post-new orleans restoration

daddy long legs and miss sophie

we're back! did you miss us? i've been so bad about writing regularly that i bet you didn't know we were gone...but we were. we went with rich to the AAO conference in new orleans for four whirlwind days. we stayed at one of my favorite places--the olivier house on toulouse just north of bourbon. the building dates from the 1830s and i'm guessing it spent some time as a bordello...but that just makes it more fabulous. my feeling (and cindy's) is that you can stay at a marriott or a hampton inn or whatever in any city and have the same experience, which is sometimes just what you need, but i would much rather stay somewhere that is entrenched in the style of the city. and our room at the olivier house couldn't have felt more like new orleans--it was a two story room with a fountain and 15-20 foot overgrown tropical plants inside. it was kinda like living in covered patio/greenhouse and it was awesome. it was the fifth or sixth time i have stayed there--all of their rooms are different--and the third time in the waterfall room. gus loved it, as did sophie who couldn't stay out of the fountain.

and, we got to see cindy, cole and rory who recently relocated to mandeville! we all went to the zoo (me, gus and sophie with cindy, cole and rory) and that was wonderful. i also saw carter and erin o, who are doing beautifully and are much missed (rich saw tons of people at the meeting but of course we weren't there...) and as an extra bonus, we had the same return flight as andrea, one of rich's co-residents at iowa. she and i got to talk and catch up for a couple of hours as we all flew to houston. she was travelling solo, sans her seven kids and husband (yes, seven--and to make you feel even worse she is a full-time ophthalmologist! and what did i do today?) and looks remarkably unchanged. it was a good trip. but i'm glad to be home.


sophie in our tropical apartment


gus discovers the joys of cafe du monde


(as does sophie)


the olivier house has a pool and gus was determined to get in (although it was a tad frigid), but didn't advance any further than this until...


...the next day when sophie jumped in, all by herself, in her dress and everything, and scared us both to death--gus grabbed her and pulled her up so she could breathe. now we have both saved a sibling from drowning!


in retrospect, i did have a lot of warning that she might want to jump (like this)


and this, and the fact that she couldn't stay out of the fountain in the room


silly sophie


meditative gus, during a rare quiet moment in jackson square


are you going to eat all of that?


creepy clown at blaine kirn's mardi gras world


gus in mardi gras regalia!


(sophie didn't want to play)


gus on his best behavior at mardi gras world--but this wasn't the highlight of the trip for him...


nor were the penguins at the aquarium...


...it was seeing his buddy cole!