Cafe Amelie on Royal Street

I enjoy meals that we have in pretty places. Cafe Amelie was definitely one of them. It is simple and classy. The weather was gorgeous that day ; we decided to be seated outside to enjoy a nice brunch in their garden nook. 

I really like the random layers and scattered look to the page. These Polaroid frames are the cutest. I framed the outdoor seating area at Cafe Amelie. The business card is also part of the layout. All the pieces were pulled different pieces from different collections to create the whole look.

Central Grocery's Muffuletta

I had a few great recommendations from Grams for New Orleans. One of them was to have a muffuletta at Central Grocery- it is where the muffuletta was first served and created. The sandwich has olives in it which I am not a fan of. However, in this case, it was not so bad. Always up for trying something new every now and then. Especially, if it is super yummy. 

What True Love Looks Like

For some reason, any place I visit there is always an Anthropologie waiting to be discovered. And when I find one, I have to go in. I don’t necessarily have to buy anything; but, I have to go in. Most of the time when I discover a new Anthropologie, Martin is with me. So when we went to New Orleans and I saw a building that I thought would look awesome as an Anthro building, lo and behold it was! Of course, I would ask Martin first to find out if we had time for it. Usually, it is a yes! ( Yes, I know I am spoiled.) As I browse through another Anthro, Martin finds himself a comfy chair and occupies his time with his phone. I snapped this shot of him from the stairs because it shows how patient and kind he is.

 

I really liked the Sundrifter collection from Studio Calico. The hearts are punched out from some of my favorite patterns in the collection. I also punched out heart from the Anthro jewelry tags. The jewelry tags are usually black and white photos. I thought it would bring a bit of the store into the layout. Instead of using the word 'love' I replaced it with a heart and wrote love in it.

There will be a whole lot more love this week so stick around to find out why tomorrow.

Into Louisiana We Go

For our last day in Lousiana before our flights that evening, we rented a car and drove a bit into the State. We found a Groupon for a Sugar Plantation tour. Smart suggestion on their site was to have to have a picnic lunch after the tour on their property. On our way back to the airport, we drove parallel to the Mississippi River.

Sleep, Eat, Walk, Eat, Repeat.

I am attempting a new schedule: waking up early to workout. I am really hoping it will stick. On the other hand, most of my memories of New Orleans consist of food. We sure ate a lot those few days and I thought we ate fairly well. For Sunday brunch, I found us a really cute cafe called Cafe Amelie on the famous Rue Royale with all the antique shops. Before and after brunch, we had did a bit of shopping for our families and friends.

To wrap up our trip we did a hop on - hop off bus tour where we just sat on the bus the entire time. We were taken to a few places that we would have never been able to get to on foot. While on the bus, I saw Anthropologie and had to make a visit and a purchase of course. We grabbed a pre-dinner bit at is the French Market. A Po-boy what they are called - yummy again.

Picture of a perfekt boyfriend who patiently waits while his girlfriend shops at Anthropologie. 

Just wanted to share that.
 

Up and Down the Mississippi River

We finally had a good night's sleep because the light outside our hotel window was shining really bright. Martin found out that there were shutters outside the balcony that could be closed to block the light and noise from the street and fountain.

Our first event on April 6th was brunch at Palace Cafe on Canal Street. We had the first sitting for brunch at 11:30 am. Look at what we ate, we were so stuffed afterwards.

For the afternoon, we decided to go on a Mississppi Steam Boat ride. Martin was smart to suggest putting long pants on and wearing more layers because it would be cold on the water. I was glad we were able to go back to the hotel and make that change. I found the river to be very dirty and scenery was unappealing. It is still as industrious, with all the ships, as it was back in the day of trades for the Europeans.

Dinner we a little further outside the French Quarter in the warehouse district - Herbsaint. Surprisingly we had already walked passed it the very first day when we were wandering around. It was a very cute dining space. Unfortunately, I was so full from brunch that I only had a small plate for dinner.

If you want to know exactly what the  food pictures are check out my instagram; I list all the names in them. After dinner, we made our way over to Polo Club Lounge at the Windsor Court Hotel for an evening of jazz music. It was nice to just relax on the couch with a cup of tea.

Been Too Long

It has been just too long since I last written a post. It has been extremely hard to motivate myself to write something. Don't be fooled, I have been scrapping like my life depends on it. My apartment walls are covered with my new pages and I am loving how the white space is being filled up. I will shared those another time. Today, I want to fill you in on my recent happenings. Recently, I took two days off to go to New Orleans, Louisiana. I have always wanted to go; I have heard so many good things, especially the food, about the South. The next few posts will be able about this trip. 

Martin and I flew out Thursday night (April 4th) from our respective airports. We met in Kenner, location of Louie Armstrong International Airport (MSY).  

We had absolutely not plans. The only thing planned were the meals I made reservations for. A few were recommendations from Grams and a few were ones I picked out on my own. I can't wait to share those meals. More about that later. 

Without plans we decided Friday morning that we would walk towards the water also known as the famous Mississippi River. A few blocks later we found ourselves at the French Market. It had a few food stands but there were also a ton of, what Martin calls, crap shops, which are the typical souvenir shops. I was also told to try the Muffaletta at Central Grocery. I must say even though I do not like olives, it tasted pretty darn good. But based on Martin's experience, the owners/ workers were not that friendly. This was totally not the norm of our experience in NOLA. Martin and I shared a half of one Muffaletta. we were saving our stomachs for the evening meal. 

We continued meandering through the various parts of NOLA on foot. Martin and I loved the homes in the French Quarter: the colors, the balconies, the style were all very attractive. Some times our picture were just of the outside of the homes. 

After our tremendous amount of walking around, we took a relaxing break at our hotel before our three hour, yes I wrote 'three hour', dinner at Stella! They were so nice and accommodating when I asked if Martin and I could split a wine pairing. I do not drink and a  three ounce glass would have been so wasted and expensive for just me. We had the four course prefix, there were options for the four course, Mind if we did the seven we wouldn't have had any choices and it would have taken longer than three hours. Take a look at what we ate. Saying it was delicious would be an understatement.