Living in New Orleans – the first 10 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but I didn’t move to New Orleans until late 2009. I’d lived in Maryland, Japan, Washington D.C., Alabama, New York, and almost 18 years in Los Angeles before finally following my heart home. Looking through photos for this blog post, I saw the story of a New Dat becoming a Saints season-ticket-holding Who Dat, a parade-goer becoming a Pussyfooters parade dancer, strangers becoming friends, and a blogger becoming an author. I saw the evolution of my love story with this city, and with the man I met my first year here.

I’d just produced Hell Ride with Quentin Tarantino when I decided to leave Los Angeles.

Gumbo Contest Judging

Those of us lucky enough to be raised by generations of Louisiana folk have been brought up eating gumbo. Yesterday, I took lucky to another level when I was asked to be a judge at Valero‘s annual fundraising event benefitting several local charities. Valero raised awareness and over a million dollars for organizations like Second Harvest and Special Olympics with their “Valero’s Got Talent” theme. When I arrived, blue-jumpsuited workers were milling around the gumbo tent sampling more than a dozen offerings. I joined judges Joseph Grey of Don’s Seafood and Ryan Gall, Executive Chef at TPC Louisiana as well as Eliza Eugene, who partners with Saints wide receiver Marques Colston (frequently found in the endzone at Saints games) in Eugene Colston Realty.

NOLA in a Week (Mom’s Visit)

There’s nothing like having a visitor to push you to take advantage of the city as much as possible in a week. My mom  and stepdad came to town and we went to 2 festivals, a number of concerts, a bunch of restaurants and plenty of cool shops. We even visited the set of Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained. If you’re planning to visit New Orleans or if you’re a New Orleanian looking for some ideas of how to entertain your guests, here are some highlights from our week.