The boys and the bugs.

I was lucky enough to be included in the Mayer boys lunch outing with Peter to Sal's for crawfish one day recently. (a sliver of Mark is there on the left, and well, I sort of invited myself;) Really nice to be with them all. Especially the bugs!

Community service at Second Harvest:)

We helped a big group bag 5 lbs bags of onions recently at Second Harvest Food Bank. This is one of our favorite volunteer organizations. They serve so many people.

A door opens?

Sliding walls for new kitchenette/bathroom?

The white house.

Josh and I took it upon ourselves to track down and wear down the owner of a mess of a house directly behind us on the back street of LePage. We finally came to an agreement with him and it is ours. It is a double and we are working on getting it back in a historically appropriate state to rent again.

Here it is when we bought it in February.

Quite a job.

Carpeting over old wood floors :(

New framing inside. The right side was in much better shape, so we are not changing the floor plan. The left is getting a total redo.

What I'm holding in my shopping cart......

Anthropolgie :-D

Passover fun.

We celebrated a great Passover this year. It started with a little volunteering at the JCC with Jewish Family service. We packed Passover boxes for those older and less able folks. The boxes contained everything you would need to make a seder meal. Including gefilte fish ;) We also signed up to deliver these boxes to those in need. We do these kinds of mitzvahs often, but never usually get to see who these things actually go to. I think it is important for the kids to see the actual people sometimes. Here's Mose carrying boxes.

We really enjoyed delivering our boxes to some mostly Russian jews in a Metairie retirement community. They were very grateful and Josh had a particularly great time talking yiddish, since his Mom's mother, Lola, was from Russia. We had a little help from one particular resident. She was a piece of work, as my friend Foofie says. Here she is with her husband and all.

This sign in the lobby cracked me up. Oy vey!

We had a first night seder at our house with Pete and Linda. Seder plate here. Pete made his famous matzah ball soup. A winner.

Next day I participated in probably my 10th CCClassic. Didn't plan on running but was given a number by a last minute traveling friend. So nice to see the family waiting in front of the house with the Go Mommy sign. I needed it and loved it!

I also loved this t shirt made by an obviously perturbed Saints fan. Her husbands shirt said, GUCK FOODELL.

For second night seder we were invited to the Tanenbaum's to celebrate with their extended family and friends. It was a great evening. Although Mose could not understand why we had to have another seder?!?!? Didn't we already have one???

Rian and Mathilda leading us in song:)

It was Easter as well, so we went over to the Herringtons for a Sunday afternoon swim and dine. I was so happy to see and nosh on some chocolate bunnies, too. And Gabby got into the spirit with Hutch's bunny mask.

Outdoors only.

I have been finding it increasingly hard to stay inside the past few weeks. The weather has been divine. Thinking of outdoor furniture...

This is my first love.  (And first choice if I could afford it!) Patricia Urquiola for B&B Italia does it again with her outdoor version of  the Husk chair. Heart!!

The Catalina slipcovers chair with wheels. Looks comfy, too.

OMG. But, way too far out of my reach. Cabaret Easy Armchair.

This one is a great. Called the Chair 6 rocker. Would go oh so perfectly in my patio.

The crawfish have been big!

I have been partaking in lots of crawfish eating this year. They have been unseasonably big and yummy. Especially at The Galley Restaurant and here in the Hutchinson's back yard!!

Josh's bald cause.

Josh shaved his head this year for the St. Baldricks fundraiser. It is a great cause. He raised over 4000$ for Children's Cancer Research. Thanks to everyone who donated.

Before

After- It felt like velcro.

Art In Bloom NOMA 2012

I was asked to participate in Art In Bloom this year at NOMA. I was in the Tablescapes category. It was lots of fun. But tons of work. I loved the process of visualizing the end product and actually working to make it happen. I had a vision of it while getting a massage in Costa Rica :)

I had been thinking of these poufs I was making and wanted to incorporate flowers into the mix, so I made carnation cushion tops for them.

Here are a couple close ups. My painting there. (the only time I will ever have a painting in a museum:) And the teacup party sculpture, I love this sale find from UA.

I wanted to add something edible into the mix, since I felt it was sort of a tea party, I made this flower ball cake. There was quite a ball theme going on.

The view from another angle.

I used a little black throughout, I guess as I always do when designing stuff. It's just the graphic in me. This globe was added with my title written on it.

I used some natural elements-moss balls, birds nest, dragon fly, air plants and wish bones for texture. And added my heart plate and starfish, as well.

After finishing up I realized I had not made a sign. So I ran home and frantically came up with the chalkboard sign and leaned in on the lamp. It was a great event. All the tablescapes were awesome. I was very proud to be in their company.