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.

New Year/Sugar Bowl Parade

2015 was a great year in so many ways. I got to teach a graduate class at UNO instructing directors how to work with actors, I acted in several more movies and I completed another book (though a series of computer crashes prevented me from publishing The Secret of the Other Mother: A Charlotte Reade Mystery in 2015 – hoping to have it out my the end of January). And like so many things here, I got to celebrate it all with a parade and fireworks. The New Year’s Eve Parade was actually put on by the Sugar Bowl and its many sponsors and the festive Kern Studios floats reflected that. 

Living in New Orleans – the first 5 years

My family is from Louisiana for generations on both sides but my path home was winding. After living in Maryland, Washington D.C., Japan, Alabama, New York and Los Angeles, I finally moved to New Orleans in late 2009. And I’ve never been happier. When I got here, the Saints were on their way to winning the Superbowl and the city was vibrating with optimism. Most of the people who would come home after the Storm were back. Katrina money was being spent on street repairs and schools were getting instruments from places like Tipitina’s Foundation. Buildings, homes, t-shirts and more exclaimed, “Believe” and “Renew, Rebuild, Rebirth.” It was intoxicating.

New Orleans Living Magazine

A number of blogs host “guest bloggers.” I haven’t tried it yet and honestly thought I’d rather be someone’s guest than turn my reigns over to someone else to post on my blog. That said, I just read an article and interview by Christine Fontana for New Orleans Living Magazine that nearly perfectly expresses my love for this city. As such, I’m reprinting the article with clickable links to some of the places and organizations I mention.

French Quarter Fest – Day 1

French Quarter Fest, my favorite music festival of the year and the largest free festival in the South, opened its 28th year with a special treat – Locals Lagniappe Day (though some called it “Hooky Day” as many bosses snuck out after lunch and unattended employees were gone by 3). An entirely local festival featuring over 70 local, non-chain restaurants and more than 800 local musicians and international musicians playing local music on 18 stages throughout the Quarter, the normally 3-day festival was opened a day early to provide a less crowded experience for locals.