Liar Society Winner!

Hey, y'all! Sorry if you were waiting for this post yesterday, but I hurt my knee on Sunday and was out of commission most of the day yesterday. Would you believe it was a bocce ball injury? More like a "my yard has a lot of holes in it and isn't a good place to play bocce ball" injury. Anywho, no one cares about that (I am feeling much better, thanks, no one. ;D), so on to the main event!

And the winner of the signed copy of The Liar Society, with additional swag, is:

The Lovely Getaway!

Diana, I will try to email you before the end of the day, but if you see this, please get back to me with your mailing address!

Congratulations!

Throw Me Somethin', Sistah! Winner!

But first, a few more Mardi Gras Public Service Announcements:

Tourists:

Please be warned that the green light at that crosswalk is for turning cars. The big yellow hand? That means you need to wait for the little walking man to show up. It isn't brain science, people. Or rocket surgery.

Also: Stop wearing flip-flops in the French Quarter.

You'll thank me later.

Seriously, when people come here, particularly during this time of year, it's like they leave their brains at the airport. Okay, rant over. Sorry, folks. Nothing to see here.

On a vastly more important note, I've tallied up everyone's entries, assigned them all numbers in the order you posted your original comments, and according to the random number generator, the winner is #11, which, by my count, is Icy Roses! Yay!

If you're unable to contact me by the end of the day with your snail mail, I'll figure out some way to track you down, but the sooner you get it to me, the better your chances of getting it this week! Mardi Gras is in 8 days, people! Sorry to everyone who didn't win, but here are some pics from Saturday's night parade, Pygmalion to ease the blow. (Or possibly make your Mardi Gras fever worse, I don't know)

And just to make you hungry, here are some of the delicious shrimp we ate, and a link to an awesome recipe for Louisiana style barbecue shrimp, with a fun little friendly debate in the comments. We love our food almost as much as we love talking about food here in New Orleans!

Did I mention that my husband's 21 year old niece and two of her friends are coming to stay with us? My husband keeps telling me that they're adults now and not to freak out, but I'm such a worry-wart sometimes. They're going to have a ton of fun, I'm sure! Stay with me throughout the week for more pics of my Mardi Gras Madness!

"RUINED" Winner!

The winner of the drawing for Paula Morris's RUINED is:

lbdiamond!

Shoot me an email some time this week with your mailing address and I'll get the book out to you asap!

For everyone else, if you're interested in reading a novel set in New Orleans, Ruined is a great one for a young lady who has never visited our fair city. But there are hundreds of books and an increasing amount of films and television programs set in Louisiana, particularly in New Orleans. There's even a Wikipedia page entitled New Orleans in Fiction that might provide a good starting point.

I highly recommend A Confederacy of Dunces if you want to experience the quirkiness of the city via a book, and Treme—if you have HBO— since it's the most authentic depiction I've ever seen on film. I get a little choked up watching that show sometimes, so I hope the rest of the country enjoys it as well as us here do.

Happy Reading, and make sure you know your evacuation plan!

And The Winner Is...

...so very lucky. ;) They are going to be the talk of their town when they get this box full of goodies. (And thanks, AP, for the pic of the amazing Tracy Porter, lol)

And what a celebration it's been here in town. It might as well be Ash Wednesday out there, the French Quarter streets are so trashed. A tree next to the POLICE STATION is covered in toilet paper. Vigilant, as always. Last night I witnessed an impromptu parade of Saints fans heading down the Avenue to the quarter to celebrate. Seriously, the neutral ground, where the St. Charles streetcar usually runs, was packed with people headed downtown. This morning I got in to the FQ only to see people leaving Barely Legal. At 9AM. Wow. I'll have some coffee with my debauchery, thanks.

It's been pretty surreal. Welcome to the Who Dat Nation, y'all! We're glad to have ya! (And glad Miami temporarily suspended their open container law, lol)

I'm actually kind of relieved the game is over, since now we've got over a week to keep on celebrating. Wahoo! (Of course, this means my husband's nephews and their friend will be here this week. Eep!) I'll try to get some parade footage on my phone and see if I can post it here, but I'm still trying to figure that thing out. It's smarter than I am, ya know.

Okay, enough stalling:

And the winner is:

Tricia J. O'Brien at Talespinning!

Please email me your address and I'll try to get your package out by the end of the day Tuesday to be sure you have your goodies before Mardi Gras day rolls around. Lucky you!

And to everyone else, just 'cause y'all don't usually celebrate carnival doesn't mean you can't start! Especially with this nasty winter I know most of y'all are having. Celebrate and eat and drink like Lent is about to start! (Of course, once Lent's over, there's the Easter crawfish boils, French Quarter fest, Jazzfest, Summerfest...)

Party on, y'all!