After I had received the BEST birthday present ever, with the news of my tests, we had to head to New Orleans for the weekend. Robby and Justin had a business show there and I was happy to tag along. Now, whenever ones visits New Orleans there is ALWAYS food involved! I have been LOTS of places in the world but still there is NO place that compares where the cuisine is concerned. Our first night there, we went to an old favorite, "Dragos". "Dragos" has been featured on The Food Network, specifically for their charbroiled oysters...
The next day while Robby and Justin were working, I decided to go off shopping to The Shops on Canal Street. It was my birthday weekend, after all...I wanted to treat myself to a couple of things. And what better place to do that than at the Bobbi Brown make-up counter at Sax and then a little trip to Anthropologie! Robby and David met me there, where Robby surprised me with a really cute birthday outfit from BCBG...
He made the girls cut the tags off so I could wear it to my birthday dinner (which I also had no idea we were doing that night...) down the street at "Manning's". We had really wanted to visit this restaurant before during a game day, but unfortunately they do not take reservations on game days...and getting seated with about 11 people without reservations is virtually impossible. This restaurant is really neat because the entire section in front of the huge television screened wall is recliners. The food was delicious and my birthday dessert was brought out with a candle in it...
Before Robby and I headed back home on Saturday morning, we went to another restaurant we had never been to before for brunch, "The Ruby Slipper". It was a 45 minute wait but well worth it...
We arrived home around 3:30 in the afternoon and immediately had to get dressed for an annual winter ball that was about an hour away. It is a charity dinner for a local hospital, complete with door prizes and a silent auction (I won a pair of shoes at the auction!). This year's main entertainment was Mark Chestnut and following his concert, there was another band (from New Orleans!) that performed. Following the evening there is a breakfast which we chose not to stay for because we did have that hour drive back and church would come awfully early the next morning...
What had started out as a very stressful week for me had turned into a lovely weekend. As I walked outside Sunday morning, the weather was warm and clear and I could hear the birds singing. It reminded me of how fortunate I am to have God's mercy and grace. A former pastor once gave us his definition of grace and I have always remembered and loved it: "Grace is the undeserved love and kindness that God shows us." What a wonderful thought to begin the day and week with...
No comments