LIMBO

     I am in Limbo. As much as I love blogging, I never have time for it. It truly upsets me because there is tons to blog about and tons I want to share, just no time. So for now, I am officially taking a break (although that has been evident for awhile now). With school starting tomorrow, having so much going on at work, the condition my grandmother is in, and trying to maintain a decent social life ... it's just too much. I hope to come back, and hopefully soon. 

It's hard to blog and still live a life worth blogging about!

Bye for now,

Brittney

HMM ...

I love reading PostSecrets. I read this one a few days ago, and I agree. I'm not suicidal or anything ... I just understand the pressure of living up to other's expectations. I can't say I haven't thought the same thing. Leave people wondering how great I could of been, rather than disappointing them.

PS. If you enjoy reading PostSecret ... buy his wonderful books! I am addicted. 

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL

   

   

   

We are hosting my cousin's bridal shower on the 8th of November. So this weekend my parents freaked out and made a huge punch list of things to do. Luckily I got a little out of this deal ... I finally got my mirrors hung. Although the actual mirrors have been replaced, these are off a vintage wardrobe. As you can see they have hinges and keyholes! I love them! Also my picture frames from Urban Outfitters I got a few weeks back, and the pillows I also purchased from there a long time ago!

LIZZY'S 21st BIRTHDAY!!!

  

  

   

 

We started the night with a drink at the Royal Orleans bar (we tried Napoleon House but they had a private party ... boo!). Then we had a delicious dinner at Bourbon House, where Lizzy got her headband (Yayy!). After dinner it was off to Pat O's to enjoy the lovely weather on the patio and drink hurricanes. We ended the night at Cat's ... where Meg and Perry tried to get us to sing karaoke (didn't happen! haha).

- Her lovely headband was made out of a skinny plastic headband and pipe-cleaners. It was inexpensive, quick, easy and so much fun! -

CAKE, CAKE, CAKE: FROSTED FANTASIES

I had to share these GORGEOUS cakes with everyone ...

      

   

    

   

This is what the artist had to say on her myspace:

In 2001, I decided to be adventurous and bake and decorate a cake for my daughter's second birthday. A week later, I did the same for my niece. Since then I have struggled through trials and errors, small disasters, and huge milestones to become the decorator I am today. Cake decorating has become one of my biggest passions, second only to my family and wonderful friends. I have developed a rather extensive, loyal clientele base, in which I am seeing families grow as I do baby showers, christening cakes, first birthdays, and beyond to hopefully one day weddings. I pledge to always offer a top quality, delicious, magnificently decorated work of art and refuse to ever allow quantity to push out quality. Please check out my website: www.frostedfantasies.net

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGGIE!

Saturday was Meggie's 23rd Birthday. We started the night with drinks at The Bulldog on Magazine. Then took a little walk down magazine before heading to dinner at Tomatillo's on the corner of Frenchman and Esplanade. Very yummy. The weather was awesome and at The Bulldog the salt on our margaritas was orange! It made me very happy! I love fall. I can't wait for it to get a little cooler so I can wear my new clothes! Tomatillo's margaritas were really really good, and had a nice twist! Definitely a place I would like to revisit!

   

   

I SAID HEY, HEY, HEY, HEEEYYYY!!!!!

On my drive home today from school ... as I was feeling extremely stressed out with all the math homework to do before my test on thursday, the accounting homework and finance homework that was sprung upon me today also due thursday and then hearing (from mulitple sources) that the homework for my stat class was super hard and took 2 to 3 hours to do, and most couldn't get over a 50% ... let's just say I was about to freak out major ... well this random oldie came on the radio. I forgot how awesome this song was. I turned it up and "screamed at the top of my lungs" the whole way home. Great lyrics ... thought I would share. It certainly made me feel better, and ready to take on the world (or at least my homework). And how cool is their artwork on this album! Now I really do need to get back to doing that homework ... AHH!! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did! 

KAITLYN's LAST WEEK

   

      

   

   

Last week ... Dinner at Port of Call, drinks at Lucy's while watching the Olympics on the brick wall (of course when I went to take a picture they switched from Michael Phelps to the Baseball Word Series! haha), dinner at Sake Cafe (no picture), dinner at the Hookah Cafe with work, visiting the Seafood market for the BBQ (unfortunately no pictures from the actual party), the girls at the Saints Game, dancing at Goldmine, random people that wanted to take a picture ... true testament to how short I am.

And I had to do this ...

experiment gone wrong!

PLANTATION TOUR ... HOUMAS HOUSE (THE GARDEN)

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

  

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

The GORGEOUS GARDENS!! Breath taking ... we are taking my mom here for a tour and dinner for her birthday! (PS. I heart water-lilies ... they're my birth flower!)

PLANTATION TOUR ... HOUMAS HOUSE (THE MANSION)

   

The picture to the right is a photo taken of Houmas House in the early 1900s. This was before the river bended and forcing them to cut some of their oak alley, which was longer than Oak Alley's (they had less trees but a longer alley).

   

This is the lovely Mrs. Judy ... she made the tour! She was just amazing, such a beautiful person and she knows so much about Plantations, Antiques, and Southern History. I could sit and listen to her for hours.

   

This is Mrs. Judy tell us about the shotgun weddings. It was custom in the 1800s that men would walk before women on the stairs because if a man looked a woman's ankles ... then he had to marry her! If he refused, it was basically calling the young woman a "whore" ... so it was marry or get shot. Hence the "Shotgun Wedding."

   

   

   

   

   

This sculpture of Abraham Lincoln was done by Gulzon Borglum, the same man that sculpted Mt. Rushmore. A man inherited this piece from his father and sold it on ebay for $5,000 ... obviously not knowing what he really had in his hands!! Mrs. Judy says she checks ebay everyday now ... just in case!

   

This is a set of darts and croquet. The kids would draw a target on the ground outside and drop the darts from the second floor to hit the target. Each dart weights about 5 - 10 lbs each! Mrs. Judy does not approve of this game ... very dangerous! Kait and I tried to sway her into playing! She was more into playing pool.

   

   

   

   

This is Mrs. Judy playing the piano and signing to us ... magical! The embroidered picture to the right took 7 - 10 years to make and was done by the Ursuline Nuns.

   

This is the original lock and key of Houmas House ... and it still works. Houmas House can boast that it has 3 rooms full of original furniture.

   

This is the original Houmas House china. They replicated it for their restaurant.

   

Can you believe ... this is a Newspaper from 1846.

   

   

   

   

   

The current owner of Houmas House did tons of research and found out that murals, much like this one were very popular in that time period. So he had one done. Suprisingly it was painted by Houmas House gardener of over 20 years that self-taught himself to paint. The dog that is pictured in this photo is Grace, Sam is on the other side. A few years ago Grace and Sam got married at Houmas House, Grace wore Dolce and Gabbana and also has a pre-nup that says that everything Grace brings into the marriage, Grace keeps and everything Sam brings into the marriage ... Grace keeps! Mrs. Judy gets asked for Grace's lawyer quite often!

   

   

PLANTATION TOUR ... NOTTOWAY

   

   

   

   

   

   

Well Nottoway was a little disappointing, since we pulled up on a construction site!!!!! Of course, the one I was most looking forward to, but I got a few shots. We read up on the history of Nottoway on our way to Houma's House. This is some of what we learned ... Nottoway is 53,000 square feet!! It can boast that it is the biggest remaining Plantation. Although there was a Plantation called Bocage that was bigger but it burnt down and could not be salvaged. Nottoway reopens in October ... I can't wait to see it!

PLANTATION TOUR ... OAK ALLEY

The beginning of our Plantation Tour ... which was just magical! This is Oak Alley, the most photographed Plantation. It was very interesting. Oak Alley did not allow us to take pictures inside the house ... so the following pictures are not ones I took.

SOME CULTURE/ HISTORY:

This is called a Counting Candle. It was used the 1800s, if a young man would come to visit a young lady. The Father of the young lady would set the candle at a height he felt appropriate for the young man to stay. When the candle burnt down to the top of the metal, it was time for the young man to leave. For example, if the Father liked the young man he would set the candle all the way to the top, but if he did not like the young man he would set it much like it is in the picture so he would have to leave soon.

The Pineapple was a sign of welcome. Guest were often presented with a Pineapple when they arrived. Yet, if you woke up one morning to find a Pineapple placed at the end of your bed ... it was a polite way of saying you had over stayed your welcome.

This is Oak Alley's Dinning room. If you notice the large, harp-like object hanging in the middle of the table ... this object is attached to a string that a young slave boy would swing during dinner to keep the guest cool. Sometimes a block of ice was placed in the middle of the table, so cool air was being fanned. Yes, they had ice in the 1800s. It was cut from lakes in the north, packaged, and floated down the Mississippi (very expensive ... they have records that show an average of $300 - $500 spent on ice for one party thrown by Jaques Telesphore Roman). The young slave boy had to be very precise and careful because he was expected to keep the guest cool, but not blow out any of the candles on the table!

In the 1800s it was not lady-like for women to drink Rum with the men, but as you might suspect the Southern women before us found a way around this. They soaked peaches in rum and ate those while the men drank!

POROTFINO ... OUR LAST NIGHT, THE STORM!

The STORM that rolled in our last night. We had an awesome view from our balcony on the 20th floor. Although the winds only hit about 40 mph it felt like the wind was about to just pick us up and over the balcony ... Could you imagine a hurricane with winds in the 100s! 

PORTOFINO ... THE RESORT AND THE HOUSES

   
   
   
   
   
   

We took a drive through the neighborhood, got some shots of the Dome of a Home, and also some of the resort in all its glory!

PORTOFINO ... THE WATER

   
   
   
   
   
   

Although they are blurry, we finally got to spend some time in the water ... since the Jellies finally died down a little. Dad splashing in the waves and diving for things, Ash and I having an underwater Tea Party, my Dad giving me a piggy back ride, because I didn't want to get stung again!