Weekend Recap {anniversary in NOLA}

So we have officially been married for a year as of yesterday!  I must say, I can't believe a year has flown by since we started out on this journey together.  We have had ups and downs this year; Bryan's dad passing away, my mom being sick, settling into a new life in Houston, starting exciting new jobs, and adopting Barley!  Without Bryan in my life as my husband and most importantly, my best friend, we wouldn't have gotten through the rough times and been able to celebrate and enjoy the best times!

*ahem sappy part over*  So we went to New Orleans for the weekend, left Friday morning and came back last night (one more day would have been ideal), and we had an AMAZING time.  Neither of us had ever been and now I think we can't wait to go back.  So here, to summarize, are multiple photo collages:

Cafe du Monde beignets & coffee (excellent.), anniversary glitter on our table at Arnaud's Saturday night, walking Bourbon Friday afternoon & evening.  Dinner at Arnaud's Saturday to properly celebrate.  

(don't worry guys...food pics are below!)

Bryan had gumbo, shrimp and grits, and creme brulee.  I had the Arnaud's salad, pork tenderloin with truffle mashed potatoes (duhh when don't I try and eat truffled things?), and pecan pie.  Um I had never had pecan pie before guys....what's wrong with me? It's delicious and perfect and I want more.

Because we are us, we obviously had lots of drinks too:  Ketel & soda (my go-to), a nice red blend, a grenade (because you have to, right?), and a beer sampling at a local brewery.  

So the upper right is the restaurant we ate at Saturday evening, and the other three are of the outside courtyard/building of the apartment we stayed in.  Let me say that Airbnb did NOT disappoint!  The place we stayed at was super cute, very charming, and gave us a really awesome local experience for half the price of a hotel.  We were walking distance (5 minutes) to Bourbon, 10 minutes to Cafe du Monde, and 10 minutes to the streetcar stops near Canal.  Amazing.

This is my "sightseeing" collage.  Streetcar we took the the WWII museum (oh yes, btw it POURED rain all day Saturday so we couldn't do the cemetery tour we wanted to do.), a beautiful and wonderful second line wedding parade!  It was so fun to see, and seriously I almost cried it was so great to see the bride and groom's family ready to celebrate with them!  And everyone had the great umbrellas you see to beat the rain!  

Ok so there I am doing my creep face in front of Marie LaVeau's voodoo house....excuse the red wine teeth. Our place was next to a voodoo temple, I'll be honest I was a little sketched, but we bought glass rings at Marie LaVeau's because we are tourists and they're a cute and cheap reminder of our trip.

There is a copy of FDR's speech the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked.  The WWII museum was incredibly powerful and moving, I would recommend it to anyone who even remotely enjoys history. Very informative and lots of amazing pieces on display to see.  Really gave you an accurate feel for what an undertaking the war was. 

Finally, Jackson Square and the Saint Louis cathedral.  Gorgeous.

 So a final few pics--Bryan's alligator burger with slaw, me unlocking the Historian Level 5 badge because I'm a history badass and there's no debating that now....internet agrees, y'all!  

My peanut butter-bacon-green tomato double cheeseburger.  Everyone go put peanut butter on your burger now!  This stuff is made for being on burgers.  This is the second time I've had one so yes, I'm also an expert on this, and foursquare would badge me if they could.

Bryan & I at Cafe du Monde on our rainy Saturday morning, and finally, the perfectly cork wine menu at Patrick's Bar Vin, where we spent a couple hours post-dinner Saturday enjoying some delightful reds.

So there it is y'all....we also bought souvenir for our niece and nephew (alligator jerky, a mardi gras mask, pralines, and voodoo dolls), got ourselves an original photograph by a local artist to frame to remember our trip, and just basically had a great weekend enjoying ourselves and celebrating one year of marriage and great things!