog? Why do I feel the need to share my life and opinions with everyone who knows me and many who don't? Am I just a self-absorbed exhibitionist who is screaming to the world "its all about me!"? Or, do I just think I have something to say that others might find interesting as well? Who knows...

I'm actually not sure what the answer is. I'm sure many of you have an opinion. But, some of these questions led me to take a little break from blogging, but I have missed it and I'm back.

Little Monkey starts Preschool in two weeks and I have lots to catch you up on from the last month so I'll be posting regularly again (I hope)...

I've missed you too!

2009-08-07T23:17:00.001-05:00

Big Monkey and I took a cruise a few weeks ago and since we got back I just haven't had much to say. I've chalked it up to a summer blogging break. I'll be back real soon.

Following in Daddy's footsteps

2009-07-17T17:30:00.000-05:00

Did I mention that LM is crazy for iced coffee? Ok, its really just a splash of coffee with a lot of whole milk, but he is crazy for it! Maybe we have someone in line to take over the family biz?

Yummy!

2009-07-15T07:30:00.000-05:00

To our favorite Latin American restaurant in Kenner:

Although we realize you are being truthful, let's just leave it at menudo. If folks really need to know what's in it, they will ask you.

The Champions of the Rodeo

2009-07-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

July 4th weekend, my Dad treated me to an evening at the Louisiana State High School Rodeo Championships! The last time I had been to a rodeo was when my Dad took me when I was about 8 years old. Now, the rodeo ambiance isn't usually my scene, but it ended up being a lot of fun.
You could tell these kids had put a ton of work and care into their sport. Even when they didn't do well, they never gave up. It was inspiring and I hope Little Monkey has something he enjoys that much when he gets to be that age.My pictures turned out terrible. I discovered that my beloved digital camera is no good for action shots. This was disappointing because I had imagined coming away with some really good pics.
There were definitely enough Wrangler, Dodge and NRA advertisements to make any Southern girl proud!

Being a tourist in our own town

2009-07-10T21:30:00.004-05:00

Last week on a rare day off work, Big Monkey and I got some alone time while Little Monkey stayed with the nanny. We decided to see NOLA as a tourist. We started off with lunch at one of our favorite Mid-City restaurants, Liuzza's. When I was little, my Dad lived in Baton Rouge. Every once in a while we would make the 70 mile trip into New Orleans just to go to dinner at Liuzza's. I remember thinking, as a girl, how special a place it was to drive that far just to go eat! Their fried green tomatoes with shrimp remoulade are my absolute favorite. (chicken salad stuffed creole tomato, red beans and rice, and a Barq's root beer in a frozen mug)

After lunch, we headed to the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park. For some crazy reason, we haven't ever been there. It is even free for Louisiana Residents and only $8 for others. The building itself is beautiful. But, of course, the best part was the air-conditioning! There is no better feeling than stepping out of 99 degree weather into a 68 degree building!

After the museum, we headed out to Lakeview to see the slab where my Grandparent's house had been before Katrina, but also to have New Orleans snowballs at the neighborhood snowball stand. I veered away from my ole favorite flavor, Nector, and, to my disappointment, went with Yellow Cake Batter. It was not nearly as good, but did the job of cooling us down and giving us our afternoon sugar rush.We had a great time and took some fun pics for your enjoyment.....

Ok Klinger!

2009-07-09T06:56:00.003-05:00

Little Monkey has become obsessed with the shoes in MY closet. He wants nothing to do with Big Monkey's shoes. His favorite thing to do is sit down and make a humongous pile of my shoes on top of his legs. I guess I should be proud because he has made it his own "Memory" game by matching all the shoes up too. His favorite are this pair of red shoes I only wore during my last trimester of pregnancy. They are way too big now (on me and LM), but these are the first ones he picked out to prance around in. Do you think he remembers them :)

Dancing Babies make everyone smile

2009-07-05T21:31:00.002-05:00

This Evian commercial was posted on my Mommies ChatBoard today and I had to share it. BM and I have watched it a milion times and crack up just as much as the first time we watched it. Who wouldn't smile at roller skating babies?!

The diet begins again...

2009-07-01T18:13:00.002-05:00

This stuff is sooo good and only 20 calories and 0 grams of fat! How did I not know that fat free half and half exists? No, I'm not getting paid for this. It is really just that good. What's the catch?

This morning I used it to make my own version of Hungry Girl's Chocolate Banana Smoothie recipe. It was delish.

I am hard-core back on my diet starting two days ago. I'm kickin' it old school by actually counting calories. I've never done that before (I ususally go WW) but I found this great site, My Daily Plate, that makes it really easy. You go in and calculate how many calories you should eat per day based on weight, height, activity level, etc. They have like every food known to man already in their database and you just put in what you eat and it calculates your calories for the day. I'm having fun with it so far. Hopefully it won't get boring fast. I'll keep you up to date on what I lose.

Some days surprise you

2009-06-25T22:00:00.004-05:00

What a strange day it was to lose two legends within hours. RIP Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Today at work, I checked CNN and noted Farah Fawcett had passed away. It obviously didn't surprise me as I had been hearing of her illness for months. I mentioned it in passing to a coworker and went about my day.

But, then, later that evening, we had a client event and in the distance I heard someone in the crowd mention that Michael Jackson had died. I, being the celebrity gossip hound that I am, immediately looked up and said, "what, no you mean Farrah Fawcett". And she said, "no, I just heard Michael Jackson died." I was shocked. That totally came out of left field.

Now, I grew up with Michael Jackson in my consciousness since I was about 8 years old. I was never a superfan but he was always there and I did my fair share of moonwalks in my day. But, it really shocked me to hear of him dying. A couple of things surprised me by my own reaction:

1) He apparently died from cardiac arrest. My father had a heart attack last month and is doing well now, but this reminded me of just how easily it could have gone the opposite way.

2) Even though Michael was much older than me, he was part of the collective memory of my generation. In some ways he defined parts of it... art, music, fashion. He truly was an American icon, even if some don't want to admit it.

When I got home, I immediately went to Facebook to gage the reaction and it ranged from mourning an artist to disgust that some were sad over the passing of a "pedophile".

My reaction is one of mourning, not necessarily for the man, but for the loss of what could have been if he had not been plagued by physical and mental illness. Imagine what more someone of his talents could have given the world, had he not turned into what he eventually became. The whole story is just sad.

Anyway, I'll leave you with one of my favorite songs:

Happy Birthday Little Monkey!

2009-06-22T21:48:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was Little Monkey's 2nd birthday! We had a wonderful party with family at Leenie and Grump's house. LM got tons of presents and had a great time. My grandparents got him a baby baby grand piano and he LOVED it. I definitely think we have a little virtuoso on our hands. Here are some pics of the fun.

Nosepicking 101

2009-06-15T19:46:00.002-05:00

This is what Big Monkey taught Little Monkey when I went shopping last weekend....

Now that's a classy kid I've got on my hands!

My Little New Orleans Po-Boy!

2009-06-13T06:45:00.002-05:00

On the Road Again...

2009-06-11T07:04:00.000-05:00

I finally started training again for my second half-marathon. My girlfriends and I are doing a girls' half-marathon Labor Day weekend. Hopefully, it will become something we can do annually and the number of girls will grow.

This time around, I am going to use Hal Higdon's Intermediate Training program which includes speedwork. I'm a bit nervous about it, since for my last half, I was only really worried about finishing.

So, for my own motivation, while running a grueling three miles yesterday, I started a list of "5 Reasons I Love Running."

1) I love having a goal in front of me that I have to work at to accomplish. It makes me feel good about myself to know that I pushed myself to do something that not everyone can do.

2) I love the camaraderie of the running community. There is always something to talk about with another runner, whether it is your next race, your last race, your pace time, your running shoes, whatever. There is an enthusiasm that drives me. I love waking up early to get out there and see other runners who have the same commitment. Even if its just a smile, you know that you both share something, they are working toward a personal goal as well.

3) I love feeling the connection to my body. Since I started running, I am intuitively connected to every muscle in my body. I feel every twitch and have to think about what it is and what it may lead to. I love having a particularly hard run and then totally feeling it in my legs and back the next day. The pain becomes addictive because you know it means you worked hard.

4) I love running because it gives me time to share secrets with myself. While running, I am thinking about all kinds of things in my head. Anything from blog posts I want to write to what I should have said when that guy bumped me in the elevator the day before. When I finish that run, I have no idea what I thought about. It leaves my mind and may or may not ever come back again.

5) Lastly, I love being totally in tune with my surroundings. While running, you have to recognize every crack in the road, every slight hill coming up, every pothole that might be lead to a fall. You must recognize landmarks to know how far you have run along your route. Along with topography, you must be in tune with the weather daily, knowing when is the best time to run, when with the temperature be the friendliest. It makes me appreciate wherever I am a little bit more when I have to recognize these things.

I'll keep you updated on my progress through the next three months of training in the miserable New Orleans summer heat!