A few shots from Jazz Fest 2012. 
We ate great food, 
heard amazing music,
had some belly laughs.
Tom Petty killed it for an audience of 60,000 fans. 
He never disappoints.
I had a great time with my husband at my second Jazz Fest Experience.
The weather was perfect.
The day was magical.
 
 
Over the break we took our little Puppy Princess on a bide ride through Audobon Park. It was a glorious day. Warm, clear, and alive with Spring.  We stopped at our little shaded spot on the edge of the water to rest and watch the turtles. I wish the weather would stay like this all summer so I could enjoy the outdoors with our little man when he arrives. Come on Spring weather.. stick around!
 
 
Thanks to my job with a charter school system here in New Orleans, I get Spring Break! I love getting the schedule of a teacher without actually being in the classroom. For the next few days I will be nesting at home, photographing a few recipes, preparing for baby, and hanging out with this pretty lady. She's gonna
get walked, bathed, cuddled, and spoiled! Hooray for a break from work!
 
 
We had the most glorious Easter weekend. It started off with a road trip to Lafayette on Good Friday. After a hot drive in our old ride, we arrived at a Volkswagon dealership! Traded in the old wheels for the new family-friendly 2012 Passatt (Motor Trend Car of the Year). We needed that so bad. Now our baby can ride around in style with a spacious and car seat friendly backseat! We thoroughly enjoyed the drive home and stopped in Breaux Bridge for some killer Cajun food to celebrate.

Freret Fest was going on right by our house on Saturday, so we stopped for some live music, and booth perusing. We even came home with a few pieces of original artwork. It's actually our first purchase of some original New Orleans art, and we've been wanting some for awhile. One of the paintings is now hanging in Baby Boy's nursery. I indulged in fair food and Albin satisfied his long awaited craving of boiled crawfish. (They're now in season again.)

Albin also treated me to a movie this weekend. Titanic 3d! It took me straight back to eighth grade. I still know most the words, and we laughed at how corny it really is.. but it was a great late night flick. I won't be in movie theaters for awhile after our little man arrives, so it's nice to take advantage of the opportunity. We enjoyed our little date, except for the 100 year old man who talked at full volume in the row behind us the whole time. Thank goodness he left early.. he was really getting on our nerves.

Easter Sunday was the perfect end to the weekend. Our street was alive with children playing and we had a few boys over for a very traditional Easter Dinner. Everything turned out delicious and we really enjoyed celebrating a holiday in our house with dear friends.

 My husband is sweet, thoughtful, amazing, and selfless. New Orleans is proving to be an interesting home.. and I love that we are spending the early part of our marriage exploring this place together. I'm a lucky girl these days.

I'm back at work feeling rejuvenated and truly blessed. Commuting in a set of wheels that has new car smell and a killer stereo isn't half bad either.
 

Florence

04/03/2012

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After our glorious time in Venice, we drove through Tuscany and into the city of Florence. We stayed in a charming bed and breakfast that was hidden on the 6th floor of an office building. What?! It was cozy and comfortable though. By the time we got to Florence, my pregnant body was hobbling and limping around half the time. The walking was starting to take it's toll on my swelling feet and sore limbs. But I was determined to ignore the aches and pains and keep going. I couldn't miss the sites. Florence is spectacular when it comes to sight seeing. It boasts churches, famous statues, beautiful sunsets, wonderful shopping, and on and on.
My partner.
HAD to stop for the obligatory David photo.
Darling shops for the bambino.
Near this carousel, a band was playing the softest most romantic music. Made the whole night seem magical.
We started out the next morning with a city view and a tour of the museums and Boboli gardens. GORGEOUS!
It was a beautiful time, beginning to end. The words and photos simply cannot capture what an amazing trip we had. So blessed.
 
 
After Bellagio, we trekked through the countryside and found ourselves on a boat to Venice! Touristy- maybe, but we were so excited to explore a great historical city and play tourist.
Exploring began right away, and just as we suspected.. in Venice, they have you there-- STUCK! So everything is overpriced. We ignored it, and ponied up the ridiculous dough for every little thing. We took a tour of the Doge's Palace, went to the top of the Belltower to take in the best view of the city, hopped on a gondola, ate TONS, perused the shops and much more!
Shopping in Venice was great fun. They had all the standards, and tons of charming little gift shops where I stocked up on postcards, snowglobes, and magnets to send home.
Again with the yummy gelato. I never held back. If my baby wanted gelato, I was having it!
The bread and chocolate shops were my favorite of course.
Picture
Being in Venice with my sweet husband was absolutely magical. A real vacation! We've had a crazy life ever since we got married.. going non-stop. We had our wedding, drove across country, moved into a new house, he started business school, I started a new job, visited family, got pregnant, and on and on. Taking a trip together to unwind before the baby was such a great idea, and I'm so glad we had the opportunity. It was just what we needed.
My sweet husband worked so hard to plan the whole thing so I could spend the time relaxing.. and it all came together perfectly. He's got a knack for planning and detailing.
I'm still high off the whole adventure and I can't wait to do it again. Next time, we'll have our little man in tow. I did manage to pick up a little striped Gondola tee for him. Just like his Mama, he's gonna wear stripes way too often.

This hot chocolate was so thick and chocolatey, it was like a melted chocolate bar. It might have been too much for me actually. It was that intense!
Yummy!
Some naked lady art for Preacher!
Albin sampling the Italian wine selection..
Aaah Venezia! See you again!