**As a disclaimer, nothing in this post is sponsored – it is all my unasked-for opinion. ** When I was really young, I was picky. Like, super picky. I ate chicken strips, hamburgers and rice and gravy (because what good … Continue reading
As a disclaimer, nothing in this post is sponsored – it is all my unasked-for opinion.
Also – I’m still getting used to being out and about again, so, unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures….
Recently, the hubby and I went to Baton Rouge (Louisiana) to visit my family for my sister’s birthday. The point of the trip was to do an Escape Room – we did The 13th Gate Escape, which was fun, but HARD… and, for the first time ever, we failed to escape. To drown our sorrows, we wandered over to check out the building next door – Three Roll Estate .
Three Roll Estate is self-described as Louisiana’s Single Estate Distillery – making vodka and rum from sugarcane grown at Alma Plantation and Sugar Mill in Lakeland, Louisiana. The sugarcane is pressed in, well, a Three Roll Press, to extract the sugarcane juice. We were able to try out a mini version of this and even try some of the juice. As expected, it’s pretty sweet.
As part of the tour, we were able to walk through the whole process – from the fermentation tanks, to the distillation area, to the aging barrels. Then, to finish the tour, we were able to try their vodka and multiple types of rum. The vodka was a little sweet, and very smooth. And, personally, I’m a fan of rum, so I was happy!
They do age whiskey as well, but, they readily admit that the whiskey is bought in Tennessee and floated down the Mississippi in barrels on a barge, then aged in the distillery. Being honest, I have very few whiskeys I care for (probably, only one or two), but the guys liked it.
While we were waiting to buy our two bottles of rum and bottle of vodka (!), the hubby and our bartender/tour guide offered the hubby the last taste of a limited edition barrel, which he absolutely loved.
I would highly recommend, if you’re in the area, to stop in, have a drink and take a tour!
Or – go ahead and order some rum, vodka or whiskey and support this awesome distillery!
As a disclaimer, nothing in this post is sponsored – it is all my unasked-for opinion. 😉 For my birthday this year, I left the little one at home with daddy and traveled to ATLANTA with my mom to visit … Continue reading
A lot can change in 3 years. Continue reading
The hubby and I have been super busy lately with wedding-related activities (we just had 2 weddings, and have 5 more planned before the end of next April!). So when we discovered a free weekend back in early April, we … Continue reading
The Hubby and I are not crowd people, so it only makes sense for us to get out of Dodge (aka New Orleans) when Mardi Gras season hits. This year, we decided to visit some friends who had recently moved to … Continue reading
This past weekend, I decided to head to my hometown of Baton Rouge and spend the weekend with my mom, sans hubby. I made her promise to cook me some roast with rice and gravy, which is one of my FAVORITES, so, of course, I had to go. 🙂 We also made plans for the rest of the weekend, but RICE AND GRAVY!
Anyway.
Our first stop Saturday morning (before it got entirely too hot) was the Bluebonnet Swamp! I hadn’t been in probably 20 years, and my mom had never been. We’ve been talking about going for a while, so we decided this would be the weekend to do it! My sister and her boyfriend met us there as well, so we had a nice little group.
For those that have never been, it’s a pretty cool place. There are three different trails you can take (a small loop, big loop which goes out over the swamp, or the Library trail, which leads to… the library…). It had been raining a lot leading up to Saturday, so there were some muddy spots and some mosquitoes, but it wasn’t too bad.
You really have to be patient and focused to see any wildlife though. Or, at least, have someone in your group who’s patient and focused. I took my camera and really wanted to take pictures, so I stayed at the back of the group and took my time. That’s how we found a snake sunning on a log, some banana spiders, and a skink (not skank, Mom!) that sister and her boyfriend almost stepped on without seeing.
You should also stop at the pond by the parking lot on your way in/out with something to feed the turtles. They start swimming towards you out of nowhere. It got a little scary after a while…. a guy near us had some old goldfish crackers and the turtles were battling it out trying to get to them.
We spent the whole morning in the swamp, and were starving by the time we left. And hot. Another piece of advice: Bring water with you.
After a beer and burger at BJ’s Brewhouse for lunch, Mom and I went back to her house for a nap. Because I had to get up early to get to BR for the swamp that morning. And I’m lazy and like to sleep.
For dinner, we had SUSHI!! Mom, Sister, her boyfriend and I went to Tsunami and had a ginormous plate of deliciousness. I planned on taking a picture but we ate it all first. I’m not good with the whole picture-of-food thing. We finished it off with a drink at a bar on 3rd Street, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s. It was still pretty early, so we had the balcony to ourselves.
Mom and I spent pretty much the rest of the night drinking wine and watching Youtube videos of the Try Guys. Seriously, everyone needs to watch their video of Fifty Shades of Gray/trying BDSM. We were in tears.
Sunday morning, I finally got my rice and gravy!! It was awesome. I even brought some home that I plan to eat for dinner tonight. And mom showed me an easier way to cook it, so I maaaaay have to cook some this weekend. We also got snowballs from a new place near her house, Snoman Snowballs. I had a clear bubblegum, which made me oh-so-happy. Bubblegum flavor without the blue mouth.
So, anyway, here are some of my favorite pictures from the Swamp:
The hubby and I are friends with a couple who just moved to New Orleans about two years ago. Unfortunately, they are moving away again in a few months. In an effort to stuff as much New Orleans in their faces as possible, we went to the Audubon Zoo.
I’ve been so many times, and have taken pictures of the same animals over and over again, but I still love going. These are some of my favorites from that day!
We may have gotten a little too close… he squawked at us after this picture!
It’s hard to see, but the momma is hugging her baby after another monkey yelled at him. She looks so protective!
I love the colors in a swampy setting, but I’m scared to bring my camera out on a boat so this is as close as I’m gonna get for a while!
If you have any interest, you can see more of my pictures on my Flickr Account.
Wow, these last two months have been ridiculously busy. I had a huge trial to prep for, and then participate in, and the Hubby has been managing the move of most of his co-workers and bosses into a new building. He’s gotten to have a great deal of input on the design and decorating of the office and it looks really, really nice. We’ve both been stressed out lately though.
We also celebrated Mardi Gras back in February. At my office, we take turns bringing King Cakes during the Mardi Gras season, depending on who got the baby in the last one. Unfortunately, someone decided they wanted some cake, but didn’t want to admit they had the baby, so they stuck it back in another piece…. I offered to bring one because I happen to live near a place with THE BEST King Cakes in New Orleans…. Caluda’s!! I mean, seriously, look at this King Cake.
Half of it was devoured before I could take a picture, but the knife is there for size reference.
I also made some attempts at cooking over the past two months. I didn’t burn down the kitchen, and the food was still actually pretty good, so I count that as a win. I did a filet one night with minced garlic on top (which I only slightly overcooked… it came out more medium well than medium rare). We also discovered our smoke detectors don’t work during this process. Ahem. I also attempted a tuna steak, which also came out a little overcooked, but overall well. I made up my own little dipping sauce to go with it, since I didn’t have the majority of the items on the recipe I was working off of. It also contained garlic, so it worked.
It was only a little overcooked, but the garlic added tons of flavor!
While I prefer my tuna sashimi-style, this came out pretty good as well!
The weather is finally starting to get nice here. I could never live up north, where it’s still snowing. Let me have this nice 70 degree weather all year round, and I’d be the happiest camper who ever camped! Even the pup loved it!
And, In honor of National Puppy Day yesterday, I’ll leave you with this little bit of adorableness:
Feel free to disagree with me (the hubby already has), but I feel like Tuesdays are worse than Mondays.
Hear me out.
True, Monday sucks. It’s the end of your relaxing weekend, and back to the “real world.” Everyone is groaning as they walk into the office, wondering how the weekend went by so fast and starting the countdown until the next weekend. But everyone has a shared goal – get through Monday. And (at least at my job), no one wants to talk to anyone else, so there is peace and quiet. Time to actually get work done without constant status update requests. Once Monday is over, it’s time to celebrate that we made it through the worst day of the week!
Come Wednesday, the week’s halfway over! Hump Daaaay!
On Thursday, it’s almost FRIDAY! And Thirsty Thursdays/Ladies Nights at most bars, of course.
Friday… I mean, it’s Friday. What else needs to be said? (Free Tequila Friday and Two-for-One Margaritas for this Wifey!)
Then there’s Tuesday. There is nothing to say about Tuesday. I always get a “I made it through Monday for this?” feeling when I wake up. Then I debate calling in sick and trying to sleep through the rest of the day. And there’s nothing to celebrate. It’s just Tuesday.
And these are my shower thoughts. You’re welcome.
Miscellaneous Wifey 