Monique’s Blog
Art, Pets, Gardening, Design, and Southern Living
Archive for 'Daily Life'
Summer is almost over!
Posted on September 19th, 2009 by Monique, under Daily Life, Outdoors, Shopping.
It has been 90 degrees something for months it seems! Thankfully, Halloween is around the corner…
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Getting ready for Spring
Posted on February 27th, 2009 by Monique, under Daily Life, Design, Fashion, Jewelry, Outdoors, Plants.
Time is flying by, and we are getting ready for spring! I have been so busy gardening and making jewelry I am losing track of time. Its already March, err almost…
Hope everyone is having as much fun as I am. Life is good. 
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Happy Valentine’s Day
Posted on February 12th, 2009 by Monique, under Collectibles, Daily Life, Jewelry.
Its that time of year again, to make special time with your loved one. Valentine’s day is this Saturday so don’t forget to show your love!
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Zombies in Area, Run!
Posted on January 29th, 2009 by Monique, under Daily Life, Outdoors, Videos.
I was reading the news and found this rather hilarious. This is from Austin, Texas local news.
Construction signs warn of zombies
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New Orleans Cupcake Craze has arrived
Posted on January 16th, 2009 by Monique, under Cooking, Daily Life, Kitchen, Louisiana, New Orleans, Photography, Vegetarian, Weblog.
Who doesn’t love cupcakes?!?! I personally enjoy cupcakes, from searching for new recipes to eating them with loved ones. They are like a little special cake, just a serving and just enough. The fun thing about cupcakes are you can make them especially decadent and they disappear! Its much different from baking an entire large cake in that fashion. I know some people can huff down a chunk of chocolate cake by inhaling, but some of us like to be a little more reserved in our cupcake chowing.
In the last ten years, there has been a growing trend nation wide of cupcake specialty bakeries opening up. At a couple dollars a piece, in today’s economy almost anyone can get some change together and for less than $5 have a coffee and sweet little cupcake treat. So it is not surprising that this trend has finally hit New Orleans, who embraces such things with open arms.
I myself am a vegetarian, so when I make cupcakes I substitute all the animal products such as eggs and dairy butter and make vegetarian cupcakes. The result is still a wonderful sweet delightful treat, as seen in my cute cupcake pic below:
I was so glad to come across this article about the New Orleans cupcake craze this morning.
Zoey Devall is still pinching herself. A few months ago, she was working as vice president of external affairs for the economic development organization Greater New Orleans Inc. Today, she spends her days inside an Uptown storefront, churning out cupcakes by the hundreds.
“It’s just been an amazing response,” Devall said of customers’ reaction to her boutique cupcake bakery, Bee Sweet Cupcakes, at 5706 Magazine St.
The 375-square-foot store, with sugar sweet turquoise walls, flowery accessories and a display case filled with all varieties of cupcakes selling for $2.75 a piece, opened the day after Thanksgiving. The debut came just months after Devall decided to pursue the idea, inspired by Monday night baking sessions with her 4-year-old son and frequent trips to New York.
“We had a line,” she recalled of opening day. “And it was raining.”
Okay, so its officially Mardi Gras Carnival Season, where’s the king cupcakes!?! I will have to find some, or make some… hmmm
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Bird Watching in the Cypress Forest
Posted on January 15th, 2009 by Monique, under Animals, Daily Life, Louisiana, Nature, Outdoors.
We started the year off with a barb-q at our cousin’s beautiful new home just across the highway. They just bought a brand new home in a lovely gated neighborhood carved out of the cypress woods. Right behind their house, out their back gate, is beautiful cypress trees and trails. It was a wonderful day.
The kids played in the hot tub, and the men started a fire to get rid of some wood scrap that had been accumulating. You can hear the 4-wheelers buzzing by every now and then from the back yard. They even said sometimes in the middle of the night you hear them, lol! It had just rained, and sure enough they were back there muddin’ around.
Other than the occasional biker, the birds were out and I caught a picture of a bright red male cardinal flirting with some girl cardinals, who are not nearly as pretty. The bright red colors of these birds is so beautiful and eye catching, it almost makes me sad for them because they are quite the target. Hunting red birds is illegal, and they sure do move quick which is good for them.
I managed to zoom my camera and snap this semi-blurry image of this gorgeous flaming scarlet red bird. I have only seen them from a distance, but I definitely need to put more bird watching on my to do list this year. I have heard that if you put out a bird feeder, it turns into an all out brawl between the birds, and then there are the squirrels (yet another story)…
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Happy New Year
Posted on January 14th, 2009 by Monique, under Daily Life, New Orleans, Weblog.
I almost feel like my brain is still stuck in December! The time has been flying by, and it is quite amazing.
I am barely getting back into the swing of things, like blogging, so check back for updates.
It is officially carnival season here too, as in Mardi Gras is coming!
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the final day of Carnival, which begins on the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6. Also known as Kings’ Day or Twelfth Night, Jan. 6 celebrates the arrival of the three kings at Jesus’ birthplace, thus ending the Christmas season. And in New Orleans, simultaneously starting Carnival. This festival of fun finds its roots in various pagan celebrations of spring, dating back 5,000 years.
Tonight, another arctic cold front is supposed to be on its way here. Moderate freeze… bring your puppies and kitties inside if you are in SE Louisiana.
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Hurricane Gustav Evacuation
Posted on September 6th, 2008 by Monique, under Animals, Daily Life, Nature, New Orleans, Outdoors, Photography, Plants, Travel.
As I make this blog entry, I am still decompressing from the last week+ that I have been through dealing with my first hurricane, Gustav.
Having moved here in 2006 post Katrina-land, I really didn’t think I would ever have to go through anything like that. And I have not, because Katrina was a real bitch. Luckily, my experience was very watered down (no pun intended) compared to what they went through for Katrina. On the flip side, we didn’t get nice fema payments and red cross money like they did in 2005, but I wouldn’t want to go through anything like that so no big deal. Those things are for those in need.
I am rather pleased with my experience, it could have been ten times worse, and I hope that the next couple months while we prepare to move aren’t plagued with anymore “5 day cones.”
So as I attempted to make some lemonade with the sour fruit I was given, I decided to take some pictures and capture some images to bring my experiences to the internet, even as the dry nature of text and images lack to convey what it is really like. It’s the best I can do.
Here is where my camera started, snapping a picture of little 9 lb Penny the miniature pinscher as she prepared for an adventure. It was easily 100 degrees F, we had lots of water, and Penny was excited and well behaved as always. Tongue hanging out, ready for some fun, safe with her human friends.
On the highway we would see dozens of other dogs, all kinds of animal pets, even a ferret. I tried to take pics of them all, and in the craziness I got off a couple of shots. (more…)
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The Mystery Plant
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 by Monique, under Daily Life, Gardening, Photography, Plants.
So there was a spot on the chain link fence where the blackberry vines grow that was bare from the dog shoving his head in the leaves to peek at the dogs next door. Yes my dog Max is like a nosy old man. An entire yard to play in, and he wants to know what the dogs next door are doing instead. What are the dogs next door doing? Laying in the sun, sleeping, enjoying themselves and oblivious to my peeping tom dog. SO… there was a bare spot on the fence, so I placed a large potted tomato plant that was dying in front of it. Months later, it appeared. It was the mystery plant.
I needed the pot, the tomato was long dead and winter was coming to an end. However, I noticed this interesting little plant springing up, and I did not want to kill it thinking it might be something cool. So I planted some provence lavender in the pot, and left this thing.
Months later, it is completely out of control. Does anyone know what this thing is? Its pretty crazy!
The wind will not knock it over, nothing seems to phase this funky looking thing. It hasn’t flowered or anything, and it does not seem to be a harmful plant.
I would be ever so gracious to anyone who knows what this plant is called. We are in South Louisiana, so its native to here.
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New Weezer - The Red Album
Posted on June 23rd, 2008 by Monique, under Art, Daily Life, Friends, Music, Videos, Weblog.
A band that I have enjoyed ever since I saw them play the Universal Ampitheatre in either 94 or 95, Weezer
Now its 2008 and bands are hating their record labels more than ever, and turning to the internet for their fan bases as can be seen with Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor and Radiohead. It looks as though Weezer is on their way to doing the same. I am adoring the new red album.
And this guy Rivers Cuomo, the frontman of the band Weezer, can write a song. Just amazing. I watched all of the songwriting project videos he has on youtube and was quite captivated. He is so talented, and makes it seem so easy.
And if you haven’t heard the first single from the album, Pork and Beans, you have to watch the video. If you’re not a net head, you probably won’t understand too much of the characters and things in the video. But if you’re like me and have spent thousands of hours on the internet since 95, you will appreciate Pork and Beans. Check it out:
