New Orleans, aka My Happy Place

You know those getaways so full of love and fun that you realize even inside the moment that you're actively creating a memory that'll make you smile forever? That was our New Orleans anniversary weekend. And of course, I forgot my camera, so all I have are Instagram snippets from my phone. Somehow, though, I think the joy comes through anyway.

We flew through happy, bright blue skies.

We stayed at the Roosevelt, which was still shuttered from Katrina during our last visit. The restoration of the hotel and the building's history are both remarkable. (Pretend you're looking at pictures of gorgeous chandeliers here instead of just a napkin.)

The Roosevelt is also home to the Sazerac Bar, which makes, among other delights, a perfect sazerac. (Naturally.)

And bonus: fancy bath products!

We spent Thursday afternoon eating muffalettas at Central Grocery - YUM. We also meandered the French Quarter - I have a soft spot for the galleries along Rue Royal and all the street musicians.



Later that night we crossed town for an anniversary dinner at Gautreau's. I can't say enough about our meal... just spectacular, start to finish. Imagine decadent soup and salad, weep-worthy fish. Imagine a restaurant without even a sign out front, in a converted house, on a residential street. Imagine being the last diners there and having our meal in a completely empty, gorgeous dining room... just us, candlight, and music. Heaven. I also wore one of my favorite dresses, but this is the only image I have of it (awesome Roosevelt tile alert):

I haven't mentioned yet that we had a wedding to attend later in the weekend, so after dinner we met up with the bride-and-groom-to-be at a great dive bar on Magazine Street. Friday we hung out at the pool sipping drinks, reading books, eating catfish sandwiches, and being otherwise decadent. Such a life! That evening we had dinner plans at Cochon. Here I am on our walk from pre-dinner shrimp and cocktails at Luke and on our way to dinner:

This is actually the dress I wore to our rehearsal dinner three years ago - fitting since later that night we joined H&M's rehearsal party. But Cochon... oh my. Porky goodness and the best roasted oysters I've ever had and this fried alligator, which tastes a lot like Nobu's rock shrimp dish, if you've had that before. I adored this restaurant, which is entirely unsurprising.

Later that night in the French Quarter, we were toasting soon-to-be-newlyweds and toasting each other, too. So much fun.

On Saturday we decided that T should wear a bowtie to the wedding (When In New Orleans, right?), so we walked and shopped and walked and ate and drank and walked and relaxed.



And here's my favorite guy wearing not only the bowtie we acquired that day, but also his wedding day seersucker! He hadn't worn it since our wedding - and for those that don't remember, this suit was originally his grandfather's. I loved that tradition then and I still love it now. (I also love that he didn't shave for this wedding... I'm a sucker for scruff.)

Here's me and more of that great Roosevelt tile. These are some of my favorite shoes, by the way - seersucker Louboutins gifted by that handsome guy above a few years ago. He's pretty great.

H&M's wedding was at the Audubon Zoo... it was so much fun seeing the animals at the wedding and late into the night. Here were some of our favorite wedding participants (apologies to the gators for the fried item previously included in this post).

Oh hi. We match.



No seriously.

I love that T loves pattern as much as I do. That's his wedding pocket square, too!



This picture sums it up. Happy, happy, happy.



Oh, and... on Saturday afternoon a Cajun-accented psychic told me I need to be nicer to myself. T's been gloating ever since, because he always says the same thing. So here's a laaaaaate-night picture of me drinking a hot toddy due to my lack of a voice (I woke up Sunday with a lousy cold I'm still fighting). You see that squishy area that's not quite arm and not-quite side boob? That area is my nemesis. I hate it. But because I'm being nicer to myself these days, I'm posting this picture anyway. SEE, Cajun psychic and "Baby Spirit" that I've been instructed to talk to, SEE? I'm being nice.

Until next time, Nola.