Italian Sausage Pasta Salad

I made this pasta salad last night for a work potluck. It was really easy and I used a bunch of things I already had. Here's how I did it:

1. Boil pasta
2. Saute Italian sausage and minced garlic separately
3. Chop veggies
4. Mix veggies and sausage in a separate bowl
5. Mix store bought Italian dressing, olive oil, apple cider vinegar, cracked pepper, and lemon juice in a measuring cup 
6. Mix ingredients in a large bowl and toss in dressing

Best if chilled overnight. 

Street Art Expansion Pack

Finding street art is one of my favorite things. It's an interactive game between artist and viewer. You really have to be looking for something to stumble upon some of the locations where you will find amazing pieces of art. My collection is always on display on the top bar or you can click here to check it out.

A Few Changes Around the House

I saw this idea on on Apartment Therapy (30 DIY Halloween Decorations) and would love to do it larger scale for Mardi Gras; with glittery masks on all the portraits. But, for Halloween I masked the portrait of Picasso and Durer that hangs in our living room.

The next two are semi permanent updates:

This dresser was first in my grandpa's childhood bedroom and then my dad's. Now it functions as a bar, Christian's dresser, and table linens drawer. I got permission to paint it from my grandma over the summer and had fantasies of painting it black! However, I ran out of time over Fall Break and am now thinking more along the lines of stripping and restoring the wood. But for now I replaced the old, dysfunctional knobs with new ones that my mom found at Anthropology on sale for $2.95.

Before:

Lastly, the stack of books in our bedroom was becoming a mess to keep up with. Not to mention the inconvenience of not being able to access any of the books without rebuilding the pile. So I bought a vertical bookshelf from Overstock.com. Much, much better. 

Before:

 After:

Dear World, Happy Halloween. Love, Nola

The month of October begins the best 6 months of the year. First the weather finally cools down, then it's Halloween (second only to Mardi Gras), then my birthday + Thanksgiving, followed by the most wonderful, glorious season of Christmas, and finally culminating in the festivities of Mardi Gras. By Ash Wednesday I am exhausted!

But for now, the focus is on Halloween. This is Christian's favorite holiday and my 3rd favorite holiday (I'll keep you guessing on what #2 is).  Christian's favorite part is dressing up and staying out all night with everyone else who is in costume; mine is carving pumpkins, watching scary movies, and making chili. Here's a look back on some of my favorite Halloween's with Christian:

From left to right: 2008 Charlie Chapman, 2009 Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol, 2010 Lady Gaga and Creepy Cop, and the year tragedy struck, 2011 Dia de Morte 

This year we made dinner at home and invited our new friends, Berthold and Louisa, over. It was their first Nola Halloween and maybe their first Halloween ever, as they are Austrian and there is no such thing as Halloween in Austria. We had a a blast just walking around, bumping into so many great costumes. And I have to say, I think this year was our very best costume yet. Can you guess what we are? Check it out:

   

Frenchmen Street

Sunday we carved pumpkins :) and made chili and baked pumpkin seeds

My Mom Came Last Weekend...

And it was great. I miss her a lot already. Friday night we went to Maurapas, it was great as usual, Saturday we grilled out because Christian's brother Jeremy and his family were in town, and Sunday my mom and I rode bikes to the ferry and biked around Algiers Point. We also went to two open houses, one in the Bywater and one in Algiers Point. We are considering more and more a place of our own, more on that later. Here's the weekend in pictures.

Walking around the Quarter Saturday afternoon:

houses decorated for Halloween in the Quarter

Amy, Jeremy, Eme, and Rex

After grilling out Christian, Jeremy, and Eme went to the House of Shock (not my thing) and my mom and I walked around Frenchmen. 

ran into Natasha!

Sunday:

so relaxed...

This couldn't be sweeter:

I bought a remake of this sign for my dad. saw the real thing in Algiers 

Fish and Haircuts

2 weekends ago, Kyle brought over fish fresh off the boat. We grilled it up along side some steak and white beans. Later in the night Naomi started giving out free haircuts.