Dang, Erin. A doctor's visit with a shot is quite the (traumatic) milestone. And, as bad as 8 hours on the frozen, whited-out road must have been, dang, buckets of margaritas and crab legs sounds like heaven. As does a sedate NYE with friends and prosecco.

And, nope, a touch more relief does not make you a bad person. You kind of got thrown into the deep end of the stepparenting-and-meeting-family pool, and if you weren't in need of a breather by now it'd be kind of weird.

I caught up! No skipping, but some skimming (especially the math stuff).

Back from New Orleans. Had a seven course Revillion menu on Christmas night at Restaurant August which was amazing. AMAZING. Once I find the menu, I will post it somewhere. Jazz Brunch at Commander's Palace was great, though Tom had a crappy (chlorine-tasting) shrimp in his shrimp and redfish gumbo. Atmosphere was great, though, and we had many excellent cocktails there.

Also for cocktails: went to Iris, which doesn't list its cocktail menu online but it was a KILLER craft/artesianal bar with loads of homemade bitters and syrups and extracts and stuff (sorta looked like the Pharmacy Museum, come to think of it) and was in our hotel, The Bienville House.

For a more traditional New Orleans cocktail experience, we made many revolutions around The Carousel Bar, as well as Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, and The Old Absinthe House. The Chart Room, makes a hell of a Manhattan, we watched the Saints game (yikes!)at Crescent City Brewpub, and played pub trivia at Jimani, which we won once despite my massive and semi-crippling hangover.

Other food places: Cafe du Monde of course, Stanley Restaurant, where I had 2 very weird po'boys, burgers, baked potatoes, and "Monsoons" at Port of Call, The Camellia Grill, The Gumbo Shop for red beans & rice and jambalaya (and gumbo and boudin), and Mr. B's for BBQ shrimp (eh...) and Gumbo Ya-Ya (yum!!)

Ate Chinese food at 5 Happiness and Cuban food at... some place on Magazine. It was good though! Our final night was at Couchon which was freaking awesome.

Got in some culture type stuff too: The WWII/D-Day Museum, the Pharmacy Museum, and The Cabildo Museum in Jackson Square.

Grabbed a muffeletta at the Central Grocery to take home, 1 quarter of which is currently taunting me from my fridge for lunching. Took Tom down Bourbon Street for about 3 blocks before he couldn't take it anymore. It's funny how much of the horrible crazy is confined there and doesn't leak out as much as you'd think!

SO MANY PLACES I wanted to go that I didn't get to. Lil' Dizzy's, Mother's, Jacque-Imo's, Mahoney's, Green Goddess, Herbsaint.... the list goes on and on. Also, more of the museum stuff in the Quarter as well as the Fine Arts Museum.

In possibly related news, I am so tired. Ah well, gotta keep up with the laundry and heat up my muffeletta quarter!

Mmmm. Jimani has the best burgers. God I need to go back to La.

Dude, that sounds awesome.

Also I am now very hungry.

Nora! Glad you had a great time. That sounds like an awesome NO experience.

DJ: Ooh, we tried their steak and roast beef po'boys which were great (no gravy on the roast beef though) but will keep the burger in mind next time.

Yes, I am plotting a next time.

We met up with friends about halfway through and one of them is from La, so he and his wife had some favorites they wanted to take us to, like the Camellia Grill, Port of Call, and Five Happiness. They had a car (had driven in from Austin to spend Xmas with his family in Walker) so that was useful and convenient too!

It was a great trip.

I am experiencing TOTAL FOOD JEALOUSY. It burns, it burns!!

Oh, Seska, you are lovely! I love seeing first pics of Buffistas. And the combined loveliness of all three is wonderful. F2Fs make me happy, even vicarious ones.

I ran away from home to play with punk rockers and not touch a computer for four days.

Sounds like fun!

Erin, no, not a bad person at all.

I have kicked off NYE with a roaring headache. My latest AD seems to make me more prone to them. Boo. I am on the interwebs while KBD rearranges his kitchen counters.

Gad, I'm missing eating and drinking in New Orleans.

Nora, so jealous. Love The Gumbo Shop and some of the others. For next time add Elizabeth's in Bywater to your list. I really hope I can go back to NOLA in March, it's become a highlight of my year.