Let's Review

I have received and read all the hate mail and listen to the calls. Where is Leigh Leigh Land?!?!?! Sorry, yet again, for my absence. Thought I'd give you a quick run down of what I've been up to....

Laisse le bon temps rouler

The Edgar family "let the good times roll" in celebration of my little brother's 30th with a trip to New Orleans. The Big Easy is a special place to us all since Rusty and Carly were married there five January's ago (1/17/04), but it also happens to be one of Rusty's favorite cities. The rest of us love it too. We did it up right....wining and dining our way through the Crescent City. Since New Orleans is really all about eats and drinks and Rusty is the biggest foodie I know, the recap of this trip will relive just that:

Thursday Lunch
Liuzza's By The Track...for some local fare...killer gumbo and po boys

Thursday Afternoon Cocktails
Old Absinthe House....my favorite bar on Bourbon

Thursday Cocktail hour
Ritz Carlton Lobby Bar...great martini's

Thursday Dinner
Brigtsen's....classic Creole cuisine

Friday Breakfast (only Rusty and Carly woke up for this. I was very sad to miss it)
Mother's....enough said

Friday Lunch
R & O's on the lake....some of the best fried shrimp I've ever had

Friday afternoon cocktails
Pat O's patio....hurricane's, mint juleps, mojito's, and more

Friday Cocktail hour
Bombay Club....killer martinis (just ask Little Russ)

Friday Dinner
Gautreau's...small neighborhood restaurant in Uptown...my favorite meal of the trip

Saturday Lunch
Casamento's...Magazine Streets most famous Oyster bar

Saturday Afternoon Cocktails
The Columns Hotel....mint juleps and the best darn mojito I've ever had

Saturday Evening Cocktails
Windsor Court Hotel...Champagne toasts for Little Russ' birthday

Saturday Dinner
Restaurant August....Rusty and Chef John Bess have "clashed heads for years" and they finally "put their swords down" for our final meal in the Big Easy (clearly an inside family joke)

Sunday Brunch
Dante's Kitchen....awesome Sunday brunch with housemade Bloody Mary's and Milk Punch

Sunday Snack
Cafe du Monde....no trip is complete with out those powder sugared little bites of heaven

So yeah, the liver and the arteries took a hit that weekend, but it was all in the name of fun and Little Russ. We did it up right, so next time your are headed to NOLA consider just stealing our itinerary....you can't go wrong.

Check out the pics from our trip to NOLA.


Ego-maniacs


After NOLA, I took the week easy until the next weekend. Friday Night a group hit Vivo for some yummy mexican food and some of my favorite margaritas. After dinner we took to the stage at Ego's yet again to sing and dance the night away. Sunday night, which is usually a night to rest and recover (not in Austin) was spent at Sara's for a little game night. Scattagories got a little competitive that night. So that's where I've been, what I've been up to.

Check out pics from last Friday at Ego's here.

The Big Easy

Last night I arrived back in Austin after a long weekend in New Orleans. The Edgar fam....me, my mom, dad, my brother, and sister-in-law...took on The Big Easy in celebration of my brother's 30th birthday (which is actually tomorrow). It was such a fun trip with much eating, drinking, and shopping. The tragic news is that I broke my camera and cannot upload my pics until I get a new one. I do have a teaser pic to share from my dad's camera and promise to recap in full glory tomorrow.

Edgar Family Christmas 2008

I found the coolest site today. I have used slide.com many a time in the past, but was turned on to onetruemedia.com. It's fabulous. You can upload pics and video and create custom videos that you can share, burn to DVDs, upload to blogs, etc. A really cool thing is that you can upload your own music - - - which you can't do on slide.com. Maybe now I can get around to those New Years videos Ash....hahaha. Anyway, since I never did recap the wonderful Christmas that we had this year I thought I'd share the video I just made on One True Media. Fun stuff. Enjoy.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Hail To The Queen

Took another quiz today...this time on Facebook. It was entitled "Who Were You In A Past Life?". As it turns out I'm Queen Elizabeth I. Here's what it says about me.

In your past life you were Queen Elizabeth I. In this life you continue to have strong relationships with friends, have a conservative disposition, use your sexuality to gain power, and are careful to not take sides.

As it turns out, QEI just happens to be one of my favorite historical figures...up there with Marie Antoinette (with whom I share a birthday). She's fascinating...the child of Henry VIII and Anne Boylen, was declared illegitimate, was cut out of the line of succession, was famous for her said virginity, etc, etc....so scandalous!!!! What's not to love?!?!?

If you're on Facebook (and if you aren't you should be), search for it and take the quiz. I'm dying to know who you all were in your past life.

P is for Parkour

Many of you have heard me reference Parkour....and a select few have even witnessed me doing Parkour. What is Parkour you ask?

Wikipedia defines it as

"an activity with the aim of moving from one point to another as efficiently and quickly as possible, using principally the abilities of the human body. It is meant to help one overcome obstacles, which can be anything in the surrounding environment—from branches and rocks to rails and concrete walls—and can be practiced in both rural and urban areas. Parkour practitioners are referred to as traceurs, or traceuses for females.

Founded by David Belle and a group of friends in France, parkour focuses on practicing efficient movements to develop one's body and mind to be able to overcome obstacles in an emergency."

Why do I bring up Parkour today? Well for two reasons.

(1) I'm just intrigued by it. I learned about Parkour last summer after watching an episode of Extreme Home Makeover where a child from one of the made over homes practiced Parkour. And, as I usually do with odd things, I took to it. I tried it...in the safety, comfort, and humility of my own living room. Last August in Montana I even demonstrated it to Ashley and Alicia who can both vouch for my skills. Here's a video (thankfully not of me) demonstration of parkour.

(2) I feel as if I was cheated out of some points in a mean game of Scattegories on Saturday night. The Category (or Scategory if you will) was Sports and the letter was "P"....and I was denied....downright cheated out of any points. It was questioned whether or not Parkour is a true "sport." Oh, but ping pong is?!?!?! Puh-leeeeze! So yeah, I'm bitter.

But back to reason #1....just being intrigued by it. In my extensive research this afternoon I was pleased to find a list of "approved movements" for Parkour. Here are just a few

Tic tac: To step off a wall in order to overcome another obstacle or gain height to grab something.

Cat pass/jump, (king) kong vault, or monkey vault: The saut de chat involves diving forward over an obstacle so that the body becomes horizontal, pushing off with the hands and tucking the legs, such that the body is brought back to a vertical position, ready to land.

Reverse vault: A vault involving a 360° rotation such that the traceur's back faces forward as they pass the obstacle. The purpose of the rotation is ease of technique in the case of otherwise awkward body position or loss of momentum prior to the vault.

And what does one where while practicing parkour?

In case you want to practice yourself it is recommended that you wear....and I quote...

- Light upper body garment - such as T-Shirt, sleeveless shirt or crop top

- Light lower body garment - such as light trousers or light shorts

So my friends, let's put on those crop tops and hit the streets. And for more on Parkour visit the official website.

Ringing in 2009

Welcome to 2009. Yeah, yeah, yeah....I'm a day late and a dollar short, but what else is new. I hope your new year is off to a great start....I know mine is. It started with what was almost the perfect day....sleeping in, watching movies, and just generally kickin' it (I'll forever be grateful to Kirk for coining that phrase). So that was the morning after, I bet your wondering about the night before....

I'd classify New Year's Eve 2009 as one of the most random in my 33 year history. Most of the usual suspects were traveling, had recently given birth, about to give birth, and the like....but a few regulars of Leigh Leigh Land stuck it out and made the best of what turned out to be a pretty fun evening.

It seems fitting that we rang in 2009 at Ego's. You may have seen Ego's referenced a time or two here in Leigh Leigh Land and I'm afraid I haven't explained it in all its glory. I cannot, however, take credit for discovering (or rediscovering in some cases) Ego's, but I can say that I have quickly taken to it and intend to continue the relationship whenever possible.


So what is Ego's? Well....its sort of shady. Located on South Congress, in the bottom of a seedy little office building, through a dank and dreary parking lot you'll find this little gem. The people....well they are quite a motley crew. You have the old cowboy who likes to lend his voice to Waylon, Willie, and the boys. You have the thug (for lack of a better word) who loves the loud headbanging stuff. Liz....the karaoke host that you just have to meet to experience. And a variety of others....that give true meaning to the word character. And, it's a karaoke bar. About 10 o'clock each evening the mics come up and the amateurs take to the stage.....and Lord knows I love a good stage.



Ego's is always a blast and this New Year's it did not disappoint..I think mostly because it just seemed like another night only with the added elements of terrible champagne, hats, blowers, a countdown, and some hugging and kissing. Ryan, Ted, and Hogan lended their voice to a few country tunes while Drew borrowed one of my faves "You're Just To Good To Be True" and I chose Loverboy's "Working For The Weekend". And of course, Ted and Winn serenaded us with their usual duet from The Righteous Brothers.

My favorite part of the night had to be the end (which is something I rarely say)....but as they began to turn on the lights at Ego's we were greeted by a little green guy. What... you ask? A little green guy. Head to toe...with no skin showing...not even his eyes....covered in green. Only in Austin. Here are a few pics of our little green friend.

All in all it was a great evening except for the fact that I've misplaced my favorite John Hardy ring. I'm in denial about it I think and still holding out hope it turns up somewhere. But...it's nothing that can't be replaced.

I hope that you all also celebrated in style and that 2009 is good to you and yours.

Click here for more pics of the little green guy and the rest of our New Year's Eve celebration.