Ahhh, our triumphant return to New Orleans.  It has been eight months since we last visited – to say we were excited would be an understatement.  We were so happy to be returning to our city.

We left Friday after work/school.  We had reservations at Grand Isle – we had to make reservations pretty much everywhere we went due to Covid capacity restrictions, but were lucky enough to snag one each place we wanted to go.  Grand Isle was a little touristy, but a quick ten minute walk from the hotel when we were all pretty exhausted, made it a great place to start the trip.  We shared a dozen oysters, and I got a delicious roast beef po’boy.  Sheffield was happy enough getting a coloring sheet and being able to color on the paper tablecloth.

Our Saturday was jam-packed, so we all woke up early to get ready for the day.  We started out at Willa Jean– one of our favorite breakfast/bakery spots in New Orleans.  Sheffield got a delicious chocolate croissant, and I had their spicy fried chicken biscuit.  We got some pecan brownies to-go, and headed out to catch the street car.  We rode the St. Charles streetcar almost to the end of the line to get to a pumpkin from St. Andrew’s pumpkin patch.  We rode the street car back to the hotel to drop off our pumpkins.  We then went to pick up lunch from from Picnic Provisions & Whiskey – a fun little place that makes its way by offering picnic portions of fried chicken and supplies.  We got mild and hot tenders, and the hot pimento cheese dip and crab dip.  We then got to meet up with my girl Lindsay and her family at the Fly for a picnic lunch and play date!  The kids played together, and it was so so so good to see her. After lunch, we went back to the hotel and got ready for a quick walk through the Quarter.  I was so excited to see how many people were wearing masks and staying distant from each other.  We got Sheffield his annual Christmas ornament – shocker that he picked Mario, and went back to the hotel so Sheffield could nap.  After naps, we headed over to Central City BBQ where the AU alum meet up to watch the game.  It was an awful game, but the way Sheff’s eyes lit up when he tried brisket is something I will remember forever.   We went back to the hotel at half-time, got into pajamas and watched TV.

Sunday morning, we woke up and just sort of lounged around the room, watching cartoons, eating leftover brownies for a breakfast snack – all the normal things one does while on vacation, of course.  We had a reservation for brunch at Atchafalaya.  We got a table outside, and the weather was beautiful.  Sheffield got a giant waffle with whipped cream and fruit, and I got the most delicious shrimp po’boy I have ever had in my life.  After brunch, we walked around Magazine Street – my most favorite NOLA street.  Sheffield even found a new kitty friend.

It was a much needed trip back, and we were so lucky to get such gorgeous weather.  I’m not sure when our next time back will be – but you know we’ll be missing it in the mean time.

Wow, a weekend post on Wednesday.  To be truly forthcoming, I have been zero percent motivated to do much this week.  And when I say zero, I mean like -50%.  It just hasn’t been there this week, and there isn’t enough coffee in the world to perk me up.  Plus I have been sleeping like garbage and having some wild dreams.  Not even my sleep help pills have been working.  Anyway, enough with that.

Last Thursday, B went out with some work friends, so Sheff and I broke the rules and ordered a ton of pizza and watched The Willoughby’s, and it was a good night.

It was such a good night, and we had so much leftover pizza, that we did a repeat on Friday night – except we watched The Greatest Showman.  I was the only one into it, but oh well.  We ate so much pizza – it was wonderful.

Saturday morning, it was so nice that Sheff and I decided to take a walk.  He brought a bag and was collecting acorns and pinecones and all of nature.  His teacher told him that the squirrels don’t come out in the winter, so he was trying to gather everything he could for the squirrels so they wouldn’t go hungry.   After our walk, we went and got some Chick-Fil-A for breakfast as is our tradition for AUBURN games!!!  We were all so excited for SEC football to start – and the Tigers pulled out a win!

Sunday morning, I got up and did an hour walk on the treadmill.  It’s more like a walk/dance, as I’m learning what I enjoy doing to work out, instead of punishing myself for eating what I did.

After that, Sheff and I made some cinnamon apples, and we got the house cleaned up a little, got the Rotel dip warmed up and B made cornbread, because we finally had Robyn and her crew over to watch some NFL, and they brought chili!    We watched the Patriots game while the kiddos played.  They left when the game was over, and Sheff went down for his nap while B and I watched some more NFL.

The Packers had the late game vs the Saints, so B went and picked up some wings and fries and we watched the game down in the basement on the projector.  They pulled out a win, so it was a good football weekend in this household.  Add in the fact that I dominated in fantasy, and it was a pretty great weekend.

This weekend is supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and we plan on spending a ton of time outside.  I hope y’all have had a good start to the week!

This weekend was full of beautiful weather – we are finally getting a taste of fall down here in the south!

Friday was a work-from-home day, and it was overcast and work was crappy. And after our epic meltdown on Thursday, we got up and got cake pops and pumpkin cream cold brews.  Around 430, I had poured a glass of wine, and we were outside playing in the trampoline and playing frisbee.  B and I got sushi for dinner, and watched Jeopardy until midnight.

On Saturday, we met up with some friends and got lunch at Chubbfathers in Pelham.  After lunch, we headed down to Jemison to Mountain View Orchard for what we thought would be some apple picking.  Unfortunately, what we had read on the internet didn’t match what this place was.  The kids had their hearts set on picking apples, so a basket of apples was bought and hidden among the peach trees that we were allowed to go and play in.  They had so much fun “picking apples,” – and they had so much fun together.  There were some goats and tons of space to run around in.

We were still so full from lunch, that we ate popcorn for dinner while we watched BlackkKlansman, and called it a night.

Sunday, the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we got up and went down to the trail for a three mile walk.  We got home and picked up the house a bit (lit our first fall candle of the season!), ordered pizza for lunch, and watched football ALL DAY.  I love fall Sundays, and I’m thankful for the little bit of normalcy that watching the NFL brings me.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

 

Whoa – four posts in one week – who do I think I am??

Let’s just jump straight in, shall we?  This week has been straight garbage.  The amount of work I’ve had has been ridiculous – I finally gathered some courage to tell someone that I was drowning and needed some help.  That, in itself, is huge for me.  I can barely admit those kinds of things to myself, let alone other people.  But in this dumpster fire of a year, I guess we’re all doing things we never thought we’d do.

This was our last week of two days in-person school and three days remote.  Next week the kiddo begins four days in-person and one day (Wednesday) remote.  I have come to learn that since I have my own little space that I really love working from home, and I really love being able to see Sheff most days of the week.

Yesterday, both Sheff and I had a really bad day.  Sheff came home from school and started crying at almost everything we said.  I got frustrated and yelled at him.  He then decided he needed a nap, but woke up remembering how I had yelled at him.  So cue the mama tears, because hurting your kids feelings sucks.  So as crazy people do, I poured a glass of wine and sat on our kitchen counter and just cried.  I mean, giant sobs.  Sheffield came out from his nap, and was like “mama, what’s wrong?” and as he jumps up onto the counter to be with me, he banged his head on the cabinets and starts crying, hysterically.  I grab him and pull him into my lap, and we’re both just sitting there crying with each other.  In the midst of the bad day, here are a mama and a son just crying it out.  After we had both calmed down, I told him to hop down and grab a bag of open gummy bears that was sitting on the other counter.  And we sat.  We sat on top of the counter, eating gummy bears, while I apologized to him for hurting his feelings, and him repeatedly saying that it was ok.  It was one of life’s messy moments, that turned into something really sweet.  After dinner, Sheff and I snuggled under a blanket and watched football.  It was a perfect ending to a really shit day.

This morning, we woke up and got ourselves a Starbucks treat.  Pumpkin cream cold brew for mom, and a cake pop for the kid.  And if that isn’t the best way to start a Friday, I couldn’t tell you what is.  We are supposed to have some really great weather this weekend, so we will put this week behind us and enjoy it.  Hope y’all have a great weekend too!

 

One of our favorite things to do is eat out.  We don’t do it often – maybe once a weekend, or twice if we’re feeling froggy, but we’re always on the lookout for new places (or new to us) to try.

We have had a sit-down dinner in a few places since the restaurants have reopened , but the for the most part, we’re either curbsiding it or doing pick up.  So during this time, we decided to support a few local restaurants, so if you’re local to Birmingham, I’m hoping you’ll support them too.

 

Taste of Thailand  was the first restaurant we ate in after restaurants were allowed to reopen.  Not to lie, I was pretty nervous about their COVID precautions, but the staff was wearing masks and gloves, and their seating was really spaced out.

We got the Taste of Thailand appetizer, which included spring rolls, vegetable rolls, crab wontons, and 2 Thai toast.  Y’all – everything on that plate was amazing.  Bennett got the pineapple fried rice that came in an actual half of a pineapple, and was so delicious.  I got the dazzling crystal noodles, which I added chicken to, and included stir fry vegetables.  It was so amazing, and  is so close to home, we will definitely be back.

A few months or so ago, a coworker and I started walking/jogging during our lunch break.  So on Fridays, we go for a shorter walks and indulge ourselves in a new to us place downtown.  One Friday we tested out The Lumbar.  They have delicious looking bar drinks, but we were there strictly for the food.  They have all sorts of delicious bar-type food, so we got a ton of appetizers to try.  We got the Matrix Tots (tater tots topped with pimento cheese, BBQ, and served with their green chili ranch), the Bowtie Spring Rolls, the Sweet & Spicy Wings, and the Frito Pie.  We also just got a side of their Shoestring Fries, because why not?  I loved how their ranch was just a tad bit spicy – but the Frito Pie was the real winner here.  And the pimento cheese – really can’t go wrong with pimento cheese.

On another Friday lunch adventure, we went to McFly’s Bird Shoppe.    This entire place is an homage to the 80’s (Back to the Future to be specific).  To the floor filled with old 80’s magazine ads to menu items called Phat Biff and Phat Delorean, it is super prevalent.  Obviously they are a chicken tender spot, but their giant claim to fame is their 16 sauces!  I tried the black garlic ranch (AMAZING!) and the McFly’s sauce (good, but not great).  Their garlic bread was so good, and so were their fries.  You can add old bay seasoning or ranch seasoning to them – it was subtle, but amazing.

I have tried a few more places:  Unos Tacos in the Pizitz (the chorizo nachos are where it’s at), and Jeni’s Ice Cream over in Pepper Place.  Both are solid choices.

We will continue to support our local restaurants any way we can, and of course, I’ll share the findings here!