Life 2.1

My brother came to visit this weekend, partly to see me but his trip conveniently coincided with Mardi Gras!

He took a red-eye flight Wednesday night/Thursday morning, so I picked him up before work, gave him the grand tour of my place, handed him a pile of blankets and a pillow and told him there was lunch meat in the fridge and that I would be back later.

After work, we went to a local bar and snacked on some food while the Budweiser Girls asked if we wanted airbrush tattoos of a fleur-de-lis with the BudLite logo underneath. We passed, but Joe did manage to get some Mardi Gras beads with the BudLite logo on them for Bubba. We met up with B² since I have not seen her in ages. We kept it low-key since I had to work the next day.

Joe got rested up on Friday before we headed downtown to meet up with John-John and his Marine buddies. We met them on Bourbon and headed to one of my accounts for a quick pizza before going to the balcony party on Bourbon.

The streets were crowded, but manageable as we made our way to the Royal Sonesta Hotel. After a quick stop at a daiquiri shop, where I turned down an offer from a daiquiri girl to take a shot from a test tube, we made it to the hotel. We flashed VIP passes to get in the door, because you know, that’s how we roll, and up to the balcony we went, where we all got to throw beads to the party-goers below and met up with a couple of my friends from work. We also took the time to snap a couple of pictures for the scrapbook, of course.

That is the daiquiri girl who was selling shots but clearly Joe was already good in the drink department

JJ and John-John in their bead glory

Me and Kristen on the balcony

Joe and me on the balcony

John-John and Joe tossing beads

Somehow during the course of the night, Joe and I got separated, as he and the guys went off exploring. I met back up with him later and we headed home. We did, however, get to see just how the city deals with the ahem remnants of Mardi Gras. They literally bring in bulldozers to scoop up the garbage. No joke. We were driving down Canal at the intersection of Bourbon and it may or may not have been in the wee hours of the morning and we saw multiple bulldozers scooping up trash and dumping it into the garbage truck. Then we also got the pleasure of seeing them powerwash the streets with a horrific perfume-scented spray that proceeded to make me sneeze incessantly.

I was never so excited to go home. Plus, we needed to rest up for Saturday, which started off with a trip to a po’ boy shop for Linner (around 4pm). After Linner, we went back to my place to get cleaned up for Saturday festivities.

I would like to take a moment to describe the weather conditions as of late. In a word, freezing. Yet somehow, I thought it was necessary to wear cute going-out clothes and heels on Friday. That, I learned, was an epic fail. I quickly rectified that on Saturday when I wore my (f)UGGS and a long-sleeved t-shirt layered on top of another long-sleeved t-shirt and a coat over that. And one glove, thanks to Brooke, for my drinking hand. Hey, adult beverages over ice are cold! That was a much smarter route.

Saturday was also Endymion. That is the parade that was going on and we happened to arrive right as it was ending. That translates to hoards of people. We were all crowding onto Bourbon and it was the most atrocious experience of my life. Joe and I were ready to tun around and go home. My dad would have moo-ed like he was in a herd of cattle multiple times. It was THAT bad. We finally met up with John-John and the first words out of his mouth were in frustration. I believe it went something like “I have wanted to punch about 10 people in the last 10 minutes.”

We agreed. I personally had wanted to punch about 20 people, including the pint-size hooligan who thought howling at me would endear me to him. Really, he was the inspiration for the Pants on the Ground song, so odds weren’t in his favor.

As we headed back to the balcony party, I saw someone I worked with and we all rolled in together. I had never been so grateful to be above the madness. John-John ended up retiring for the evening early, but Joe and I lived it up on the balcony with all my work friends. Saturday was definitely a solid night.

In fact, (L-Boogie this is for you) Saturday was a top night….*top* night! (Side note, if you haven’t seen The Wedding Date, you totally should.)

John-John and Joe on Night 2

Joe and me on Night 2

I think this girl’s name was Zeta or something. During Mardi Gras a friend of a friend of a friend becomes your friend.

Some of my work crew

Beads beads and more beads

Joe and one of my work friends tossing beads

More of my work crew

Proof of our time on Bourbon Street

That is a huge pile of beads just on the street waiting for the bulldozer

Saturday was capped off with Joe winning big at the casino, which prompted him to ask if his feet were evening touching the ground he was so pleased. I can’t blame the kid. It was a solid night all around.

Sunday was spent primarily on the couch, since we were exhausted from the night(s) before. We ordered a pizza, watched tv then had a late dinner at Acme Oyster House where we dined on chargrilled oysters, seafood gumbo and friend shrimp. After returning home we rented a movie and watched it before getting up before dawn to get Joe to the airport.

For our first Mardi Gras, I have to say it was a pretty decent one. Though we’re both unsure as to how people do this for a week straight. Not to mention the extra few days thrown in for the Saints Superbowl victory and parade. They clearly have livers of steel.

Cheers to Mardi Gras 2010!

• VIP balcony passes to the parties on Bourbon
• Getting to attend the above party with my brother
• Mardi Gras!!!!

Last night, I was looking for something to watch, because I had just been glued to the TV watching the Lombardi Gras parade (but one can only watch Drew Bress heave throws at the crowd for so long while not being there in person) and I stumbled onto this new MTV (yes, MTV) show called The Buried Life.

While I had seen previews, I wasn’t enticed to watch. It just struck me as something too Jackass-y and that show was a waste of time so I hadn’t given The Buried Life much thought, but it was on and not preempted like every other local channel so I watched.

I was so wrong about the Jackass concept.

I was actually kinda impressed. The premise of this show is that these four guys (Dave, Jonnie, Duncan and Ben), who look to be in their early 20s, have created a Bucket List of sorts, and travel around the country trying to accomplish all 100 items on their list of Things to Do Before They Die. Normally, my interest wouldn’t have been piqued because, really, I’m almost afraid to hear what would be on the list of things a 20-something male wants to do before he dies. I was anticipating something like, ‘make out with Jessica Biel, {insert name of other attractive women here}’ and the like.

But to my surprise, their list is actually pretty intriguing. It contains things like “take a kid on a toy shopping spree” (#71-accomplished) or “teach an elementary school class” (#86-accomplished) and last night’s episode, “help deliver a baby” (#74).

Crazy, I know.

The best part is that for each thing that they cross off, they help someone else cross something off their own personal bucket list. So last night, they called into a Memphis radio station because that is the city in which they were passing through (they roam the country in this big bus it literally looks like a former public-transportation-city-bus and it’s got their list items painted on the sides). They asked the DJ to request a pregnant woman to call in if she was willing to allow these four guys in the delivery room to help her give birth.

They found Laura and her husband, who allowed them in the delivery room. It was crazy, but very cool! One of the guys, Dave, was very skiddish about the whole thing, but he took part anyway. They set up a Lamaze class for her and her husband since they hadn’t taken one yet but said they wished they had, they wore sympathy bellies to see what carrying extra weight was all about and then….well….This was Dave’s face right as the baby was delivered and held up to show new mom Laura:

Cool, right? Suddenly he wasn’t so skiddish anymore

The part that I like best about this show is where they help a stranger cross off something on the stranger’s list. Since Laura helped them cross off item #74 on their list, the guys helped a girl named Queen cross off something on her list, which was to visit her mother’s headstone in Denver, where she had never been. The backstory was that she and her mom had been separated during Hurricane Katrina and when Queen evacuated with extended family, her mom stayed behind in the Superdome. Her mother went on to contract some kind of disease from the water (yikes!) and ended up passing on after she had been evacuated to Denver, and it was there that she was buried.

So the guys needed to raise money to send Queen on a plane to Denver.

They explained the situation to a manager at a restaurant in Memphis and he let them do odd jobs to earn the money. They did, and they went with Queen to Denver and had to search for the headstone amid a sea of uniformly arranged white headstones. It was super poignant but I liked the mission that the guys were on.

I’m actually kinda diggin’ the show now. I definitely didn’t see this coming (from an MTV show for sure) but the documentary-style and the personalities of the four guys make the show worth watching.

MTV airs their shows 17 times a week so if you happen to be flipping through the channels, odds are good you will see it. I recommend giving it a whirl.

It also got me thinking about my own bucket list. I am going to have to start thinking about things I would list, as I have no idea where I would begin. But I’m making a new page on CL.com to update/track/report progress because, really, I’m kinda jealous that they are working to accomplish their list.

We’ll see how mine goes, but in the mean time, I might just keep watching The Buried Life.

Since I may need some inspiration, lemme know what would be on your bucket list. I’m intrigued to hear what people want to do…

I can’t even begin to describe the atmosphere in the City of New Orleans yesterday and today (and probably tomorrow, right on through til Mardi Gras!) Since the Saints win over the Colts yesterday, there’s been a sense of euphoria throughout the city. The general consensus is that this tops even Mardi Gras as far as crowds and celebrating goes.

Me and the girls from work

I spent the Super Bowl in the French Quarter, which was a wise choice. I work with Blond Colleen (I’m Brunette Colleen obvi) and her boyf and his buddies rented out the entire second story of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville for a huge Super Bowl party. We all threw in and that got us all we can eat, along with an open bar. It was, by far, the way to go. Not too crowded but definitely full and Blond Colleen’s mom and step dad staked out a table front and center of one of the huge flat screen TVs so we all had a great view of the win.

Mid-Who Dat chant

The game was so fun to watch with everyone. It’s easy to make friends when everyone is a Saint’s fan! It was clear (in our minds) after the pick-six that the Saints had won the Super Bowl and the place erupted in hugs, fist pumps, and in some cases, tears of joy. I don’t think I have ever hugged so many strangers in all my life! People were just hugging anyone near them and jumping up and down!

I met these people at the party

When it became clear that the Saints were going to emerge victorious, I took a little video (after I did my fair share of jumping up and down and high-fiving, that is)

New Orleans Saints win Super Bowl XLIV

Celebratory fist pumps

Blond Colleen and her step dad celebrate the win

After the hugging wound down, we headed to the balcony to see the celebrations going on below. Margaritaville is actually on Decatur so I wasn’t technically on Bourbon (I was about 3 blocks from it). There were cars parading down the street blasting music, horns honking, good-spirited mayhem and everyone was celebrating.

New Orleans Saints win Super Bowl XLIV

Brooke and me on the balcony

It gave new meaning to the song "Dancin' In the Streets"

We did end up heading to Bourbon and the walk among everyone was worth putting up with the crowds. The scene was something I won’t ever forget…walking past people and they want to high-five you at random. People cheering and screaming at random, pockets of people starting Who Dat chants…it was most definitely an experience! The city was full on Black and Gold…as illustrated in the picture of the statue below:

Getting up on the statue was the easy part but I have no idea how they were getting down

Brooke and me heading to the madness that was Bourbon

And now might also be the appropriate time to tell you that on Facebook, there are people who have listed “Drew Breesus” as their religious affiliation. They are hardcore fans.

They call him Drew Breesus

THIS was Bourbon!

I have to say, the Saints win was truly an amazing moment.

• The Internet
• High-definition television
• conversations with my brothers for no reason
• guard dogs. Very large, loud guard dogs.