Melanie: We are six days out from the start of the Alcohol Free for 40 Challenge and Ashley and I both are working on success strategies for the coming days and weeks. Planning ahead always helps keep me on…
Melanie: In 2016 when Registered Dietitian, author, podcaster and Eat Fit NOLA founder Molly Kimball announced the first #AlcoholFreeFor40 Challenge I decided to go for it. Frankly, laying off of the booze after a full Carnival season and excessive…
Thank you for stopping by. The Bon Vivant blog is currently on hiatus. You can contact Melanie at Melanie@MyNewOrleans.Com.
Keep your grooming cool at work as the temperatures rise, and rise, and rise.
‘Bon Vivant’ Summer Reading Roundup friends and family edition
The third annual ‘Bon Vivant’ Summer Reading Roundup
‘Essence of Things,’ exhibit at New Orleans Museum of Art celebrates minimalism
Channel your inner French guy or gal at the July 15 Bastille Day Fête at NOMA
Creating a cozy space when friends or family house or pet sit for you
West Elm invites New Orleans and Louisiana artists, makers and designers to submit work for showcase
Birthdays, Baccarat, redecorating and a philosophy for good living
Tips for beating the summer — er, spring — temperatures
Southern Style Now showcases Southern stars of art, writing and design
Skin and spa treatments made for a weekday lunch break escapade
An interview with the author about her book, the New Orleans food scene and learning to make cocktails as a child in Mississippi
Julia Reed’s new book is your new entertaining Bible, New Orleans signing May 3
Crawfish do’s and don’ts and a few New Orleans bars and breweries now boiling
Books, signings, Sippin’ In Seersucker and celebrating the Southern summer staple
9 Ways to Slay Malaise
If you count today, there are four days remaining until I get to enjoy the delicious taste of Veuve Clicquot Rosé Champagne. The NOLA.Com #AlcoholFreeFor40 Challenge ends Easter Sunday. My blissfully long weekend however, begins Thursday afternoon and runs through Monday. Then…
Fun Fact: You can, it turns out, go to the Irish Channel St. Patrick’s Day Parade and not drink. That is, while sobriety is slightly frowned upon, there’s no rule against it and you won’t be sent home. This is…
Confession: I originally labeled this entry “Week Five.” Nope, it’s but week four. With about two and a half weeks, or 19 days (or 456 hours — not that I’m counting) left in the NOLA.Com #AlcoholFreeFor40 Challenge, I’m going to…
Leisure travel without a pre-flight adult beverage wasn’t something I considered when I accepted the NOLA.Com #AlcoholFreeFo40 Challenge. This weekend, we attended the Houston friend’s going away party I mentioned in last week’s post. Our flight to Houston was early on…
What a difference a week makes. After going off the sauce for the NOLA.Com #AlcoholFreeFo40 Challenge two weeks ago, I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever see or feel a difference. Week one and most of this past week (week…
When you abstain from alcohol for longer than a few days, it causes anxiety — for other people. I’m of course mostly joking, but there’s a kernel of truth to it. Since announcing that I’m doing the Nola.Com #AlcoholFreeFor40 challenge,…
Bon Vivanting without the booze
The elements of Carnival style in a handy pocket guide
Tips for hosts and guests for being prepped and peppy throughout Carnival season
Words and phrases familiar to New Orleanians
As a listmaking enthusiast, the beginning of a new year is always an exciting time. There are so many possibilities for lists. Here’s a list: Home improvement projects for 2016 Travel destinations for the winter months (No. 1: Key…
Melanie Warner Spencer is a native Kentuckian, but says she got to New Orleans as fast as she could. For more than 16 years, Melanie has covered lifestyle, design and entertainment at various publications, serving as the design columnist at The Austin American-Statesman, a senior staff reporter at the Houston Chronicle and most recently as the editor-in-chief of Houston Brides magazine. Her work also has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Huffington Post and Reuters in the United States and across the globe. In her spare time, Melanie is an award-winning fine art photographer and has been honored by the Texas Press Association for her editorial photography. She also has been honored by the Press Club of New Orleans for its Excellence in Journalism Awards and is currently serving as a media member of the board of directors. Cooking and eating fabulous food and taking road trips with her spouse of 16 years, fellow writer and filmmaker Mark Patrick Spencer however, is at the top of her list of favorite pastimes. Click here to like Spencer's Facebook page and follow her on Twitter @MelanieSpencer.
