One Year Down, A Lifetime To Go

This past weekend, Tyler and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary!  I cannot believe it has been a year already.  I love being married to my best friend and I can't wait for all of the years to come.

We went to New Orleans.  We arrived on Friday, late afternoon, and checked into our hotel on St. Charles Avenue.  It was a great location-- we valeted our car and left it there all weekend.  To get around we either walked or used the streetcar. 

On Friday, we walked down to the Mississippi River and explored the riverwalk area, Jackson Square and the French Quarter.  

We got some beers and oysters at the Crescent City Brewery and then walked around some more.

Eventually we made our way to Mother's Restaurant, a famous local favorite, known for their great poboys, baked ham and Bloody Marys.  We shared a huge roast beef poboy and I enjoyed a Bloody Mary.

It felt so strange to be allowed to take my unfinished drink with me out onto the streets of the city, but that's New Orleans for you!

Then we met some friends for dessert at a little place called Sucre, an emporium of "artisan" sweets owned by a chef who has won some Food Network Challenges.  It was awesome!  I got a little lime cake of deliciousness.

  The food was great and the company was better.  I got to catch up with a friend of mine from high school and meet her new husband and baby.  Their son is precious.

Spending time with Laura, George and Aidan reaffirms my belief that you can still be fun, social and cool after you have a baby.  Thanks for the visit, guys!

On Saturday, we woke up early and went to a fine establishment (read: shady, but recommended to us by the concierge at our fancy hotel) and had some breakfast.  Then we hoped on the streetcar and headed towards the Audobon Zoo!!!  We had the streetcar drop us off at the Audubon Park, which we walked through to get to the zoo.  Tyler was in a great mood and kept doing heel-clicks, which was hilarious.

Then we made it to the zoo!  I had been a zillion times as a kid, and despite the fact that it's definitely starting to show some wear and tear and did quite live up to my memories, it was still really fun.

The giant tree I remember climbing as a kid and the awesome Roman Candy (sort of like homemade, pulled taffy) were still there and as great as I recalled, so that was good.

That night, we got all fancied up and went out to a nice dinner at NOLA, one of Emril Lagasse's restaurants.  The food was GREAT.  Here's what we had (just to make everyone sufficiently jealous):  We started with a beer for Tyler and a watermelon martini for me, which tasted EXACTLY like a watermelon Jolly Rancher.  Then we moved on to some delicious and spicy concoction of shrimp, whole boiled crawfish, corn salsa and grilled bread followed by a salad of Baby Greens tossed in Raspberry Vinaigrette with Duck Confit, Fried Quail Egg, Spiced Walnuts and Goat Cheese. For dinner, Tyler had the Grilled Amber Jack with Risotto, Fennel Herb Salad, Toasted Almonds and Citrus-Herb Vinaigrette.  I had the Filet Mignon with Thyme Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes, House Cured Bacon, Maytag Blue Cheese, Toasted Walnuts, Port Wine-Veal Glacé and Shallot Crisps.  Then for dessert, we enjoyed the NOLA Crème Brûlée Trio which consisted of a
Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée with Fresh Berries, a Coconut Crème Brûlée with a Coconut Truffle and a Mocha Crème Brûlée with Chocolate-Almond Biscotti (pictured below).

Also included in our dessert (at the bottom center in the photo) was a sampling of something they garnish another dessert with that I just had to try:  Brown Sugar Bacon.  All was delicious and devoured. 

On Sunday, we had beignets at Cafe du Monde.  If you've never had beignets...umm...I'm sorry for you.  They are little powdered sugar-covered gifts from heaven, best enjoyed with coffee or chocolate milk.  Enjoy the before and after pictures of our table below.

Then we decided to explore the always amazing Audobon Aquarium before hitting the road. I'm really glad we did.  Tyler loves fish so much and I love seeing him passionate and excited about something.  Plus, the fish are just really cool.  Here are some photos from the visit, including one of me in the tunnel that I have been unnaturally afraid of since I was a kid.

At the end of all of those adventures, we hit the road and headed home.  It was nice to get back to Houston, to our nice home together.  We were kind of random and lazy for the rest of the evening while the top layer of our wedding cake thawed.  Then it was time to try the year-old cake.  It was surprisingly delicious!!!

I was skeptical of a cake that had been in our freezer for a year and had made two moves in an ice chest.  But it was seriously so good!  I even took some with me to lunch with a friend today and shared in the greatness.

Overall, it was an AMAZING first anniversary.  I couldn't have asked for anything more.