This weekend is bananas. Which is kind of what I need to keep my mind off the events of this week. Work is cray cray too.

Here is what’s on tap:

Hubby flies out to meet Miles our Nephew.

THE COLOR RUN

Not only is this held at my new favorite spot (the Irvine Great Park) but I get to run it with some of my favorite people!

Then Sat. night is girls night with Julie! We are hittin’ the town baby! She has been such a dedicated mama to this little nugget I can’t wait to help her have some “ME” time…with me.

(yes, this is her real baby. Adorbs)

Then on to the Mother’s day celebration at my Pops.

And

then

hopefully

going to see this:

Wow, finding time to blog lately has been tough.

The NOLA trip was completely fantastic, I’m smitten with everything about that place. The food was made for me (Southern meets French) and there was literally music everywhere I went…real, good music at that. Bourbon street is definitely a must do experience but 1 night would have been enough for me.

Loved Jackson Square on Sunday morning. Ate breakfast on the steps of a church and listened to all the talented musicians. Even paid a poet to write us all a collective birthday poem:

Must check out the Carousel Bar at this place:

Luke’s was a great surprise, loved their food.

My favorite part of the trip by far was our trip to the Swamp. In my mind a swamp is a dirty, foggy, smelly place with mucky critter infested waters. I could not have been more wrong. The swamp lands were so beautiful and majestic. I actually felt serenity and peace on AN ALLIGATOR TOUR! Who would have thought?!

It made a great destination for a girls trip but I must come back and take my husband, NOLA is magically romantic.

It was an unforgettable trip.

With my big trip to France on the horizon I was not going to go on this “Let’s celebrate turning 30″ trip with my girlfriends to New Orleans. After a little convincing from my BFF Misha I decided it would be a great last irresponsible decision of my 20′s kind of trip and said YES! So tomorrow morning I head out with 8 friends to explore the french quarter. We will be taking a tour of the city and drinking our way through town. I picked out some top-notch restaurants to try based on a combination of James Beard award nominees and recommendations from friends:

http://www.lapetitegrocery.com/

[yes I made this because I am a crazy organized planner]

We tried to get in to Couchon but it didn’t work out.

So now we are going to try:

http://www.borgnerestaurant.com/

Incriminating photos to follow.

Cheers!

I got to take a trip for a whopping 5 days to Las Vegas last week. It was a work trip where we got to play most of the time. Jon was able to join me and my boss and the three of us had a great time drinking and eating at some of the best restaurants in town.

We flew out of the newly remodeled Long Beach Airport which now has two terrific bars.

Upon arrival I went straight to the pool – I was in desperate need of a tropical drink and some sunshine. Success!

We enjoyed so many fancy meals I lost track, having a foodie boss is THE BEST (#spoiled). In no particular order we went to Bouchon, Le Cirque, Julian Serano, Wicked Spoon, Firefly, B&B Ristorante, PUB, La Cave, etc. they all were fantastic choices.

Le Cirque – Paul Lee

B & B Ristorante – Mario Batali

Bouchon - Thomas Keller

Wicked Spoon – aka best buffet in Vegas (at the Cosmo)

PUB – Todd English

Try the Adult Milkshakes

Firefly (the one on Paradise) – My favorite Restaurant in Vegas, the best sangria and tapas!

Julian Serano – A close second for best tapas

La Cave

If you like lemon drop martinis order your next one with a splash of Chambord…trust me.

Late night exploits

It was an excellent trip. And yes, I did actually work at some point.

Thanks Mark!

I just scored such a rad house for this years Ladiespalooza trip in Palm Springs!

You can check out the house here:

http://www.shakennotstirred.info/

But here are a few pics: