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| Shot on my iPhone |
Hello, for those of you that don't know, I am Katie, and I miss Mardi Gras. I don't miss the partying and excessive drinking, although drinking Topo Chico Hard Seltzer while watching a parade is fun, but I miss the excitement. Have you ever felt what it's like to watch a high school band jam-out at full blast? The goosebumps one feels is thrilling. I'm not one to dance, anyone will tell you that, but I almost want to when I hear the sound of the drums and trumpets playing at a Mardi Gras parade.
It's been a while for me to write a post on New Orleans Fresh, and I thought I'd give it a go. A lot has happened since my last post. For starters, I've finished pharmacy technician school, and I am nationally certified and licensed to practice in the state of Louisiana. I'm proud of myself. I graduated with a 4.0 GPA, which is unheard of for me. I passed my certification exam on the first try with flying colors after studying my ass off. I've come a really long way from who I used to be, and it's beautiful.
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| My Diploma and Me |
Back to Mardi Gras. I've discovered, as I've gotten older, that my favorite time of year is Mardi Gras. I always thought growing up that it was Christmas, but I've been oh-so wrong. As I stated above, when that band plays, the feeling is incredible. I can't wait to experience it again. My favorite Mardi Gras parades are Krewe of Muses and Krewe of Iris. They're all female krewes, and in my personal opinion, so much better than the other krewes. Their throws are top notch and the floats are always beautiful to look at. Muses is the Thursday (tHERSday) before Mardi Gras and Iris is the Saturday before Mardi Gras. I have a friend that isn't from here and they thought Mardi Gras was just one day. Oh no! It's a month long celebration that gets better each week leading up to the main day.
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| My Mardi Gras apparel, fanny pack included, for Krewe of Iris. |
I promise I'll stop talking about Mardi Gras, but hey, I'm a New Orleans girl! What am I to do??
Currently, I am OBSESSED with Harry Styles. I missed the One Direction phase. I was never interested in them. Harry Styles, on the other hand, is worth noting. His music is so good, especially, his latest album, Harry's House. I want to see him in concert so badly, but all of the dates I've seen are completely sold out. I mean it's understandable. Who wouldn't want to see that gorgeous human being in person? I will admit that listening to his latest album makes me think about Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudakis. I start to feel really bad for Jason. He was great as Ted Lasso, so I guess that's just how I assume he is in real life. I could be wrong, though.
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| Sadie the Australian Cattle Dog |
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| Before heading on an adventure with my baby |
My best friend in the entire world is my dog, Sadie. We like to go to dog-friendly bars and eat gelato together. While I still live at home with my parents, Sadie sleeps in my room. It motivates me to get up in the morning when she's there. I have Major Depressive Disorder, and yes, I take medication, but having a reason to get out of bed everyday is more important. She sometimes lets me know at 3:00am that she has to go potty, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. My mom and I joke that she gets FOMO when we're in another room and she's not right there.
Sadie is a rescue that we adopted about three years ago after our last Australian Cattle Dog, Lucy, suddenly passed away. It's hard to believe it, but Sadie was living in an outdoor kennel year round. She now lives her best life and stays indoors. My mom jokes that she "sleeps on monogrammed sheets" now. She's a "country mouse turned city mouse."
Lucy was definitely my mom's dog and treated everyone in the house as such. Sadie is my mom's and my dog. She treats my dad as such. By that I mean she does not like my dad at all. We think somewhere along the lines, Sadie was abused by a man that looks like my dad. He didn't come with us when we met her so we had no idea until she came home a week later.
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| After Hamilton the Musical at The Saenger Theatre. |
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| Bathroom selfie with my mom at The Roosevelt before seeing Hamilton. |
Recently, my mom and I saw Hamilton the Musical. I gave her tickets for her birthday this year because she loved it on Disney+. We at dinner at Domenica at The Roosevelt in Downtown New Orleans. It's practically right across the street from The Saenger Theatre where we saw Hamilton. In all honesty, I've tried to watch Hamilton on Disney+ and couldn't get into to it, so I was nervous. Turns out, I love Hamilton so much that the songs play in my head all day long to the point where I have to put on the actual album and sing along. King George is probably my favorite character, and his song "You'll Be Back" is more than likely playing in my head at any given time. Fun fact, my mom won tickets in the Saenger's lottery for Hamilton and saw it a second time with my grandmother a few weeks after we originally saw it. I won't tell you where we sat the first time, but the tickets my mom won were way better than the ones I gave her. When we were leaving the theatre, my mom said, "This is one of the best presents I've ever gotten." Completely worth it.
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| After my brother's graduation at Rocca Pizza in Baton Rouge. |
My little brother is officially a college graduate. He will be commissioning to the US Air Force in October. We're not sure when he'll start training for his position as a Combat Systems Officer. If you're not sure what this is, he will be telling the pilot what direction to go in while in the aircraft...I think. Honestly, I'm not 100% sure what he'll be doing, either. Anyway, I couldn't be prouder of my brother. He's going to do great things. I believe that. We're not very close even though we are two and a half years apart. This doesn't mean I care about him any less. Maybe one day we'll be closer.
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| My mom and me before a wedding in May at the Four Seasons. |
On a final note, I've started exercising, again. I workout every other day. Mostly, I've been lifting weights with the machines at Planet Fitness, but I do use the treadmill. A few days ago, I did 10 minutes of the stationary bike. I really liked it. This is hilarious, however, because I have no clue how to ride an actual bike. Cause for me to learn to ride one? We shall see. I haven't noticed much difference in how my clothes fit. Maybe I've noticed a difference in how I feel. I tend to sleep better. I've had insomnia for years - I say as I type this at 4:00am. (It was hard not to write 0400 just there. Hospital life.) Anyway, I'm trying to take care of my health and get to a better place. That's all that matters.
How has everyone been? What's the 411? I feel like I haven't been here in a year, which is true. Let me know what you'd like to see from me in the future down below!
