New Orleans, Holiday Fun and Surprises, O My!!

Every weekend should be a four day weekend. Am I right? Especially when one of the vacation days was a surprise! Do you have any idea how awesome it is to have an unexpected Friday off work? You cannot beat it. But... I could have seriously used one day of recovery. I still cannot keep my eyes open, but every single second was worth it. Five day weekends? Yes, please!

We kicked off the holiday weekend with a trip to New Orleans with our friends, Colby and Tiffany. We arrived around 11 am and headed strait to the French Quarter to find somewhere fun with a balcony to eat lunch. It was New Orleans style red beans and rice for this girl. Afterwards, we strolled around a little while before making our way to Bourbon. We spent the afternoon at Razoo people watching and getting in a little dancing. We also encountered Will Smith's twin and had a little fun with a bachelor parties "Fathead." This is my new bach party necessity. It was hilarious. For dinner, we made our way to the Original Pierre Masperro's. Talk about delicious. We followed dinner with a little more time on Bourbon and ended the night with some pizza, obviously. As always, New Orleans defeated us all. You win again, my friend.

I thought New Orleans was the major part of my weekend, but boy was I in for a treat. My first cousin, Kaylis, was in town for the last time before moving to Cincinnati. We had a Memorial Day bash complete with smoked ribs, chicken quarters and every casserole and dessert you would find fitting for such a holiday bar bq. But we also had one last big surprise!

I had my very first blate, as y'all call it, with little miss Shayna and her sweet husband Matt! They were in Memphis for the weekend and I freaked out that they were so close. Then she informed me that they could drive back home through Mississippi.. on Monday.. which just so happened to be when we were having a little Memorial Day shin dig! PERFECT!!!!  I insisted they come... and they did!!! It was fantastic. She was just as precious as I thought she would be and Matt was just the little cowboy I knew he would be! I am so, so glad they got to come and I hope we can all do it again one day when there isn't a seven hour drive home to follow. It was so wonderful to finally meet someone who I feel like I've known my whole life through this crazy little blog world.

1. Fun with the FatHead
2. SHAYNA in real life
3. Kendol and I at lunch in New Orleans
4. Kendol and I on Bourbon
5. Fav girls on Memorial Day
6. Will Smith look alike at Razoo
7. New friend from California
8. My favorite new summertime concoction:
Malibu and Pine, Orange, Banana Juice
9. View from lunch in New Orleans