dripping with passion

i know this will probably give you all a headache, but i couldn't help myself after taking two pictures from the same spot and learning how to make animated .gif files. happy halloween from a black cat, halloween edition of psy gangnam sytle, michael horn (internet sensation, cross-fitter and co-author of disrupting class ), jason hwang (heath care celebrity in asia, biggest michigan fan and co-author of innovator's prescription ), and marilyn monroe. I LOVE HALLOWEEN (yes, i just used caps).

on tuesday night in new orleans after eating the most devastatingly beautiful southern meal, katherine and i went to the corner of bourbon and st. peter’s streets to hear some jazz. we traded off waiting in line to get into preservation hall for the last set of music, and i found this band in a bar filling the air with sweet bluesy strains and listened for a bit from the big, open windows: preservation hall opened in 1961, created as a sanctuary to protect and honor authentic new orleans jazz in the face of newer musical trends. nearly every night for 51 years, melodies and harmonies and improvisations have filled up the hall’s simple, small room. when we walked in after a half an hour of waiting, i could feel the memories of this place in my bones, the trillions of musical notes having soaked deep into the walls and the floorboards. we sat on the front row, on the ground, on some thin cushions, in our dresses. the saxophone tube was right in front of my face. for an hour we listened...

for our team dinner in new orleans, we went to the city’s most famous restaurant, commander’s palace. that night was one of the very, very best dining experiences of my life. the atmosphere in the main dining room was so neat. there were birds on the walls and barely flickering bulbs in the chandeliers. i have the most amazing, smart, funny, interesting coworkers and their company was just delightful. i ate turtle soup, pumpkin salad, pecan crusted gulf fish with creamed corn and the most incredible bread pudding (the same recipe that has been used since the early 1800s). everything was just so, so delicious. i was swooning the whole time. afterward, our waiter took us on a tour and we got to see all the different gorgeous dining rooms, the kitchen (everything is made from local ingredients and from scratch – they even have a butcher!), the wine cellar, the lush back gardens, and the patio, which was canopied by the branches of a huge, mosey cyprus tree. it was just the most exq...

katherine and i went to new orleans a day before our conference started so we would have a little time to explore. i immediately fell for this colorful, lively city that is so unlike any other. we had a fantastic saturday afternoon and evening wandering through the french quarter, taking it all in.   st. louis cathedral in jackson square, where we sat in the sun and ate poboys   interior of st. louis cathedral art sales in jackson square balconies and buggies the most famous and delicious beignets       goods at the flea market   and gator on a stick at the farmers’ market! balconies and shutters decked out for halloween really fun shops along royal street   all kinds of street performers we happened to get to see a wedding parade! all the guests waved handkerchiefs behind the band and then everyone paused in front of the reception site and danced and cheered we took the ferry across the mississippi river and back and then strolled down the infamous b...