Party in New Orleans

My best friend from college is getting married in a few months and I am honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Her sister and mother invited me to attend her bachelorette party in New Orleans a few weekends ago and I couldn't resist a fun weekend. 

My early flight gave me some time to reflect on some Scott Hahn.

When we got to the hotel, Mari's sister and mother had these cute bags made for us. It was a NOLA Bachelorette Survival Kit with chocolate, mouthwash, gum, face mask, Tums, and a few other goodies. It was a cute and thoughtful gift.

After dropping our stuff off at the hotel, we headed to a local restaurant called Deanie's where I tried oysters for the first time. I was a little skeptical, but they were really good.

Taking our first shot.

We took a walk down Bourbon Street and found a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's.

That evening, Mari's sister arranged for us to watch one of the many Mardi Gras parades from a restaurant rooftop. 

All of the girls of the weekend.

It was one of the neatest sites I've ever seen. So many floats, people, and marching band after marching band.

It was so cold, but these kiddos braved the weather.

I thought this was the coolest trick. Parents brought these ladders that had boxes attached to them for their kids to sit in so they could see the parade. In the parades I have attended they don't last much longer than 30 minutes. These parades went on for HOURS!!! This was a smart idea so parents didn't have to hold their kids the entire time.

Afterwards, we rested and marveled at our beads. [No nudity was involved to attain the beads.]

The next morning, we went to brunch at The Ruby Slipper, a very popular restaurant.

I got their famous Bananas Foster and it was the tastiest breakfast I have ever had. I would go back just for this breakfast.

While we were there, we threw Mari a lingerie party.

Her cute lingerie displayed.

While Mari went to the spa in the afternoon, I went to the casino and made my donation. I was not a big winner :(

I found some time to attend Mass at St. Louis Cathedral on Saturday night. The Cathedral is breathtaking.

That night we went out to Bourbon Street. It was WILD! I had never seen so many unique people in all my life.

I had a great time being with a great group of girls that weekend. It was nice to celebrate Mari before her big day in April. 

Happy Weekend!!

This week has seemed like the longest week!! Maybe because of Tuesday with the sleet and "thunder snow"?!? I'm glad that it's Saturday morning and I am cuddled up in my pajamas cuddling with my doggies. I can't stay in here too long because there is much to do today. So, I'll make this quick.

I live about 40 minutes away from my work. I carpool with two other teachers to help with the drive. Tuesday was my day to drive and I soon wished that it wasn't my day. The meteorologists reported the night before that this wintry weather wasn't going to be that bad and we shouldn't worry. WRONG! It wasn't bad in our hometown, so we didn't leave any earlier. About 5 miles out of our hometown the ice/snow started to come down heavily. I slowed down to 25 mph like everyone else. It wasn't long before I could hardly see the road and people slowly sliding. In tow, one of the carpoolers also brings her little boy with us for Pre-K. I had white knuckles on my steering wheel. I really did not want to drive in this. As we inched a bit further we heard on the radio that the ramps that we take to work were closing. What a mess! I told my carpoolers that I really didn't want to drive in this as it took us 45 minutes to go 15 miles. We called our vice-principal and she agreed that it was bad and for us to turn around and go back home. This was a relief until I realized that I now had to go the other way in this muck. We soon made it home and decided that it would be more work for us to try to go back up there. Our authorities agreed and told us to stay home for the day.

It just so happened that Chris was off on Tuesday, too. We spent the day putting the rest of the Christmas boxes back in the attic, cleaning up the house,and other odds and ends that never got done over the weekend. It was a nice little break in the week.

Today, I am working on red velvet whoopie pies to donate to my cousin, Alyvia Zmolik, for her benefit. On her website,alyviasangels.com, you can read her story and see how this is a very worthy cause to give. I helped set up for the silent auction last night. I have a huge extended family and it was so wonderful to see so many helping just because we love each other. The benefit is tonight and it will be so nice to see the family coming together to raise money for this sweet little girl and her family.

Have a great three-day weekend!!