5 Reasons: AHill Loves New Orleans

One of, hopefully, many video segments from Dixie Lust

Rally Up!

Geaux Geaux Geaux

GEAUX SAINTS!

Just want to send the boys in Black & Gold a little love as they take on the Minnesota Vikings tonight!

Just a little reminder of how it went last time the Vikings were in the dome.

=)

Hell, even Bobby Jindal is pumped up.

Tout Simplement Magnifique

Just a quick one before I get on with my Thursday!
(That's right...THURSDAY. Not Wednesday like half of us are feeling. Hallelujah!)



Having a google alert on your name comes with a few advantages. Sure, you know when the internet is talkin' bout you. But you also manage to stumble upon insanely talented Louisiana photographers who share your name and your love for New Orleans.
What's that?That only happens to me?Yeah. I know.
I'll share with y'all.You can treat yourself to Michelle C. Broussard's New Orleans Slideshow as well.

Little Thing 42

"I'm from New Orleans... I had to be something."

Watching Behind the Music: Lil Wayne & realizing how incredibly intelligent and well spoken he is.

Lombardi Gras Time!

((image via))

Really y'all... It's Monday afternoon and I'm still speechless.

and I'm not quite sure that anything needs to be said.

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints.

Congratulations to the city of New Orleans.

Congratulations to the state of Louisiana.

& Congratulations to each and every fellow Saints fan.

We believed when no one else did.

And we have fulfilled our destiny.

We are champions.

Ps. Did I mention that my first born is going to be named Porter Brees?

Holy Wow on that interception, Mr. Porter.

Belief Has Brought Us Here

Click HERE for the best video EVER.

(( video via Sum // sorry couldn't get the embed feature to work))

I know some you are saying to yourself, "Hey People of Louisiana - It's just a football game."

And you know what we say to that?

1. Shush 'yo mouth. Jesus don't like ugly.

2. WHO DAT?!

The Saints are New Orleans. New Orleans is Louisiana. Louisiana is Football.

One in the same.

Now c'mon and celebrate with us.

Cause as Gov. Bobby Jindal has proclaimed, it's "WHO DAT NATION WEEK!"

We've ALLLL Kissed a Few Frogs...

Okay, So I'm dying to know!

Has anyone gone to see The Princess & The Frog?

I'm itching to know what everyone thinks of it.

It's not as though I'm Disney Princess obsessed or anything of that sort,

but when I saw St. Louis Cathedral soaring in the background of the preview,

well....C'mon. Disney does 1920's New Orleans?

You know I have to see it.

How could I not want to see this??

I Do What I Want...

((via))

And today, I want to listen to a Mardi Gras Station I made on Pandora.

No ones around to judge me - even if I did accidentally drip ketchup on my sweatshirt as I was dancing through lunch.

Ladies and Gent (cause I'm sure there can't be more than a lone boy reading this thing), I have a one track mind - and right now its visions of Mardi Gras Indians and an out of this world second line.

Sunday Reading

I've holed myself up on the couch, under my warmest fuzzy blanket, and settled into Chris Rose's 1 Dead in Attic . I find myself getting goosebumps with every turn of the page, and making mental notes of every line that I wish I could pass on to you...

But for now, the dedication page says it all...

This Girl Gets It...

Sometimes the things that make me cry surprise me.

Sometimes I read something that seems like it was yanked right out of my jumbled little head

And sometimes some one just gets it...

I started this blog

because I want people to see what I see.

I want the world to really see

this beautifully eccentric place that has the courage to be exactly what it is.

No excuses.

And I want you guys to long to visit here...

But I want it to be because the side I show you.

So many outlets focus on New Orleans and Mardi Gras as a place to lose yourself and get piss drunk as you flash someone for cheap plastic beads.

Tourism based on disgracing yourself and a beautiful historic city.

What a thought...

For those of you not from around here,

you're wondering what all this Mardi Gras talk is about (especially around Christmas time)

But its nearing.

And we're preparing ourselves to celebrate our culture - to celebrate life.

And I know this is a little deep and heavy for a Monday night,

but its whats in my heart right now.

I was over at Confessions of an Indie Bride tonight,

and for some reason her post struck a chord.

It made me cry.

Jen gets it.

Chris Rose gets it.

It's in our blood.

It's our history.

It's a beautiful celebration of who we are.

Whether its your first Mardi Gras (like Jen's Hubby to Be) or your 24th,

we'd love to share the reaaaal Mardi Gras with you...

the Mardi Gras we grew up on

the Mardi Gras that makes you feel like family

the Mardi Gras that you'll actually remember on Ash Wednesday

....the Mardi Gras that you'll never forget.

NOLA Part IV: Insane Throwback

Preface: This post is mainly for Lyla. She's been on vacation all week, and my lonely little heart misses her at work. This one is dedicated to her.

Backstory: Last month Lyla and I were at an "event" ( I won't say for what - That'll surely get me in trouble. Also, I won't even dare to use the word "party" - because that would imply an entirely different atmosphere.) Okay so we were at an "event" and there was a gentleman at this "event" - You could describe him as "mid-forties" and "straight laced."

He came by to inform us that he used to listen to country music but now he listens to that new fangled "pop music." He then went on to ask us if we had ever heard of the Black Eyed Peas, and if we knew their *new* song "Boom Boom Pow." LyLa & I shrugged and we're notified that it was his official jam - like roll down the windows and blast it sort of jam.

If you thought that was a jem of imagery, prepare yo'self.

Later in the evening, LyLa over hear these bits: ""Back in '88, I went to a bachelor party at the Dungeon in the French Quarter....," "...it was so crazy, we played whatever we wanted on the jukebox." "...you could even buy cigarettes from a machine inside the bar."

WHAAAA??! Party over in '88!

So as I was trolloping around the FQ on my little NOLA rendezvous, I stumbled upon the insanity that is NOLA's *greatest* party mecca, the Dungeon.

Please do not make me describe the crowd out front. It pains me too much.

NOLA Part III: Worst Trip Photos...Ever.

I know you kids have been waiting for these for a while.

But before we continue on, let me point out a few things so you can skip over them if you make a comment. SKing and I apparently have a very limited number of poses - I'm going to say a max of 2. It may look like more, but trust me those photos are just us transitioning into pose un or pose deux. Also. I promise we were actually in NOLA - the French Quarter to be exact - for these. I'm aware that you can't actually see this but in the background of these there are actually drunks making asses of themselves, hoochie girls making out for attention, and some old guy thinking hes going to get some because hes wearing a von dutch hat circa 2003. Hello Dirty Coast! And thirdly and lastly, you're going to be all, "Dude Kora... did you really have to photoshop each of these into black and white submission?!" Yes. Yes I did. I had to shield your beautiful bloggy eyes from our "walking dead" corpse-like-faces... a result of our tranny makeup not being able to withstand the humidity of Bourbon.

And if you're wondering about the hunky Scottish boy in the photos, We may not know many poses, but we certianly do know how to make friends and keep it classy.

NOLA Part II: Satan Moonlights as Rachel Zoe

Lets start out with this little jewel of information: Sometimes I do things with out really thinking them through. Sounds innocent enough, right? Like Sunday night when I made toast, poured myself a big glass of cold milk, and settled down with my new Women's Health... And I realized that my skim milk had gone reaaaaally bad (I'm talking chunks bad).... but only AFTER I had taken a big ole gulp of it.

Yeah.

I'm gagging a little now just thinking of it.

But really, I do silly stuff like that quite often. I just get an idea in my head, and I just sort of run with it... whether that thought is "OHH Jesus, Momma needs some yummy breakfast for dinner." or say...."Oooohweee sexy strappy hooker heels?! Perfect for NOLA..."

(Some of you see the direction this is headed. For everyone else, the point of this post is to show I'm nowhere near the perfect hair/perfect red lips/so in love with everything that makes KLaw cringe.)

So. New Orleans. Fabulous girls weekend.

My partner in crime for the weekend was the amazing and oh-so fashionable, SKing. The girl talks about Louis, Channel, and Manolo like they're old childhood friends. And although she could easy rock out a t-shirt and jeans, she overdresses for everrrrything. Not hatin'. Just saying she looks uber fab on any occasion.

So in the days leading up to our rendezvous with the Big Easy, I get to thinking that this weekend would be the time to step up the fashion game. "Heck," I think, "I used to be a fashion major. I'm certainly not afraid of the sassy. I've just gotten lazy."

In the sweaty haze of trying on 934 outfit combinations, I settle on a heatherd grey v-neck, a black leather skirt, a red Members Only jacket, and the fiercest strappy ankle booties I have ever seen. Never mind the fact that I think ankle booties make my legs look like tree trunks. I was going to sacrifice them in the name of fashion...

In the hotel on Saturday night, we were a little behind schedule so we raced to throw on our outfits, scrub off a little bit of our tranny make-up (Thank you to both MAC Cosmetics and Florescent Lighting. You kids are awesome), and straighten our hair that was already matted with sweat from running up Canal.

In the split second that I had to spare I scanned the mirror and imagined a little Rachel Zoe on my right shoulder uttering "I die." and a little Mayra on my left cooing "Bananas!" as she eyed my shoes.

I felt fab.

Until 2 minutes later...

As we trucked it down Bourbon street.

I could feel the sticky sweat start to roll down my back, so I ripped off the jacket and checked my watch.

Cursing and picking up the pace, I began to do that reallllly lame half-jog as I weaved in and out of traffic. Thats when I noticed the zippered back of my skirt was now in the front... WTF?!

Turns out the leather skirt was quickly moving up and around as I walked. No wonder I was hearing so many "Damn Girl..."'s from the Bourbon folk.

I die.

No really.

I die of mortification.

By the time I got to One Eyed Jacks, I had to duck into the shadow to adjust just about everrrrything. and sadly the rest of the night went much the same way - lots of unintentional skin, lots of adjusting, lots of swearing and moaning in pain.

Fast forward to the next morning: my thighs were literally purple from chaffing because the skirt was so fitted/didn't breathe, my feet ached so badly that I cringed to even think of walking, annnnd I had a 3 inch long blister on my feel from my oh-so fierce shoes.

Kora's NOLA Fashion: epic. fail.

Worst. Outfit. Ever.

Got that?

NOLA I: The Not So Grand Entrance

You'd think this would have been more help...

8-0. Need I say more? oh wait... WHO DAT?!

Forget New Orleans, Let's pass it up and head to the West Bank.

URRRH, We're not lost. We ♥ the West Bank... By the way, why are the exits not numbered?!

After our lengthy trip to Gretna (3 minutes), we find out theres a toll to get back into NOLA. *cue the frantic search for cash*

While we're stuck here, lets get new facebook defaults!

Still lost, but actually in NOLA

Right about the time we pulled out the giant fold-up map

Dickie Brennan's Palace Cafe on Canal Street

Our Hotel on Canal

The view from 2828

See the river?!

Part 2 to come tomorrow!

Thelma & Louise

One of my favorites

SKing & KBru

One Eyed Jacks

New Orleans, LA

11.7.09

Listen to the Darkside

Okay, so I'm usually not one to post videos on the blog but we havvvve to make an exception for this one.

After hearing how talented this kid is a million times, I finally got to see (and meet) this guy, Charlie Mars, on Saturday in New Orleans. He opened up for Marc - and I loved his set so much that I bought the album on my iPhone while I was at the show. I've been walking around today mumbling the chorus of this song to myself... It's just embedded into my brain.

Just watch it.

You'll love the song, the video will make you smile, and Mary Louise Parker is a pretty lady.

Perhaps The Most Important Part of My NOLA Rendezvous

I promised Summer that if I saw any sweet staches this weekend in the Big Easy, that I'd be sure to get some photographic evidence of the stashe-osity to bring back to her. So when this guy sauntered over to the merch table at the Marc Broussard concert Saturday night, I (almost too) enthusiastically explained my love for the stache and my promise to my dear Summer. His girlfriend kept pleading for him to shave it and explaining her hatred for his facial hair, but I gave her my best "Save the Sweet Staches" campaign speech. She may have been convinced... or not.

PS - Don't forget to enter my Marc Broussard Prize Pack Giveaway! Contest entry ends 11.16.09!

Oh Thank Goodness...

4 days until my quick but much needed girls trip with SKing to New Orleans.

So many things to look forward to...but today I'm all jazzed up for our beautiful hotel on Canal Street (above)!

((image via davidepoe))