New Orleans girl trip. Day two.

Day two of the girls' trip.  Here we go.  First, let me say that I don't actually think this video will play on my blog.  In fact, it is one of those things I struggled with for years, cause I LOVE videos, but could never figure out how to post them straight to the blog.  Mary Allison showed me some linky way, but ha!  My lack of techie skills ensured I would never do that again!  So, just trust me when I say upload the Boomerang app and have fun!  That's what this video was meant to be!  

Morning number two.  Sorry, Paula, when you are my friend, very little is off limits!
My old next door neighbor, Billy, has sent me a Bible verse and told me he is praying for me every. single. morning. since my mama was sick over a year ago.  It started out simple.  Just that little message to me.  Then, I started responding to his text with a photo of whatever I was looking at at the moment that I opened the text.  Usually, he reciprocates with the same.  Needless to say, we have some interesting exchanges.  And quite funny too!  It has become a fun game!  And on this lazy morning in N'Awlins, this was what I was looking at and what he received.

And talk about random.  (You DO remember that I am as random as they come, don't you?!), THIS was on my Timehop today!  Would you look at that?!  Those precious babies, and my actual chin/ jawbones.  Yeah.  Those are gone again!

And this was on my Timehop.  Todd had texted me that day and said something to the effect of how I always correct him and tell him he doesn't center the girls in the photos in the vertical plane.  Welllll, he is a comedian, so this is the photo I was texted to post as the #grovesgirls pic of the day!

And for all who followed the story... this was my mama a year ago when I would NOT show pics like this.  This story is for another day.  And it's a good one!

HEllo.  I'm back.

The girls and I got up fairly early (10ish! haha) and walked a few blocks to what might be my favorite place to eat in N.O. Along the way, I could not stop taking pics of the scenery.... I LOVE the big oak trees down there. 

And just really unique landscaping, along with traditional New Orleans architecture.

For those who haven't been, I am going to include a few (or 50 or so) pics of our walk.  Bear with me, won't you?

These trees, though!!!

Look how my group just totally left me behind!!  That's them walking far ahead of me!  Rude. 

How could they not be enamored by all this majesty?!

Did you know that in the south, people paint the ceilings of their porches light blue to emulate the sky?  I looked it up.  There's a tradition to paint the porch ceilings "haint blue".  Google it. This was actually news to me.

I WANT A COURTYARD LIKE THIS!

AND A GARDENER TO MAINTAIN IT.

Would you just LOOK at the detail under the balcony here?  It is so intricate.  And my crazy friends are about 1/4 mile ahead and missing out on all this beauty.

THIS is our destination.  If every in New Orleans, make SURE you go to District Donuts and spend a little time shopping and looking on Magazine Street.

It is a cool little eatery with donuts and light lunches.

The whole vibe is industrial and hip.

You can walk back to the rear and watch them making everything they sell.  This is right up Todd the Bod's alley!  

Here is Tamy looking mysterious.

And me looking Asian. And Paula looking surprised.

These three are still in line.  That's something you should probably know.  There is always a line at DD.  This is a hot spot!  But it moves quickly.

So, uh, yeah>  we just all got two and laid them on the table and had a smorgasbord buffet for everyone to sample.  I wish I could remember some of the names of these donuts.  They are NOT your typical donuts, for sho!

Talk about living in high favor... LOOK what was setting up across the street from where our Uber driver dropped us off!

OH yes!  I could tell from a single glance that these were my people.

One of my pals and I stopped shortly thereafter to have "brunch".  I think there is a lot of vitamin something in one of these!  That's what I am going to tell myself anyway.  My "pal" prefers to remain anonymous. I am just a heathen.  So whatevs.

It wasn't long before the whole gang found us.

And Cindy needed hers diluted, it appears.

Lunch was equally unbelievable.  Trust me when I say, there is nowhere in the world that has better food than New Orleans, Louisiana!!

This is just one of those little dives right off the main drag, and it was something you would see on Master Chef, in its presentation and detail!!

I was able to get down to my favorite cigar shop and buy 88 (YES!88!) cigar boxes.  I am not sure what but I am sure that I WILL be using these for some cool project at my retreat!  I got them dirt cheap and had to haul about 6 heavy LARGE boxes to the car by myself, in the rain!  YES... we WILL be using them!  If you have a great idea, email me with it!  mojoy@att.net

These very cool acrylic boxes are going to be turned into strorage containers for my art studio or Ellie's new desk area that we are about to embark upon.

My favorite thing about being out of town is the random little shops that have just cute little knick knacks in them.  And Magazine street was FULL of those. 

See what I mean about presentation?

Look at this cute little mason jar of pimento cheese spread.

Even the silverware had special treatment. I am a sucker for the details!

We found a chocolate shop where each one of these little pieces that I had intended to sample was $2.25 a piece.  That greatly changed my sampling size!

Goodbye, cute market, until we meet again.  (Bought 4 pair of earrings, handmade!)

And we UBERed our little butts all the way down to the French Market in downtown.

There are vendors there from all over the world.

Cindy went straight for the cooking stuff.

I went straight for the oddities.

and in true Louisiana style, there were beads and...

Mardi Gras masks....

and truth shirts.

That blog post is also for another day.  I am doing almost entirely pelvic floor therapy now, so for many of my patients, pooping is a really big deal! I'll save all of this for an educational post someday.

I considered buying this for my sweet man back home.  But actually, I don't WANT in his kitchen!

And so our day was turning to evening, and I am still on landscape architecture lookout!

Let's see... this night, we ate at Mr. B's Bistro... sweet tiny baby Jesus!

This is what you call shrimp and grits.  Award-winning shrimp and grits!

and then it started raining.  But we didn't care.  We trudged right on along.

My friends might make fun of me or leave me in the dust when walking around, but someday they are going to thank me... thank me for taking so many pictures and documenting our trips so thoroughly.  Yep... they'll see! I'll tell the story of Monday on tomorrow's blog.  I need to hit the hay. 

Thank you to all who are commenting!  Remember, Facebook is so attractive cause there is such ease of hitting a "like" button or throwing down a quick response/ comment. Blogs are not quite as conducive.  Or at least, not this one.  Thanks to those of you who take the time to connect.  It makes it worth it for me to take the time to post 75 pics in a single blog post and tell my crazy stories!  

See ya tomorrow.

MO