Keep Your Head Up … And Other Inspiring New Orleans Ideas

This song plays so frequently at our little compound.

The video and song launched before Covid-19 hit up, but the message could not be more apt to these times.

Life is tough. Life isn’t fair. But you can crawl and wallow. Or you can keep your head held high. I think the city of New Orleans really personifies that in so many ways. It’s one of the reasons I moved down here. That plucky, stylish, pervasive, happy spirit … it’s addictive.

New Orleans has a crazy ability to survive, despite the water rising over the rooftops. Despite money flowing out to all the wrong places. Despite buildings crumbling, infrastructure suffering, and, yes, despite the latest plague.

The reason is simple. This town bands together. Community is everything and from it, everything is propped up.

Spotify recognized the Legacy Foundation of the Preservation Jazz Hall as one of the best music organizations helping during the time of Covid-19. They’ve agreed to match each dollar raised during this time, up to $10 million. You can donate here!

As I’ve gotten to know a few of the characters behind the Jazz Hall, this huge recognition by Spotify has really helped lift my own spirits this week. I bought a few buttons from the web site that read “Keep Your Head Up.” I plan to mail them out to friends and to affix them to my favorite shirts.

Meanwhile, here are a few other feel-good moments I’ve found in the last week here in New Orleans. Proof of that creative community spirit. People and businesses are offering cool things––flowers to frozen drinks.

It’s these little things that help me Keep My Head Up.

Covey Rise Farms

The huge, mixed box of farm veggies is sold from the back of a truck each week. The location changes (figure it out here), and they mark the sidewalk to help everyone safely distance. They’ve also got fresh-cut flowers and humanely raised pork––including ground, belly, and shoulder cuts.

Pistil & Stamen

The arrangements are spectacular, and you get a gorgeous concrete vase with it––available via pickup or delivery. I’d advise just purchasing starter plants from them. You pick up at their greenhouse over on Kentucky Street, and now I’ve got my own celosia growing in pots, for fresh-cut flowers whenever I want. They are also hosting floral arrangement classes twice in May. To find out dates and times of sale, visit their instagram here.

The Return of Cane & Table + Cure

These are the best ribs in the city (fight me), and it feels great to support a staff that consistently gives a lot back to the community. I’m excited Cane & Table is open for takeout. Order here! If you live Uptown, you can get craft cocktails at Cure now too!

Flower Fields at City Park

Are they still in bloom? I cannot be sure. If the annual flower fields have faded, there’s still plenty of reason to stretch out on a blanket beneath some Spanish Moss. My friend Annie Jones and I met up at City Park last week. We took Instagram photos of the cosmo flowers, sat by a duck pond, stayed 16 feet from everyone and soaked in some vitamin D. If you’re headed there and need a fantastic book, I suggest this one. Damn, it’s great.

Napoleon House Frozen Pimm’s Cups by the Gallon

After that flower field adventure, Annie and I ventured to the Napoleon House for curbside pickup of Frozen Pimm’s Cups. They sell them by the gallon or half-gallon. Get there early, because they do sell out. For the briefest of moments that day, life felt somewhat, kinda-sorta normal. It’s often easy to forget that these cornerstones of life are still here, albeit served up a little differently. We can enjoy them safely. Just adhere to the trifecta : masks + distance + hand sanitizer.

Trixie Minx’ instagram Stories

Hilarity ensues. Weekly. Daily. What a gem you are, Trixie. Also … appearances by her black lab Zeus are the best. Hi Zeus! Visit her instagram page here. And Zeus’ page here. In all this chaos of support, let’s not forget our burlesque dancers, our strippers, our street performers and our theater actors. Many of them have pages up for tips via Venmo and Paypal. Trixie set up Just the Tips––specifically for burlesque and boylesque––and you can donate here and watch shows online.

Fresh Pizza Dough & Pantry Staples at Bellegarde Bakery

I just found out today that Bellegarde Bakery in the Holly Grove neighborhood has both an online store and curbside pickup. Artisan flour for all that bread your baking! Fresh pizza dough for Friday family movie nights! Fun, exciting dry pastas in curly shapes! (Again, you just might find a unicorn, sliver of normalcy in this and some culinary added life skill.)

Randy Schmidt Porch Photography

One local photographer is making the most of our time at home, with quick, distanced sessions for only $25. My downstairs neighbor Sarah Forman and I are going to get dressed up and have Randy come take our photos next week. Do I want an image from the middle of the pandemic? Yeah. I think I do. I want photo evidence of happy moments, so later, when life gets tough for other reasons, I can recall the day that I put on a dress, a belt, some earrings and a damn smile.

Wishing you all well, wherever you are. And if you are in New Orleans, and you have ideas that need to be added to this list … creative, happy little moments that we can participate in … please hit me up in the comments or by direct message.

Now … back to our regularly scheduled programming …