New Orleans

Jake and I had a fantastic three days, two nights in New Orleans.  Jake was going for a conference, and I got to tag along, enjoy a great city, and the company of my best friend!  It's amazing how much REFRESH you can get when you're with your husband... minus the other three little people I love most in the world... but was glad to get a little siesta from! Here's the view from our hotel room, which was on the edge of the French Quarter.

Our friend Todd gave a few great recommendations for restaurants, which we benefitted from in a huge way.  Our first night was at Galatoire's, where our meal was AMAZING with the most personable staff you've ever met.

We followed that dinner with fantastic jazz at Irvin Mayfield's.  There was this woman singing who looked like a great grandmother, and she had the entire room hanging on her every word. Captivating.

 Jake by the waterfront on the next day...

 

New Orleans is known for pralines, which it turns out we had never truly experienced prior to the moment after I took this photo, and we bought said pralines.

In case my newly scrutinizing opinion was in question, the multiple accolades decorating the front window agreed.

 One of the highlights of the entire trip was right after this photo.  It involved warm sun, jazz music drifting across the square, my hot husband, and about 30 minutes on a park bench.  It was blissful.

That evening was another fantastic experience.  We took the trolley to Uptown, both of our first times out of the French Quarter.  But we did not just TAKE the trolley.  As we were a block shy of the trolley, it took off the opposite way.  So as not to wait another 20 minutes, we started running for it.  With a full fresh cup of latte in my hands, wearing boots and skirt (me, not Jake), and with street guys whistling at the trolley lady to stop as we finally closed the gap at the next stop.  Never has an entrance onto a trolley felt so victorious.  And there was only a little foam lost in the effort.

 Uptown is full of old historic homes that were beautifully kept, and it happened to be Halloween...

 so there was the most idyllic gathering of little trick or treaters- totally a movie scene with these amazing homes as the backdrop.

After passing Loyola, Tulane, and Audubon Park, we reached the end of the trolley line, walked for six blocks, and ended up at Jacque-Imo's. This mural was inside (behind the Mardi Gras lamp) and is a really awesome depiction of the restaurant.

The dinner was delicious and continuing satisfy our love of New Orleans cuisine as we enjoyed an appetizer and salad, and then IT appeared... this entree is called "Godzilla meets Fried Green Tomatoes." Seriously. It was crab, eggplant, green tomatoes, and who knows what else with a knife stabbed through the top.  It was intense, the kind of dish for which the tables around us stopped talking in order to admire OUR dish and plan to order themselves.

 After our meal and a delightful ride back into the French Quarter came the fulfillment of the birthday card.

 I know that place is about as touristy as can be, but for good reason.  It was delish!

We took a walk down Bourbon Street for just a few blocks on our way back to the hotel, and you can only imagine what it was like on Halloween. Jake did make the comment that the outfits were more creative than he anticipated.  But those shootings did happen right there a couple of hours later. There's no way we would have been on Bourbon Street on Halloween after midnight, but it's still one of those "wow" moments when we heard the next day. 

Here was one last shot of St. Louis Cathedral on our last day.  I laid down on the steps to take it because I wanted a cool picture, and who would notice a lady laying down in the middle of all the craziness of that town.  But a street guy on the next block asked how my picture turned out.  I told him I was pleased with the result.

 This is not the guy who noticed my picture.  This guy was just a fantastic musician on the square.

Our last meal was raw oysters on the half shell at Acme Oyster House, the very place I had my first raw oysters many years ago with Jake and his parents when we were in town for a wedding. They did not fail to satisfy!

 In and around the meals and moments captured there were precious times with my most wonderful man in the world; great nights' sleep without getting up to help any toddlers; deep, uninterrupted conversations; novel reading; sight seeing; the ability to sleep in AND run, in the sunshine no less, because I didn't need to be home before the sun was up in order to help my family; just enjoying the beautiful south, but also...

A reminder that there's a lot of lost and sad people out there and that we can't just breeze by them every single time.  That it wouldn't hurt to keep a box of granola bars, Subway gift cards, or whatever with you to give to a homeless person asking for food.  After handing out some random Nutrigrain bars in New Orleans, I was at a red light on an exit ramp the next week, by a guy with a "hungry" sign.  All I had to offer him was cheerios in baggies.  But I figured if you're truly hungry, that's not a bad option.  The guy took them gladly and said "God bless you" as the policeman behind us did a short siren for him to back away from the car.  I come back to the whole thing that fuels 418 Stitches: I happened to be born into and given my life, but that doesn't mean we can just blitz past others who were born into different situations or perhaps made some terrible mistakes along the way. The cool part is that after giving away those cheerios, the girls and I had a conversation about WHY we did it.  What a sweet thing it is as parents to be able to teach our kids about this, and not just on the holidays.  So as we enter the season in which charity giving is so easy, I'm going to start trying to get in a better habit of at the least just keeping something in the car to be able to give if we see someone with a need.  I would love my girls to grow up with reaching out practically to the needy being the norm in their lives throughout the year. Don't read this and think anything awesome about me.  We lived in LA for three years, a city with something like 70,000 homeless, and I never did this one time there. We helped out a shelter and a women's home a few times, but that's it.  And I probably saw homeless people on a daily basis there.  So there's some making up to do as we move forward.

Birthday morning

Our Blythe and Joy turned two on Sunday the 30th.  Jake and I had a flight out to New Orleans at 3:30 that afternoon, so at the risk of seeming to be heartless parents to leave on their birthday, we made hay while the sun shone.  We played hooky (so as not to ship them off at church for three hours, then leave as soon as we got home for three days) and had a yummy family breakfast at J Christophers, one of our favorites!

Blythe's favorite meal of the day is breakfast.  Abby Jane and Joy were through and ready to get down from their seats, and Blythe was still steadily plowing away at any food in front of her.  I asked Jake if we should cut her off for the sake of the others, and he said, "No, it's her birthday.  Let the girl eat." So she contentedly ate for another 10 minutes before deciding she had met her full capacity!

There are two things to note here. 1) This is Joy's "funny face" a.k.a. "crazy Joy" that she readily produces on request. 2) Joy is barefoot.  The girl kicks off shoes any chance she can get, and Jake had just lowered her down from the booth when I glanced down to see those bare feet on that restaurant floor!  For what it's worth, it was 37 degrees outside.  Not your average barefoot day.

Daddy and his crazy Joy getting those abused shoes back on (those same shoes have been kicked off on a walk up Kennesaw Mtn and run over by a car before I found them on our way back down the mountain). By the way, looking at this picture, it makes me think maybe Joy's "funny face" might be hereditary. As a side note, Abby Jane took this picture.

 Birthday hugs!

I am in awe of the transformation in two years from this precious moment...

Karen Baker Photography

to this one of them just being silly on the floor the other day. It's such a privilege to watch your kids grow and develop!

There will be an official two year post to come at some point soon, but since Joy's still singing "Happy birthday dear Byffe and Jahoweeeeeee" around here, we can stretch out the birthday blogs too!

Give Thanks

The week after I met Lindsey last year, she told me she had a project for us. It was early November, and she said we were going to make these trees from Pottery Barn to do with our families.  

Well, it didn't actually happen last year, but finally it did last week in the course of one craft night at Lindsey's house and one afternoon at home. Good thing we only put it off for an entire year!

Every morning during breakfast, we say something we're thankful for and tuck it into that day's leaf. The girls get so excited about getting to put something on the tree, and it's really special starting each day talking about what we're thankful for as a family!

Two bugs and a firewoman

All set for fall festival!

 The little ones LOVED their wings and antennae!  Abby Jane's firewoman costume is a pretty common sight in our home these days, but its popularity never fades.

 Waiting in line...

 Bounce-house time!

 Blythe, playing by the rules, tossing the bean bag to knock over the can...

 Joy cutting to the chase by just walking up and knocking over the can...

Firewoman Abby Jane and Maddy Princess Leia...

 We love Fall Festival night!

It's official

I am officially no longer a "20-something", which is what my blessed nephew Scott guessed my age to be on my birthday last week!  I had a fantastic birthday, kicked off with this little surprise at the beginning of last week: an invitation to join Jake on a business trip to New Orleans.  YEAAA!!! We just got home from that little delight last night, more to come on that later on.  But it was a fabulous way to start the week!

My actual birthday fell on a BSF day, so we picnicked afterwards with the Joneses like every week, and enjoyed a gorgeous day!

 Lindsey commented that we have no pictures that include the two of us moms. So another mom at the park took a picture.  My birthday is also the anniversary of Lindsey and I being friends.  Last year on my birthday, I met her at music time at the community center.  We hit it off, and I asked for her email address.  Then I asked her on a date.  Just kidding.  Actually, I'm not kidding.  We did have a playdate the next week! But it's fun to know exactly what day you met someone and always be able to remember it.  SO thankful for this girl and the blessing she has been in my life- WHAT a precious friend she is.

Also on my birthday, this rose bloomed on my front steps.  It hasn't been a happy rose bush this summer, but it bloomed on my birthday. This is particularly special because my daddy used to give my sister and I a rose every year on our birthday.  Amazingly, she has a rose bush that blooms its first perfect, beautiful bloom right around, if not on, her birthday every year... and her birthday is in late May.  Pretty neat stuff.

On my actual birthday night, Jake gave me this book. On the cover is a picture of my daddy and I when I was two.

Inside are letters and pictures from 30 family members and friends that Jake got in touch with to create this precious, amazing scrapbook. Jake included my dad's photo, saying that even though my dad couldn't write be here to write a letter, the legacy he left behind and the parts of what he knows about my dad that he sees in me are evident in everyone else's letters. WOW, babe. Way to start the waterworks.  I am not a crier, but the stories and memories in this book made us both laugh and cry as we went through it together. Saying that I came away feeling humbled, grateful, and unbelievably blessed is an understatement.

Saying that I love my husband and am blessed beyond words to be his wife is an understatement as well! One final note on my birthday night: we finally made it to the new rooftop patio at a really neat local place called Trackside. I have been dying to go since it opened late spring, and we even had the entire roof and fireplace to ourselves for most of the evening.  Way to go, Jake Gross! I love you, babe!

Zoo week

Last week, we lived up fall in the south with two trips to the zoo, both trips celebrating birthday week!  Our dear little friend Grant turned two exactly one week before Blythe and Joy did, so we were celebrating the new two's.  Here are all the kiddos on that trip minus one baby in a carrier!

 I never cease to be amazed by how similar gorilla mamas are to human mamas.

 Look at that little guy clinging to her leg!

 Kids and moms at lunch...

My girls dig cupcakes!

 Now this is a fabulous compare and contrast.  Here is Joy's reaction to the elephants every single time.

 Except when Daddy took the day off work to come with us!  Look at that girl checking out those elephants, with only a few slight protests.  It's amazing what a girl will do when her daddy's got her in his arms.

 Now I know we had been just a few days before, but this day at the zoo was really special- we saw all kinds of things we've never seen before. For instance, have you ever watched an elephant drink water? That trunk stretches out so far, and they just both stood there drinking water and flapping their ears for us for the longest time.

 Even the giraffes showed off and both ate at the same time from this bucket right next to the overlook.

 The obligatory fam pic by the gorillas.

The day was supposed to have been in the 50's and rainy, but instead it was sunny and just right. All in all a perfect, special family morning, leaving us all jumping for joy.

Sorry, I know that was cheesy.  What else do you say about a photo like this?