Life Laid Bear

A quick trip to New Orleans

This past weekend, we headed to New Orleans with two of our favorite people. It was a fast but fantastically fun weekend. I love that Tallahassee is centrally located and mostly everything in the south is in a 5 hour radius. It makes for quick weekend trips. 

 

This was our first trip to New Orleans. So I had very little expectations as to what the city would be like. Other than being known for its debauchery and Hurricane Katrina, I knew nothing about the area. We stayed at the Astor Crowne Plaza, which centrally located on Bourbon and Canal. We spent most of our time exploring the city, doing a ghost and cemetery tour, and checking out some local bars. 

Here are a couple of our favorite places (most off of Bourbon Street)

Bars

The Monteleone (The Carousel  Bar - This bar literally spins and you are sitting on a carousel)

The Backspace Bar

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop Bar

Old Absinthe House

Food

The Jamini

Stanley's (For breakfast or brunch)

Yo Mamma's Burgers

In the wind

This week has been a little hectic, busy, and one of the best I have had in a long time. We are slowly but surely making some progress on the house, and in turn my life is feeling a little less cluttered and my winter funk is retreating (thank goodness for small miracles). We have been getting out of the house a little more, taking walks (ice cream might have been involved), and lots of cleaning and planning are happening. It feels so good to be in this place. Good things are happening!

We are taking the weekend to head to Orlando and spend some quality time with some really good people. I have got a good attitude, Till has her doggles, the hubs is happy and Luke has his head in the clouds.  Mega Con and Disney, here we come! 

Have a relaxing weekend, folks!

around here

We just got back from a small vacation to Mexico. We made it back in one piece (mostly). We are still feeling like we are swaying on a very large boat. But we had a wonderful time, and it was my first time in Mexico. I was pleasantly surprised. The people were friendly, the food was amazing, and the margaritas were out of this world!

Our surprise when we got home, was some very chilly weather. I do understand it is not what some people call "chilly" but to us, it is cooooold. Like really, the high was in the 40's. So we had our first fire of the year, and enjoyed every minute of it. 

It seems a little strange, to go from shorts and tank tops to scarfs and boots all in a two day span. But the short vacation was well worth it and we are now soaking up the cold while it lasts. 

Christmas cards are finished and almost ready to go out. Christmas shopping is underway. And we are thinking forward to the holiday next week. 

What plans do you have for the holiday? We have family, food, and festivities on the brain. 

 

 

Gone

And we are off. For the next five days, we will be relaxing by pools and sipping cold drinks on the way to Mexico. Island time we will be on.

See you on the flip side.

A California Adventure

Well more like a very short San Diego adventure but that isn't a great title. I spent two days last week out of my little Southeastern bubble and took a trip across the country. 

 

My mom was attending a conference for work and asked if I wanted to join her. We stayed by the bay (here) and while she was working I spent my days eating, exploring, and shopping. The weather was exceptionally beautiful and unlike Florida there was no rain in sight.

Seaport Village was just a couple steps outside of the hotel, so I spent a day walking around the quaint shops and exploring the bay. 

If you are ever in that area stop by Frost Me and grab an italian soda. Did you know that it actually tastes better with half and half added. Fun fact I brought back. 

Other places I loved in San Diego

Nightlife - Gaslamp Quarter

Shopping - Fashion Valley Mall

Donuts - The Donut Bar

San Diego loving

After a cancelled flight on Sunday, driving 6 hours to make another flight out of Jacksonville and a 7 hour flight at 6:00 this morning I finally made it to San Diego. My mom was heading out west for work so I decided to take a small vacation and go with her. So for the next couple of days, I am gallivanting around the city solo and enjoying all that San Diego has to offer. 

I have heard so far that The Donut Bar is a must! 

If you have any suggestions for things to do/see/eat let me know. 

A long weekend in DC

Last Thursday we headed to DC for a long weekend. We were expecting a really busy weekend. But when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that everything we thought was wrong. The people were friendly, the lines were nonexistant, and we had such a great trip. 

We stayed at the Dupont Circle Hotel, and really loved it. Dupont is the perfect area of town to stay if you don't want to be right downtown, but still want easy access to the metro. 

 

We were able to see most of the major sites in DC, but we spent most of our time walking around and enjoying a new city. 

 

Up until this past weekend, I had never stepped foot into a metro. So it was so weird when Kyle told me it was deep underground (we got the hang of it quickly and realized it is the best way to travel). 

On the fourth, we hiked down to The Lincoln Memorial to see some fireworks. We were told the memorial is best at night, and I truly believe it now. It was a truly amazing sight to see. Fireworks going off in DC is something you should do atleast once in your life. 

I stood at Lincoln's feet for a long time. Just thinking about this great country. I was so humbled watching all of the people around me feel pride for our country. That night was one I will never forget. 

We love you DC, and can't wait to come and explore some more! Thank you for your warm welcome, and your beautiful weather. 

Happy Birthday, Love!

My guy turns 25 today! We had a small get together last night to celebrate, and despite the totally dark picture and the man of the hour not looking at the camera.....he was really happy in this moment. And that is all a girl can ask for! 

We are doing some traveling this week to continue the celebration, and are so very excited. Despite being a total sap around this guy when it comes to his birthday, I just couldn't be more excited to spend the rest of the week galivanting around next to him. We are exploring a new city side by side and just enjoying what is to come. 

Kyle, today we celebrate all of the life you have lived and all that you have yet to live. I am just so glad to be along for the ride that is your life. 

Cruising

This past weekend I went on a very last minute cruise. On Wednesday, I got the call to see if I was interested and then Friday morning we were walking onto the boat. It was a fun weekend of relaxing and spending time with family and friends. Kyle wasn't able to go because of work, so I was flying solo for the weekend. 

We did a quick four day cruise to The Bahamas, and I just love cruises. I love watching the water, feeling the rocking, and eat at all times of the day. 

It was so nice to have a couple days to just relax and enjoy. I love spontaneous trips, but boy am I glad to be home and in my own bed. 

May your work week be short, and your coffee strong! 

 

Easter Weekend at the Beach

Have you ever had one of those weekends when things just worked? A weekend of relaxation, no running around, not working too much, or really much of anything important. Those are my kind of weekends. And this was our past weekend. Our two families decided that over the Easter weekend, we would all get together and rent a beach house near St. Augustine. It works for our families, it is how we like to get away. So we got away to an adorable cottage style house by the beach. 

We had a couple days of yucky weather, but one day of really good beach weather. That is all you really need. Just one good day of perfect weather to sit on the beach with snacks, drinks, and good company. The other days looked a lot like this. Relaxing on the front porch with 4 pups and 9 family members. 

 

We had a couple of really great family dinners locally, and everywhere we went was absolutely delicious. 

The weekend was over too quickly, but it makes it easier to come back to the work week if you had a relaxing weekend. So we are back to real life feeling great, and looking forward to the next family weekend and hopefully getting off the sofa sleeper.