It is so absolutely wonderful to have Paul, Anto and William here in New Orleans. It had been such a long time since I sat at Paul's big wonderful round table surrounded by my favorite faces chatting about food, jazz and art. I have been so buried in books, that I didn't realize how important evenings like this are, and how much I missed them. 

Paul and Antoinette hosted an amazing dinner for us last night. They made a beautifully seasoned chicken on the grill served with blue cheese mashed potatoes and broccolini. Afterwards we had Angelo Brocotto's lemmon flavored italian ice. 

Yuck. stairs dust 

look at him go. 

Sean and I are both very much in love with this house, but living in a construction sight can be taxing at times. I have noticed that we go through phases of powerful drive and inspiration followed by long periods where nothing spectacular happens to the let love rule house. Renovation doldrums.

I am nearly without words in my effort to explain the excitement surrounding the staircase project. It is so rare that we get to focus our efforts on the interior of our space in this house. We plan on having the outside of the house completely painted by the end of the summer. Anyone taking bets? Of course, we will need to replace the let love rule sign on the back. I'd like to come up with a better design. We are open to suggestions.

stairs 

While we were working on the stairs, the dust was insufferable, hence the protective gear.

Jacqui and Jenny at the Rue. I finally found a picture of me that I did not take. 

stuff 

For those of you who are far away, and have surely heard a thing or two about our neighbor dilemma, perhaps this will help you gain some perspective.

The big red house was placed on the empty lot right next to our house. This seems like such an impossible situation, and yet, it is real. Go figure.