New Orleans.

NOLA NOLA NOLA.
oh how i love new orleans!!!
it felt like disneyland...BUT real.

funny story.
we got hungry on our 5.5 hr journey to nola.
sooooo we stopped to get gas and across the street was a place called gabe's ^^
we wanted fried chicken & conveniently gabe had it.
such a whole in the wall...in the middle of nowhere.
for being in the middle of nowhere this place was poppin.
guess we discovered where the locals hang out.

meet Praline. so freakin good. 

joe savored his $2 macaroon. 

we went on a ghost tour. 

our guide's name was Trish. she wore a black cape & had a lisp. 

trish kindly took a photo for us. they were both blurry. ghost? creepy? or just shaky?

we packed as though it was 80 degrees. it wasn't.
it was freezing. i got creative & used my cardi as a scarf. 

meet a muffuletta 

meet gracie the bulldog store mascot. had to stop and say hi. i love bullies.

so everyone said cafe du monde was the best...WRONG.
thankfully i listed to alton brown (best thing i ever ate. show on foodnetwork) & went to cafe beignet.
i agree with alton.
best thing i ever ate.
i feel like that is a big statement.
maybe a statement that shouldn't be said because how can one thing be the. best. thing. ever. ?

before our third tour we enjoyed another praline.

okay nicholas cage is a weirdo...he loves voodoo & bought the most haunted house in the country in nola & then had terrible luck after and lost everything to the IRS. soooo then he went to a voodoo queen and she said to build a ^^ pyramid in the same cemetery that marie laveau was buried.

have you ever had fried alligator...we tried it.
when in nola you eat alligator.

TOP REASONS: (why i love nola.)
*the food
*the architecture
*the music

i love how old everything is...i'm a sucker for old things.
i love food. i loved trying food had never heard of!!
it was like we were in a different country.
i love how there is live music ALL OVER the place.
it's just the coolest place in the south.
savannah is my runner up.

great vintage shops. with amazing dresses on royal st.

great wigs!
don't you sometimes want to wear a wig.

okay did ya know h&m as home goods!!
oh my.
in love.
with everything.

pralines are so good. toffee...yet caramel...yet nutty...

bread pudding for dessert. 

best breakfast ever. best biscuits ever. still thinking about ruby's 

we got grits two times...because we thought the first time could have been just a bad batch.
we were wrong. grits are bad. what's the point of them? bad version of creme of wheat. 

we had a celebrity give us cemetery tour...
when i say celebrity i mean she was on history channel for tell a story about zombies. she was a character. 

the cemeteries are beautiful, not creepy as one would think.
a lot movies were filmed in the nola cemeteries. 

the garden district was amazing. would NOT mind living there.
on magazine street there was a macaroon/gelato shop.
i BOTH.
two of my FAVORITE treats! brilliant. 

jose & i were LUVIN the mackies. 

best macaroon i've ever had. end of story. 

there were a ton of fun shops BUT my favorite was the christmas shop.
of course.
okay this place was christmas heaven for an ornament collector like myself. 

if you haven't been, GO.
i took so many pictures BUT i was sorta sad after every picture i took BECAUSE the photo doesn't begin to show the beauty...the small details on all the buildings you can't see from a photograph.
it's one of those places that pictures don't do it justice.

oh & here are few travel tips:

have one person drive, while one person finds directions, addresses, navigation.
& have another person on yelp to research all the best reviewed "famous" places to eat.
it was a tad stressful being the person that did all three.
i wasn't use to traveling in a city i had never been to without any help (so sad mr. couldn't come).
after a few sass attacks we got it all figured out.
let's just say there were a few classic sibling moments on bourbon street.
oh and always pack a coat in the south because you really can't rely on the weather channel.
the south is freaky when it comes to the weather that you have to be ready for anything.

oh and eat every few hours and split one thing.
that way you can try everything!
there were so many things we want to try like po' boys, muffuletta, pralines, beignets, gumbo, grits, fried green tomatoes, jambalaya, fried chicken, and...you get the picture!
there was to much to eat in so little time. so we had to get smart & strategize.