My Mega Exciting Life: New Orleans the Third

A few years ago, my girlfriend Rachel Samulski told me she was getting married and she asked if I would be her matron of honor. I agreed happily to the task and took my role seriously. I planned an epic bachelorette party weekend for her... in New Orleans. This was in July of 2004:

fellow bridesmaid danielle, me, bridesmaid angie and bride rachel

We hiatus'ed a couple of years and started a new tradition. This weekend marked the third annual girl's trip I've had the privilege to be hostess to (that, and my mother-in-law lets me have the keys to her condo on St. Charles Ave. THANKS, SUZY!) The first year was Megan, Megan and Kristina.

kristina, megan and megan say hello!

The next year, we grew to:

front row: amanda. back row (l-r) kristina, rachel and me! Check here for the excitement we got into last year!

And now: Expect no less. Please say hello to the 2010 New Orleans Girls' Weekend Contingency:

well, hello there!

mrs. rachel ann landry of sarasota fla, miss emily womac (newcomer!) of maryville tenn, mrs. john johnson of knoxville, tenn, miss kristina canan (kerblewey!) of knoxville tenn and moi

Most of us had to make the trek from Knoxville to the Crescent City via car. No worries - four girls, one car (i.e., one trunk... well. Maybe someone should worry...) So we instituted a one bag per girl rule. Which no one followed.

but they are only SMALL bags!

No worries! Amanda the trunk guru packed us in tight and WE'RE OFF!

kristina, amanda, megan and emily in knoxville, on our way to new orleans!

I drove after work as far as I could. I made it to Birmingham. Amanda was certain she could get us to Meridian, MS before stopping for the night so I texted friend and neighbor Scott Causey to meet us for breakfast the next morning. He opted out of breakfast claiming Wednesdays were his nights out on the town and he would buy anyone left standing beers upon arrival to Meridian. I, and only I, accepted the challenge. I was taken out for karaoke.

i only wish i sang myself now instead of photo'ing causey's friends

I will say though - only one of the four Knoxville ladies had ever met Mr. Causey (Mr. Smith's former fraternity brother; groomsman in our wedding, et al.) and really did think it was super cute when Emily whispered to me in private if I really should be going out with this strange man in the middle of Mississippi in the middle of the night. No worries, Scott Causey is every inch the gentleman. Unfortunately... I did not have the wherewithall to get a photo of the two of us that night... Thank you, Scott! I had a fun (but brief) night catching up with you!

Next morning, up and at 'em and TIME TO GO!!!

wheee! the ladies are ready for nola! mostly we were ready to get out of the la quinta inn though, honestly.

We head out of Mississippi!

En route, Kristina made note of a blister Emily incurred whilst serving tables (hot plate plus one) the night before. She was having none of it and:

insisted on popping that mother whilst i drove

And then, into Louisiana!

Upon arrival, we run out to the New Orleans airport and fetch one Rachel Ann Landry. Rachel and I were attached at the hip when we lived together in Sarasota. We were together so often, laughing so hard and having so much fun together, many thought we were the funnest girls ever.

Oh wait! They would be CORRECT.

official evidence: i had forgot we had an id that made it official that we were, and are, in fact, the funnest girls EVER. i am the one to have made this id btw, and filed it in the student record files at ringling NOT KIDDING.

Upon arrival at the condo we discovered that not one, but TWO (i.e. BOTH) toilets were out of commission. No worries!

i squish the water out of a bath mat in the tub!

and ms. canan fixes the job

And we get both toilets flushing in no time flat! (thanks for the advice, Papa Tom!)

We all have a little fun in the sun:

me, ki and my shadow camera in her chest, and rach smile pretty

And then, time to hit this town! We go get ready. Emily rips her pant hem. I fix them.

i'm just like cinderelly

We waited for the St. Charles Car. And we waited. And waited. And waited.... Until then! Two of our friends show up and whisk us away!

in one car. here i am pic'ing from amanda's lap

no worries, we make it work.

em and rach don't mind being crowded

ki smooshed up front

Next up! Random story. Try to follow the dots. We eat a lovely meal:

um and yum say emily and amanda

Which was paid for by someone else.

Then were fortunate enough to be invited into this someone's home in the Garden District. The artwork, I assure you, was amazing.

everyone say, hiiiiii richard! he was a real sweetie (i need to write a thank you note, mama; i am deficient! MAMA!)

um. yeah. speechless.

me and ki in awe and wonder

Then next morning, I go for a run! I have been a runner in New Orleans since the beginning! I had Mrs. Suzy Smith map out two miles for me YEARS AGO. Unfortunately.... this trip I uh.... forgot. I was staying a mile closer to the two mile mark and thought I had merely been unobservant when I ran past:

tulane

And:

loyola

It wasn't until I got to Cooter Brown's that I figured out I'd run too far. Ooops!

I made it back, safe and sound. And hungry. Time to get ready for lunch! I took a shower and thought that when (after my diffuser not fitting on the hotel hair dryer the day before and then Kristina's hair dryer broke my diffuser that day) that karma was telling me that I should have straight hair for the day.

i look crazy, right? kristina helps me straighten my hair! i looked at myself in every mirror, store window and pane of glass in new orleans that day. i'm sorry, what's that you say? why thank you! i love my air brush tube top too!

Rachel gets in the action:

she's a movie star

We get on the St. Charles Car.

speedy delivery

And head to:

camellia's grill! and yes - anyone who knows their nola geography knows that i actually ran here the same morning too.

There is always a line. We were hungry to begin with and by the time we finally make it to the counter, we are STARVING!

but still make hungry look good

i ran an extra few miles accidentally so i partook of fries and fried mac and cheese

Upon returning to the condo, Rachel noticed that Emily's blister had miraculously healed and refilled itself and so she took it upon herself to:

pop that mother again. look how intense she is.... do NOT come into this condo with any sort of sac that needs popping - four out of the five of us are consummate pickers.

Now, you may be unaware that I stage a lot of my photos. Yes. It's true. I do. So upon getting in a cab and noticing these weird, homemade Oh Crap! bars, I asked Emily and Kristina please fake an Oh Crap! face and let me take a pic. They comply... sorta....

ahhh..... never mind....

So I ask Amanda to make her Oh Crap! face:

eeehhhhhhhh.... aaahhh.... i'm scared notsomuch...

So. The funnest girls ever have no alternative but to show them how it's done:

AAAAHHHHHH!!!! OOOOOHHHHH CRRAAAAAAAAPPP!!!!!

Next up, family hour! Amanda and Emily's aunt Carolyn and uncle Skeeter are in town!

they are kind enough to buy us all a cold one!

I don't know what this dog's deal is and am too lazy to find out, but:

sir barks-a-lot is everywhere

And we head out to fancy Amanda's birthday supper at La Mano!

donny (on his way to his nursing school prom HOW CUTE) and emily are friends from waiting tables in knoxville some years back. nice to meet you donny!

I ate the rabbit two ways:

i am a rabbit connoisseur, btw. i ate the roast rabbit and nearly licked the plate clean. the fried rabbit was tough. i almost sent it back and just ate rabbit one way.

Lovely meal all around though! I suggested Amanda get a menu signed by the chef for her birthday and she complies!

but she also left it in the condo somewhere when we left town

We go for a stroll and almost move in here:

it figures

We head back to the condo and do my favorite of all favorite things to do when hanging with the girls...

we all put on pjs and snuggled in bed and gossiped. i'm certain all four of you were discussed.

The next day, more family hour! Vince and Adri come for brunch! And lame old me took zero photos of them (I'm a jerk). But I did take a photo of:

brunch cooking! the first year i was there i hosted brunch for the aunts and cousins and panicked a bit when i couldn't find a casserole dish for the egg casserole. megan had a laptop and upon discovering fiesta wear is oven proof, i started a new tradition. everyone gets his or her own egg casserole! i make everyone act surprised when they come over and i'm serving the same brunch every time. real chef emily makes apple tarts and dumplings YUM!

We also made:

yuck muffin. it was yucky. but fun whilst making!

After family hour we head to the pool! Now, the weather was super warm - warmer than anyone anticipated (except for me; you're welcome for borrowing my clothes all weekend, girls) so we spent a lot of time by the pool! Ironically, the pool was super cold. But sitting in the sun made one hot! This afternoon, I acclimated myself to the pool temp little by little, but could never bring myself to fully submerge.

and in case you're wondering, i did walk on my elbows whilst in the pool from the steps to the side there so as not to accidentally submerge myself fully

me dangling in the water

Amanda has no such qualms.

CAAAANNNOOOON BALLLL!!!!!

Speaking of hot and cold - Ms. Florida over here thought everything was cold. To the point that she brought a blanket and pillow out to the pool to keep warm whilst we sunbathed. I told her she looked like a convalescent at a hospital wrapped up in a blankie in the sun. She did.

but oddly enough, still manages to make the infirm look work, of course.

When getting ready to head out for the night I remembered how much fun it was the day before to have funny straight hair but didn't want to take the time for funny and straight. I found Suzy's hot rollers in the closet and:

rolled myself up! i looked like a barbie doll when i took it down. it only lasted about 30 seconds outside though.

Did I mention that Rach and I are the funnest girls ever? We found a mural whilst walking around and had some fun with murals.

knock, knock! anybody home? census calling!

And I don't hear anyone coming to the door.

we seriously laughed ourselves sick at this nonsense. i love it.

We all ate our supper at:

deanie's! best foot forward!

i um... have eaten more this trip than any other. to wit: at our deanie's visit i shared with kristina and emily: a dozen raw oysters, fried crab claws, and a charbroiled seafood platter. when amanda didn't finish her shrimp po-boy... i did. oy....

We all make our way to a bar to watch the Bama/Vols game, and:

we have fun in spite of the score. we um... also... um. jeez. well this is the raciest thing i did in new orleans this trip (this trip whee!) kristina, emily and i went on stage and sang rocky top together WE DID. p and s, we all stink. crickets were chirping when we stopped. BUT everyone did laugh when i noted pointedly to the audience that there was a shocking lack of applause. that did bring down the house. um... well. video is involved WHICH YOU WILL NEVER SEE. *i hope*

Despite our sad showing onstage, we manage to make new friends!

new friends with ginormous beers

And if in fact they were teeny tiny people drinking normal size beers, Amanda and Emily were:

GIANTS DOUBLE FISTING NORMAL SIZE DRINKS

We also find fun toys!

alley-gators!

We head out and move on to a bar with music after the Vols made it apparent we didn't need to stick around, and it is a testament to how cool this jazz bar was: I didn't want to leave. It was super fun.