For the past few years that I can remember, while my Facebook newsfeed was filled with woes and anxiety that it was August for my many, many Student Affairs friends, on a certain weekend in August those woes of RA training and orientation being "too close with too much to do" were replaced on the newsfeed by red dresses. At least for my New Orleans friends anyway. A tradition here in the city that I never took part in before, the Red Dress Run happens every August in Armstrong Park downtown in the French Quarter. Those who actually register and pay for the run (gaining access to the festival inside the Park after the race) see their money go toward a number of different charities. But for many locals like myself who do not register to participate in the race, the annual event is yet another reason to celebrate in this city...all while donning a red dress.
We started out the day with brunch at Ed's before heading down to the Quarter. While we had planned to catch a bus on Magazine, a hang up 911 call from the corner we were standing on provided an opportunity for us to catch a ride via a New Orleans EMS driver. He may have blown past most all red lights, gotten a call about a 64-year old man who had been electrocuted and needed assistance, and told my friend Laine she "sucked" for mistaking "shots fired" for a 1022 but hey, we arrived in style. We caught the race and spent most of the morning at Good Friends, a bar right outside Bourbon before spending the afternoon walking around Bourbon, dancing in the rain, and getting lost in a sea of red. Just another Saturday, right?
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| Watching the "race" at Good Friends on the balcony |
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| Ed and I waiting for the bus, .07 seconds before our new ride arrived. |
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| Daph, Ed, Laine, and I. |
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| Laine showing me her love! |
While the desire to spend Saturday evening doing nothing but sleeping was tempting, I shed my red dress for something a bit classier, my tuxedo, and attended the Young Leadership Council's Role Model Gala where my dad was being honored as one of 25 role models in the city for 2013. I had a great time celebrating my dad and spending the evening with my parents.
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Mom and I.
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Sunday was a great day of recovery (sans the 7-miler Sunday evening). I took Laine to the airport, stopped at a local French bakery for breakfast, checked out a potential new church down the street, finally watched
Django Unchained, and took advantage of the lower temperatures to run before the sun set.
Epic weekend. One for the books for sure! Cheers.
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