Currently - April '16

It's starting to look a lot like spring around here! All the green leaves and beautiful blooms are a sight for sore eyes, and an encouraging reminder that brighter (warmer) days are ahead. I'm hoping the temperatures will catch up soon too.

I am too late to officially be part of this month's Currently link up with Anne and Jenna, but their blogs are always worth a read so be sure to visit.

making - Running my fitness focus for the month. I signed up for a 5K on May 1, and have not been in the habit of running regularly since I dislocated my knee last July. I found a training plan online, wrote it all out on the calendar in the kitchen, and while I haven't made all the workouts happen, I have run twice during each of the last two weeks. Can't even begin to remember the last time that happened!

wishlisting - Something big (new phone) and something small (water resistant picnic blanket). I'm not really ready to part with my yellow 5c, but I do envy the big shiny screen and crisp photos on Keizo's 6. Target (of course) had some great picnic blankets a few summers ago with really cute prints, but I haven't seen any I like quite as much since.

cleaning - No urges to do any major spring cleaning, but I'm hoping that it will soon be time to put away the sweaters and coats until fall. Along the same vein, I'd like to find some quick, easy ways to switch up the decorating a little to reflect the season a bit more.

posting - Something other than a Currently post! You can read a quick recap and see some photos from our New Orleans trip here.

tasting - Cocktails. I have developed an unexpected love for Old Fashioneds, so the Sazeracs we had in New Orleans appealed to me a lot as well. We also tried and really liked the Foreign Affair (gin, white wine, vanilla) at Delmonico. At home, we've made these Peachy Moscow Mules, which are great if you don't mind some pulp at the bottom. We don't drink every night, I swear!

New Orleans

Back in January, I saw an ad for a Southwest Airlines sale and clicked through to see what they were offering. There were a few deals to cities I'd never been to, and after deciding on some dates and looking at the number of stopovers, Keizo and I purchased tickets to New Orleans.

We arrived around 9 PM last Saturday and left just after lunch on Tuesday, which ended up being a good amount of time to get oriented, learn a bit about the city's history and indulge in its rich food, drink, and music.

We stayed in a rental apartment a few blocks from the French Quarter in Faubourg Marigny, which aside from being located along the route the horse drawn carriages took from the stables to the Quarter worked out perfectly (I've gotten pretty used to living above the metro in DC, but horse hooves on pavement were pretty disruptive). We enjoyed breakfast at two neighborhood places, each less than a block from the apartment and were surrounded by traditional, colorful houses.

Highlights of the trip included watching and then participating in an Easter parade, a bike tour that took us to a cemetery and introduced us to a sliver of City Park, and the live music on Frenchman Street. Our last day, we saw a bit of the Garden District, but we'd love to go back to spend more time in City Park as well as experience more of the history and nature outside of the city.

Top to bottom, L to R: Streetcar near CBD, shrimp po'boy; enjoying our beignets, Jackson Square, shrimp and grits, hand grenades on Bourbon Street, cemetery and joining in the Easter parade.