Down on Bourbon Street
Feb. 26th, 2009 03:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ceebeegeeSo Lori and I had our inaugural party on Mardi Gras and it turned out very well. People started arriving right at 8 when I was, naturally, running behind and trying to get dressed. I put on a lil' black dress with purple, green and gold eyes and lips, and a similarly-colored mask. Lori spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and I was parked at the bar making hurricanes. We had a very well-stocked bar this year, thanks to the lovely Susan who contributed no fewer than 5 bottles of high-end rum, including two Mount Gay flavored (vanilla and mango). Mostly I dished out hurricanes--such a simple, albeit delicious, pleasure. Nothing like a hit of dark rum floated along the sweetness of pure corn syrup and red dye no. 5! I did end up making some mixed drinks later on.
Lots and lots of food for lots of people. Guests included Ryan, Kelly, Chris, Rachel, Michael, Tesse, Duncan, Jason, Michael Clay, Griffin, Molly, Adam and a friend of his, Brett, Stefania, my friend Joy, Tim and his friend Matt, Ashley and a friend of hers, my friend Katie from work, two on-floor neighbors, a neighbor who lives above us, our landlord and a friend of his, two Swedish friends of Lori, a couple of Lori's friends who went to Tulane, and many other friends of Lori's whose names I didn't catch. This is the biggest party I've had since I moved to NYC (not the biggest overall though, that would have to have been when I lived with Ryan and Cami--our insane housearming!). Lori and I were estimating how many guests overall--she guessed 50, I think it was fewer than that (maybe closer to 40). We didn't run out of anything--we served King Cake, red beans and rice, crawfish dip, chicken gumbo, and on and on. And nonstop HURRICANES. All backed up by my Mardi Gras playlist of zydeco, blues, Dixieland jazz, with The Big Easy playing in the background. Woo hoo! Laissez les bons temps roulez! Hail Rex!
I had a great time socializing when I could, talking with Tim and his friend (who generally stood in one corner, looking mysterious and talking on their cells--they are G-men after all), chatting with Joy, pulling out my Romeo and Juliet scrapbook and showing it off. It was awesome to see Michael Clay, BTW, haven't seen him since the summer. He's also so good-natured. I got a chance to talk with Molly a bit as well--she wants to do Othello and I was telling her, she could cast herself as Iago.
I brought out the King Cake (which I'd baked that day) and explained the whole custom to everyone and how this was a big thing in New Orleans, and then sliced it up. Michael got the baby. (Sadly, I think Rachel and Kelly had left before King Cake deliciousness. If it makes you feel better, neither Lori nor I got slices either! In general I didn't have that much to drink--I did not have TIME, I was parked at the bar for quite a while.) I actually had several people ask me about the customs of the holiday--the colors, the King Cake, hurricanes (which is a NO thing, not specific to MG) and so of course I took such opportunities to pimp out my beautiful city and mentioned the collection for Tipitina's. Maybe next year I could hang something from the fire escape...I'm also thinking next year a raffle for the Foundation, and maybe adding po'boys to the menu.
At some point (after Kelly had left, unfortunately, 'cause she had on a great outfit), I eyeballed what people were wearing and handed out a couple of little prizes for especially festive outfits. Michael Clay has a purple sweater with a gold hat and something else green, so he won, but our neighbor James had a festive purple argyle sweater. Adam and his friend and Stefania came fairly late, after midnight and stayed QUITE late. After they left (they were the last) Lori and I collapsed and watched a little more of The Big Easy. I finally rolled into bed around 5:00.
We collected $65 for Tipitina's Foundation.
Lots and lots of food for lots of people. Guests included Ryan, Kelly, Chris, Rachel, Michael, Tesse, Duncan, Jason, Michael Clay, Griffin, Molly, Adam and a friend of his, Brett, Stefania, my friend Joy, Tim and his friend Matt, Ashley and a friend of hers, my friend Katie from work, two on-floor neighbors, a neighbor who lives above us, our landlord and a friend of his, two Swedish friends of Lori, a couple of Lori's friends who went to Tulane, and many other friends of Lori's whose names I didn't catch. This is the biggest party I've had since I moved to NYC (not the biggest overall though, that would have to have been when I lived with Ryan and Cami--our insane housearming!). Lori and I were estimating how many guests overall--she guessed 50, I think it was fewer than that (maybe closer to 40). We didn't run out of anything--we served King Cake, red beans and rice, crawfish dip, chicken gumbo, and on and on. And nonstop HURRICANES. All backed up by my Mardi Gras playlist of zydeco, blues, Dixieland jazz, with The Big Easy playing in the background. Woo hoo! Laissez les bons temps roulez! Hail Rex!
I had a great time socializing when I could, talking with Tim and his friend (who generally stood in one corner, looking mysterious and talking on their cells--they are G-men after all), chatting with Joy, pulling out my Romeo and Juliet scrapbook and showing it off. It was awesome to see Michael Clay, BTW, haven't seen him since the summer. He's also so good-natured. I got a chance to talk with Molly a bit as well--she wants to do Othello and I was telling her, she could cast herself as Iago.
I brought out the King Cake (which I'd baked that day) and explained the whole custom to everyone and how this was a big thing in New Orleans, and then sliced it up. Michael got the baby. (Sadly, I think Rachel and Kelly had left before King Cake deliciousness. If it makes you feel better, neither Lori nor I got slices either! In general I didn't have that much to drink--I did not have TIME, I was parked at the bar for quite a while.) I actually had several people ask me about the customs of the holiday--the colors, the King Cake, hurricanes (which is a NO thing, not specific to MG) and so of course I took such opportunities to pimp out my beautiful city and mentioned the collection for Tipitina's. Maybe next year I could hang something from the fire escape...I'm also thinking next year a raffle for the Foundation, and maybe adding po'boys to the menu.
At some point (after Kelly had left, unfortunately, 'cause she had on a great outfit), I eyeballed what people were wearing and handed out a couple of little prizes for especially festive outfits. Michael Clay has a purple sweater with a gold hat and something else green, so he won, but our neighbor James had a festive purple argyle sweater. Adam and his friend and Stefania came fairly late, after midnight and stayed QUITE late. After they left (they were the last) Lori and I collapsed and watched a little more of The Big Easy. I finally rolled into bed around 5:00.
We collected $65 for Tipitina's Foundation.
