A Very Nola Day

Hey, howdy, hello! Welcome back to my abandoned blog. I've missed you, too!

I haven't been up to a whole lot besides reading books and watching movies. Gotta love summer.

However, last Saturday my mom and I drove into the city to spend a little quality time together. What we forgot was that Memorial Day weekend brings A LOT of people to the cool places. 

After driving around the French Quarter for almost 45 minutes, we were able to find a parking spot and we were hangry (you know, so hungry that you get angry and not much fun). We ran to the first restaurant we saw and split a shrimp po-boy -- I know, how very cajun of us? 

I'd give Mulate's a 7/10 for food and a 9.5/10 for atmosphere. I loved their sweet tea and all the Blue Dog paintings they had on the walls! The french bread was a little too crunchy for my taste. 

After eating and drinking enough sweet tea to revive our spirits, we walked into the French Quarter, where we spent most of our time strolling around Jackson Square picking out our favorite pieces of art. 

Mom and I are suckers for art, so when we saw a man doing portraits, we were like "ooh, that's pretty cool!" Naturally, we decided it was worth the time to sit and have my picture drawn. 

Please excuse the odd soft-smile happening here. 

One thing that we couldn't miss was Cafe Du Monde! Beignets and iced cafe au lait were worth waiting in the line (for over 45 minutes *monkey-covering-his-eyes-emoji*). But my mom, never a fan of lines, was hangry again by the time we made it to the front. 

Take note if you're going to play tourist: Waiting in the to-go line is not a smarter move than the actual line. I'm pretty sure we would have gotten a table sooner than we made it to the counter. 

But the sweet coffee milk and sugary french doughnuts were worth it. (Isn't the sugar always worth it?)

{Outfit details}

Seersucker Dress: Old Navy

Shoes: Jack Rogers

Monogram Necklace: Lee Michaels 

Sunglasses: Ray Ban (mine are old, these are similar)

Purse: Antonio Melani, old (this & this are similar)

GEAUX Saints!

Truth be told, I'm not even watching the game tonight, but based on the volume of my mom's screams downstairs, the Saints aren't doing very well against those Seahawks. 

I've never actually been to a game in the dome, but I'd definitely wear some of these fun accessories on game day -- especially if our boys could make it to the Super Bowl!

Clockwise from 12 o'clock:

Tory Burch flats / Kate Spade watch / Sara Ott bracelet / nail polish in "As Gold as it Gets"  / cardigan / Jack Rogers sandals / Kate Spade purse / Water Meter ring (similar) / Baublebar necklace

And if you just can't get enough NOLA love, check out FleurtyGirl.net! The fleurty girl herself, Lauren Thom has all sorts of fun items in her creative shop that scream New Orleans! 

A Night with John Mayer!

It's the middle of finals week for me and I may or may not be going a little crazy with two finals tomorrow and two Tuesday (this post = #procrastinationstation). However, yesterday I took a study break entire day off from studying and went to New Orleans with my mom to see John Mayer in concert! 

We had such a good time! We spent most of the day shopping, had dinner at Acme Oyster House (yum!) and then made our way over to the New Orleans Arena for the show! 

And what a show it was!! Phillip Phillips opened and did an awesome job! I absolutely love the sort of folk/rock/pop combo thing he has going on. You should definitely take a second to check out some of his music (his two big hits are Gone, Gone, Gone, and Home)

As for Mr. Mayer, there was no doubt in my mind that he would put on a spectacular show. He didn't let me down. His guitar skills alone are incredible, and I loved every song he sang. 

Our seats were pretty decent, too. (The last concert I saw at the arena was Taylor Swift and our seats were terrible in the very back and at the tippy top) This time, we were in the first level off the floor and off to the side. 

I'm pretty sure it sounded just as good from where we were as it did in the front row, too ;)

I apologize for the less-than-sub-par pictures. I'm still mastering the art that is iPhone photography and I took mostly videos anyway. 

But pictures don't really do that stage justice anyway. There's no way to capture the way the lights all came together to make your feelings from the songs feel stronger. The images in the background of the night sky and the desert just added so much. I loved the hippie vibe and I think it really matched his two newest albums, but I was over the moon that he played so many of his oldies too! 

Here's a clip of a video I took of John singing Gravity (one of my absolute favorites!). Again, apologies for the terrible video quality. At least it sounds amazing :)

If you've never heard of John Mayer, do your ears a favor and check out his music. Same thing for Phillip Phillips!