The Big Easy

This past weekend, David and I headed to New Orleans, Louisiana! We took off on Thursday for a little vacation. As you can see, vino + Kindles = great start to our weekend! I am reading Girl With the Dragon Tattoo - and its so good!

There was a long list of things we wanted to do in NOLA - eating, eating, and more eating. But, we decided to be really adventurous and see some of the local attractions. A few years ago, I had the treat of spending Father's Day weekend in NOLA with my siblings and parents. We visited the aquarium and took a tour of the post-Katrina neighborhoods. In addition to the aquarium, the Audubon Nature Institute has a zoo and insectarium. David and I chose to explore the insectarium - hey, its a little different and is in the AC!

This is one of the hundreds of varieties of beetles housed there - this one lives under a Plexiglas topper in a table in the little cafe'! He's as long as a dollar bill! Yikes!
A stroll down Canal Street took us by Harrah's....
by the Natchez River boat...
And for a walk along the water.
That night, David and I had dinner at Brennen's. Its a years-old NOLA establishment, famous for its Cajun cuisine. Later, we stopped and had a drink at Dickie Brennen's Bourbon House.

There are tons of antiques shops along the streets of NOLA!
The lobby of our hotel - the Astor Crowne Plaza.
Friday began with Jazz brunch at The Court of Three Sisters - delicious! Afterward, a walk through the French Quarter...

There are a lot of voodoo shops! We took our time walking to visit the famous French Market!
On Friday night, we had dinner at Ralph's on the Park - owned by Ralph Brennen. Are you starting to see a trend? After dinner, we walked across the street from our hotel to the Red Fish Grill, owned by Ralph Brennen too.
On Saturday morning, bright and early, David and I were scooped up from our hotel and taken an hour outside of New Orleans to visit two of the antebellum plantations - Oak Alley and San Fransisco. If you're ever in the NOLA area, this is a must! Its just amazing to see these hundreds-years-old homes and to hear their interesting histories. We were able to learn a lot along the way and to see some of the other sugar cane plantation style homes.
The Mississippi River is across from the entrance to Oak Alley. This home has had many owners, and is now a venue for weddings, a B&B, and tours.
These trees are 300 years old!
Another visitor! He looks happy!

An old sugar cane pot used to boil the cane
The old kitchen and vegetable garden at Oak Alley
Can you imagine waking up in the mornings and looking toward the river down this majestic driveway?

Another plantation along the drive...
And another...
And another - this one has not been restored, obviously.


Our last stop was to visit the San Fransisco Plantation. It was amazing in its detailed architecture and colorful history!


The tour ended about 2pm, and we were starving. So, we had lunch at Dickie Brennen's Oyster House in our hotel - of course.

On Saturday night, we had the pleasure of meeting up with David's cousin Wesley, and his delightful fiance Christy. They were also in town for Christy's birthday, and she was a doll to let us celebrate with her. We had a drink with them at their fabulous hotel, International House, and then headed to Commander's Palace for dinner. CP is owned by Ella, Dottie, Dick and John Brennen. Who would have guessed?!? This family runs NOLA restaurants!
We were so glad to spend an evening with Wesley and Christy, and are thrilled for their wedding in Florida in December. Can't wait to celebrate the happy occasion with them!
We were sad to leave yesterday, but glad to head home. Before we taxied to the airport, we had jazz brunch at Mr. B's - run by Cindy Brennen!

Our hotel is a popular place to stay, and this is what the sidewalk looks like all the time - busy busy busy!

Soak up the Sun

Two weeks ago, I was able to spend a little time at the beach with the Hardin side of my family. As tradition goes, we had a huge steamed shrimp dinner one night! It really is one of my favorite meals, and sadly the only photos I took of my PCB stop are of this delicious spread...
...and the kids enjoying peeling their shrimp on the balcony! We pair locally steamed shrimp with steamed potatoes, corn, the amazing salad from Sweet Basil's, and garlic bread.

Later in the week, we celebrated my Mom's birthday in Hawkinsville. Abbye, David and I cooked this delicious, healthy, summer meal and topped it off with a good ol' Dairy Queen ice cream cake!
Salmon, asparagus, melon, and tomato-celery salad
Happy Birthday to my best friend and Mom!
After our little stay-cation in Hawkinsville, David and I headed south to Mexico Beach to be with his family for the annual Griffin Beach Week. We love being there with his family, cousins, and to play with the little ones. I had to snap the above picture of Mr. Benjy's traveling desk. He amazes me with his technology skills, and was able to work fluidly from this incredible set-up!

This is Christie with her Lizzy and Rodney, and Amanda's Ben on the left. Scalloping is a fun activity that the Fullers do every summer, and I have been lucky enough to tag along a few times. Christie is a seasoned pro when it comes to hunting those little guys, and I love my time in the water with a netted bag, a snorkel and some flippers.

Christie, Jeff, Carrie, Amanda, Mish, and I all grabbed a total of about 100. Its the funniest thing to see their tiny blue eyes before you grab them! Later that night, we had an amazing dinner with freshly shelled scallops (Thanks, Mish!) as an appetizer!
Ben and Rodney are clearly best buds, and they keep us all busy and laughing. Someday when David and I have children of our own we can only hope to have kids that are as smart, funny, and sweet as Ben, Rodney, Lizzy, and Carrie & Jeremy's Baby Wyatt!
The last night of the trip, the Griffins gathered on the sleeping porch that's off of my and David's bedroom. It has beautiful views of the bay and the pier all along the gorgeous beaches of Mexico Beach.

I thought this picture was neat with the reflection in the mirror!


We are so lucky to have spent the week with family - we love yall!
After the photo shoot, David, Amanda, Jeff, Christie, and I headed to the WindMark Beach development for some "young adult time." This is the precious village that has shops, an amphitheater, a bar/restaurant, and a beautiful pier overlooking the bay.
Inside the School of Fish restaurant, the cooks all wore fedoras - love it!
Afterward, the Griffin Beach Week ended with Amanda and Jeff participating in local karaoke at Toucan's. Their rendition of Islands in the Stream was the perfect way to end our vacation!

Goin' to the chapel...

Meredith's wedding weekend was kicked off at the Swan Coach House in Atlanta on Friday morning. It was a beautiful way to spend our morning - and Meredith's PoppieT hosted!
PoppieT treated us to these adorable cloisonne dishes and some chocolates.

Meredith chose a piece of pottery for each of us, and this is the unique vase that she chose for me!

Her guest boxes were so cute - I love this photo of she and Johnathan!

Meredith and all of her bridesmaids in the courtyard...

Everyone having a mani/pedi before the rehearsal!

Tiny Hollie + Big Massage Chair = Funny

The Druid Hills Golf Club was the beautiful site for the rehearsal dinner and reception after the wedding.

The Griffins!

On Saturday morning, all the girls gathered at Baboo's apartment in Atlanta for some lunch and to primp for the ceremony.

Meredith's childhood church, Smoke Rise Baptist, was just gorgeous!

These were our bridesmaids' bouquets - I loved them!

And Meredith's all white bouquet was breathtaking!

Our "midnight" bridesmaids' dresses were so pretty on everyone!

By the end of the day, I had a flat tire - too much dancing!

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Roberts! It was a wonderful wedding weekend, celebrating the two of you! We all had a great time being a part of your special day!