I had a great time in the French Quarter over the Thanksgiving Holiday!  I stopped by the world famous Cafe du Monde for some mouth watering beignets.  We also ventured in  the neighborhood east of the Quarter and stumbled upon a great little laundromat/restaurant/grocery store with slot machines that specialized in Indian and New Orleans style food....AMAZING.  I want one in my neighborhood too. The name of this little place was called Schiros.  Visit this place if you go, very good food!

Also, a little coffee shop was found a few blocks away in a very quiet neighborhood that had more architecture and charm than all of Dallas put together.  The Orange Couch had a great atmosphere and tasty drinks. Everything inside was white except the couch of course.  Very interesting to have all residential and a couple of stores in the neighborhood, never have seen that but really liked it, charming.

The morning of Thanksgiving was spent having breakfast in the elegant Ritz Carlton restaurant.  This was followed up with a 50 minute vichy shower warm stone massage in the spa....me like.  

Another placed I really liked is a bar that dates back to 1722.  A pirate/architect by the name of Jean Lafitte used to hide his treasure in the hidden compartment in the fireplace centuries ago. My friend Clare is in New Orleans tracking down this Mr. Lafitte, more information to follow.

I think it is about time to remove the pumpkins sitting out in my living room and put out Christmas decorations. So much to do and not enough time in a day!

This is kinda like my place but I have 200 square feet more.

I came across this little clip just now.  This made me smile. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving is here and this means having a house guest. How does one prepare for their arrival? Rearranging all furniture, cleaning and painting, yes painting! Sounds crazy....because it is!  

The apartment is all gussied up, marble floors polished.....oh wait that's not my apartment, silly me.  Everything looks great and smells like paint.

So this craft show is on and the host is telling everyone what a glue gun is and how to use it.  She says that you can instantly bond things together like material, plastic cups, and it makes things such a breeze.  She advises not to have cocktails while using this device.  Who is this lady and what is this show?!

Looks like I am going to spend Thanksgiving in the French Quarter.  This will be great!  I am bringing with a blank book for drawing, lots of pencils and pens to sketch some really amazing buildings while I visit. 

I will try to partake in some pampering at the Spa at the Ritz.  For those of you that don't know, I supervise a luxury spa here in Dallas, Texas.  I have worked in a spa setting now for seven years and it is a lot of hard work to make people leave feeling great. Oh, what do you eat in Nola on Thanksgiving, better be spicy.

Carleton Varney, predecessor to famed interior designer Dorthy Draper, is coming into work tomorrow!  I don't know if I will get a chance to meet him.  Even if I do I can't say anything unless he strikes up a conversation with me, per our hand book.  

I designed a set back in 2011 that was Dorthy Draper inspired, the show was Pillow Talk.  When I was coming up with the design I visited some websites to get the mojo going  and that's when I came across Carleton Varney.  Then I later learned that he worked with the famed Dorthy Draper later on in late career.  The fun part about all of this is the both of them designed projects at the building I work in.  

Above was my take on a Dorthy Draper inspired design.  The things to go for when trying to achieve her designs. 

#1 Black and white checked floor, a must
#2 High gloss black and flat white paint on a door
#3 A pop of color
#4 Add in some floral

I stared using the internet around 1997-1998.  This is just amazing how far we have come. Enjoy the video and most of all the white jeans worn by the host!

Love this video.  Copy right will not let me put this on my website visit You Tube to see this.  Only theatre people will get this.