This weekend, y’all, how did we get lucky enough to have the weather we had?! Our God is an AWESOME God. Besides the gorgeous weather, I was lucky enough to spend the weekend with some of my favorite people in my favorite city in the world, New Orleans.
Friday was fully equipped with a Coke ICEE, some high school baseball, and a yummy seafood dinner to celebrate my good friend Kalin’s birthday! The service at the restaurant wasn’t the best, but on the flip side, our table was filled with plenty laughs and plenty celebration so I still enjoyed the dinner so so much!
Saturday in New Orleans was legitimately sunny and 75 and holy mackerel I was one happy camper. For those of you who don’t know, I went to college at Tulane in New Orleans and absolutely fell in love with the city, so having to move away in December was very very very hard for me. Luckily, I live close enough that I get to pop back in every now and then and those are always my favorite days. Anytime I’m driving to New Orleans I put on the song “Do Whatcha Wanna” by Rebirth Brass Band and cue all of the happy tears, I wish I were kidding, but this city truly has a piece of my heart so any time I get to return I expect to cry from happiness at least once. Lest I digress….. SO my friends and I bopped around the city and here are some of the highlights:
- Flamingo-A-Go-Go Brunch: this meal gave me life you guys; I had the Jerk Chicken Hash and ate it all in approx 5 minutes because it was absolutely delicious. The prices were excellent, the venue is so flipping cute, and the food and “flocktails” were perfection. 10/10 recommend; I cannot wait to go back!
- Pat O’Breins: There’s not really much that needs to be said about this New Orleans staple, but anytime I can get my favorite songs played live I am one happy girl. A few hints about this place that I’ve learned through the years: 1. they start the music up in the piano bar at 2:00 PM so get there around 1:45 grab your drinks, get the table of your choice, and get your requests in before the rest of the world comes! and 2. Okay so the glasses the Hurricanes are served in are technically included in the price you pay for your drinks as a sort of souvenir purchase, but if you don’t want them you can bring them up to the bar and get $3 back per glass. I’ve seen people leave four and five glasses at their table and leave the joint without the $12-15 that they could have had! Oh no baby, we don’t leave free money on the table, nope nope nope; that could be used to buy Mexican food, and we don’t play when it comes to Mexican food.
- Lafitte’s Blacksmith’s Shop: It’s the oldest working bar in the United States and their Purple Drink is yummmmmmy! Always a favorite place to stop when I am in this beautiful city.
- We went to a family friend’s 21st birthday party at a house in the Bywater and I got to see my brother out in New Orleans; if you know Seth this is HUGE (he, unlike me, doesn’t love the craziness of the city), so it was such a treat to see him having fun in the city that I love so much.
So happy I got to spend this weekend with this beautiful birthday girl! 
Casual pit stop on a random stoop for some sunny day pics! (Glasses and Bag)
Now Sunday was another beautiful day and at this point I was feeling just so unworthy of the weekend that I’ve already had, but so blessed to have another day ahead of me. I was amped to spend another day in the city, this time with my family at the Audubon Zoo! I scooped up Erin, my brother’s girlfriend, and we went on down to the Audubon Zoo following smoothies and chips and queso and were greeted by a gazillion people including my parents, my cousin Katie, and her two girls Kenzie and Kamdyn. Although there were SO many people, a large number of them were at a festival hosted inside the zoo, so we were still able to see all of our favorite animals (them otters man, how adorable), watch the Spider Monkeys get fed, feed carrots to the giraffes, and get a train ride around the place with little issues with crowds or lines! Woohooooo! Following some ice cream and weaving in and out of traffic, my weekend ended with church, watching Minions with the family, reading my book One True Loves, and hitting my bed HARD.
They seriously could not be any cuter- I’m obsessed with these little ones ❤
That’s all for this week folks, let’s hope that this beautiful weather sticks around a bit longer! Say your prayers, hug your momma, and work hard- let’s make this week the newest best one ever 🙂 xoShelby
xoShelby 