It's been crazy busy around this house and business lately.
I have a new post started about our adventures in New Mexico, but unfortunately some of the pictures Paul took did not download.
So......tomorrow is my day to get this task done.
Come back!
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Well here's what we did the last week or so
Here ya go.......look at what we've been doing:
Remember when I posted about those delicious potatoes we had in New Orleans? Well after some research......this is what they had been boiled in:
Of course, while I was working this week, my staff was sleeping close by. If you look closely, you can see the kitty sleeping in the dog's bed. The dog is so nice and polite and just finds her own little space to lay down.
Paul snapped a picture of the new sign they just got at the strip center we are thinking about moving to. They are reserving that second spot for us. Seriously.....I'm not joking. However, my husband would prefer having the top spot.
Cleaning out the room for our exercise room......we have stumbled across some sentimental items.
Like this valentine from Aaron. Sure wish I had put a date on it......but I think it was when he was a freshman.....(just kidding!)
It is so much fun to stumble across these old pictures.......
A soccer tournament to California which had an extended vacation with the Gordon's.....those were such fun times.
The husband went to a yard sale down the street and came back with this. New Mexico Mexican food is so delicious......probably one of my favorites. Of course, every recipe in here calls for either red or green chile. Can't wait for our trip there next week.
Things are moving forwards to our moving PZ. The new landlord has made us an awesome offer towards relocating.....and we are seriously considering it. Of course, there is still lots of discussion that we'll need to do, but that's what our hot tub is for.
Remember when I posted about those delicious potatoes we had in New Orleans? Well after some research......this is what they had been boiled in:
So I bought a small bottle and gathered some red potatoes and corn to boil up.
The zucchini was going to be prepared differently.
Paul likes this stuff so much.......that he found us bulk sizes of crab boil.
WAY TOO MUCH for us!
However, I really love it when he sends me random pictures when he's out and about!
OMG......this is so yummy! We cooked the zucchinni up with some onions and garlic.
This crab boil stuff is so freaking delicious!
Of course, while I was working this week, my staff was sleeping close by. If you look closely, you can see the kitty sleeping in the dog's bed. The dog is so nice and polite and just finds her own little space to lay down.
Paul snapped a picture of the new sign they just got at the strip center we are thinking about moving to. They are reserving that second spot for us. Seriously.....I'm not joking. However, my husband would prefer having the top spot.
Cleaning out the room for our exercise room......we have stumbled across some sentimental items.
Like this valentine from Aaron. Sure wish I had put a date on it......but I think it was when he was a freshman.....(just kidding!)
It is so much fun to stumble across these old pictures.......
Our first time to Medieval Times in California. I think Aaron is a little scared of the Queen.
My husband brought us home pizza the other night because we've been so busy doing things.
He seriously can come up with the best combinations!
Apparently no one wants FREE monitors.
If they don't get picked up today.....we'll have to dispose of them.
The husband went to a yard sale down the street and came back with this. New Mexico Mexican food is so delicious......probably one of my favorites. Of course, every recipe in here calls for either red or green chile. Can't wait for our trip there next week.
Things are moving forwards to our moving PZ. The new landlord has made us an awesome offer towards relocating.....and we are seriously considering it. Of course, there is still lots of discussion that we'll need to do, but that's what our hot tub is for.
Thursday, September 1, 2016
Our last steamy hot day in New Orleans....Day 3
No definite plans for today, except we did have a couple of souvenirs to pick up. We really took our time getting up this morning and headed out of the apartment around 10:30. In our quest for souvenir shops, we first had to stop at an art gallery featuring Dr. Seuss art. We had seen stuff like this in Lake Tahoe years ago and Paul spotted this shop and needed to check it out. He's a Dr. Seuss nut.
We spent some time looking around and then headed off to find an adventure. We walked towards the river with the intent of going to the aquarium.....although that didn't really excite us too much.
We did spend some time snapping pictures of the Mississippi and the boats that went by and of course....had to take some pictures of ourselves.
It was so freaking hot.....my face is red. At least there was a coolish breeze blowing off of the water
This ship was HUGE. The hugest ship I have ever seen and it was stacked with train cars headed to ???
Well after being out in the heat for awhile, we headed to the outlet mall that is along the river. We spent some time in the AIR CONDITIONING just walking around and coming up with a plan.
The plan ended up being going to the IMAX theater next to the Aquarium and there we watched an IMAX movie about the Hurricane Katrina and the impact of the storm to their wetlands. Interesting.
Now we were hungry and we had one place in mind. Café Maspero......the place we had eaten at 2 years ago and had the BEST muffaletta we had ever had.
Usually there's a line at the place, but when you eat lunch at 3pm.....not a problem.
We have eaten lots of Muffaletta's in our life and have declared that this is absolutely the best we've ever ever had. Love these sandwiches. We also had Red Beans and Rice as our side dish.
Next plan was to hit the casino for awhile. Would be the last time for awhile before I could play in a casino and didn't want to miss my chance.
Passed a Sherwin Williams along the way........
We spent a couple of hours in the casinos and then it was time to head back to the apartment to get our little break. Of course, we had to snap our picture with Ignatius Riley......just like we do everytime we visit this city.
It was raining when we got up and out to Bourbon St., but that didn't matter to us. We pretty much stuck to a couple of bars and moved when the rain let up.
Dinner was once again at 11pm and it was the same pizza place we had the night before. Their pizza is really delicious, but probably one of the greasiest Pepperoni pizzas I'd ever had......but oh so delicious.
Lucky for us, we had a 1pm flight the next day so we didn't have to get up too early. We called an Uber and headed for the airport about 11am. Storms were in the area all the way from New Orleans to Houston so instead of our normal 45 minute flight, we had to divert south into the Gulf to avoid the storms and took us about 1.5 hours to get back. No worries.
Great to get away. Great to have fun, but 3 nights of New Orleans partying was enough for this old lady!
We spent some time looking around and then headed off to find an adventure. We walked towards the river with the intent of going to the aquarium.....although that didn't really excite us too much.
We did spend some time snapping pictures of the Mississippi and the boats that went by and of course....had to take some pictures of ourselves.
I love this guy so much!
Well after being out in the heat for awhile, we headed to the outlet mall that is along the river. We spent some time in the AIR CONDITIONING just walking around and coming up with a plan.
The plan ended up being going to the IMAX theater next to the Aquarium and there we watched an IMAX movie about the Hurricane Katrina and the impact of the storm to their wetlands. Interesting.
Now we were hungry and we had one place in mind. Café Maspero......the place we had eaten at 2 years ago and had the BEST muffaletta we had ever had.
Next plan was to hit the casino for awhile. Would be the last time for awhile before I could play in a casino and didn't want to miss my chance.
Passed a Sherwin Williams along the way........
It was raining when we got up and out to Bourbon St., but that didn't matter to us. We pretty much stuck to a couple of bars and moved when the rain let up.
Dinner was once again at 11pm and it was the same pizza place we had the night before. Their pizza is really delicious, but probably one of the greasiest Pepperoni pizzas I'd ever had......but oh so delicious.
Lucky for us, we had a 1pm flight the next day so we didn't have to get up too early. We called an Uber and headed for the airport about 11am. Storms were in the area all the way from New Orleans to Houston so instead of our normal 45 minute flight, we had to divert south into the Gulf to avoid the storms and took us about 1.5 hours to get back. No worries.
Great to get away. Great to have fun, but 3 nights of New Orleans partying was enough for this old lady!
Wednesday, August 31, 2016
We love New Orleans....Day 2
Well after those horrifying pictures from yesterday......it's time to look at some happy photos.
Day 2 in New Orleans......our first ENTIRE WHOLE day to spend doing whatever we wanted.
Well one thing we wanted was to sleep in a little and take our time. No problem, we didn't have any schedule to follow.
However, once we got Paul's coffee made and take our showers.....we were off to see the city!
Our first stop was going to be the French Market again. We had ordered a little gift for someone who lives in Albuquerque (she shall be unnamed at this time) and we had to stop by and pick it up. While we were there, it started pouring. I mean really pouring. Since we were in a covered place at the time, we just wandered around and wasted some time. We were thirsty and needed a drink. There was an awesome smoothie/juice store and we ordered up one of the best smoothies we've ever, ever had. It had pineapple, coconut and banana. We enjoyed our "breakfast" as the rain fell and finished it just as the rain stopped.
And then we were off.........headed to the World War II Museum (by foot).
We first visited this museum 5 or 6 years ago and decided it was one of the best museums we had ever been to. We were excited to visit it again. We were surprised at how much the place had changed since the last time we visited. We have visited many, many, many museums from all over the place, and this one still remains as one of my favorites.
On our journey, we passed by a restaurant that had a jazz trio playing outside. What a wonderful experience listening to jazz as you hike around the quarter.
Our journey to the museum also took us by Jackson Square. I guess we haven't seen it much from this angle, but I just had to stop and take a picture. What a magnificent sight!
After about a 30 minute walk to the museum......we finally made it. Thank goodness.....it was a little hot and humid. I didn't take many pictures in the museum, but snapped a few of the aircraft in the 4 story hangar. It was a little freaky being so high up on glass walkways......especially for a person that is a little tiny bit fearful of heights.
The changes they have made to this museum are incredible. It's even better than it was when we first visited all those years ago.
When we left the museum it was almost 5pm and we hadn't had anything to eat since the smoothie.....so as we walked back towards the French Quarter, we were on the search for lunch/dinner. We walked and walked and walked and eventually ended up at this place a block from our apartment.
What a good choice. While you waited for your food, you were served red potatoes boiled in seafood boil and served with butter. Not sure if we were really, really hungry.........but these were the best darn potatoes we had ever had (pay attention......you'll be hearing more about this later).
We filled our bellies up and walked back to the apartment for the rejuvenation nap to get us through the evening.
A couple hours of sleep and we were out on Bourbon Street for a night of partying! Dinner happened about 11pm at night and guess what we had.........
Not sure if it was because we had enjoyed a few beers or because this pizza was delicious, but this slice of pizza was delicious.
Another late night of beer, bands, and a heck of a good time. Good night New Orleans!
Day 2 in New Orleans......our first ENTIRE WHOLE day to spend doing whatever we wanted.
Well one thing we wanted was to sleep in a little and take our time. No problem, we didn't have any schedule to follow.
However, once we got Paul's coffee made and take our showers.....we were off to see the city!
Our first stop was going to be the French Market again. We had ordered a little gift for someone who lives in Albuquerque (she shall be unnamed at this time) and we had to stop by and pick it up. While we were there, it started pouring. I mean really pouring. Since we were in a covered place at the time, we just wandered around and wasted some time. We were thirsty and needed a drink. There was an awesome smoothie/juice store and we ordered up one of the best smoothies we've ever, ever had. It had pineapple, coconut and banana. We enjoyed our "breakfast" as the rain fell and finished it just as the rain stopped.
And then we were off.........headed to the World War II Museum (by foot).
We first visited this museum 5 or 6 years ago and decided it was one of the best museums we had ever been to. We were excited to visit it again. We were surprised at how much the place had changed since the last time we visited. We have visited many, many, many museums from all over the place, and this one still remains as one of my favorites.
After about a 30 minute walk to the museum......we finally made it. Thank goodness.....it was a little hot and humid. I didn't take many pictures in the museum, but snapped a few of the aircraft in the 4 story hangar. It was a little freaky being so high up on glass walkways......especially for a person that is a little tiny bit fearful of heights.
Snapped a quick pic of the New Orleans skyline from the top of the hangar
This photo is either blurry or I was weaving from being dizzy......too high for me!
And of course, there always has to be one blooper photo......so here you go.
When we left the museum it was almost 5pm and we hadn't had anything to eat since the smoothie.....so as we walked back towards the French Quarter, we were on the search for lunch/dinner. We walked and walked and walked and eventually ended up at this place a block from our apartment.
What a good choice. While you waited for your food, you were served red potatoes boiled in seafood boil and served with butter. Not sure if we were really, really hungry.........but these were the best darn potatoes we had ever had (pay attention......you'll be hearing more about this later).
A couple hours of sleep and we were out on Bourbon Street for a night of partying! Dinner happened about 11pm at night and guess what we had.........
Another late night of beer, bands, and a heck of a good time. Good night New Orleans!
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
I don't have time for this
We finally took a couple of days (a couple of weeks ago) and started converting the extra room into our dream exercise room. Unfortunately, you have to really mess up your whole house to clean up one room. There was so much stuff accumulated in this room (PZ stuff of course). We have thrown away or given away so much stuff out of here, but while the carpets get cleaned and the furniture gets moved around in there......things have been stacking up outside that room. I can't wait until we can start moving stuff back in there again.
Here's some shocking and revealing pictures of the mess we've been living with for the last 2 weeks. It's really hard to keep up with already too busy job and all the extra stuff that needs to get done around here.
This room was so packed when we first started......we have really made a dent in it. Next step is to shampoo the carpet on the right side of the room so that we can begin setting everything up. Painting and new flooring is just going to have to wait for awhile.....just getting the room put back together is a big enough task.
This little beauty will also help. We went and bought this today to use as a printer stand and a place to store office supplies in my office. I seriously can't wait until this project is finished.
But then again........there's 148 more projects that are lined up to get started on!
Here's some shocking and revealing pictures of the mess we've been living with for the last 2 weeks. It's really hard to keep up with already too busy job and all the extra stuff that needs to get done around here.
PZ stuff......PZ stuff.......PZ stuff
and yes......here is some more accumulation
Bikes and ladders in the living room......doesn't everyone keep them there?
But then again........there's 148 more projects that are lined up to get started on!
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Last minute deals
We found the opportunity to eek out one more mini vacation before school starts. The original plan was to go to somewhere in the United States to visit a pizza shop and watch how they handle a busy dinner rush. We wanted to get other ideas for our "possible" new location. We got invitations to Colorado, Florida, and Connecticut. Checked last minute air fares and couldn't really find great flights to those places without paying an arm and a leg.
So, we did the next best thing......played the old "let's see what places United has the cheap last minute tickets for" and the place that excited us the most was New Orleans for $160 each!!! Yay.....we love New Orleans and hadn't been there for awhile.
Booked an apartment rental through Airbnb and what an awesome place it was. 40 steps away from Bourbon Street in a refurbished warehouse with a rooftop pool. This place was amazing and was newly renovated. Everything in the apartment was brand new and it was so quiet and so clean. We loved being so close to everything!
45 minute flight from Houston and a 30 minute cab ride from the airport......we were ready to party!
But first, we had to take a tour of our living quarters for the next 4 days........
The pool was on the rooftop (4th floor). We were hoping for the opportunity to get to use it, since the weather forecast called for rain every single day.........boo.
After taking our apartment tour and dropping off our luggage.....we were going to begin our search for lunch. We were craving good old New Orleans food.
It just so happened that it was Red Dress Run in New Orleans on the Saturday we got there. It was a fun run to benefit a cancer foundation and the WHOLE ENTIRE city was filled with people wearing red dresses (men included). It actually made the people watching a whole lot more interesting that day.
We ended up at Mena's Restaurant where we satisfied our craving with a Muffaletta and Red Beans and Rice. It was DELICIOUS!
We decided to head towards the French Market because there is always extremely interesting things to see over there. On the way, we finally got to see the famous Chess Master who plays near the French Market. Every single time we go to New Orleans, Paul always wants to see if he's there playing.
He happened to be playing someone else, but we had to stop and watch them play for awhile and get a picture.
We wandered the French Market and walked across the street to take the quick tour of the old U.S. Mint that was housed in New Orleans. It was FREE!
We headed back towards our apartment with no destination or plan in mind and as we walked by Mr. Chess Master, he was not playing a game.....so Paul paid his $5 and finally crossed off this bucket list item.
They played for 2 1/2 hours. The Chess Master didn't want to call it a draw, but then after 30 minutes realized it was the only thing to do......so they TIED. Yay.....super proud of my husband!
We decided to head back to the hotel and relax a little, take a swim, and get ready for the night of partying we knew was ahead of us. Hey......we were in New Orleans!
This was our artistic shot......lol.
After a short nap.....it was time to head out and find our favorite bands for the evening. Didn't take long and we pretty much gravitated between a couple of places. We know where to find our favorite beer vendor (they don't have skunky nasty beer) and we enjoyed our evening out watching a bunch of drunk people act like idiots.
Dinner was at Willie's......they seriously have the BEST fried chicken ever. There's at least 3 locations on Bourbon Street, so they are easy to find. They have a secret sauce called Boom Boom Sauce and it is so delicious on seafood, French fries, chicken or whatever. Tonight we decided to share a seafood platter and the catfish on it was insanely good. It also had fried shrimp and oysters.
After a couple more beers and a few more strolls up and down Bourbon St......we decided to call it a night since it was getting to be where the crazies outnumbered the normal people.
We needed a good night's sleep!
So, we did the next best thing......played the old "let's see what places United has the cheap last minute tickets for" and the place that excited us the most was New Orleans for $160 each!!! Yay.....we love New Orleans and hadn't been there for awhile.
Booked an apartment rental through Airbnb and what an awesome place it was. 40 steps away from Bourbon Street in a refurbished warehouse with a rooftop pool. This place was amazing and was newly renovated. Everything in the apartment was brand new and it was so quiet and so clean. We loved being so close to everything!
45 minute flight from Houston and a 30 minute cab ride from the airport......we were ready to party!
But first, we had to take a tour of our living quarters for the next 4 days........
After taking our apartment tour and dropping off our luggage.....we were going to begin our search for lunch. We were craving good old New Orleans food.
It just so happened that it was Red Dress Run in New Orleans on the Saturday we got there. It was a fun run to benefit a cancer foundation and the WHOLE ENTIRE city was filled with people wearing red dresses (men included). It actually made the people watching a whole lot more interesting that day.
It also made the whole city a lot more crowded
We ended up at Mena's Restaurant where we satisfied our craving with a Muffaletta and Red Beans and Rice. It was DELICIOUS!
We decided to head towards the French Market because there is always extremely interesting things to see over there. On the way, we finally got to see the famous Chess Master who plays near the French Market. Every single time we go to New Orleans, Paul always wants to see if he's there playing.
We wandered the French Market and walked across the street to take the quick tour of the old U.S. Mint that was housed in New Orleans. It was FREE!
We headed back towards our apartment with no destination or plan in mind and as we walked by Mr. Chess Master, he was not playing a game.....so Paul paid his $5 and finally crossed off this bucket list item.
They played, and they played........
and they played.....and they played.......
We decided to head back to the hotel and relax a little, take a swim, and get ready for the night of partying we knew was ahead of us. Hey......we were in New Orleans!
So we took a bag of iced beers with us and enjoyed the water, the company, and the view!
Who knows what I was saying here???????
This is seriously the most relaxing fun we've had in MONTHS.
Loved this time together so much!
Selfie time with my handsome husband!
We are on the freakin rooftop of an apartment building in New Orleans swimming
and drinking beer.......LIFE IS GOOD!
After a short nap.....it was time to head out and find our favorite bands for the evening. Didn't take long and we pretty much gravitated between a couple of places. We know where to find our favorite beer vendor (they don't have skunky nasty beer) and we enjoyed our evening out watching a bunch of drunk people act like idiots.
Dinner was at Willie's......they seriously have the BEST fried chicken ever. There's at least 3 locations on Bourbon Street, so they are easy to find. They have a secret sauce called Boom Boom Sauce and it is so delicious on seafood, French fries, chicken or whatever. Tonight we decided to share a seafood platter and the catfish on it was insanely good. It also had fried shrimp and oysters.
After a couple more beers and a few more strolls up and down Bourbon St......we decided to call it a night since it was getting to be where the crazies outnumbered the normal people.
We needed a good night's sleep!
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