The Big 3-1 in the Big Easy

Well, I'm officially over 30. So far, so good. I was actually at a work conference last week for my birthday, so I celebrated with my boss and some co-workers in the big city of Tunica, Mississippi. Lovely city. Lots and lots of casinos. That's about it.

We drove back to Jackson on Thursday, and after about an hour of not being in the car, I hopped back in the car with Derek, Drew and Kristin for our second annual Grey-Gor NOLA Birthday Getaway to "officially" celebrate my birthday and Drew's birthday. We took it pretty easy on Thursday night and just relaxed at the condo and visited with Uncle Rusty. (Miss that man and don't get to see him nearly enough!)

Friday morning we slept in a little, then got ready for brunch at one of my favorite little breakfast spots, Elizabeth's. We had some praline bacon, grits and grillades, French toast, big mouthwatering biscuits and some mimosas to start the day right. SO GOOD!

After breakfast we wandered through the French Quarter doing a little window-shopping and some day-drinking along the way. The weather couldn't have been prettier for wandering around New Orleans - sunny and breezy with a cold front on its way.


Friday afternoon we met three of Derek's old fraternity brothers at The Bulldog on Magazine Street. It was happy hour, and they made the most of it. Fun times. :)

Friday night we went to The Mortuary haunted house. This, might I add, was ALL Derek. We just accompanied him because he wouldn't let us do anything else until we did this. It was pretty scary. Very professional. I told Derek from the get-go that I was going to either wet my pants or cry like a baby because I do not like haunted houses or people jumping out at me.

Well, after waiting for an hour to go inside and then the terrifying (to me anyways) 30 minutes inside, I will admit I did one of the two things I promised Derek I would do. And I did not wet my pants. I cried. The UGLY cry. It was horribly embarrassing, but I survived. And I hope my sweet husband enjoyed putting me through pure terror on my birthday weekend. I will say it was actually a lot of fun in the end though, so no harm done...

After we left The Mortuary, we grabbed a late bite to eat at a bar on the way back to the condo and called it a night.

Saturday morning we headed to Lucy's for breakfast before walking two doors down to watch the Mississippi State-Georgia game at The District. We met my friends Keever and Bobby for the game, and although State didn't have a very good game, I had a great time catching up.

After the sad loss, we walked back to the Quarter and stopped in at Jax Brewery for some more day-drinking with our group of friends and met up with a few more...

We made our way back to the condo and got ready for dinner at HerbSaint. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and just enjoyed the atmosphere that is the Big Easy. We ended the night with a visit to Frenchmen Street for some live music, and then a quick jaunt to the Tropical Isle on Bourbon (don't ask me why).

What a great weekend!! So good to catch up with old friends and spend the prettiest weekend so far in one of the greatest cities in the world. I've said it before, but embracing another year older is all in how you celebrate it, and I think we did pretty well. :)