I can't explain to you how happy I am to have been given the chance to attend the Bloggers on Bourbon meet up this past weekend. It was a wonderful experience and even though I snuck in last minute, there were plenty of wonderful ladies to welcome me. New Orleans is a truly amazing city full of wonderful sites and experiences that you just can't get anywhere else in the world! Katrina has come and gone, but the beauty and wonder of this city steeped in tradition and culture definitely remains and has risen above the devastation of recent years to return better than ever before.

Although I probably didn't sleep a total of 10 hours the whole weekend, it was well worth it and an experience I would not have traded for the world! Each day was packed full of great food, fun an activities funded by our amazing sponsors.

Friday, Day 1

I left my house at 7AM Friday morning, dropped the boys off at my moms' house and embarked on my uneventful 6 1/2 hour drive to New Orleans. Once I found the Prince Conti Hotel, I had fun driving around the block three or four times until I finally figured out where to pull into to get to valet parking. It looks as though you are pulling right into the building and I had to hop the curb to get in lol. Don't laugh at me, I am just a country girl in a big city for the first time.


After I got settled in the room that I had the honor of sharing with the amazing Rachel from Following in My Shoes, I headed to lunch with her and a few other of the girls. Friday afternoon found us all in Tisha from MomDot's room, registering for the meet-up, getting our Bloggers on Bourbon shirts (compliments of Zazzle) and paperwork and decorating our name tags.

Later that night, we headed on over to Besh Steakhouse in Harrahs' casino and proceeded to have the most amazing meal, which was generously provided by the casino as well as $10 of free play for each of us. Now would be a good time to mention that I would likely forget my own head if it was not attached to my body! I of course forgot my ID (duh, you're going to a casino) so there was no money winning for me. There were BBQ shrimp, meat pies and heirloom tomatoes for appetizers and delicious shrimp with macaroni and cheese for an entree. I ended the meal with a delicious portion of the most amazing bread pudding with whiskey flavored ice cream that surely could have made you tipsy.

After dinner, I headed towards Jackson Square with the lovely Rhea from Mommy23Monkeys.com to meet up with the rest of the group for the Ghost Tour sponsored by Lingerie.com. On the way there, we were written up warning notices for not partying hard enough and being to pretty LMAO.

The ghost tour was amazing as well and was led by Kalila Smith, author of "Journey Into Darkness...Ghost and Vampires of New Orleans." She was enthusiastic and the history and facts she related to us were fascinating. We had a blast wandering the steamy streets of the French Quarter snapping shots in the hopes of catching a ghostly apparition.

Later that night a group of ladies headed out to brave Bourbon Street and I am told that it was quite the affair. I tried to join them, but was unfortunately late getting down from the room, but I did manage to find three other bloggers to hang out with Friday night. We meandered around Bourbon St. for awhile and I got Jungle Juice daiquiri in a huge souvenir cup that was simply delish from Big Easy Daiquiris. I finally passed out in my bed at some wee hour of the early morning, looking forward to the day to come.

I will write about Saturday and Sunday morning tomorrow afternoon!