WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:02.359 The topics and opinions expressed on the following show are 2 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:04.280 solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not 3 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:07.240 those of W four WN Radio It's employees or affiliates. 4 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:10.919 We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, 5 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:14.039 or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability, 6 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:17.359 explicit or implied shall be extended to W four WN Radio. 7 00:00:17.519 --> 00:00:20.239 It's employees are affiliates. Any questions or comment should be 8 00:00:20.239 --> 00:00:21.399 directed to those show hosts. 9 00:00:21.600 --> 00:00:42.439 Thank you for choosing W four WN Radio. 10 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:48.759 Hello, and welcome to Fearless Fabulous You. I am your host, 11 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:51.840 Melanie Young and Happy twenty twenty five at the beginning 12 00:00:51.880 --> 00:00:55.280 of the year. The show is airing January eighth, twenty 13 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:58.240 twenty five, and I don't know about you, but we're 14 00:00:58.280 --> 00:01:01.359 all fresh and ready to have a new year that 15 00:01:01.520 --> 00:01:03.159 we don't know what's going to happen. But do we 16 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:05.480 ever know what's going to happen? No. All we can 17 00:01:05.519 --> 00:01:07.719 do is try to control what's in front of us 18 00:01:07.799 --> 00:01:11.359 and live life with more intention. If you're joining me 19 00:01:11.400 --> 00:01:15.079 for the first time, welcome. If you're a regular follower 20 00:01:15.120 --> 00:01:19.159 and fan, thanks, I really appreciate it. I try to 21 00:01:19.319 --> 00:01:23.400 talk about life as we know it and face challenges 22 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.640 head on, handle whatever comes along like this year, and 23 00:01:26.719 --> 00:01:29.120 live life on your terms. I'm going to tell you 24 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.959 two stories. First of all, invite you to follow my 25 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:36.760 new substack dot com near Melanie Young Melanie Fabulous. I 26 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:40.840 am going to really this year try to achieve at 27 00:01:40.920 --> 00:01:44.840 least one of my resolutions. I've already done two. The 28 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.879 first resolution is to do something new every month, something 29 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.159 new and different. I already did that. I marched in 30 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.640 a Martigaros parade on January sixth. The Joan of Arc 31 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:59.319 Crew to Joan of Arc Parade kicked off the official 32 00:01:59.400 --> 00:02:01.840 festival see the New Orleans, and my husband David and 33 00:02:01.879 --> 00:02:06.959 I were volunteer foot soldiers to protect the Maiden Joe 34 00:02:07.040 --> 00:02:09.560 Novarc on her horse as we walk through the French 35 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:11.960 quarter for a mile and a half. So not only 36 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.360 did I protect the Maid of Orleans who helped protect 37 00:02:16.520 --> 00:02:20.199 New Orleans in the city of Orleons, but I also 38 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.400 got a good walk in probably over ten thousand steps. 39 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.360 Another resolution off there, do something new and different, walk 40 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:32.199 ten thousand steps every day or try to. Yeah. The 41 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.919 next one is to start a Subsack newsletter, which I 42 00:02:35.039 --> 00:02:38.439 have done, Melanie fabulous. I invite you to sign up 43 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.960 for free before I start charging, and encourage you to 44 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.840 comment and share, and then I'm going to write my book. 45 00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.639 I have a couple of titles and story lingules on 46 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:50.360 along the way. I may just try to write all 47 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:53.319 of them simultaneously in different segments. I don't know, but 48 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:57.520 I'm gonna do it because I have the time. But 49 00:02:57.599 --> 00:03:02.840 before launching for into this about traditions and resolutions, I 50 00:03:02.919 --> 00:03:05.639 want to share a story with you because I had 51 00:03:05.680 --> 00:03:09.520 in New Year's very different. I try to do New 52 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:12.439 Year's Day and New Year's Eve different every year because 53 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:15.599 New Year's Day is my birthday, and after many years 54 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:19.599 of bad dates, I decided to take matters into my 55 00:03:19.639 --> 00:03:23.960 own hands. The story goes like this. I don't believe 56 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:28.599 in cheating unless it's death. You see. I was born 57 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:31.520 on New Year's Day, fifteen minutes after the first baby 58 00:03:31.520 --> 00:03:34.159 of the year. My parents had to leave their fancy 59 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:37.240 New Year's Eve party early due to my mother's water breaking, 60 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:40.000 but I decided to make a late entrance at ten 61 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:43.840 forty five am later that morning. Maybe that's why I'm 62 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:47.599 always fifteen minutes late. My father said I was quote 63 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.520 pearly engineered and badly accounted for that met no first 64 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.680 Baby of the Year prizes and publicity and no text deductions. 65 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.199 And he was a CPA, so life was all about 66 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:03.000 tax deductions. So, after years of spending New Year's Eve 67 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:07.840 with bad dates, attending anonymous parties with insipid sparkling wines, 68 00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:10.240 and hanging out with hungover friends the next day who 69 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:14.000 really didn't care that it was my birthday, I decided 70 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:17.199 at the age of thirty, so I had a lot 71 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.480 of bad birthdays before that. I decided to take matters 72 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:23.360 into my own hands and reclaim my special day on 73 00:04:23.480 --> 00:04:27.279 my terms, my way. Remember this show is all about 74 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:31.319 living life on your terms. I vowed to spend New 75 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:36.879 Year's with more adventure, somewhere new each year, a new experience, 76 00:04:36.920 --> 00:04:40.439 a new location, new people, just something new to set 77 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:44.120 the tone and the year old year, set the tone 78 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:47.560 for the new year and have a positive outlook. So 79 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.639 since the age of thirty, over three decades now, I 80 00:04:51.759 --> 00:04:55.800 have celebrated New Year's even a different place in the world. Really, 81 00:04:56.759 --> 00:05:01.360 each experience is carefully documented in handwritten diary with my 82 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:04.439 annual list of resolutions and a recap of the year. 83 00:05:04.519 --> 00:05:07.839 It's literally the story of my life in multiple diaries. 84 00:05:08.800 --> 00:05:12.759 You know, I've only repeated three locations for New Years, 85 00:05:12.800 --> 00:05:16.120 all for special reasons. The first was when I was 86 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.839 diagnosed with breast cancer and I had to cancel a 87 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:21.879 trip to Asia for my New Year's birthday because I 88 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:25.040 had started chemotherapy. And even though I argued with my 89 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:29.560 oncologist and said I'm available after January fifteenth, mind you, 90 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.360 it was November when we had this conversation, she looked 91 00:05:32.399 --> 00:05:34.319 me straight in the eye and she said, Melanie, that's 92 00:05:34.360 --> 00:05:37.240 not how cancer treatment works. You are in my hands 93 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:39.759 now and not on your terms, and you will start 94 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:43.000 chemotherapy in December, and you will not go to Asia 95 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:46.920 for your New Year's birthday. Tail between my legs, I 96 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:50.000 canceled the trip and ended up at a friend's house 97 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.399 in the Hampton's, where I had already spent in New 98 00:05:52.480 --> 00:05:54.399 Year's But she said, here are the keys to my house, 99 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:57.920 go out there, because I was feeling rather low. Can 100 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:02.199 you can imagine? So I spent a New Year's twice 101 00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:05.839 in the Hamptons. I gave my New Year's Birthday to 102 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:09.879 my husband David, spending a repeat trip in Switzerland for 103 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:13.000 his fiftieth birthday. That was my gift to him, giving 104 00:06:13.079 --> 00:06:16.720 him my special birthday. So we spent New Year's in Davos, 105 00:06:16.759 --> 00:06:21.279 Switzerland with friends, which I had already done and it 106 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:23.199 was fine. We had a good time. We were in Zurich. 107 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.720 That was a little different and I was happy to 108 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:30.639 do it. This past New Year's I actually spent spent 109 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:33.800 it celebrate in New Orleans. Now I had done this 110 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:37.439 a couple of years ago. I think two thousand, I 111 00:06:37.439 --> 00:06:40.639 don't know, sixteen seventeen eighteen, of lost track, it's all 112 00:06:40.680 --> 00:06:43.639 in my diaries. But we did it differently. We went 113 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:46.720 to a really nice dinner party with friends. No fireworks, 114 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:49.759 see we just could hear them off the back patio 115 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:53.279 of their uptown home in the Garden District. But it was, 116 00:06:54.160 --> 00:06:56.879 you know, a quiet dinner party. And then my birthday 117 00:06:56.959 --> 00:06:59.160 was at Commander's Palace. I took a walking out of 118 00:06:59.160 --> 00:07:01.920 the park. Was New New Orleans the way I love it. 119 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:06.439 But we decided this year to spend New Year's again 120 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:08.480 in New Orleans. But do it like you were like 121 00:07:08.560 --> 00:07:12.240 a tourist, like a real like I've never experienced New Orleans. 122 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:15.160 New Orleans is our new home. We're trying really hard 123 00:07:15.199 --> 00:07:19.360 to embrace every season and feel planted here after living 124 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:22.279 two years on the room, as you know if you 125 00:07:22.360 --> 00:07:27.519 follow us. And so we were in Jacksonville, Florida, visiting 126 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.800 David's mother and older brother. We drove over to the Panhandle, 127 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:33.079 across the Panhandle and landed back in New Orleans, and 128 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:35.959 I got to tell you, it actually felt right. I 129 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.800 wanted to come back home. It's been a long time 130 00:07:38.839 --> 00:07:43.399 since I called anything home. So we did that, and 131 00:07:43.839 --> 00:07:48.759 we decided to immerse ourselves in the zany decadence celebratory 132 00:07:48.839 --> 00:07:51.399 spirit of the French Quarter. At the stroke of midnight, 133 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:55.959 I dressed in sequence head to toe. My husband David 134 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:59.279 were his Texedo. We headed out with the good friends 135 00:07:59.319 --> 00:08:02.720 Who's on or a celebratory multi course dinner at Memmou, 136 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.199 which is one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants. It's 137 00:08:05.319 --> 00:08:08.319 located at the edge of the French Quarter off Ramparts 138 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:12.199 Street and serves really fabulous food with a French accent 139 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:15.040 and has a terrific wineless and boy do we im vibe. 140 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.959 We felt great. We brought a special bottle of lonju 141 00:08:19.079 --> 00:08:23.639 Champagne Grand One, the owner porter some burgundy we loved 142 00:08:23.639 --> 00:08:27.959 that restaurant. Sometime after eleven, probably around eleven twenty a pm, 143 00:08:28.519 --> 00:08:32.240 and we walked over to Jackson Square, the historical heart 144 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:35.159 of the French Quarter, for the New Year's Eve countdown 145 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.279 and fireworks extravaganza over the Mississippi River. It's really quite 146 00:08:40.279 --> 00:08:44.000 beautiful and they lower a Florida Lee much like you 147 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.200 lower the ball in Times Square, and it was just wonderful. 148 00:08:48.240 --> 00:08:51.399 The crowd was festive, not unruly, I mean it can 149 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.919 be in the French Quarter. The air was filled with 150 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:58.399 energy and elation. We did the countdown police officers on 151 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:01.240 foot and on horseback line in the streets. I felt 152 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:04.039 so safe, and I walked and thanked many of them 153 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:07.519 and wished them Happy New Year for their service. After 154 00:09:07.559 --> 00:09:10.919 the fireworks, we navigated the crowds on Bourbon Street and 155 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:13.480 walked over to a place called the Bayou Club, where 156 00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:17.279 our friends Husan already had left, and we listened to 157 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.600 a really terrific small Cajun ban and danced. In fact, 158 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:23.279 at some point of the night, Shusan put a Cajun 159 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:26.159 washboard on me and I was strumming a washboard. Wow, 160 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.159 something else I've never done. Check it off the never 161 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:32.679 done less play a washboard with a Cajun band. My 162 00:09:32.759 --> 00:09:36.039 husband David, as he always does, stood guard to watch 163 00:09:36.120 --> 00:09:40.360 my belongings so nothing disappeared. He is my protector whenever 164 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:42.279 I decided to let my hair down, and I do 165 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:44.360 like to let my hair down on New Year's Eve. 166 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.919 Oh the things you do, you know. So around one 167 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.759 forty five pm, I mean am so one forty five 168 00:09:51.799 --> 00:09:54.080 in the morning, we walked over to Bourbon and Canal. 169 00:09:54.399 --> 00:09:57.720 We debated whether to have a final nightcap at the 170 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:02.200 hotel monoleone carousel bar, wonderful bar in a historic hotel, 171 00:10:02.480 --> 00:10:05.360 and it literally is it's a boar that goes around 172 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:08.399 and around very slowly, but it goes around and around. 173 00:10:09.279 --> 00:10:12.480 We decided not to. Susan walked home. David and I 174 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:15.399 decided to call an uber or check a cab, but boy, 175 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.000 it was so expensive. What is it with search rates? 176 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:20.480 It was like ninety dollars to go home and it's 177 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:24.240 a thirty dollars cab, right, So being frugal, another resolution 178 00:10:24.519 --> 00:10:27.360 to be fabulous and frugal. I said, yeah, let's just 179 00:10:27.399 --> 00:10:30.720 wait it out. So it wasn't too cold of a night. 180 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:33.240 But we walked over to the lobby of the Ritz 181 00:10:33.320 --> 00:10:37.200 Carlton Hotel on Canal Street, not far from Bourbon Street, 182 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.879 and waited in their lower lobby until the taxi rates 183 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.240 went down, and we just sat and did social media. 184 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:46.600 There were other people doing the same thing. We scrolled 185 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.440 our phones. We wish people Happy New Year. People were 186 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:53.519 starting to wish me Happy Birthday. Around two twenty in 187 00:10:53.519 --> 00:10:56.200 the morning, we finally got an uber. Back to our hotel, 188 00:10:56.960 --> 00:10:58.879 I mean our home. Excuse me, back to our home, 189 00:10:58.919 --> 00:11:02.200 which is in Lakeview. It's a very quiet neighborhood off 190 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.399 City Park, not too far from Lake Ponte Train. Many 191 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:08.519 locals called sweet and suburban. You know what, that's okay? 192 00:11:08.759 --> 00:11:13.399 I kind of like sweet and suburban these days. We 193 00:11:13.480 --> 00:11:17.360 went to bed, went to sleep. Unbeknownst to us, at 194 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.879 three point fifteen in the morning, a crazed man wearing 195 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:22.759 military gear turned his white truck off Canal Street and 196 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.080 inner Bourbon Street, accelerating full force with the intent to 197 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:28.679 kill as many people as possible. Now we had just 198 00:11:28.799 --> 00:11:31.720 left this corner of Bourbon and Canal, mind you, forty 199 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.399 five minutes earlier. In the end, thirty five people were 200 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:39.559 injured and fourteen innocent people were dead, plus the perpetrator. 201 00:11:40.879 --> 00:11:43.399 Most were young revelers with their lives still ahead of them. 202 00:11:43.440 --> 00:11:46.240 The driver's name was shamsu Din Jabbar. He was an 203 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:50.639 American born resident of Houston, Texas who had been radicalized 204 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:55.120 and had posted some fairly radical videos. We don't know why. 205 00:11:55.320 --> 00:11:57.759 We don't know anything, and he's dead, so you know, 206 00:11:57.799 --> 00:12:01.279 the FBI is then the FBI's hands. But we don't 207 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:03.240 know why he decided to come to New Orleans to 208 00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.639 mow down revelers on Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. 209 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.440 But obviously he wanted to make a big statement. It's 210 00:12:09.480 --> 00:12:12.919 all senseless and it's all tragic, and I had no 211 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:15.879 idea that this had happened. Just forty five minutes after 212 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:18.799 leaving the corner of Bourbon Canal, David and I were 213 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:24.120 safely asleep in our bed and we were woken like 214 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:26.600 really early, like crazy early seven thirty in the morning. 215 00:12:26.679 --> 00:12:29.679 Our phones started beeping and jumping and beeping and jumping, 216 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:32.679 and we're like, who is calling us so early? And 217 00:12:32.759 --> 00:12:36.559 I kind of thought, in my you know, mumbly sleep, Wow, 218 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:39.240 people really love me. They're calling to wish me happy birthday. 219 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:43.600 I ignored everything and kind of reached over and put 220 00:12:43.639 --> 00:12:47.000 everything on silent. But then David's phone started going and 221 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:49.679 I'm like, why are people calling David? It's not his birthday. 222 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.679 And then we checked our texts and there were many 223 00:12:53.879 --> 00:12:58.320 saying are you okay? Because the last photo we posted 224 00:12:58.919 --> 00:13:01.679 from Bourbon Street was that just after two five in 225 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:07.600 the morning, and everybody was like they could have been there. Well, 226 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:12.840 fortunately we were safe in bed and we missed the situation, 227 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.000 the terrible incident, by forty five minutes, maybe an hour. 228 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:19.159 Reflecting on that tim being, I realized it was a 229 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:23.399 pretty close call. We were deeply sickened by the act 230 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:26.679 and sat by the killings, and thankfully it wasn't my time, 231 00:13:26.759 --> 00:13:28.840 and I hopefully have more trips around the sun to 232 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:31.519 celebrate in different places of the world. But I thought 233 00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:34.360 long and hard about those fifty people young and old, 234 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.879 celebrating the new year on Bourbon Street. I could have 235 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.480 been one of them. It wasn't the first time I 236 00:13:40.519 --> 00:13:42.840 felt like I had cheated death. I could have been 237 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.720 attending a meeting at the World Trade Center on September eleventh, 238 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:48.840 two thousand and one. My client was the restaurant wind 239 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:52.039 Is on the World. We were planning a huge anniversary 240 00:13:52.080 --> 00:13:54.960 and another client finds from Spain was planning an event 241 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:58.480 at winds On the World to occur on October eighth, 242 00:13:58.759 --> 00:14:02.759 two thousand and one. Sadly, Windows On the World was 243 00:14:02.799 --> 00:14:07.399 destroyed and the terrorist attacks and many wonderful people died, 244 00:14:07.519 --> 00:14:10.000 and I went into action to do whatever I could 245 00:14:10.039 --> 00:14:12.799 to help with rest, you know, help support in any 246 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:17.519 way I could. That was the first time I felt 247 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.399 like I cheated death. I also felt like I cheated 248 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:24.080 it during chemo therapy for breast cancer. I had a 249 00:14:24.200 --> 00:14:28.559 severe allergic reaction to a chemotherapy drug called pack of taxil. 250 00:14:29.240 --> 00:14:33.840 Literally I passed out. I went unconscious, although in the 251 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:38.519 dark depths of my mind I kept saying inside, don't 252 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:41.720 go to sleep, don't go to sleep, it's not your time. 253 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:44.679 I was revived. I think people. I think they shot 254 00:14:44.679 --> 00:14:46.320 me up with a lot of betterer doll I really 255 00:14:46.320 --> 00:14:48.360 don't know. I was kind of When I finally came 256 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:53.120 to I was like, WHOA, what happened. But the feeling 257 00:14:53.120 --> 00:14:55.799 that you've cheated death makes you value life even more. 258 00:14:55.919 --> 00:14:58.480 And that's the lesson. I have had too many friends, 259 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:01.480 way too many friends in the past few months in 260 00:15:01.559 --> 00:15:05.080 their fifties and sixties drop dead and just suddenly and 261 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.840 I'm like, wow, well they're like my age and younger. Wow, 262 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:12.279 that could be me. You know. That's why I'm going 263 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:15.360 to live twenty twenty five doing new things and living 264 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:18.039 with more intention and not sweating the small stuff because 265 00:15:18.039 --> 00:15:22.039 the silly things you complain about and worry over no 266 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:25.279 longer really seem important. You sip and save your foods 267 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:28.080 and beverages without worrying about your long term health or weight. 268 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:32.000 You take risks and try new things because if not now, 269 00:15:32.200 --> 00:15:36.519 when you don't hold back on your life or your emotions, 270 00:15:37.000 --> 00:15:39.720 you speak your mind because do you really care what 271 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:43.519 other think about you? Other people think about you, not really, 272 00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:47.120 And at my age sixty six, I got to listen 273 00:15:47.159 --> 00:15:50.559 to me and what I think is right for me. Oh, 274 00:15:50.679 --> 00:15:53.519 I'll listen to my medical doctors because I do believe 275 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.759 in doing that. But hopefully knock wood, they haven't told 276 00:15:57.759 --> 00:16:01.480 me anything that I already didn't know. So I woke 277 00:16:01.559 --> 00:16:04.000 up on January first, twenty twenty five, to a morning 278 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.159 filled with brilliant sunshine and blue skies, and a day 279 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:10.399 filled with friends and good food. I was grateful to 280 00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:13.480 be alive and for the ultimate birthday gift an abundant 281 00:16:13.519 --> 00:16:18.279 life to enjoy in good health and lucky timing. So 282 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:21.480 take that to heart as you plan twenty twenty five. 283 00:16:21.600 --> 00:16:23.879 You don't know what lies ahead, and you don't know 284 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:26.679 how long your life will be. But really it's not 285 00:16:26.759 --> 00:16:29.080 about the length of your life, but the quality of 286 00:16:29.080 --> 00:16:31.399 your life and how you live it every day. I 287 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:34.840 know people who live there. My mother in law's ninety two, 288 00:16:34.919 --> 00:16:38.399 and she's very happy in her long life and doing 289 00:16:38.720 --> 00:16:41.559 fine for ninety two. My mother was eighty eight when 290 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:45.360 she died. She was a bit bitter and depressed. I 291 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:48.120 don't want to be that person. I have had friends 292 00:16:48.120 --> 00:16:50.879 who are living wonderful lives. They were cut down too soon. 293 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:53.919 I don't know when my day will come, when my 294 00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:55.879 life will end, and I'm not going to think about 295 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:57.679 it too much because I'm going to think about what 296 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:02.360 I'm going to do after I finished recording show That's fun, right, 297 00:17:02.559 --> 00:17:07.359 because it's about having fun. Now, speaking of that, I'm 298 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:09.519 going to switch gears a little bit and share with 299 00:17:09.559 --> 00:17:12.759 you a tradition that I love, just to kind of 300 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:15.319 give you an essence of how I live my life 301 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.000 and why I do funky, fun things I do believe 302 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:23.519 in traditions. Like I said, I keep it New Year's Diary. 303 00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:27.759 I love my New Year's Diary. I'm very careful about 304 00:17:28.200 --> 00:17:30.480 protecting it. When we packed up our house, the New 305 00:17:30.559 --> 00:17:33.799 Year's Diaries were like Melanie's life in a box, don't 306 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:37.799 touch super super special. So I'm going to tell you 307 00:17:38.039 --> 00:17:42.880 about another fun tradition I have that is also why 308 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.000 I am here in New Orleans. And it really is 309 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.400 a story about a food awakening and what really became 310 00:17:48.440 --> 00:17:51.640 the essence of me. I call this reconsider the Oyster 311 00:17:51.960 --> 00:17:55.599 because when I was eleven years old, my parents took 312 00:17:55.640 --> 00:17:59.519 me to New Orleans for a grand tour diny experience. 313 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:04.599 It was my father's fortieth birthday celebration and my initiation 314 00:18:04.720 --> 00:18:07.359 into Creole cooking and the beauty of the Crescent City 315 00:18:07.400 --> 00:18:09.759 on the Mississippi River. And I just want to stop 316 00:18:09.759 --> 00:18:12.920 here and say, if you've never visited New Orleans, please come. 317 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:18.559 Screw terrorist tacks, screw this and that, screw hurricanes, come 318 00:18:18.599 --> 00:18:21.839 to New Orleans, the beautiful city. Don't let bad things 319 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:27.720 prevent you from doing good things and experiencing the world. Okay, lesson. 320 00:18:28.519 --> 00:18:30.759 So during this trip, we stayed at the Royal Sinesta 321 00:18:30.799 --> 00:18:33.799 and Bourbon Street. We had dinner at all the beautiful 322 00:18:33.799 --> 00:18:37.759 famous restaurants, Dinner at Galatoise one of my favorites, breakfast 323 00:18:37.799 --> 00:18:41.000 at Brannan's, Brunch at Commander's Palace by the way where 324 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:44.480 David and I were married in the garden. We had 325 00:18:44.519 --> 00:18:48.640 Begnet's and Cafe Ole at Cafe Dumont, many other treats 326 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.000 and meals. Throughout the entire time we were in New Orleans, 327 00:18:52.160 --> 00:18:55.000 I just loved every minute. My eyes were wide open 328 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.920 like saucerers when I saw all the bars with the 329 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:04.519 dancing girls, all the beautiful oak trees, the beautiful architecture. 330 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:08.079 This trip honestly changed my life, and it changed my 331 00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:11.599 relationship with food and where I lived. Actually, after that 332 00:19:11.680 --> 00:19:16.039 trip to New Orleans, I went back to my hometown Chattanooga, Tennessee, 333 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:19.200 and it felt rather mainstream and dull, kind of like 334 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:22.279 a relationship you grow out of and long to leave. Right. 335 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:24.519 I hope you don't have that, but we all have 336 00:19:24.599 --> 00:19:28.519 at some point, you say. Back in the nineteen sixties, 337 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:30.960 when I was a young girl, fine dining, as I recalling, 338 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:34.960 Chattanooga presented like two options which my parents patronized regularly. 339 00:19:36.119 --> 00:19:39.920 One was a family one restaurant called Fens, known for crispy, 340 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:43.000 shaking baked style chickens served with a baked potato, a 341 00:19:43.039 --> 00:19:45.759 green vegetable, and a side salad with your choice of dressing. 342 00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.799 I liked the blue cheese, but my mom, who was 343 00:19:48.839 --> 00:19:51.400 always worried about weight hers and mine, wanted me to 344 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.920 have vinagrette or dressing on the side. Now to this day, 345 00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:57.680 I'm trying to find the Fens fried chicken recipe. It's 346 00:19:57.680 --> 00:20:00.599 not really fried, it's more baked fried chicken, because I 347 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.759 actually don't like fried food. I have fear of frying, 348 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.960 probably because my mother and grandmother are always worried about 349 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:10.440 their weight and therefore worried about my weight, which you're 350 00:20:10.440 --> 00:20:12.640 going to find. As I continued this little theme here, 351 00:20:13.640 --> 00:20:16.079 the other restaurant that we went to on Sunday nights 352 00:20:16.119 --> 00:20:18.480 the whole family was called Town and Country. It was 353 00:20:18.519 --> 00:20:20.839 a steak place steak of potato, and we had our 354 00:20:20.880 --> 00:20:23.079 own waitress named Chris. She had a whip of red 355 00:20:23.079 --> 00:20:25.960 hair piled high on her head and we were always like, hey, Chris, 356 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.640 and I'm sure my grandfather tipped her generously. She really 357 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:33.200 liked us at this restaurant. My mother always wanted me 358 00:20:33.240 --> 00:20:36.839 to order the filet mignon because the smaller portion in 359 00:20:36.880 --> 00:20:39.240 the less fetticat was better suited for young ladies to 360 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:42.000 maintain our girlish figure. Now, mind you, I'm like not 361 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.400 even a teenager yet, so I don't have a figure 362 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:47.160 at all. But I was already being taught to eat 363 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:50.559 like a lady and not eat fattening food because my 364 00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.319 mother hated bad people. I'm sorry to say that, but 365 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:56.720 older in life, she really resented her weight problems and 366 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:59.759 really resented people who couldn't manage their weight. It's kind 367 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:04.359 of same anyway. I kind of liked the Hamburger steak personally, 368 00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:06.880 or the Salisbury steak, but I was told to order 369 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:10.839 the flat mignon, and so I did. Elsewhere in Chattanooga, 370 00:21:10.839 --> 00:21:13.279 there were a lot of casual restaurants that served fried fish, 371 00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.000 usually catfish, shrimp, or fish sticks. Fish was rarely fresh caught, 372 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:20.319 always overcooked. I hated the smell of the fried fish 373 00:21:20.359 --> 00:21:24.799 and the taste as well. And lo and behold, all 374 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:29.519 that emphasis on eating skinny, eating to stay skinny really 375 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:32.759 kind of enforced me into turning into someone with an 376 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:36.200 eating disorder. For a while. As I started to develop 377 00:21:36.200 --> 00:21:38.240 and my body started to plump down and fill out, 378 00:21:38.480 --> 00:21:44.160 I stopped eating. Fortunately I outgrew that, fortunately, but it 379 00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:49.720 did happen. So that trip to New Orleans when I 380 00:21:49.759 --> 00:21:55.480 was around eleven, opened my palate immensely. It introduced me 381 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:59.160 to fresh gulf fish, simmering and savory sauces with flavors 382 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:02.039 i'd never taste. We always ordered it with fresh crab 383 00:22:02.079 --> 00:22:03.759 meat on top, and I still do that when I 384 00:22:03.799 --> 00:22:05.920 go out. You always can order, you know, your golf 385 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:08.400 fish with fresh crab meat on top, and boy do 386 00:22:08.480 --> 00:22:10.480 I ever because fresh crab meat is kind of expensive 387 00:22:10.480 --> 00:22:14.160 at the supermarket. I learned to crab crabs, slip wile 388 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:17.319 oysters and suck on crawfish. And when you eat a 389 00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:20.440 oil crawfish, it's crawfish season just started. They say, suck 390 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.240 the hells and squeeze the tips. I know that sounds 391 00:22:23.240 --> 00:22:25.160 a little carnal, but that's what you do, and it's 392 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:27.599 a lot of fun and they really are good spicy. 393 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:33.119 I tasted oysters rockefella, a dish where oysters are coached 394 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.559 on top with wonderful cream spinach. It's like one hundred 395 00:22:35.599 --> 00:22:37.720 and twenty five year old dish that was created at 396 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.319 Antoine's restaurant, and boy is it good. Palm sou flee, 397 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:46.039 These incredible puffed up potatoes, thin as like like they're 398 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:51.720 like potato balloons, crunchy potato balloons. Gallatoise get the mcgallatowise 399 00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:54.920 is where they're the best Eggs sardau or breakfast at 400 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:59.640 Brennan's and tenardslice steak with Marshan devine sauce at Commander's Palace. 401 00:23:01.240 --> 00:23:03.880