Pensacola Weekend

This weekend was spent in the lovely land of Pensacola for a wedding of a friend, that I so awesomely got to be a part of.  

Honestly, it's been one hell of a past couple of days, and I've done everything I can do to try to keep the tears in check and to just do my job.  But it's hard.  I have a job that makes me feel like a failure day in and day out.  I've had things and people that have made me feel this way in the past, but nothing as much as I have lately.  

So a weekend away was just what I needed...

Here are some pics from the actual wedding...

(i was forced to wear my hair up, I am not a huge fan, I feel like I look like a dude)..

Lacing up the dress.

I really would like to grow a few inches down.  i'm pretty sure the whole weekend, I was referred to as the tall one.  Icky on the hair ...

Lindsey and JM.  Gorg.

The day after the wedding, one of the bridesmaids and I decided it would be a terrible mistake to not get breakfast and then go to the beach.  So she yelped surrounding restaurants, and we came up with a place called Adonna's Bakery that just happened to be serving an amazing brunch.  You could get $2.50 bottomless *yes I said bottomless* mimosas.  And choose from an incredible menu...See what we had below....

They had the best baked goods... I got apple turnovers, peanut butter cookies, and a cherry Danish.  Yums times a million.

Phillips had a tomato gravy over bacon with a croissant.  Who ever even thinks of this amazingness? 

Southwestern omelet, amazing hash browns with cheese.  I'm talking thick cheese twenty times better than waffle house...and I can't even describe what they did to these croissants to make them so amazing.

 

And assorted other pictures from the weekend....

2 page Excel spreadsheet that we all had to abide by.  Way more organized than I ever was.

Drive thru liquor store.  That's right.  That's how we class it up.

Phillips first Krispy Kreme since the Tuscaloosa tornado.  She was very excited.  So excited that she actually called the place at midnight to ask when the hot sign came on.

It was such a beautiful day.  Look at that water!

I want to live here.

Geeking up on the beach....this is when we decided that a beach trip was in order for this summer.

So one of these days, I'm thinking I'm going to go brunette again, and maybe one of these days I can get out of this rut that I think I'm in.

April photo-a-day

Awesome right that it's May 21st, and I'm just now posting my pictures from photo-a-day in April?  Of course it is.  I am an incredible procrastinator.  I might as well put it up there with my talents of walking in heels and typing.  So instead of 2, I have 3.  so there, world.  

1. reflection  2. color  3. mail  4.  someone you like 5. tiny 6. your lunch 7. shadow 8. wallet 9. younger you 10. cold 11.  where you ate breakfast 12. stairs 13. something you found 14.  how you feel today 15.  sunset 16.  flower 17.  something you dislike 18.  hair 19. orange 20.  something you drew 21. bottle 22.  last thing you bought 23.  vegetable 24.  something you're grateful for 25.  looking down  26.  black & white 27.  somewhere you went   28.  1 pm  29.  circle  30.  something that makes you sad

I'm pretty proud of myself on this one. The 10 day challenge took me way more than 10 days to complete, but here you go, all 30 pictures for all 30 days in April.  

Boo yah.

Oh Canada....

So a few weeks ago, BJ went up to Canada.  I have forever been begging him to take as many pictures as possible, because he goes to so many neat places, and hello, how many times do I talk about food and fun places (okay, NOLA) on this thing....  so here we go! 

Schwabl's :  Anthony Bourdain went here, so you know it has to be good!  They are known for their roast beef on 'weck.  It's some kind of bread with salt and other herbs baked into the top.  If you could zoom in (like I could on the iphone) you can really see it.  It looks delish.  And then the guy behind the counter. BJ had a pretty funny story about this place only taking cash and having to use the bathroom really bad, but I won't bore you all with that tale.

Niagara Falls.  'Nuff said.

Porchetta (pronounced porketta) sandwich; roasted pork with crispy pork skin with lots of seasoning, on a homemade bun, and cracked mustard and hot sauce.  Apparently it was good.  There's stuff coming out of his mouth just describing it.

And apparently this makes his mouth water even more.  This is Poutine (poo-teen), and it appears to be a heart attack in a box.  It's French Fries with cheese curds, peppercorn gravy, with bacon and barbecue pork.  The third picture was to show that, indeed, BJ is not a cow and could not finished all of this. 

I also got a present from this fun trip; a stuffed moose.  That I promptly named Mountie....eh.

Pizza Pictures...because I can.

I was reading a blog that I follow today, and came across something disturbing.  This sweet sweet girl had been the victim of blogger on blogger crime.  Somebody was leaving nasty hate comments on her blog.  All the time I read about how people have such great experiences with other bloggers, how they find their best friends, or at the very least, just someone that they can relate to, whether it be a big move to another country, losing a loved one, or having a baby.  

There is a lot to learn from reading people's blogs.  You can emulate someone's style, learn how to make something amazing (like butterbeer from Harry Potter, I mean really?  never would have even thought of doing this), or how to make a sweet ass Auburn wreath for football season.  So it was a shock for me to read that.  I have yet to receive any hate comments; my blog hasn't made big time, but I can't imagine how I would feel if someone did.  

And it made me think back to my waitress days...and to the question I have always had...  How can someone who doesn't even know me, be so mean to me?  Believe it or not, there are some people out there who think that they are so universally better than a server, that they snap their fingers, make rude comments and then, the most awful thing of all, leave a terrible tip.  

I have never thought that I am better than someone.  I have never treated someone with so much disrespect that I would make someone think that I hate them . I am a natural people pleaser, so even when I do think someone's upset with, I am quick to rectify the situation....but why is everyone so damn mean to everyone else?

At work...we are all on the same team...so why such the attitude?  And in the bloggy world, we are all here for one thing...to share our ideas, pictures, lives, if not only for ourselves and our families, but so we can remember all of this later on.  

So here is what I am going to remember about today...these two awesomely amazing slices of pizza.  That's right...

Chicken Florentine pizza @ Cafe Lazio.

Soul food pizza @ Slice

Ugh, I want pizza now.

More Nola....sorry, but not really.

I'm trying to engage all of the bloggy readers (ha!) into the wonderful world of New Orleans.  So in addition to a therapeutic cleansing of all my pictures, it is my duty to show you the food as well as the bars.  I mean, just so you are prepared.  And of course, feel like having a cocktail or two.  Or seven.  So here are a few pictures of some of the watering holes we visited.

*pictures 1-3* Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar.  Fun beachy atmosphere, with your typical beach drinks (pina colada, etc) or your vodka tonics...

*pictures 3-4* Cooter Brown's ... the list of beers here goes on and on...

*pictures 6-7* The Bulldog (yes, dogs are welcome!!)  Beer and bar food.  They have a neat fountain with beer taps, but it was really bright, and my picture turned out really bad.

*pictures 8-13* Vic's Kangaroo Bar -- Australian themed bar right across from Lucy's...Foster'

*pictures 14-15* Any ole Daiquiri Bar on Bourbon.  Try the banana...it's my favorite!! Anything red will turn your tongue that color and keep it that way!

So there you have it!  A list of bars for absolutely any body and their style!

Happy drinking!!  And remember, there are cabs everywhere, so be safe!

Cochon Butcher (NOLA)

Ok, so these pictures are really old, but this is one of the greatest places that I've eaten at in New Orleans.  I know that this blog is a super NOLA love fest, but truly, greatest city on Earth.  So last time we went for New Years, we ate lunch/snack at this place.  And of course amazing!  

Here's the place!!

The last 3 pictures are of duck pastrami, pork belly sandwich, and boudin. So delicious!

What I found out from the last trip is that the Cochon restaurant and Cochon Butcher are attached by the kitchen!  Last weekend, we had the crawfish etouffee and boudin with a jalapeno jelly.  I tried to talk the girl I was with into the alligator, but to no avail.  

Next trip I guess.

Seriously, duck pastrami.  Ahhh-mazing.