Road Tripping. New Orleans. Popping In.

***Sorry about picture sizes... they are a bit blurry***

I left on Saturday to head back to New Orleans.  Sadly, I don't think that I expected the reaction I had... once I drove into the city proper, I cried.  The Super Dome, the Smoothie Center, the Crescent City Connection, the mighty Mississippi River, and of course, my old "barn" of a house (L & N live there now, so it's like having family living in a multiple-generation home).  

***The sign on |10 directing me to the Westbank (AKA "The Bestbank")

Of course, we front-porched it.  That was after going to eat at this excellent hibachi and sushi restaurant in Metairie...  Shogun.  My host and hostess (S & L) have been going there for 17 years, and let me tell you, that restaurant did NOT disappoint.  A large hot sake, soup, salad (ginger dressing to die for), special hibachi rice, spicy noodles, and I had the seafood combination (lobster, sea scallops, and shrimp).  Veggies included zucchini, onions, mushrooms, and sprouts... the mushrooms were my favorite (they just absorbed all the sauces and spices).  Nothing was bad.  Highly recommend and I'll do a Yelp review tomorrow.  

Grabbed lunch with L on the go... she had a ton of errands to run, and guess what??  I did, too!!  Husby is in St Louis for the rest of the week, and I kept getting texts.  So... Abita Beer party pack, Cafe du Monde chicory coffee, sweet and salty honeyed cashews, Richard's fresh green pepper (read "spicy") smoked sausage, NOLA potato salad, and comic book store items.  And... delicious soaps from a soap maker that's local.  They smell almost like a fresh French milled soap, but the price was right and I picked myself up some and picked out two additional for a VERY good friend of mine.  I didn't find a tee-shirt that struck my fancy at the comic place, so I ended up getting the new "Fight Club 2" comic.  Honestly, I could go wild in Crescent City Comics... they had some of the best graphic novels ever and I could've blown a whole lot of money in there.

For dinner on Sunday, S made homemade ricotta and Italian sausage raviolis with a sauce to DIE FOR.  Deliciously excellent.  :0))  I need to pick up on some of his tips and tricks and start using my Kitchen Aid professional mixer far more often.  Seriously!!  Plus, it's relatively easy but looks FABULOUS when finished.  

**Disclaimer:  I did not take food porn pics.  Apologies.** 

Monday was nothing but appointments.  I've been deemed healthy by my internist.  YAY!!!  Met a friend for lunch (between appointments) and went to Manhattan Jack - she was craving bagels with lox.  I pouted, because I was too late for an everything bagel that I wanted (sold out) and they stopped making their Monte Cristo sandwiches (one of my utter and absolutely favorite nom-nom-nom foods).  Haven't found a replacement since they took theirs off the menu.  Definitely can't find them here in Florida, so....  boo!!

Spent an uneventful night because I was planning on stopping at Rouses AGAIN and I was wiped out by all the go-go-geaux!!!  pace that we went with all weekend.  So, I ended up leaving NOLA around noon-ish on Tuesday, but there was a great reason.... I could spend some down time with Cat!!!!!

I was, indeed, able to stop in her area on the way home... bearing gifts of candy cashews AND peanut-brittle type peanuts.  She shocked me by giving me my birthday gift early...  it is THE DUDE from the 'Big Lebowski'.  Check it out!!

She knows me and put a lot of thought into it.  :D

Her husband, M, found me two of my obsoleted favorite cartoon shows... 'The Oblongs' and 'Moral Orel' and burned them to disk for me.  HAPPINESS!!  So, with that awesomeness, I'm going to sign off for now.  Thank you so much, Cat!!!  Treasured forever!!!  x0x0