Flower Child

A few weeks ago Casey decided to go golfing and invited me along. Sometimes he enjoys being by himself when he golfs but a lot of times he invites me to go along. Usually I enjoy the sun while I ride in the golf cart and read a book. (And reapply sunscreen frequently because redhead.) But the other day we were the only ones out there which meant Casey wasn't being rushed to play and we could take our time.

The golf course was beautiful and there were lots of little flowers everywhere. I suppose most of them are actually considered weeds, but they're pretty, yeah? A girl I follow on Instagram who always makes flower crowns had shared a YouTube tutorial with me over a year ago and I decided it was finally time to give it a try. Any time I saw a patch of flowers, Casey would stop the golf cart and I would pick flowers to add to my flower crown. I spent a few hours, slowly picking flowers and weaving them intricately together. It was just as dreamy of an afternoon as it sounds.

Now that I know how to make them, I can actually make one pretty quickly! I made this one after we ate dinner in the park last week. There is truly something special about sitting on a picnic blanket weaving flowers together to make a crown.

Life is even better when you wear flowers in your hair!

Our First Camping Trip

I mentioned in my Things I Love August post that Casey and I recently went on our first camping trip! So here I am sharing more about it.

Here's the thing: I'm NOT the camping type of girl. The last time I went camping I was 14 or 15 and it was horrible. I refused to potty in the woods (we were gone for like 24 hours). It was freezing cold. And whoever grabbed what they thought was the bag of blankets had accidentally instead grabbed a bag of fabric scraps. So it was freezing and we had NO covers. And I had to pee and just couldn't make myself use a tree.

So when Casey mentioned one day that he wanted to go camping I was like, "Ummm... how about not?" After some discussion, we finally decided to compromise: I'd give camping a shot as long as there was a bathroom around. Which basically narrows it down to state parks. Thankfully we have a few in our area!

A few days after coming to this conclusion, Casey came home with a tent. I figured he was excited about the potential future camping trip. What I wasn't expecting was to go camping two days later!

Our church was having "Family Week" and encouraged every family to go on an adventure. He came home one evening and I asked, "So what should our adventure be?" And Casey said, "How about camping?" Casey, Oxford, and I were on the road an our later to a park Casey had already picked out. (Tigger was not happy about staying home by himself. He hates being alone.)

After setting up our tent and piling up some wood to use for our fire later, we went for a hike. It was gorgeous! First through the woods and then through this beautiful swamp and beach area. The wind was blowing and it felt wonderful!

Then we went back to the camp to make dinner. We'd brought a lighter, but forgot it takes actual skills to build a fire and keep it going. As I was piling up the logs and trying to get the darn pile of sticks to actually catch fire, Casey managed to cut his finger with a knife. I saw some large drops of blood, but he covered his finger with a nearby towel. I was so afraid he'd cut his hand to the bone, despite the fact he was telling me he was fine. (The boy has a high pain tolerance, so you can see why I was just sure it was far worse than he was telling me.)

As he held his fingers wrapped, head on table because blood, I turned around and noticed Oxford had wandered off a little... and was facing off three ginormous wild pigs. I yelled, trying to get Oxford to come back to me. Y'all, this dog is afraid of everything. Loud noises, other dogs, you name it. So why he suddenly decided to be brave and face off these pigs I have no idea. He probably was trying to protect me. Thankfully, I got him to come back and the pigs wandered away, but Oxford was then put on his leash (which he was supposed to be on in the first place... but no one else was around and he loves to walk around without his leash).

Casey's hand was totally fine. Literally just a scratch but there was initially more blood than would suggest a scratch.

It began to get really dark and we were struggling with the fire. Turns out, wood burns faster than we anticipated, and we hadn't piled up enough. We couldn't go searching for more because we were dumb and didn't bring flashlights. Also there were spider webs and very large spiders between many of the trees. We had to be so careful everywhere we walked because we did NOT want to run into those guys. Since we couldn't' see them in the dark, we basically decided to not go into the woods.

Despite the fire debacle, we DID get our dinner cooked. Hot dogs for the win. But once the fire went out, that was that and we decided to get in the tent.

It. Was. Hot.

So hot we couldn't sleep. Did sleeping on the ground bother us? Not a big. But the heat? Dear goodness, it was miserable. As we were leaving the next morning, Casey admitted that at one point during the night he'd considered making the drive home, getting some sleep, and coming back the next day to pack up camp.

We made it through the night and Casey wanted to pack up and get breakfast somewhere. I told him no, the camping wasn't over until after breakfast. I cooked up some sausage and bacon, as he packed up, and we ate before we finally left. We were both so tired for the rest of the day.

I know that my describing it doesn't SOUND like we had a lot of fun, but we truly did and we made some special memories we won't forget. Honestly, I just like doing anything with him. Things become fun because we're together.

I'm actually really glad that our first trip was spur of the moment. I think I would have been overthinking everything had I had time to plan. But I didn't have time to overthink. I just quickly packed a bunch of things I thought we might need, and, as we realized what we SHOULD have brought, we made a list of things we'd like to bring next time. (On that list: flashlights, battery operated fan, first aid kit, coffee...)

We already can't wait for cooler weather to try out a second camping trip!

A Day in NOLA

A few weeks ago, my bestie Julianne called and asked if I wanted to go to New Orleans with her to deliver some vintage clothes to a few of the vintage shops. Of course I said yes!

Which is how we found ourselves in Century Girl for several hours. Obviously, this is my kind of shop, since the outside is my favorite color--PINK! It's just too cute. It was so fun to sit in on the buying appointment as Julianne pulled out an entire trunk worth full of vintage clothes for the shop owner to look through. Thankfully I'd already pulled out a hot pink loungewear set to keep for myself!

After the appointment, we walked down the block to Grandmother's Button, where I bought a pair of pink sunglasses. "I would have tried to talk her out of them but they were perfect for her," Julianne later told Casey. (Not really sure why we needed to defend my purchase--I only buy cheap sunglasses!) I definitely didn't need them... but I have an affinity to acquire cheap sunglasses and probably have like 12 pairs in my car. You'd think I keep so many because they break or I lose them. Nope! I can keep a pair of sunglasses from Target's dollar bin alive for years. But I really enjoy choosing different colors based on my mood that day.

Then we had some time to waste so we popped into Deville Coffee House and Creperie. I got a hot chocolate (I try to avoid caffeine in the afternoon) and a caramel apple crepe. Oh, the crepe was divine! Now I want to convince Courtyard Cafe to add it to the menu!

After snacks/coffee, Julianne went to another buying appointment and Casey met up with me! He found a New Orleans tour app and led me on a tour of the Garden District. We popped into Garden District Books because I can't resist a book store. It was so cute!

I enjoyed taking photos of the houses along our self-guided walking tour. We both love old houses. (Which is why we love the house we're in now!)

I'm truly blessed to be married to a guy who finds the absolute best restaurants in the entire world. He found this little hole in the wall place that had PIZZA MAC AND CHEESE. Yes, the caps were necessary. It was truly one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten in my entire life. Man, I want some right now.

After the PIZZA MAC AND CHEESE, we went to Angelo Brocato for dessert, and I got my fave⸺the cream horn. I also sampled the almond pistachio gelato and that's what I'll be getting next time!

We finished off the evening with a game of putt putt in New Orleans City Park. And... I won! (This is the second time I've beaten Casey. Yes, I'm keeping a record.)

Clark Creek

Casey and I recently decided to take a day trip to Clark Creek in Mississippi. It was about a two hour drive, so we woke up early and hit the road. Casey has an amazing knack for finding awesome restaurants, so before we left he picked a new breakfast place for us, Birdman Coffee and Books. We had the sweet potato pancakes and they were delicious! 

After breakfast we headed to Clark Creek! I was expecting it to be simple walking trails in the woods. I had no idea there would be large hills and rocks to climb! Thankfully, Casey held Oxford during the difficult parts and I just did my best to not fall and bust it. As it turned out, my favorite part of the day was climbing across all the huge rocks to get to the waterfall. 

We only spent a few hours there because Casey wanted to check out a nearby golf course that afternoon. I'm always down for chilling in the golf cart with a book!

We're already planning another trip to Clark Creek with some friends! Can't wait to go back!

Balloon Fest

A few weeks ago, Casey told me about a balloon fest outside of New Orleans and asked if I wanted to go. Of course I said yes! I went to one in Shreveport a few years ago with my second family and it was so fun!

You can see the photos from that balloon fest here. For some reason they are some of my most favorite photos I've ever taken. Probably because they are colorful and also because those memories are so special!

Speaking of colorful...

The best thing about festivals is the food! We got some kettle corn and corn dogs!

The sunset was beautiful, so of course we had to take some pics at golden hour.

Most people didn't realize that you could cross the bridge and go to the other side of the little creek to get up close to the balloons. But we did! So we went over there and spent a few hours talking to the balloon pilots while we waited for the balloons to fly.

Unfortunately, it ended up being too windy to inflate the balloons, so they decided to just light the fires in the baskets. It was nice and toasty standing next to them while they made the balloons twinkle!

After the festival, we headed back home, about an hour and a half drive away. At some point I realized we weren't going the right place, and Casey told me we were going to one of my favorite bakeries in NOLA—Angelo Brocato's! We found it a few months ago when we had dinner with friends in New Orleans and wanted dessert after. Casey is truly the best at finding amazing restaurants, and Angelo Brocato's is no exception!

I absolutely love their cream horn, their hot chocolate, and their cafe au lait. Casey loves the cannolis. It was a wonderful way to end the evening!

Florida Trip Part 2

A month and a half later and, well, here's part two. (And here's part one!) Maybe I'll get part three up in 2019.

On our second day in Florida, we went to our friends' wedding! (Which was the reason we were in Florida in the first place.) And... I have not ONE photo. Of the wedding, of my outfit, nada. But it was a beautiful wedding!

After the wedding, we changed and Casey and I went to play mini golf. I think I've said it before, but Casey LOVES mini golf. We played five games of mini golf over the course of our three-day trip. Not even kidding. And we LOVED IT! We played at one place that let us feed alligators on the course!

After mini golf, we met up with our friends for an evening at the beach and some delicious Cuban food. So enjoy our beach pics with friends!

Florida Trip Part 1

Casey and I went to Florida last month for a wedding and I wanted to share photos from our trip! I brought the DSLR and made a purpose of pulling it out and using it as much as I could. As much as I love the convenience of my iPhone, there is nothing like beautiful, high quality photos! (Though I'm sharing a mix of both here.) Plus I enjoy taking them. The editing, however, I don't enjoy as much, which is why I'm the worst at sharing photos when I DO take them!

I have lots of photos so I'll share them over a few posts.

We woke up really early on Friday morning and left Louisiana with the goal of making it to the beach so we could watch the sun set. It was totally, absolutely worth it. And there was also a rainbow!

Once it got dark, we made our way to a restaurant on the beach where I had the best coconut shrimp of my life. Seriously. All coconut shrimp from now on won't be able to compare, I'm afraid.

After dinner, we of course had to get dessert. We saw a super cute ice cream shop called The Mint Fox when we were walking to dinner, and I told Casey we had to go back. We got yummy ice cream made in-house and also a big cookie!

After dessert, we went to our AirBNB, which we shared with some of our friends. Paige (check out her blog!) bought the stuff to make key lime pie, and then we learned that our definition of "completely stocked kitchen" is not the same as other people's version. I mean, WE would like to think that a fully stocked kitchen came with a KitchenAid mixer (alas, we knew not to hope for such), but we thought there would at least be measuring cups and a whisk. No such luck.

We had to get super creative. Like, REALLY creative. See that gorgeous meringue? We made that WITH A FORK. Let me say that again in case you didn't get it the first time.

WITH.

A.

FORK.

It took us about an hour taking turns whisking furiously. 

It was so worth it.

Meeting Mike the Tiger

Casey and I drove through Baton Rouge this weekend so we decided to stop off at the LSU campus. I'd never been before! We walked around and saw Mike the Tiger. He was enjoying a lazy Saturday. Unfortunately, I made the not-so-smart decision to keep my wedges on instead of swapping for sandals... my feet were killing me! Next time I'm wearing flats so we can see more of the beautiful campus!