It's Monday, February 8th, so as promised... we have a winner!

Last Wednesday I announced that AllBarStools.com had offered a prize to give away, and I collected entries to win it through yesterday. What great fun this little virtual online party turned out to be — the response was more than I expected!

So this morning I wrote down all the names of everyone who commented or tweeted the entry. Seventy-two — which by the way, rhymes with "wohoo!" — pieces of paper went into the drawing...<< MORE >>

Photo: mhall

Oh, to be in New Orleans on this Wanderlust Sunday — the city's beloved Saints are in the Super Bowl and all the foodies are in the kitchen preparing to entertain. Sure, the actual game is in Miami, and that has a flavor of it's own. But Super Bowl is synonymous with party, and they know how to do it up right in the place the Saints call home.

Gumbo... jambalaya... po boys... red beans and rice...oysters... fried chicken... are no doubt cooking-up in home kitchens all over town. Along with the traditional tailgate trimmings for football parties, I bet there's a feast to be tasted at every third house...<< MORE >>

Photo Credit: Reuters

This is the first year ever that I'm more interested in the Super Bowl than I am the commercials during the game. I'm one of those people. You know — the ones who mill around being social, only paying attention once the television goes to break. But this year, I'll be sitting with rapt attention watching football, because I want The Saints too win. This time it's long-time Super Bowl advertiser, Pepsi that will be social without paying attention to the game.

This gets my inner media student's attention...<< MORE >>

There's a lot of attention on Miami this week, as host of the upcoming Superbowl. It's a fun city to visit anytime, and I'm sure it will be fun of energy this weekend.

Now, I know that no one headed there to celebrate the big game likely has The Everglades on this trip's to-see list. But I wanted to tell you about it for Photo Friday because my friend Roxanne and I went there during our Miami visit.

It was my idea, and she went along. Neither of us really knew what to expect. We figured if birds like this one were comfortable around the gators, we'd brave the trail to see them.

Whoa, it was surreal!... << MORE >>

Contrary to what you might think, superheroes are grossly underpaid. Yes, yes... it's altruism that drives them — a mission to make others' lives better somehow is, at its core, the opposite of greed. But even Mighty Morphin Power Rangers need walking-around money. Hey, any taxpayer can tell you that battling evil doesn't come free... << MORE >>

The bar stool's built for dreamers. That's the line from a Widespread Panic song I've been singing since I realized allbarstools.com had somehow read my mind. I was sitting on the comfy swivel kind in my dear friend's kitchen last weekend when I was thinking: I need more impromptu parties in my life.

This occurred to me because I was helping my friend prepare for one.  I was sort of crashing it since my overnight visit had become three days because of snow. See, she and her husband live in North Carolina — in a town that doesn't see enough icy weather to quickly clear the roads. But their house is on a lake that wasn't frozen — so they broke out all the bar supplies and invited a bunch of neighbors over by boat.

It was the best snow day ever...
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Southern California's Death Valley is a place that sounds inhospitable, but it's host to delicate wildflowers every spring. In a don't-blink-or-you'll-miss-it window between a cold, whip-windy winter and summer heat that explains its name, little yellow and purple rebels pop out of the earth like they're trying to prove that anything's possible... << MORE >>

The other day I visited Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park outside of Atlanta, and met an interesting character on the trail. 

"That's a 12-pounder Smoothbore Napoleon," he said as he approached me. I was standing next to one, so I looked like I wanted to know. "Not as accurate as the Grape Shot, but could hit much farther away."

"Oh Lord," I thought as I smiled and nodded. "I've been trapped in conversation with a smooth bore." ...<< MORE >>

Photo: MulesAPilot

I bet the streets of New Orleans have seen a few impromptu parades since yesterday's nail-biter of a game sending the Saints to their first Super Bowl! It's what the whole "Who Dat" nation is buzzing about. I'm caught up in the excitement too, but I couldn't begin to write a post about football. No, this post is about how the city celebrates.

Let The Good Times Roll!


When I lived in New Orleans, it really wasn't unusual to get caught up in parade traffic on a regular Tuesday night. On several occasions I saw streets closed for floats and bands to go by, when I had no idea what was being celebrated...<< MORE >>

I have a group of beloved girlfriends who steal away for a little trip together every year. It started the year we turned thirty — the year we learned about the travesty of getting "Ma'amed". On that first trip, we engaged in an imaginary dance-off with the younger girls. This year's idea is to walk for three days for them.

It would be for all women, really — We'd like to walk a Susan G. Komen 3-Day to raise funds towards finding a breast cancer cure...<< MORE >>