Word to the Wise: Ellen DeGeneres

I watched Ellen DeGeneres's 2009 Tulane commencement speech the same day I watched Conan O'Brien's Dartmouth speech. As you would imagine, it's full of humor and sprinkled with lots of moving moments. This particular quote made it down in my notebook and felt like a perfect thing to bring out in the heart of Carnival season.

Want some more gems? Watch the full speech below.

Take Me to the Mardi Gras

I lived in a New Orleans suburb for about 6 years. While I love Indy and consider it home, living near NOLA was certainly a big part of my childhood. Maybe I can get a visit in sometime in the near future (I haven't been there since 2006), but until then I'll just have to covet these lovely prints I rounded up from Etsy.

I love the selections and semi-whimsical feel of this print. The artist specializes in fun city illustrations, making it easy to find one for your favorite city.

I love studying all of the funky patterns and colors of this artist's NOLA townhouses work.

Can't get over the colors and overall beauty of this painting. It perfectly captures the French Quarter.

This print on a Moleskin journal would help fuel my notebook addiction.

And since you can't talk about Mardi Gras without talking about music, here's the Marsalis family playing the song I had to play 10,000 in elementary, middle and high school band (though let's be honest: they do it better than a bunch of moody teenagers).