A NOLA Bride, Part 1

Josh proposed in July of 2011 so I had 14 months to plan our wedding.  That seemed like such a long time, and it really was enough time... but it went by way too fast.  I'm your classic procrastinator and can't make a decision until it is almost too late so picking out what I liked a year in advance was almost impossible for my brain (this drove my mother crazy).  Finally, as time got closer (a.k.a. I was running out of time) I narrowed down 5 styles to 1, got into the little details, and started getting really into the planning about 2 months out.  So what was plenty of time quickly turned into not enough time and a very stressful few months before the wedding.  Many people gave the advice of "don't worry about the small things, that day you won't notice" and "it goes by so fast, just try to enjoy it"- this all seems like very good advice and I can see myself telling this to future brides.  However, no bride will ever take this advice because every little detail does matter and it is extremely stressful spending that amount of money and time on one day.  So I've decided that my advice to brides will be to set aside money for a week of planner.  This would have made the wedding week more enjoyable because someone else would be helping to organize, work out details, take things to the venue, etc.  A very close friend of mine did this and she was not running around like a chicken with it's head cut off like I was!  While it was the most stressful time of my life (to-date, I'm sure more stressful times will come), the actual events were spectacular! 

There were many out-of-towners since I am not from New Orleans.  I was truly touched and pleasantly surprised to have so many people make the trip!  On Thursday night, most people were in town so I arranged a tour through the French Quarter called "New Orleans Cocktail History Tour."  Josh took me a year prior on my birthday and we loved the tour so much, we knew that night we would plan this for our guests.  The host is a true New Orleanian and created the tour with Grey Line Tours.  The party was officially started.

On Friday my bridesmaids (minus 2), mom, and flower girl went to get mani/pedis.  My sister, as any good MOH would do, brough supplies for mimosas!  After the relaxing morning we went to lunch at Stanley's right in Jackson Square.  The wait was forever but the food (and drinks) were great!  Once that was over I went back to the hotel to get ready for the rehearsal.  How were these days going by so fast?

The Rehearsal Dinner was delicious, funny, heartwarming, entertaining, and delicious.  It was at Cafe Adelaide in the Loews Hotel (where we were staying).  Cafe Adelaide is a Brennan's restaurant and we had a Brennan actually introduce herself to us and make sure everything was going well.  My father-in-law did a wonderful job choosing that restaurant.  The wait staff was professional, and did I mention the food was delicious?  It was my brother's birthday so we surprised him with a cake and we all sang Happy Birthday.  What a nice brother to spend his birthday celebrating Josh and me!  We had to make it a little about him :)  Big thanks to Christina and Josh for making those arrangements.  The most amazing part, though, were the speeches that everyone gave.  It was so amazing to have everyone get up and speak, joke, cry, sing, etc.  We actually had to have an intermission because there were so many people that got up to speak!  Josh and I felt so loved.

Traditional House meets Modern Taste

My new living room has a completely different feel than the warehouse style loft apartment.  It's more homey, which means that I need to combine some traditional elements with modern style in order to accentuate the details I love about our house.  When we moved, I purchased a round dark wood coffee table to replace the "table of death" (square glass top table resulted in many a bruised legs) and a new Julio lamp (for those of you who don't know, any owl object I get I name Julio because he goes "whoo whoo Julio").  But a few bargain finds lately have been adding to the space nicely to create a comfortable setting for the living room.  The mirror hangs on what was a boring, bare wall that you would stare at walking in the front door ($35 at Marshall's), now it looks worldly.  The "love you to the moon and back" pillow adds a country touch with sentiment that even Ramona appreciates ($22 at a local boutique in the French Quarter).  And lastly, Target pillow on sale ($12.99) next to my coveted Julio lamp from West Elm.  Now just to recover a few old pillows, add some curtains, and frame and hang some Jazz Fest posters and this room will be perfect!

New House, New Season

Spring started early in New Orleans this year!  We have had so much going on... and it all started with a move in February.  We decided to look at houses for rent and decided there were 2 reasons to have us move from our apartment (which we loved).  1) If we saved an enormous amount of money, or 2) If the place was too good to pass up.  Well, number 2 it was!  We found a charming house in one of our favorite neighborhoods, Park Places in Lakeview.  It comes equip with everything from a backyard for Ramona, a location right near City Park, an extra storage shed, and the cutest diamond paned window over the kitchen sink!  We have the same amount of bedrooms and bathrooms, but we gained an extra 400 sq ft. (not including the shed).  While we are just renting, we feel so at home here we never want to leave!

We moved in 1 week before the first big Carnival weekend and 2 weeks before Endymion, a parade that we were hosting a party for due to our close proximity to the parade route.  Needless to say, unpacking had to happen fast.  Thanks to some very wonderful and helpful friends, we not only got moved in, we got unpacked in the kitchen and a great furniture layout in the living room!

Four months have gone by and it feels like we've been here forever.  We planted a vegetable and herb garden and have been actively looking for some patio furniture so we can enjoy more outdoor time. 

As for Ramona, she is loving the backyard and all the dogs in the neighborhood!  She has a friend at almost every house on the block :)