This is Paladar 511, the scene of yesterday’s Sunday brunch. Wow! Every bite was delicious and, as you can see, the room is just amazing. I instantly thought of Fringe Association and the aesthetic of Karen Templer. Really, really gorgeous.
Having arrived on Wednesday evening and taken the weekend for fun, it is now time to put my shoulder into it and get some stuff done. There are costumes to be made! Here are the fabrics I’ll be working with over the next couple of days. The black and white is my costume waiting to be cut and the other is a coat I’m putting together today for Miss Laura. One of the best things about Mardi Gras is having the chance to work with fancy, sparkly fabrics. The black and white swirly one has already dumped a gallon of white glitter all over Laura’s house!
This past weekend marked the running of the annual Krewe de Vieux parade, an irreverent, satirical and frequently ribald walking parade the winds its way across the Faubourg Marigny and into the French Quarter. The parade passes right in front of the house where I once lived and which is still the home of my friends, so of course a huge courtyard party is made for parade watching. I’m sure there were 200 people there, drinking and eating and dancing and it was wonderful to see so many old friends and to make new ones.
Probably the best thing about Carnival for me is that the entire city is on the same page. Though everyone has their own traditions about celebrating Carnival, these ways of communally marking the passing of the year are really unifying for New Orleanians. There’s no place like it 🙂
