Wanderlust Wednesday: New Orleans

I'm back online today just in time for Kate, Kerri and my Wanderlust Wednesday travel linkup. On the 2nd Wednesday of every month, we host WW so feel free to linkup your travel-related posts. I love reading and living vicariously through your travel adventures.

My trip to New Orleans this past long weekend was a fantastic and very hectic time. K and I stayed in the heart of the French Quarter which made it easy to walk around and explore. The only time we took a taxi was to and from the airport. We arrived on Friday night with a loose itinerary and a list of restaurants to eat at. It wasn't possible to accomplish it all in 3 days but we covered good ground and kept very busy from morning til late night. Needless to say we're pretty exhausted but it was all worth it.



The food there is incredible and of course Bourbon Street provides great entertainment and live music all day everyday. What we didn't know is that it was also Gay Pride weekend or "Southern Decadance" so you can imagine people watching was at it's finest and I'm glad we got to experience the craziness that is Labor Day/Decadance weekend. I love attending the Gay Pride festivals in downtown Orlando so it was great to experience it somewhere else.

On Saturday we went to Coop's Place on Decatur St which has amazing local food if you're looking for casual New Orleans style dining. 

We went over to Jackson Square to walk around and check out the art, architecture, and history scene.

The line for Cafe Du Monde was about 100 people deep so we decided to go to New Orleans Famous Beignets Cafe instead for some beignets and coffee.

On Sunday morning we had brunch at Mr B's Bistro with live jazz music which was amazing!

We then toured the Riverwalk along the Mississippi river. Unfortunately the ferry was closed that day so we couldn't make it over to the other side of the river. 

We stayed at the Sheraton off Canal Street. Great location and price and we also had a nice view of the Mississippi River!

I literally have almost 200 photos on my camera and iPhone so it was hard choosing which ones to share. I've decided to split this trip recap into two posts and share photos from my camera today which are more touring the city photos with some food and restaurants we enjoyed.

Part 2 tomorrow will also be food and touring but more of the bar scene which is when my big camera gets put away and iPhone comes out. So check back tomorrow for some of the crazier sites and scenes we experienced in New Orleans.

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Link-up Rules:
1. Follow Kerri, Kate and myself on Bloglovin
2. Link up your favorite travel recaps or travel related posts
3. Grad our Wanderlust Wednesdays button and link back to our blogs
4. Be sure to visit other blogs and build your travel bucket list!

Weekly Recap: All The Cute Things

Hi everyone and happy Friday! The long weekend is finally here. I've been awaiting this weekend for months because its not only a long weekend, but it's also K's birthday and we're heading to New Orleans to celebrate and explore. I will probably be MIA for the next few days but you can follow me on instagram and snapchat (emilyalisonb). Hopefully I'll actually remember to post my whereabouts.

This week I ventured over to Woof Gang Bakery to get some treats for Lola. This place is seriously the cutest pet bakery and grooming place in Orlando. I wanted to buy all the treats but I managed to walk away with the one treat I had in mind.

We celebrated Lola's birthday last night. She got lots of healthy grain-free treats from Chewy and Amazon so hopefully they will last her a while but the Happy Birthday cookie I bought at the bakery was the cutest.

It is also K's birthday this weekend so I got him a Milky Way cupcake from Jillycakes in Winter Park. That makes two cute stores I visited this week.  

We had some dinner and pumpkin beer at home last night and that was the extent of his birthday celebration until we get to New Orleans tonight.

I'll leave you with a quote that I love. Enjoy the long weekend everyone!

With Monday being a holiday, our Recipe Swap scheduled for next week Tuesday (09/07) is cancelled until Tues 09/15. 

Our Wanderlust Wednesday travel linkup is still on for next week so please feel free to share and linkup your travel-related posts!

Linking up with Amanda.

September Goals

Okay so this might be more of a to-do list but there's also a few goals in there. I can't believe it's September already. This year has been flying by quickly, probably because I've been keeping myself very busy on the weekends and the work week is usually packed to the brim.

1. Celebrate Lola's 1st birthday this week. Oh gosh, she's turning one and deserves a little fun tonight before we leave for the long weekend.

2. Tour New Orleans for Labor Day weekend (K's birthday trip) and try all the food. Some places on our list are Coop's Place, Acme Oyster House, Mr B's and a few others. I'm still looking around for a good brunch spot for Sunday. 

3. Attend Helene's free webinar to learn ways to monetize your blog which was last night. (DONE)

4. Get started on the 17-module online photography class that I just signed up for to become a certified photographer. I'm not sure I'll be able to complete it in one month so my goal is to be done and certified by the end of October. 

5. Pack more healthy lunches and fruits for breakfast. Eat out less. Spend less. 

6. Finally make it out to Wekiva Island one weekend. 

7. Pressure wash our house and driveway. Well, pay someone to do it because I don't own a pressure washer and have no desire to get on a ladder or roof.

8. Go shopping at Ikea for a new living room rug and outdoor walkway lights. I've had my eye on shag rugs like this grey one but I'm not sure how well they hold up. 

9. Weekend trip to Ft Lauderdale to visit a friend and her kids who all just moved to Florida from Trinidad. 

10. Celebrate with friends for a joint bachelor/bachelorette party at a local resort's lazy river pool.

Tobago Love: A Tropical Wedding

This is a not a wedding guide of any sort.  It's more like a mini gallery since the professional photos from my girl friend's wedding back in February just became available. It was also the most gorgeous wedding I've attended so I thought the details shown in the photos could be helpful to future brides out there looking for ideas and inspiration. 

The venue was in the backyard of an oceanfront villa that sits on the coast of Tobago in the southern Caribbean.  Tobago is the sister island of Trinidad where I grew up and a lot of my family and friends still live there. 

Photography by: Dos Imagery

Multiway Bridesmaid dresses: In One Clothing

The bride gifted her girls with these cute kimono robes from Etsy along with some gorgeous angel wing earrings made with white bone and shiny tattoo jewelry.

 

 

  

  

The sand ceremony included sand from Denmark (groom) and Trinidad (bride).

 

Pesto Brie Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I own a panini press so that's what I used to make it but you can also heat up some butter in a pan and grill the sandwich on the stove top over medium heat, flipping every 5 minutes until the bread is browned and the cheese has melted

Ingredients: 

Bread of your choice

Deli chicken, sliced

Pesto

Brie cheese, sliced

Light mayonnaise

Cooking spray

What To Do:

Mix the light mayonnaise with pesto in a small bowl and spread onto the slices of bread, layer with deli sliced chicken and slices of brie cheese. Assemble sandwich and cook in a panini press or in a pan with some butter.

The pesto brie grilled cheese sandwich/panini would pair really well with the tomato basil soup I recently made.