Prospect 1: New Orleans

I couldn't think of the proper way to describe Prospect 1 New Orleans so I'll just copy/paste from their website:

Prospect.1 New Orleans [P.1], the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, opened to the public on November 1, 2008 in museums, historic buildings, and found sites throughout New Orleans.

During our visit in NOLA, we visited several of the P1 locations and my favorite was the one at the Contemporary Art Center. Three stories of large, New Orleans-inspired art. Much of it was a response to Katrina, but none of it felt exploitative.

From top to bottom:

Skylar Fein's Remember the Upstairs Lounge, a multimedia installation paying tribute to lives lost at the Upstairs Lounge Fire of 1973.

Tony Feher's (re:place), a placement several two-liter plastic bottles of orange soda in strategic places in the rafters of the Contemporary Arts Center atrium. That's it.
Apparently, it has become quite a puzzling conversation piece upon walking inside the building.

Shawne Major's War Channel and Eating Cake. I don't know where to start with these... the first one is a whole picture of one of her pieces, from afar. The size of the tapestries are 9 x 14 feet. The close-up shows that the tapestries are a collection of trinkets and toys, hand sewn onto layers and layers of fabrics.

BF in front of a piece I cannot remember who did it. It was really cool though, layers and layers of blueprint-y buildings.

Me in front of some pretend street art. Again, can't remember who I should give credit to for that one.

NOLA Eats + Drinks

Before we got to NOLA, BF was very adamant about eating tons of boudin, oysters, etc. And that we did. It wasn't part of our New Years Cleanse, but it was worth it.

Amazing oysters and boudin at both Desire & ACME Oysters. Different, famous and delicious. Desire allows you to sit on adorably 40's-style diner and watch the Bourbon St. Madness. (picture of dining room above)

Absinthe from Old Absinthe House Bar, or last stop on the Ghost Tour and super cute, authentic and not too touristy. The tour by the way, was hilarious and entertaining way to see the city. Highly recommended by me and the Travel Channel.

I had my first Louisiana Salty Dog at Herbsaint (gin & grapefruit juice, rimmed with sugar and salt). This place was right across from our hotel in the central business district, and was a trendy spot for the locals. Fantastic food, ambiance, etc.

Totally excited to find French Macarons at the cafe inside the New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center! Mission Accomplished.

Nadine Blake

My absolute favorite shop in New Orleans was Nadine Blake's design shop. There is a good mix of local art, letterpress stationery, home textiles, etc. She also had an awesome Union Jack inspiration board.

I stocked-up on some cute letterpress cards, of which I cannot show because some of my readers might be receiving them soon.

The interesting thing about New Orleans was that EVERY SINGLE TIME I bought something, the owner sincerely thanked me for buying local and supporting New Orleans. I've got to admit, all the southern charm they laid on me made me not feel guilty about spending.

New Orleans, LA

Okay, I'm back. New Orleans was awesome. Even though it's a tourist-driven city, there's an overwhelming amount of local art, richly flavored food, Zydaco music and Quarter characters. We ate, drank, toured, shopped.. you name it. I'll be posting several highlights from our trip throughout the week.

I strongly urge you to visit New Orleans. Especially if you're a Texan. It's an easy, cheap weekend trip. They're hurting from Katrina and of course, the economy, but it's back. You won't get die from drinking the water or staying in the hotels. The shops, restaurants and museums are up-and-running and GREAT.

Sick Excitement

I woke up at 5:00 am today. This is unusual because I've been sleeping in until 10:30'ish on days that I do not work. The early rise is a mix of excitement for New Orleans (we leave tonight, stay overnight at the BF's grandparent's Lake house, leave for NO tomorrow, arrive in early afternoon) and the Theraflu I drank last night that made me pass out at 9:00 PM (I'm feeling all sore-throaty).

Even though our destination is only five hours away, I feel like it's a different country because come on, it is. CAJUN COUNTRY. Yes, good jokes in the a.m.

Thanks to the New Orleans D*S guide (+ reader comments) and the Domino Magazine Shopping Guide, I'm in good hands.

P.S. If you're traveling anywhere, a good up-to-date resource for delicious eats, and trendy, unique shopping is the Design*Sponge guides. I look at the Houston one all the time, and I live here. Check out the full list here.

New Orleans photo from David Paul Ohmer.

See Ya.

Today is my last day at the current temp job. It's been real...stupid. Ha, no.. I'm thankful that I got a nice little five-weeker in so that I don't have to tap into my savings (said savings only exists because of my dear Suze Orman).

I'm spending my day researching for our trip to New Orleans (which we may take next weekend?). The BF's parents gave it to us for Christmas and we're super-pumped. Maybe we'll go see Benjamin Button to build the NOLA anticipation. And finish A Confederacy of Dunces(I'm the worst).

Anyway, we have Very New Orleans: A Celebration of History, Culture, and Cajun Country Charm, the beautifully illusrated guidebook by Diana Hollingsworth Gessler to bring us to the best food, shopping and sights. Are there any off-the-beaten-path places that are the bee's knees??

P.S. Be Cool.