The Widdershins

Good day Widdershins.  I hope this turns out to be a great day for you.  Yesterday was a delightful day relatively low humidity for a summer day and the night was actually coolish.  Today should be more of the same with the temps just a tad higher.  As long as that humidity stays down that’s okay with me.

A Gathering of Gals

I saw this on nola.com and wanted to mention it here.

The gathering would be for FestiGals a weekend gathering for women in Nola, June 20th – 23rd.  The event bills itself as Entertaining and Enriching Women, New Orleans Style!  There will be workshops for things like “Smarter, safer travels,“Living on Purpose” Pursuing Your Given Path”, Be On Your Best Business Behavior”,   “Manufacturing a Dream” and other business related seminars and conferences.  But of course, this happening in New Orleans, there’s also the “Bodacious Bras” Luncheon and auction, said auction for the benefit of breast cancer awareness, education, and early detection.  You can even check out the bodacious bras here.

Now it’s not all seminars and conferences.  You’ll get to participate in the Stiletto Strut down Bourbon Street.  As local event planner Diane Lyons says:

“The Strut helps women find their inner diva,” Lyons said. “It’s a chance to own the street, to be someone else for the length of the parade. And the parade is a perfect fit with the purpose of FestiGals – to have a good time, but also to step outside our familiar roles as caregivers, spouses and busy professionals, and examine who we are from a fresh angle.”

To do that, Lyons and her FestiGals colleagues draw on decades of experience in planning events for corporate groups and conventions.

You’ll even get to strut your stuff wearing a boa for the Stiletto Stroll if you so choose and no, stilettos are not required for the strut down Bourbon Street.

As Diane Lyons the founder of Festigals says:

As a proud native New Orleanian and an established meeting and event planner for more than 25 years, I had often wondered how our city (known for its many festivals and over-the-top events) had never before hosted a celebration just for us girls. So in 2011, I put my heart, soul, time and talent into creating FestiGals, New Orleans’ first and only all-ladies festival.

During this one-of-a-kind series of events, CEOs, soccer moms, and retirees will unite to celebrate life, laughter and womanhood, and share ideas, talents, and passions with other like-minded ladies in a city where food, fun and fabulousness run rampant around every corner! For just one weekend, you’ll have the chance to get away from it all or soak it all in, to get revved up or to wind DOWN. Whatever it is you want to do, just do it – it’s a weekend that’s all about YOU!

It is my hope that by engaging in our excusive, authentic events – from lunching with Hoda Kotb at the Bodacious Bras for a Cause Luncheon to parading in our signature Stiletto Stroll—that FestiGals will build a network of amazing women from all walks of life who will make lifelong memories and look forward to rekindling connections in the years to come. It is also my hope that you’ll be as excited to attend as we are to host you year after year!

To wrap things up on Sunday there will be Hangover Hospital and then the Drag Queens Brunch at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, described as :

Saints and Sinners Morning, featuring a Drag Queen Brunch at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, 717 Orleans Street, in the heart of the French Quarter. Boys will be boys, or maybe girls, and we all know that girls just wanna have fun… Gaiety with flair in the beautiful Orleans Ballroom, dating from 1817 and once known as the famous Quadroon Ballroom. Naughty but nice, join some of our favorite local queens for a lavish breakfast buffet and entertaining experience from 10am until 12 noon. Enjoy bottomless Mimosas featuring Flip Flop Sparkling Moscato.  The menu for the brunch looks awesome!

Most of the events this year will center around the Hotel Monteleone  in the French Quarter which is a fantastic place. One of the places in the hotel to check out is the Carousel Bar and Lounge.  I’ve been there a number of times and it’s a great place to unwind after having a great dinner in the Quarter, hitting some of the jazz clubs and heading back for that one, last civilized drink.  Also, for those who may be “lebaneze”, the Montelone is also gay-friendly.

It might be too late to attend this year, but it’s an annual event and I’ve put the website in a link above, however if you need it again, here it is:

http://www.festigals.org/

Here’s a restaurant making it easier on the diner

Sushi Yasuda a New York, upscale restaurant just started something that will endear it to its customers for a long time:
They have banned tipping in their restaurant.  When a dinner guest there gets the bill this is printed on the bottom of it:

“Following the custom in Japan, Sushi Yasuda’s service staff are fully compensated by their salary. Therefore gratuities are not accepted.”

 Isn’t that fantastic!  Here’s what the piece says:

Sushi Yasuda’s staff, on the other hand, is paid a salary with a benefits package complete with vacation days, sick leave, and health insurance. Tips were accepted but went directly to the restaurant, not to the servers.

I find it amazing!  The wait staff will have a regular salary, health insurance, vacation and sick days!  I’m not gonna hold my breath to see if any other restaurants try to follow the lead because in the Think Progressive article it does say:

Sushi Yasuda’s benefit package is also a rarity in the industry. Nearly 90 percent of servers do not get health insurance through their employer, a dangerous status quo many restaurant chains have fought hard to maintain in the face of new Obamacare requirements.

Yeah, about what I thought.  Gotta blame it on Obamacare, just like about everything else is blamed on Obama.

So how is your Saturday going Widdershins?  Tell me in the comments below.

This is an open thread.