Mardi Gras Mambo

Check out today's post on the goNOLA blog, and it will definitely get you in the Mardi Gras spirit!

Le premiere!

Today matchbook magazine premiered their first issue of their new online magazine! I spent all morning reading it, and towards the end, I realized that online magazines are one of the best things ever. Everything in the magazine is linked, so reading it offers so many additional hours of browsing online!

I still enjoy a traditional magazine, and I won't cancel my subscriptions anytime soon, but how fabulous to have reading and shopping combined into one! If it also provided coffee and macarons, I would die!

How adorable are their custom matchbooks!?

Beautiful photo from Paris from one of the articles

And some of my other favorite online magazines are Lonny, rue, and Nowness, which I don't think is technically an online magazine, but it previews something new in fashion/art/culture/design/etc. daily! What are your favorite online magazines?

Until we meet again...

After taking down the tree, it seems appropriate to bid the Christmas season farewell. Here are some of my favorite Christmas memories from this year.

 

Baking lots of Christmas goodies for neighbors and friends



An almost White Christmas at home in Missouri



Opening gifts on Christmas morning

But, now that the holidays are over, it's Mardi Gras season!!!

Je voudrais faire du lèche-vitrines à Paris

From H prints

Also check out the Printemps virtual store windows here.

Mmm... Beer

The 11 Christmas (including 1 Hanukkah!) beers we sampled

 The beer class I took on Wednesday at Stein's Deli was one of my favorite things that I've done in New Orleans! Several times a year, Stein's opens up for a beer class taught by Derek Lintern, beer connoisseur and home brewer. Typically, the class takes a very instructional form, and you learn about the different ingredients in beer, how they change how the beer tastes, and then sample beers that highlight each style.


Dan Stein, owner, (left), and Derek Lintern, beer class instructor (right)



This class was a special holiday class where we sampled a variety of Christmas style beers. Some of my favorites were the Anchor Christmas Ale, Mikkeler From: and To:, and the HaandBryggeriet Bestefar. Derek described how each of the different beers were made, what styles they were, and the process how they get their distinct Christmas flavors. Dan provided insight into the business-side of brewing, like how beer distribution works here in the U.S. 

I found the class very interesting, and it was cool to learn about the different beers and their breweries. And we got to taste lots of great beers and had fantastic specialty meat and cheese trays from the deli! Overall, an excellent night and well worth the minimal fee ($17).

  

 

Derek describing how the different beers get their flavors



Stein's has a fantastic beer selection, and their sandwiches are delicious! Next time you are in New Orleans, go check them out!



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

At least here it is; I've started decorating for Christmas! I realized the Friday after Thanksgiving that we only had 3 weekends to spend at home before we left to start traveling for the holidays, so this week, we got the tree, and I've been working on decorating it!

There's a store near our house on Magazine St. called Hazlenut, and they have the most fabulous gifts and home accessories. They have the store all decked out for Christmas, and going there gives me so much inspiration!  This week, I got the iced magnolias peeking out of the tree from there, and I also got a Bougainvillea candle in the Holiday scent. That plus some Christmas music has me in the Christmas spirit!

House Pics

I wanted to share some pictures of the house for those folks who haven't seen it yet! We are still definitely in the process of making it our own with furniture and stuff, but consider this the 'before', and the 'after' will come along, slowly but surely!



This is a new piece I just got. It's in the master bedroom