mud fest...err, I mean jazz fest weekend!

10 of my girlfriends traveled to New Orleans for Jazz Fest in honor of my Bachelorette party. It was a large, but enthusiastic #focusedbatch, ready to meet the weekend head on. Our road trip crew was separated into 3 different cars, so the first order of business was meeting up in our hotel rooms where gift backpacks were awaiting everyone. Thank you Emily, MC, and Rachael for your thoughtfulness! This was the PERFECT bag for the weekend. (who am i kidding- I'm bringing it on the honeymoon too) Across from the Renaissance Hotel we ate at Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar for dinner. Burgers were split, shots were had - and then we were off to Frenchman! Rebirth was playing at d.b.a.'s and we found a little nook in the bar that was made for us! We laughed, we drank, we took pictures, we listened to the band, we made new friends from Baltimore/Boston....Friday night was our fun night for sure!

Saturday (the day of Jazz Fest), we woke up for brunch and located about 1/2 a mile from our hotel was The Ruby Slipper, we walked the streets of Nola until we bumped into people waiting in line... bloody mary's held us over until we were seated an hour later with our entire #focusedbatch! Emily drove in from Baton Rouge and met us there! Neither of us could believe it had been at her wedding 2 years ago since we had seen each other. Time- she is a-flyin'. We trolleyed to City Park for Jazz Fest. (well...ahem, some of us had to stop at Family Dollar) We got to hear Norah Jones band, The Little Willies, play. Then Phoenix came on and Lauren and I swayed to the music. "They came all the way from Paris, France just to play for us!" We met up with the other half of the group at the Fleetwood Mac stage. When I tell you it was muddy- I mean liquid sewage sludge a football field length long that smelled A LOT like cow manure. What were we gonna do? NOT see Fleetwood Mac? I don't think so!

Even my sis, Laur with her flip flops on, trudged through the muck of it to hear Stevie Nicks. This was the last show of the day and I'll say exiting with 11 women that have to use the rest room and are tired and hungry is interesting. Oscar, the VERY attractive city transportation worker, assisted us in providing bus transport back to Harrahs, where we decided upon a dinner location, Gordon Biersch. Somewhere between our appetizers being served and our entrees arriving- a little rodent friend decided to poke it's head out and run around the room where we were seated. Never in my life. Sometimes you just gotta laugh to keep from crying.

Exausted but determined, the girls hosted a lingerie shower for me in the hotel room. I have such lovely friends.

Sunday morning we departed the hotel for Baton Rouge, where Emily selected Beausoleil for us. It couldn't have been a more quaint spot for our brunch. As if they knew the running theme of the weekend, an acoustic guitarist serenaded us throughout the meal playing songs we all knew by heart. Instead of say bread or chips, an unexpected table food was served in a basket - cracklin'- and it was yummy! As Lauren recently said to me, "weekends like this are unforgettable, they are stamped in your mind forever." I consider myself a lucky lady to have such thoughtful, fun, and beautiful friends & sisters.

feet in the sand with the clan...d

I can't believe we are a month away from Lauren & Justin's wedding at Nottoway Plantation! I feel like Lauren and I have been talking about this wedding since, well, forever and I can't believe it is here! I was lucky enough to get to share in her bachelorette party in Gulf Shores, AL with a gathering of her friends from elementary, high school, and college. There was a little bit of me that wondered how the weekend would go since I'm the "work friend", but these girls put any fears I had to rest on the drive to the beach. As you can read here, we weren't even sure we could make this trip due to Isaac, but I'm so glad we did. The weather was perfection. Leaving on Friday morning, we stopped in Baton Rouge to pick up Laura and dine at the Chimes.Unfortunately they were out of the alligator appetizer, but the boudin balls were spicy and delicious.

"Sing-screaming" to 90s rap songs on the drive to the beach could possibly be my favorite part of the whole bachelorette weekend. Who doesn't use their phone as a microphone, I'd like to know?

The next few days consisted of me trying not to turn into a red lobster on the beach, while still having fun in the sand. I have to tell you- I applied SPF 75 in the condo and then reapplied with 100on the beach and I still got some sun. Gone are the days of  lathering myself in baby oil. Ahh, getting older (and wiser) is awesome, but certainly more pasty! On Saturday night we went to Flora-bama, which has grown considerably since the last time I was there. They have three music stages and more bars than I can count. It was shoulder-to-shoulder crowded, but we found a sweet spot in front of an industrial fan and danced the night away.

 Our last night at the condo we cooked spaghetti, drank wine, opened presents and played bachelorette games that turned into baring our souls to one another. It was kind of priceless.

I can't WAIT for your wedding next month, Lauren. You are the BEST. Thanks for being you...and thanks for having kick a$$ friends.