The Big Easy...

During a recent work related trip to New Orleans with Katie, I stayed in one of the nicer hotels I have ever been in, Windsor Court. We were surprised to learn upon arrival that we had been upgraded to the club level suites. (a perk of planning an upcoming meeting at their establishment)

I took pictures of every inch of the room. I plan to some day decorate my home in this color scheme.

The meeting space is exquisite. I told Katie that had I not already put down deposits for my wedding in Shreveport, we would be relocating to Windsor Court as our reception venue.

 Notice the painting that Katie is displaying for you. Care to guess what it's value is? I'll just go ahead and tell you. It is a 1.5 million dollar Van Dyck. The hotel itself is basically an art museum!

Their 4-star chef recently left the hotel restaurant, so what did they do? Hire a 5-star chef! This will be the chef de cuisine for our conference in January and I can-not-wait.

In the lobby they serve high tea every day. Unfortunately we missed it, but after our tour ended we hit the road toward Luke on St. Charles Avenue for a late lunch.

A flamenkuche is basically a pizza on uber thin crust with thick cut sweet bacon topped with cheese and onion. Filling and delicious. Katie and I both agree that the pork pâté is interesting on toasted bread with side options to top it with watermelon, pickles, mustard & gelée. I have definitely never seen it on a menu before. Props, John.

We walked around stopping in a few local shops, meandering through the colorful streets of NOLA until we found ourselves at the Green Goddess. Katie appropriately ordered "The Katie" and I got the "Glory for your salvation" - cucumbers muddled in ginger syrup, Pimm's No. 1, Koval Jasmine liqueur, Creme de Cassis, Flor de Cana 7-year aged Nicaraguan rum, Hibiscus liqueur, Orchard Apricot liqueur, fresh lime juice, and topped with ginger beer. Yep, that is all in that white cup I am holding there. Lizette did her thing, and I did mine ;) After taking a breather at the hotel for a bit, we hit up the complimentary club level lounge. I was most definitely feeling like a princess at this point.

Then we meet up with Griff and Alex and taxied to Magazine Street for our night out on the town.

Before leaving NOLA for the LSU game in Baton Rouge, we had to stop at the Rum House for their famous Caribbean inspired tacos. Check out this menu for their combo options. (We both ordered the Two Dat which allowed us to pick 2 types of tacos and 2 different sides) If you haven't been in the Rum House, RUN to the Rum House!!!

{next up- our day spent at Tiger Stadium}

New Orleans & All That Jazz...

Hey dreamers. It's been awhile. When my sister Les and my bf Lauren reminded me that I needed to blog, I knew it had been a long time. Not that I need to make excuses for not blogging because I do this for fun, but I will let you know what I've been up to. I went to New Orleans with friends for Mardi Gras last weekend and came back with strep throat. I haven't had it since I was in college! I thought those sick days were over when I got my tonsils out, but I guess I partied too much in the dirty south. My dad gave me a shot last Wednesday and I am finally feeling more like myself.  It is amazing how immobilizing strep throat can be. It's not the same as when you are a kid and you miss a day of school. I stressed out and felt guilty about calling in sick to work. I worried about the things that would pile up for me while I was out or the burden I would cause my coworkers by not being there. Isn't it interesting how we feel guilty about slowing down and actually take care of ourselves? Even asking for or accepting help can be hard. It was a nice humbling week of realizing how I need to take better care of myself, that pulling the covers over my head to sleep off a 101 degree tempature isn't being lazy, and when I do feel terrible it's ok to accept help from others. Thanks Tison and Mom for doting on me.

Now- on  a lighter note- who wants to see Mardi Gras pictures?! 'cause there are A LOT!!!

{Shortly after we arrived on Friday night, I met Captain Morgan and got to throw beads off the balcony.}

{We walked around looking for a place to lunch on Saturday and happened upon The Green Goddess. I was perusing my Food and Wine Magazine earlier in the month and snapped an iphone photo of this drink and thought, "I must remember to try this when we go down to New Orleans, but I'll probably never find it." But find it we did! And I ordered that there cocktail from the creator and goddess herself, Lizette. Every bit of this masterpiece was fresh-squeezed, mixed, and perfected by hand. It is called the Ninjarita. "Hawaiian black lava salt rims a tribute to the city's favorite saviors in a bled of Azunia gold tequila, Mathilde orange liqueur, fresh satsuma juice, ginger syrup, black pepper syrup, fresh lime juice, and Gekkeikan sake." I mean, wow. }

{If that drink wasn't enough reason to go in, we ordered andouille shrimp and grits that was to-die-for. I'm pretty sure I will crave this for the rest of my life. This is going to become a must stop place for me every time I go to NO.}

We were all lunched up and ready to browse through art gallerys, light shops, jewelry stores and more...ps- that diamond ring I tried on costs $20,000!!! whaa....t? and as you can see, we also saw Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins. aaaa-chim chiminey, chim chiminey, chim chim cher-eee...}

{Well, it started POURING outside- so what did we do? We ran into the Tropical Isle, of course! We're a couple of parrot heads. What was the most popular drink of the weekend you ask? SHARK ATTACK!!!}

Check back tomorrow. I'll be finishing up the Mardi Gras weekend pictures :) I hope everyone is well!

xo,