Buenos Aires

I am in Argentina today, flying a 7 day trip. Great crew, a few mishaps the first day, with us having to stay in New York for an extra day, due to our airplane's left filangi being broken, which meant our layover in Buenos Aires was cut down to only 20 hours...
It is kinda weird, knowing that this is probably the last time I will be flying over the rainforest, maybe my last time flying to South America, but it is also nice to know that soon I wil not have to put on that awful blue polyester uniform, encounter the worst turbulence ( always around South America) and spending time in boring hotel rooms...
Flying back to New York tonight, and then a quick St Maarten turn and then trying to get on a flight back to my beloved New Orleans...

Goodbye

My other job has offered all of us a "buy out" .It is a little bit of money, I would get "retirement travel privileges"  which means Vincent and I can travel for free whenever we want...but no health insurance, as I am not 55 yet (bummer!)
We have been going back and forth about me taking this buy out,and today we have finally decided that I will take it.
The B&B is getting very busy (even in the slow season!) and Vincent can not do this alone anymore. We really need 2 full time innkeepers, and with me galavanting off to Chicago every two weeks is just not feasible any more.I just took two months of work, and realized that I love being an innkeeper more than being a flight attendant, and frankly, 21 years at this company is enough.
I truly love New Orleans like no other place on earth, and leaving it makes me depressed. My love for the B&B is very strong, and it has become our baby.
Not having health insurance is a very scary thought, but you can not let your fears stop you from living your life.We have talked to the owners about this, and they are looking into getting us some sort of health insurance.
Besides my mom is 75, and has never seen a doctor in her life.Same thing for my sister.My brother I do not know, and Vincent's parents are in their 80's and doing just fine!
So there.
I will be putting in for the buy out tomorrow, when I go back to work, and will be in Chicago.
MY last day of being a flight attendant should be August 31 2012,but that date can still change.
GOODBYE ****** airlines.

Vincent

My beautiful husband...

Mr Robert

Mr Robert, our wonderful handyman.We would be lost without him!

video will make you dizzy

I took a video of the wedding brunch we had recently.I wanted to make sure we had Brynna's masterpiece captured on video...however I am a lousy video taker, and watching this will make you dizzy!

Wedding Brunch

We recently had a couple,who hosted their wedding brunch at the JQ...Brynna was absolutely amazing, and needs to set up her own wedding/event planning business.She is a star.Both Vincent and I were just sitting back with a glass of wine, watching her put this amazing thing into action...WOW!

The Harley and interesting guests

The other day we had a wonderful retired couple staying with us.He was a retired prison guard, and decided to go and tour the USA with his Harley, and Kitten his wife.So much fun!
We have been meeting such interesting guests recently.Seth, the British lawyer,who works for the U.N in Kenya and Somalia.Whenever there are tribal wars going on, he goes in and tries and diffuse the situations.We so enjoyed sitting in the gardens with him,drinking a bottle of wine and talking about life and the world.
and we have an open invitation to come stay with him in Kenya....

Jazz Fest 2012

Jazz Fest here in New Orleans is the biggest Jazz festival in the world.We have been booked full for a year for this event (it is bigger than Mardi Gras)
Vincent and I decided to go, and see what all the fuss was about.We ended up spending most of our time in the Gospel tent! Yes Atheists are quite capable of enjoying "praise the lord" songs!

Of course having a beer in your hand helps as well!

Alain and his girl

Here is our boy with his new girlfriend....They are so in love!

Breakfast set up part 1

Breakfast set up part 2

The cats

Vincent's birthday present

The owners bought Vincent this great birthday present: a chef's outfit with his name on it...He loves it ,and is now the official cook/chef!

I just wish the chef would do the dishes as well!...:)

Brynna and caterpillar

This morning ,I stepped on a poisonous bad mean caterpillar (it lodged itself in my trousers ,so I proceeded to disrobe in front the guests ,whilst screaming in pain...) Thank budha Ms Lisa (my boss) was here ,and she elevated my leg ,and put some kind of paste on it....It is better now....

Here is Brynna ,watering the plants...and killing the damn caterpillar.

For Vincent

Just for Vincent...I was walking home from the French Quarter Fest ,and walked right past Vincent's favorite bar (Buffa's) and on Vincent's favorite street ,Esplanade....

Vincent and Lola

French Quarter Fest

Whilst Vincent was in Amstelveen ,the famous French Quarter Fest was going on in Nola...It is the largest free music and food fest in the world ,and so much fun! Black, white,young,old,gay,lesbians,straight,we were all dancing in the streets of the French Quarter...and the food...oh my god,so yummie...

How different from the silly fests in Chicago...

I miss my husband though...

French Quarter Fest

I just love the way this lovely man is eating his crawfish ...only in Nola!

French Quarter Fest

JUST THE GIRLS

Vincent left yesterday ( on his birthday) to fly over to Amsterdam for a couple of days...

So its just the girls here at the B&B...

Today its Monique and I ,trying to make it through breakfast ,and then the rest of the week (until Vincent comes back) we have the lovely Brynna to help us (with the cooking)

This morning ,Alaintje tried to strangle himself....thank budha Monique was here to save him ,and cut him out of his entanglement...we have a cottage with a busted airco unit...and we are fully booked ,as I am checking 12 guests in today ,and of course they are all arriving at the same time...

I need a drink!

Brynna and Kyle

Here are some lovely pictures of Brynna and her boyfriend Kyle.

Brynna is our helper innkeeper.She helps us out on busy days (which is pretty much every day!) helps Vincent with the batch cooking,and in general has saved our asses many a day!

We found her,after her parents had stayed at the B&B.They were so wondeful,and they had mentioned that their daughter had just moved to Nola,and was looking for a job (she is a 26 year old jewelry designer) So since we really liked her parents,we figured the daughter would be just as lovely.

And she is!

We all love Brynna,and she has definitely become part of the B&B...

More crawfish boil

So Amy and George (our other boss) invited us over for a crawfish boil.They had bought 37 pounds of crawfish,and you boil it with potatoes,mushrooms,garlic,corn,sausage etc etc.when it is done,you put it on a table covered with newspapers,have a nice cold beer,and start eating!

We love the South!

Crawfish Boil

and more photos of the crawfish boil,and Amy's beautiful house (that was completely destroyed by Katrina by the way....)

Cat heaven

Here is Alaintje's favorite pose...lying on his back with his legs in the air,in the office.... and Dieudone in her tower...

No 1 photo

Here we are,toasting to our no 1 spot on Tripadvisor.

Yes we are the no 1 ranked B&B in New Orleans!

Vincent,Monique,Lisa and Rick (our boss!)

NUMBER ONE!

We are number 1 on tripadvisor!....

check us out on www.tripadvisor.com

Today is a good day!

Hosjes

The other day I made a quick trip to Amstelveen,to see how Frank was doing.In January,he became the bionic man,as he had a small silver heart device implanted in his chest,that pretty much jumpstarts his heart every time it goes too slow...

He is doing great,and is very,very proud of his new little device!...as he should be!

Had a lovely time,great food and lovely wine...

Julienne

And here is Julienne...our new addition to the family...she was a stray/feral cat that we managed to get inside the cage...and is now very happily playing with Alaintje and loving her new life.

Hooray!

Da Tree

A couple of weeks ago,we had a group of ladies in their 70's (calling themselves the "crazy ladies") who stayed with us.Every morning they would have breakfast in their lovely pjs in the courtyard,and one morning,as the ladies were eating...we heard this LOUD crash and noise....and one of our trees had come crashing down...

Thank budha it fell away from the ladies...who all thought it was hilarious...

Vincent is still trying to recover.....!

Audubon Park

After our bike ride,we decided to go to Audubon Park,and watch the ducks...

Day off

Last Tuesday,we spend our day oof biking along the Mississippi and having a little pick nick..

Crawfish Season

Crawfish season is finally upon us,and Vincent is happy!

Fragment

A couple of weeks ago,I went to have a mri done,to see if the fragment in my back had diminished any,and if not,my new surgeon here in Nola wanted to do surgery to remove it.So today I went to see the surgeon,to discuss the results of the mri......and he told me that the fragment had disappeared completely!

The pain I am feeling is just some residue left over from the fragment,and I have some arthritis in my back...but nothing to be worried about....

So Lola is a spring chicken again! Hooray!

MARDI GRAS 2012

On Tuesday morning,the official day of Mardi Gras,we got up at 630am,had breakfast at a bar in the Marigny,then wandered off to Mimi's in the Marigny and caught up with the St.Ann parade.We then went to the Zulu parade,saw some of our guests,had lunch and then walked through Bourbon Street.

All in all,a great first Mardi Gras!

Check out the photos and videos below!