YSB: Wine Straight Out Of The Oven @ I.J. Reilly’s Knick-knacks

Better late than never, right? I am STILL trying to get through all of my YSB posts, and here we are in July already. This was a super fun and different event, picture our lil group hangin’ over on Elysian, drankin’ box wine and telling tall tales.
«This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-​Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians, all of whom are only too well protected by graft.» –so sayeth IJ Reilly.
Every item in there is carefully curated. There were several things I wanted and upon speaking to staff, wanted them even more so after realizing how excited they were about their artists they feature. I am still kicking myself, months later, for not buying a totally bad-​ass photo of Big Freedia.
But I’m really happy with the several smaller arty things I bought and thrilled with the Check In Offer freebie they threw in — a Bunny Matthews calendar! Lovely time hanging out with y’all, huge thanks to the Knick Knack crew and Joi B for a very fun afternoon party.

Fresh off our Confederacy of Cruisers tour next door, the girlfriend & I went over to I.J. Reilly’s Knicks-​knacks to check it out.
I.J. Reilly’s décor is bright, clean & modern, but their knickknacks run the entire gamut from New Orleans funky to sophisticated. For the YSB YEE, they kept it classy, like Ron Burgundy, by serving boxed wine & little hot dog snacks.
We hung out for a while but by this 3^rd day of YSB, the unrelenting pace was beginning to take its toll. With 1 more bar crawl & a YSB closeout party still ahead later that night, the girlfriend & I took off early to grab a nap back in our room.
Thanks Joi B. for yet 1 more cool YEE in less than 72 hours. Yeah, you did an epic job with YSB. & thanks I.J. Reilly’s Knick-​knacks for hosting our little YSB Elite get-​together.

This was a fun event in one of the more unique location you will find in a city filled with unique locations. The staff of I.J. Reilly’s had a wonderful feast prepared for us consisting of corn dogs, chips, and boxes of wine, and other delicious low brow snack type items. There was even a variety of cheese sauces to dip everything in which made the whole thing that much more awesome.
Honestly, though the best part of this event was browsing the really cool and indefinable selection of stuff available for purchase in the store. Every single item being offered was made or produced by a local person or organization so anything you bought would allow you to literally take home a little piece of New Orleans. From what I saw, just about every Unilocaler in attendance found something they just couldn’t live without and I’m sure they are still treasuring up to this very moment.

This place is such a cute shop! After the tour of the rum distillery, Joi B. was kind enough to drop me off here.
It’s located right next to Elysian Fields and next to the Confederacy of Cruisers Bike Tours shop, so I was already familiar with the store because we popped in after the bike tour to get out of the rain.
The shop is filled with so many things! I love that they only have stuff made from local artists! Definitely check it out if you’re in the area. You never know what you might find here! I was able to snag a really cute necklace from the shop before it got too crowded for the event.
In the back of the store, there’s a little kitchen and they had the table filled with finger foods (mini corn dogs, mini red velvet cupcakes, corndogs, etc) and wine. It was definitely the snack I needed after drinking all the rum from the tour. Haha.
I was so glad to be able to get to this event. I was able to chat with some Unilocalers I hadn’t met yet too! While trying to sober up, me and some other Unilocalers were able to make plans for dinner and for our plans for the last night of YSB in front of the store. Pretty fun just hanging out and taking a breather from all of the running around.
I am definitely grateful that Joi was the one who drove me to and from the rum tour because I wouldn’t have been able to get here and have as much as I did. Thanks again!

An adorable store in an adorable neighborhood with adorable oddities and merchandise! We didn’t get to stay very long since we had other plans that day, but the lil’ bit of time we had to hang out was pretty awesome. Wine straight out of the oven? Mmm… wherever it came from, I think it was some of the best boxed wine I’ve ever had! Better than some bottled wines. The best part about this event: The Owners. «Oh please, help yourself!» They opened their store and their kitchen and made us feel right at home. LOVE!

My first stop on the Unilocal spring break tour, yeah i know got a late start and missed all the earlier festivities. So the name of the place is really appropriate for the things they sell. Its got a little bit of everything, books, clothing, art, and other odds and end. Cool little store that i would have probably never have gone to if it wasnt for the Unilocal event. The owners of the place were really cool and definitely appreciate their hospitatlity. Thanks.

The Unilocal event that almost wasn’t.
I almost didn’t make it to this Unilocal event, not quite sure why, I think I wanted to explore the city a little on my own. After a couple hours of that, I wanted to hang with Unilocalers, so I RSVPed at the last minute. I decided to ride the bus which was it’s own adventure and I try to ride the public transport at least once when visiting a new place. The next day, I realized I totally didn’t have to take the bus and probably walked further to get the bus than I would have if I approached the store from the Decatur side rather than the Rampart side. But all’s well that ends well, right?
I got off the bus not entirely sure I was on the right street and of course, there was not a sign to be seen. There was a woman standing there and I asked her what street I was on. She said something that, to my Texas ear, didn’t sound anything like «Elysian Fields» then she asked which street I was looking for and I said Elysian Fields and she said «You on it.» I understood that one okay. Then she asked what I was looking for, and I said I.J. Reilly’s and she said she’d lived on this street her whole life and never heard of I.J. Reilly’s. I said it was okay since we were on the 900 block the the address was 632 I could find it, but she insisted we ask the daiquiri girl, and opened the door to the daiquiri shop and sweetly shouted to the girl, «Hey, this girl’s looking for I.J. Reilly, do you know where that is?» The girl shook her head and the woman looked at me, and said something to the effect of «Well, I tried.» This is what I mean, above and beyond to help a stranger get to where they need to go. I said I appreciated it, and would have bought her a daiquiri for her trouble, but she was so quick to grab one and sit down at video poker.
I grabbed one myself for the rode. Some other stuff happened at the shop, but that’s in my blog or the review of the daiquiri shop. I headed off for I. J’s. On the way I passed Washington Park, very nice. When I got to I.J.s I was the first person there, being about 15 minutes early. I got to look around at the store and chat with the owners and workers there. I really hit it off with Marisa who’d spent a couple years in Austin after one evacuation and she said I should total move to NOLA.
After the other Unilocalers started arriving, the various Confederacy of Dunces foods started coming out: hot dogs, Fritos, Vienna Sausages, pigs in a blanket. You get the idea. And it was awesome. I didn’t have any of the wine since I was still nursing my daiquiri. I got to chat in depth with some of the Unilocalers I’d not met yet, or had only met in passing so that was good. And before I knew it, it was over and we were on to our next adventure.

What made this event so cool was the fact that the owners of this cute little ‘curiosity’ gift shop were the nicest, coolest people ever! They let us invade their space with plenty of wine, food and desserts with a big smile on their face and never a complaint. I ended up purchasing a piece of art to hang on my wall of my house.

Great fun was had at an exquisite shop. The boxed wine was plentiful and the various dogs (mini hot, mini corn, and corn) were yummy (the menu was in honor of the character the store takes its name from, Ignatius J. Reilly of Confederacy of Dunces as he was the proprietor of a Lucky Dog cart). Everyone there was friendly and good company. I got my mother a set of hand-​painted dish towels.

Fun & Eclectic Shop Stop on Elysian Fields!
SITREP
What an Eccentric Store! I love the personality and the character that comes ripping out from the door from the moment you are first greeted. The ladies that manage and run this shop are very friendly and a lot of fun to chat with, about the history of the building, the store and the wonderful array of items they have for sale.
THE SETUP
This is indeed a «curiosity shop» with the odd bars of soap and the exquisite and yet unique jewelry. There is considerable art and clothing items to peruse.
There is also several jewelry pieces, and my friend Elise picked such a novelty necklace that she is currently enjoying from today’s event.
MR. IGNATIUS REILLY
In Unilocal lore according to Ignatius Reilly, iconoclastic hero in the classic A Confederacy of Dunces, «This city is famous for its gamblers, prostitutes, exhibitionists, anti-​Christs, alcoholics, sodomites, drug addicts, fetishists, onanists, pornographers, frauds, jades, litterbugs, and lesbians, all of whom are only too well protected by graft.»
The spirit of this mantra indeed seems to have grown roots in this store and you can be assured that the spirit of openness that is desired by the above observation is preserved here.
THE LOWDOWN
So if you get a chance to stop by, peruse the offerings, partake of the odd humor and ambiance and just have fun as you eye may be set on taking home a novelty that it becomes attached to!