new orleans :: sneak peak

Here is a little preview of our trip to New Orleans. I will be editing the pictures this weekend and hopefully instead of waiting months to get these done, I can actually start posting them next week!

Wish me luck.

[[ my first of many flights. day 1: architecture, cafe du monde, jackson's square, oysters for days. beautiful homes in the garden district. lafayette cemetery no. 1. audubon park. frenchmen st. some of our best meals. the dirty mississippi. ]]

Also, before I got there I sent Pat to one of the places on my list for friend chicken, Willie Mae's Scotch House. Here are the pics that he took... As it turns out I kind of sent him to a bad part of town, but he said it was delicious! 

[[ pat's trip for some fried chicken. ]]

headed south!

Its that time of year, when Pat leaves me for a week or two for NBA Jam Session where the company he works for handles all the merchandise.

Usually I am super lonely while he is gone, not to mention I usually get sick... on Valentine's Day, how lame is that?! But this year is a little different... When I heard that All Star was going to be in New Orleans I knew I had to talk him in to staying a little longer so that we could explore the city together. Reluctantly I did get him to agree, and I am super excited to fly out today and spend the week adventuring in the "Big Easy" itself (people call it that, right?). 

I have been busy compiling a list of places to visit, and thanks to Google Maps, I have them all organized and ready to check out. I am really excited for some unique meals, and hopefully a bit of a culture change since this will be my first experience with the South.

Today is going to be a long day of traveling... but tomorrow,  I will be enjoying a beignet, lots of photo ops, and yes, probably some day drinking. Not that we are total lushes or anything, but exploring less touristy spots, grabbing a drink, and talking with some locals is a great way to experience a new city. Plus, you can drink on the street there... I have to give that a shot. (Oh yea, and this year I was finally NOT sick on Valentine's Day! Curse broken).

[[ sweet vintage map i am using for a project at work. ]]

I will be back in about a week with lots of pictures!

happy murderous winged baby day

I heard someone call it something like that and I thought it was hilarious. I mean, the baby DOES have arrows after all... I wouldn't trust him. 

I am actually pretty excited for today (despite Pat being out of town, as usual) because: 

1. I am not sick for the first time in several years!! (I have been dealing with a bit of a Valentine's Day curse where I always have a cold of some kind over the 14th) 

...and...

2. Guenther is coming to town tonight so I get to have some girl time this weekend! We are going to make a "fancy" dinner, drink "Valentine's Day themed" wine out of ridiculous glasses (you will see what I mean later), and watch Mary Kate & Ashley movies... "Why would anyone in their right mind want to willingly watch those horrible things?!" you may ask. Because they are the perfect amount of cheesy girliness that no boyfriend, fiance, or husband would ever allow in his presence. Oh yea, we will probably eat a fair amount of sweets too. 

[[ a silly thing i just made for some reason. ]]

Anyway, 

Happy V-Day Y'all!

P.S. Why did I just say "y'all"?? That was weird... I think I have been reading WAY too many posts from bloggers who live in New Orleans lately. It could also be from working on menus for one of our properties in South Carolina (suddenly I want fried chicken)... Hopefully I will never have to put you all through that again. No promises. 

my week in pictures 42

monday 2/3 - sunday 2/9

I have one word for you... SNOW.
Snow, snow, snow. So much snow(ing) this week, non-stop for three days, and I loved it! In fact, almost all of my pictures are of snow, because we got 18 inches and I was pretty much snowed in all weekend since I dropped Pat off at the airport on Thursday for New Orleans. (Did I say snow enough times?) I also messed around with my hair to perfect my ombre look (which I missed since letting it grow out), tried some really weird home remedies, and attempted/failed to shovel our driveway solo. Luckily, one of my super nice neighbors came over with his snow... blower... thingy... to help me out so that I could go to work on Monday!

[[ before all star pat always gets one nice dinner in, early valentine's day. he really loves shell fish... work day at br. the start of the snowpocalypse. our neighborhood on day 2. working on a little ombre action. experimenting with super weird home hair treatments... yes, thats ketchup, the blonde looked a little too ashy, and it worked! chillin with some festive socks. the massive amounts of snow on day three. attempting to shovel the driveway to free my car. super nice neighbor coming to help. our beautiful backyard. the official measurement. ]]

my week in pictures 41

monday 1/27 - sunday 2/2

First of all, I can't believe that its already February! Seriously... How did this happen??!!
Disclaimer, last week I was buried in work during the day, and we ate out a lot... so most of my pictures are going to be of food.

We tried Drake for the first time and it was pretty good, probably the closest thing we have found over here to Irving St. Kitchen's fried chicken in Portland. Pat got the chicken and I had shrimp and grits, so as you can see their menu definitely has a southern flair. We also tried out the tagine again with some pork with spiced apples, it was really good (though I preferred the chicken recipe we tried last week). We also tried out Pizza Mondo finally for the first time, which reminded us of American Dream in Corvallis and made us happy. I even had leftovers of the veggie half for lunch today! On Sunday we went over to a friends place to watch the Superbowl, but ironically, I forgot to take any pictures of the delicious spread which included lots of snacks and the best ribs Pat has ever made. The game itself was surprising, but pretty boring. I thought the half time show was better than it has been for a long time though, and I feel like I could totally pull Bruno Mars's gold blazer off too. I liked their style, very old school. The commercials weren't thaaaat great either, but the pistachios one with Steven Colbert was hilarious.

[[ date night at drake: rosemary popcorn to snack on in a little baggie. shrimp and grits with bacon. friend chicken and yams. a delicious grapefruit bevey. work work working on never ending logo drafts. forcing myself in to the gym. our tagine creation. pizza mondo. part of our daily mountain views. fire pit and s'mores after the superbowl! ]]