IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

Can I say... My life is so rich and varied because of the blogger world. I get to hang onto my anonymity if I choose, and take voyeuristic journeys to NYC, Provence, Paris, an Oklahoma ranch, family life in Alabama, designers' heads and studios...

What can I say? I'm just back home from a week+ of travel and visiting, ready for re-entry and some serious nesting. I have a house in dire need of spiffing-up, laundry up the wazoo, and a neglected diet and exercise routine to re-invigorate. But, I've just spent a couple of hours surfing through the lives of my blogging friends being inspired and challenged, laughing and smiling, and feeling very much like I do after a satisfying visit with my real-life friends.

CA and I spent a couple of weeks trading viruses, colds, and intestinal trauma (me only) before embarking on our road trip to New Orleans. We drove through some nasty weather along some icy roads until we reached our destination and found the sunshine. Louisiana people kept apologizing for the weather, but we were happy. Sunshine. 45 degrees and sunny. Did I mention the sun was shining the whole time?

Sunday the temps reached way into the 60s and we did some patio sitting and a shrimp boil. We met some lovely people, and were treated with tremendous hospitality.

The roads are mighty long and uninspiring when you drive south through Illinois on Rt. 47 to Rt. 57 and onto Int. 55 all the way to Norco, LA shortly before Destrehan (our destination). If you're a connoisseur of fine food, you're SOL 'cuz the only food you're gonna find is fast--Subway, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, and worse. There are no convenient-to-the-Interstate food stores where we might have gotten some fresh fruit or yogurt or even a baguette. Just dull and uninspiring franchises.

I would, honestly, forgo eating for hours on end thinking something better was ahead. It wasn't. We defaulted to Perkins and Wendy's, Taco Bell and McDonald's. Yep! Not your Weight Watcher-endorsed food choices.

In New Orleans, we were treated to some fine creamy crab soup and etouffee, a lovely pork roast and Sunday's shrimp boil. We ate at Susan Spicer's Mondo (absolutely tasty) and bought some muffalettas at Central Grocery. We feasted on beignets at Cafe du Monde and freshly-squeezed-just-from-the-tree orange juice at the house.

CA's committed to teaching this week, so we had to head home--grateful for the rising temperatures and sunny skies on the return trip. It was still a long way home, and the road food wasn't any better heading north, but when we got here, we're home and that's a lot to be thankful for.