Team Tyre had a quick trip to New Orleans this weekend and it was a blast. JD and I hadn’t been there since our honeymoon 19 years ago.

Our first stop was Acme Oysters which was a favorite on that trip. It was just as delicious as I remembered. And also 4x as expensive. Or maybe it was that we were now feeding THREE.

 

The trip was perfect timing. It was the 10 year anniversary of Katrina, so we got to include some history in the mix, and Moonpie has signed up for a photography class and there’s no better place to try out a new camera.

I would show you some of her photos but she guards them like she’s the High Museum of Art.

Bourbon Street at 5 o’clock is worse than New York City at midnight. This town parties all day and night. Moon and I got up early (8 a.m.) and walked around the city so she could take some “golden hour” shots. There were bars going strong with folks from the night before.

Our hotel was very nice, but each night, rambunctious party goers decided to hold a pow-wow in front of our door. Some old lady actually called the desk and had them send up security. It was 1:30 in the MORNING for goodness sake.

Things we did – went to Cafe Du Monde, ate shrimp, crawfish, oysters, and every other kind of seafood under the sun, attended a swanky art opening, rode the trolley, went to a very old cemetery, listened to jazz, saw some women of questionable repute, went to a trade show, and ate bread pudding, fried oreos, and everything else you can think of.

Things we didn’t do – show any restraint what-so-ever.

 

And I mean NO restraint. New Orleans doesn’t call for any, amiright?

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Kittens! I’m fresh off the beach and trust me, I look like it. Twenty years ago that would have meant that my hair was streaked blonde and I was rocking a deep tan. Now I just look sunburnt and worn out. I’d post a picture but I didn’t take any. Plus, I don’t trust you people with my image.

Camping is something I do once a year to remind myself that my parents were saints. Or insane, whichever.

 

Of course, my parents had a huge camper with air conditioning and I had a hot tent with last year’s dirt on the floor.

 

It didn’t seem to faze the kids.

If you peer really closely you can see the kids swimming to the dock. Because I’m very responsible, all of them are wearing life jackets. This is just moments before the marina police drove up and told them to get away from the dock. Fascists.

After two days of dragging the kids behind the boat, we piled the kids in the car and drove eight hours to North Carolina. It was worth the long trip. Our friends fed us like kings, then took us via ferry to Shackleford Banks, an island with wild horses and lots of conch shells.

 

The kids were out of the water for about ten minutes all day. On Sunday we said our goodbyes and made the trip back home. I am still recovering. I’m at the age where sleeping on a blowup bed and driving in a car constitutes hard living.

Speaking of hard living: You know what’s harder than dieting? Dieting while at the lake and vacationing with friends. I ate hamburgers without buns, chicken without bbq sauce, and no s’mores. My 30 days is up tomorrow and if I haven’t lost weight, prepare yourself for the sonic boom of my head exploding.

 

 

A few months ago, my aunts and Mom were here for a yard sale. We ran into a lady selling all of her cookbooks because she had just completed the Whole 30 Diet. She was singing it’s praises – “I feel so good,” and  “I lost weight, but I didn’t even care cause I felt so good!”, etc. We were all stoked to come home and start it until we actually read what it entails.

No Alcohol

No Sugar – not even Stevia or honey

No bread

No dairy

No legumes

No MSG

That’s when they lost us. Okay, they lost me at “no alcohol.”

Alas, a few weeks ago I woke up and realized I was still pudgy. Desperate to try anything, I decided to give it a whirl. I am now on day 17!

The good news is that I do FEEL better. The bad news is that I don’t think I’ve lost any weight. You’re not supposed to weigh until the very end, but I still look the same. That will be a very depressing weigh-in if I go through all of this for nothing. Well, nothing expect for the feeling better thing and who cares about that!

The diet hasn’t been has hard as I thought. You CAN eat good, grass-grass fed meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit. Tonight I made peppers stuffed with hamburger, sweet potato, spinach and cilantro.

YUMOLA.

It was WHOLE 30 compliant, a WHOLE lot of work, and a WHOLE lot of money. Now we know where they got the name!

In addition to dieting, I’ve started running. I blame my friend Kit who said we’d do it together then promptly “hurt” her knee. The lengths some people will go to get me to exercise, amiright Kittens?

If you’re desperately pudgy and ready to quit eating everything wonderful, give Whole 30 it a try!