No.21 :Go to Brunch

No. 21: Go to Brunch

Over Spring Break, while the girlies and friends spent the weekend in Texas, I snuck off to New Orleans with six friends from high school. 

And this is where I throw in a million zillion thanks to my fabulous brother who came through with last minute tickets on Southwest Airlines.  Love a road trip but sometimes getting on a plane is just the best. 

While in  New Orleans we ate. And ate. And ate. 

I came home 10 pounds heavier.

The whole gang on Saturday night. 

A little blurry. Kinda how the night went.

Allison, Ann, Kathleen, M. Anne, Peggy, Me, and Liddy.

But No. 21:Go to Brunch can now be officially crossed off the list. 

Sure, technically I do brunch frequently. But I don't consider just going to a late breakfast/early lunch at the same place that I always go to as worthy of being considered "Brunch" with a capital B.

And while in New Orleans we had lunch with a Capital B at the Commander's Palace.

Just love an establishment that is willing to make a statement.

That turquoise says "Here I am !!"

Commander's Palace has been a restaurant in the Garden District in NOLA since 1880!! During the 1920s it expanded it's menu to include ..um.... "entertainment"  upstairs for the traveling riverboat captains and gentlemen of the day. That era didn't last long and while the management has changed, the reputation for fabulous food has endured. 

And our Sunday brunch was fabulous.

 The festive upstairs dining room where we sat.

No ladies of the night, just cute waiters. 

From the spicy Bloody Mary's to the exquisite Southern Style pecan pie...  It was worth every calorie. 

A perfectly set table.

The jazz band that serenaded us was just icing on the pie.

Good food AND good music plus GREAT friends.

Just doesn't get any better. 

We returned home fat and happy with plans to get away again in the fall. 

We hope. 

No. 21 is done. 

Happy!

HAPPY!
Happy SIXTY FIFTH wedding anniversary to my parents.
and…
Happy Spring Break to me and the girlies.


Today is my parents 65th wedding anniversary. Imagine.

They were married in 1949.

Here's a few fun facts from 1949.

On January 1 KPRC Channel 2 began broadcasting in Houston.  (There were lots of firsts in the TV broadcasting industry this year.)

January 31: The first daytime soap opera, "These are My Children", aired.  No relation to "All My Children" and Susan Lucci was not involved.

March 2: The first automatic street light came on in New Milford, Connecticut.

June 3: The first Negro graduated from the US Naval Academy. (Yep, Negro.  That was the word back in the day.)

June 23: The first group of women graduated from Harvard Medical School.   See? Equality all around was in the works.

August 14: There was a military coup under Colonel Sami Hinnawi in Syria.
Just proves that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Syria is still in the news.

August 29: Russia tests and explodes its first atomic bomb.

September 23: President Harry Truman announces that there is evidence Russia detonated its first nuclear device.   Guess everyone didn't have Smart Phones. News travelled s.l.o.w.l.y.

October 4: The American Contract Bridge League voted 58% to keep Negroes out.    Equality came in fits and spurts. One step forward, two steps back.

October 26: Harry Truman increases the minimum wage from 40¢ to 75¢. Geez- that's almost doubling the minimum wage. WTG Harry.

December 12: The American League votes to reject legalizing the spitball.  Baseball players rejoice. Or not.

And on March 25, 1949 Jean Boyd and Stewart L. (Roy) Nelson got married.

Awwww.   First kiss. 

So we are celebrating.   As we should.


And…..

It is Spring Break for the girlies.
In a momentary lapse of common sense I agreed to fly to Texas with my two girls PLUS THREE of their  Colorado friends.   One of the friends has never flown before.

Should be a total blast.
I have a special surprise scheduled for the airport.
They are planning on going to the beach and who knows what else.

Mostly I imagine these Colorado girls are going to be overwhelmed by going from a town of 6000 people to a city of about 80,000 people which is on the outskirts of the 4th largest city in the United States. (A little over 2 million people)

Once we are in Texas I will be abandoning my family for a couple of days and heading to New Orleans for a girl's weekend with some friends from High School.   There I am going to accomplish No. 21: Go to brunch by heading to Commander's Palace on Sunday.

My traveling partners for New Orleans.

And then we will be back in Colorado next week.

Sooo….
This will be the last post for a bit until I am reunited with my cabin and my big computer.

Have a wonderful week.
Pray for me.

(And I had a horrible realization. Those tiny seedlings that I managed to sprout will be left unattended for a whole week. No one around to water them. What a horrible mother I am. I'm going to try making a little terrarium but I'm not too optimistic. We'll see.)

Doomed to die?

Please don't call CPS.

(Or would that be PPS? 

Plant Protective Services)

And don't bother to try breaking into our cabin. I've put the neighbor on alert and he is packing heat most days in addition to being on pain meds for a bad back. Some days he likes to save up his meds and take them all at once. He is very protective of us. 
Fortunately. 

Follow up Friday: Truth in Chickens...

Follow Up Friday: Truth in Chickens 
and Veggie Failure (maybe) (probably)



This afternoon I happened to visit our local Murdoch's which is the home of baby chicks and baby ducklings.
Of course I had to say hello to all the peep peeps and quack quacks.
And then I noticed something.

Rhode Island Red baby chicks are rust colored.

Bunny had New Hampshire Reds.

Wrong state.

They are related, the New Hampshire Reds were bred from Rhode Island stock.

But I hate that I misled everyone.

This is what Bunny's chickens will actually grow up to look like:

*

A little lighter in color than the Rhode Island Reds.

Glad I could clear that up.

Also….

It has been ten days since I planted my seeds for tomatoes and bell peppers. 

(No. 39: Grow a vegetable)

Maybe I should have listened to the nice man at Wal- Mart regarding planting days. 

Or followed the lunar cycle for planting seeds according to their Zodiac signs. (Huh?)

Or something.

Anyway, this is what the seedlings look like:

 Very nice pots of damp potting soil.

And nothing else. 

Yup.  Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch.

Not even a hint of a seedling peeping out.

I think I need to go back to Kindergarten and try the lima bean trick.

You know- a jar, a paper towel and a lima bean. 

Certainly I could get THAT to sprout.

*

If a 6 year old can do this, certainly I can, too.

But I'm giving this batch a few more days. 

Maybe it has just been too cool.
Sure.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.


On the positive side, I am heading to Breckenridge for the day to see the Ice Castle.
That's not really on the original list but is part of my "explore the castles of Colorado" experience.

And I will be heading back to Texas for the girls' Spring Break and while there will take a side trip to New Orleans.  No. 21: Go to brunch  is on the schedule for that trip.

Everyone have a great weekend. That's my plan.