Lavinia Spalding
The first thing you need to know about the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival—universally called Jazz Fest—is that it covers far, far more than jazz. In fact, a better name might be Rock-Pop-R&B-Jazz-Blues-Funk-Hip-Hop-Gospel-Zydeco-Folk-Bluegrass-Country-Caribbean-Latin-and-Food Fest. Much like the city it calls home, Jazz Fest defies definition and marches to its own drumbeat.
The New York Times, Modern Love: How I Learned to Trust (Some) Men
The New York Times, Modern Love: “Goodbye, My Fantasy Man”
AFAR Magazine: “Playing by Heart” (Winner of a Gold Lowell Thomas Award)
Longreads: “The Cabin”
River Teeth: A lot of Tomorrows
Going: New Orleans, The Southern US City Where Jazz Was Born
Parents: I Grew Up in a Haunted House—Here’s What I Tell My Child About Ghosts
AFAR: Seoul Food
Off Assignment, Letter to a Stranger: “To the Shopkeeper in Fez”
The Bold Italic: “Working Three Jobs Nearly Killed Me”
AirBnB Magazine: “So I Slept in a ...Cave”
AAA Westways Magazine: “Korean Encore”
AFAR.com: “Get Beyond the Beads: The 101 on Mardi Gras Throws”
AFAR.com: “The Art of Eating Crawfish in New Orleans”
AFAR.com: “Find New Orleans’s Soul at These 6 Mini-Museums”
Ms. Magazine: “Politics is on the Menu at Hell’s Backbone Grill”
AirBnB Magazine: “New Orleans for the Celebratory”
Off Assignment, Letter to a Stranger: “To the one who was supposed to get away”
I wasn’t willing to settle for less than kismet. But chasing a romantic illusion nearly kept me from finding love. -- The night I agreed to try online dating, I told my roommate Meghan I hoped I wouldn’t meet anyone because that wasn’t the kind of story . . .
We are at the dinner table when my young son asks, “The day after a lot of tomorrows, will we build a treehouse?” I want to scoop him in my arms, this boy so eager and fresh, so tall his forehead meets my shoulder. If I could, I would lift his body above . . .
I still clearly remember my first meal in South Korea. I had just arrived in the country, fresh out of college and ready to begin a job teaching English. My new boss had whisked me from the airport to a barbecue restaurant, where I’d watched in panic as . . .
. . .