{eww...}

My apologies in advance for the gross part of this video---but I want to know, WHAT are McDonald's french fries really made of? Ugh! I think McDonald's food is awful anyway, and this confirms it. It is not even real food!

{I've crossed over}

...into the Twilight zone!   I am so glad I didn't see the movie yet because I am really enjoying the first book!

{dinner at the beach house}

We had dinner last night with some friends of ours--the Bowes.  We always enjoy their company and they insist that we bring Lil Petunia along.

Lil Petunia teaching Mrs Bowes how to play on the Nintendo DS!

Lil P listening to hubby's conversation with Mr Bowes.  He is 90 years young and sharp as a tack!  He has had an incredible life and has lots of stories to tell.  He is one of the Bowes a la Pitney-Bowes.  When he was a little boy he was driven to school in a limousine by a chauffer.  Then the great depression hit and his family lost everything.  He didn't have a penny to his name.  He went on to eventually become very successful all on his own--a scholarship to the Naval Academy, the Air Force during the war, and the CEO of two fortune 500 companies.

I love the decor at The Beach House.

{random}

I don't know why I am thinking of this, but it is a silly little memory I'll share with you.

A couple of years ago I was an active member of my very first online forum.  Every member could post on various message boards and there were moderators who controlled things when "situations" arised and members became unruly.  Repeat offenders were eventually banned from the forum--their memberships deleted, although you could still read all of their past comments.  Next to each members post/comment (kind of like in our comment section here) was a picture or "avatar" of their choosing and a caption which said "Member" or "Moderator" or it could be personalized by the member.

I would occasionally find myself reading past conversations about something of interest.  

Occasionally I would come across a member's avatar whose caption read "Sofa King Banned".  For months I wondered why the moderators thought it was funny to label these people who had obviously become unruly and gotten banned  "Sofa King".  Who was Sofa King and why was he banned?  Obviously it was an inside joke and I was not privvy to the punchline.  I never did figure it out.

Months later someone else (a newbie) asked the question  and a moderator filled him/her in.  Have you already figured it out for yourself???

Say it quickly out loud to yourself....that person was "Sofa King Banned" from the forum.  hee hee

{latest iTunes add}

Okay, so I add songs to my iTunes library very randomly.  I'll hear a song--it doesn't necessarily have to be the very latest--and I'll think--ooooh there's a good one.  Well, that's how it happened when I was watching A Cinderella Story (again) with Lil Petunia on Sunday evening.  Here it is--I love that I can sing along with the lyrics here so I don't have to guess what he is singing.  Ha! 


Lyrics | Edwin McCain - I’ll Be lyrics

Also on the "A Cinderella Story" soundtrack is Jesse McCartney's Beautiful Soul.  I may or may not have added it, too...

What have you recently added??  

which one?

I am looking for a desk.  Hubby has his desk in the office, and I need a space of my own to spread out with my laptop, a small lamp, some books,  and miscellaneous stuff.  The desk will be in my bedroom and I'd like it to be white or cream.  So far I have come up with 3 candidates.  They all have similar proportions except for length.  The first one is 66" long, the second is 53" long, & the third is 48" long. :

Lady's desk by Barbara Barry

Ballard Designs desk

Pottery Barn desk

Which one do you like best???

last public post?

I have a lot of work to do in order to switch over to Private, but hope to have time this weekend to manually input all of your e-mails and make the switch.  Thanks for coming with me!

I just had to let you girls know about the cutest things I found today.  Our old downtown mall is being torn down, so all of the stores are closing.  I heard at work today that Victoria's Secret is having a sale that started yesterday, so I ran in after work.  These toiletry and makeup cases were so pretty and pink and quilted that even though they weren't marked on sale I decided they were worth it and headed to the cash register.  The salesgirl scanned them and squealed to the other salesgirl "Oh!  They ARE on sale!!  OMG!" 

 I show my toothbrush in the pic so you can see how large the toiletry case actually is.  And the clear makeup case includes 2 smaller cases which are tucked inside.  The large quilted case came to $22 and the smaller set of 3 cases came to $19.  Hey!  I just realized that the striped cases remind me of my blog background!

{going private?}

I am thinking about going private.  I hate to do it..., but I just feel like I want to know who I am talking to.  And the hubby thinks I should (...of course).  

If you would like to be added to the list please e-mail me at PetuniasParadise@aol dot com with your e-mail address which will remain private, or just leave your email address in a comment here.  {I will need your email address, not just your blog name to send the invitation in order for you to have access when I go private.}  Thanks!

New Orleans Cemetery Tour

Yes, here it is darlings!  The creepy post!  We New Orleans folks love our history, and well, it's a good thing because just about everything in New Orleans is old!  We were trying to decide where to go after our lovely tea and one of my sisters came up with the brilliant idea to visit the oldest cemetery in New Orleans (also the oldest in the entire Mississippi River Valley)--St Louis Cemetery #1.  It is a particularly famous cemetery because the infamous Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau's tomb is located there.  This cemetery is in an awfully dangerous area of town and it is only open until 3pm each day.  After 3pm, the gates are locked--no one gets in, and most importantly...no one gets out.....muahahahahaha! 

Ooops!  Sorry, I got carried away there for a moment!  Anyhoo, on to the tour!...

tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau 

(people put all sorts of weird stuff at the foot of her tomb)

Visitors mark three X's on her tomb in the hopes that her spirit will grant them a wish.

This picture came out a little ghostly-looking.  

Maybe there were spirits present!

Our "tour guide"/custodian showing us the water line of the Katrina floods.  It is up at his eye-level! 

Those flood waters sat there for weeks-----imagine what was floating around in there...

Love the fleur-de-lis gate around this tomb!

Some of the oldest unmarked graves are simply crumbling bricks.  They are not allowed to be touched according to the Preservation Society of N.O..

This tomb was open on top! 

We stashed our purses in the trunk and literally ran inside the cemetery.  The housing projects are right next door.

Sign explaining the multiple burials that occur in each tomb.  They just put one right on top of the other.

Sweet dreams!!!

{a little New Orleans architecture}

In the city of New Orleans, old homes are architectural treasures.  Here are a few of my favorites in the Garden District on St. Charles Avenue.:

detail of a "shotgun" house needing a little TLC (this one not on St Charles Ave)

gorgeous detail on this double gallery-style house 

(The ceilings of the porches are painted blue to replicate the sky.)

I may or may not have trespassed to get a shot of this beauty...

A pink beauty!

(St Charles Avenue did not flood during Katrina.)

Gorgeous!

The Columns Hotel

The streetcars still run!

I do have more pics (creepy ones coming soon...muaahahaha) so stay tuned!

{short & sweet}

"Creepy pictures" post will have to wait another day because returning to work today after more than 2 weeks off was killer!!  I am exhausted!

Just a quick little post to show you this gorgeous picture frame that I found in New Orleans for Lil Petunia's bedroom.  A picture hardly does it justice!  This one is for 5"x7" size photos, but they come in all sizes from 4x4" up to 8x10".  There were some beautiful blue and cream ones that would look fab in my master bath, some pink and green ones, & a gorgeous chocolate and pale pink one.   Each frame is handmade and each is one-of-a-kind with a different type of jewel for the center of the bow.  Some were clear crystals as above, some were pearls, some were hot pink crystals--they all look like some sort of fancy brooch.  They can even be special-ordered to your color scheme!  Carefully packaging this one took up most of my carryon, so I will be returning on my next visit to "Little Miss Muffin" to check out their latest inventory.

For the brides-to-be out there, their collection of Mindy Weiss wedding accessories in beautiful Tiffany Blue were adorable!  Makes me want to get married all over again!......(okay, NOT REALLY MOM!!!  This was the last one...promise....)

jasmine green tea

When I told Hubby last night about the delicious jasmine green tea that we had enjoyed at The Ritz last week--he went right over to the pantry and pulled out this big box of.....jasmine green tea!  He had discovered it last year and found that it can only be special-ordered from the website!  It was quite nice to snuggle up with a cup of my favorite tea to watch The Holiday with the family!

The website is www.mightyleaf.com and as you can see in the first pic--our tea is the Mountain Spring Jasmine (green tea).  It is no longer available on the website, which is having a 30% off  sale only through January 5, but I'm quite sure that the Organic Spring Jasmine (green tea) would have the same delicious taste.

our box of 100 tea bags

from the website

Happy New Year!

I hope all of you are enjoying this Holiday season.

We had a wonderful time in New Orleans and just returned home last night.  Unfortunately I wasn't able to post pictures from NOLA, so I had to wait until now to do so. 

Here are some pics from our Tea at The Ritz.  My Mom, all of my sisters except one, and two nieces came to Tea.  I tried the most delicious tea I have ever tasted--it was Jasmine Green Tea--yummy!  Lil Petunia tried everything, but later texted to her Daddy that she "didn't really like any of it"!  Oh, well!  At least she got to walk through a life-sized edible Gingerbread house!  And we did go someplace really creepy after Tea, but that is a post for tomorrow!!

The lobby of The Ritz

dessert and scones!

Christmas tree in the courtyard