Babbles of a Lover and a Fighter

Ah, festival season is upon us.  Traffic is wacky and tourists are fun to people-watch.  The weather’s been exceptional, and it’s been fun catching random bands and amazing foods at events like Wednesday at the Square.  And shout out to The Rum House for the most ridiculously delicious Creole rib and brisket tacos EVER.

We also made it to the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival (first time!) where there was deliciousness to be had and a really good Beatles cover band to be heard.  When we first got there, there was basically a road of everything fried and everything strawberry, but we’ll get to that later.  The rides were your typical (scary) carnival rides:

and only got crazier as they lit up when the sun went down:

As with most festivals, strawberry fest was prime for people watching.  Most notably this adorable strawberried little girl:

(I think I will make some overalls like that) and this dude who WON A GIANT PIG (jealous.):

He literally stood like that for HOURS.  I mean, the pig looked squishy and comfy enough to make one wonder…

And the food.  Oh the food.  Anyone who knows me knows I am a fat kid at heart.  It’s craziness like these monstrosities…

(yes, that’s a CINNAMON-BATTERED, POWDERED SUGAR-DUSTED FRIED STRAWBERRY.) that make my taste buds squeal and my arteries cry.  It’s a love-hate thing.  Also, not pictured, we sampled spicy meat pies, chocolate covered strawberries, strawberry lemonade, grilled corn, sausage…and other strawberry and non-strawberry foods.  All fantastic.

And afterward, we all kind of felt like this:

…and this (if Katy were “food” in general):

DOES NOT WANT.

So yes, my first time at Strawberry Fest was strawberry-licious.  Lots of food, music, friends, people watching, strawberries and fun times.  Double rainbow!  Double thumbs up!

Mardi Gras has come and gone. For some people (tourists), it’s all about Bourbon Street and boobies. For those of us who know better, it’s all about the parades and meeting new friends and dressing up and being awesome.

Mardi Gras is about getting hit in the face by gigantic pink beads…about screaming ’til you’re hoarse and have a bad case of the man-voice…about being handed a real rose by a guy in a mask you’re pretty positive is cute.

It’s about buying ridiculously colored backpacks at Walgreens for 7 bucks and filling them with crazy treasures like brilliantly engineered cooling cases for tasty beverages and heavily protected precious camera gear.

It’s about being SUPER excited for floats that proudly display your lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut…

It’s about cramming pasta in your pie hole on the way to a night parade because you were too busy having fun at the morning one to eat anything…

But most of all, it’s about friends.

Having not been in New Orleans for Mardi Gras in two years and having to march in all of the ones I have been able to go to, I realized this year that it really is like a second Christmas.  Work was closed, it was gorgeous weather (except for Saturday’s deluge), and everyone just seemed…happy.

My friend Neill’s cousin turned two and had a circus themed birthday party today.  There was a makeshift tent inside, popcorn, inflatable animals, cotton candy, even a bowl full of clown noses.  Toward the end of the party, though, the kids opted to play outside while most of the adults stayed warm and munched on animal crackers.  It never ceases to amaze me how such tiny, simple things can get a kid so excited.

Here are a few of my favorite snaps from the day.  Click pics to enlarge!

Exhibit one: slides.  She probably went up and down that thing twenty times in a row, giggling her little butt off every time.

Exhibit two: swings.  I swear, this girl has the most infectious laugh.

Exhibit three: balloons.  Oh the balloons.  The kids were busy for at least an hour playing catch and release and just laughing laughing laughing.

Such simple things.  And kids can get so excited, all they can do is laugh and squeal and run around.  They can’t speak in complete sentences.  And it’s the most adorable thing in the world.  I wish I could show my excitement about anything like those kids were showing about those balloons, but I think if I acted like that on the first day of work, people might look at me funny.  Maybe I’ll laugh and squeal and run around…on the inside.

So, it’s official.  I am terrible at this day-to-day thing.

Good news, though.  Two days until California and six until the Philippines.  It really couldn’t come at a better time.  I need a vacation to say the least.  And I did lose 10 pounds since I started this countdown in April, so this wasn’t all in vain…I don’t think. haha

In other news, Hunter and Kelli got married this past weekend.  Just adorable.

I’ve been to three weddings in the past year, and all three were beautiful.  I mean, two people promising to live with and for each other, to take care of each other, to honor, cherish, love each other for the rest of their days…what is more smile-worthy than that?

Weddings symbolize the epitome of true love, the realization of a dream: that you’ll never be alone as long as you both shall live.

There’s just something comforting in knowing that someone has your back when things get tough.  That, no matter what, you’ll work through everything.  Together.

Congratulations, guys.  Many more years of happiness to you!

Breakfast: 3 strips of bacon, English muffin (olive oil butter, strawberry jam), breakfast taco, a few home fries, strawberries and cantaloupe, water
Exercise: 2 miles running, 1/8 mile cooldown
Dinner: P. Terry’s double no cheese + pickles + lettuce, fries, water
Dessert: slice of chocolate mocha cheesecake

Derek brought his new Husky puppy Emma over today!  She is the most adorable thing ever, even though she had an uncontrollable urge to play with all of my socks in the apartment.  She’s got little puppy teeth and likes to chew on her feet and tail.  She kind of stared at her shadow for a bit…

And then she stared at me for a bit.  I don’t think she wanted the cupcake.

She is the most adorable little fuzzball.

And here she is in her heroic stance:

Though she is the cutest little thing, I don’t think I could handle a puppy right now.  The constant pooping and whizzing and love-smothering might be a little too close to bringing a baby into the house.  Derek and Katie seem to have it down, though.  And Emma is definitely a sweet addition to the family.  I’m glad I finally got to see her =)

And on a completely unrelated note, this video cracked me up.  I wish we had this in the states.

Goodnight =)