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My new and sweet friend, Katie Webb, texted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if she could take photos of Taylor and me in our home. Ummm.... YES PLEASE. Naturally, Taylor and I scrubbed the house down and then tried to act natural.
My favorites are below:
This is how we always sit on the couch.
Taylor, you are just so cute.
We tried to get one with Pedro and Emery too.
Still trying.
Success!
Here we are in our typical cuddle positions.
Taylor and I went to New Orleans, Louisiana for Spring Break this last week! It was wonderful! In January, we were getting restless, so we decided that we would take a short trip during my week off. We chose NOLA because a) it was close enough that we wouldn't waste time with the actual travel part (we spent about 2 hours on a plane total) b) neither of us had been c) it seemed like we could explore the entire city in about 3-4 days.
Here are all the fun things that we did.
Day 1: We arrived to New Orleans and shared a taxi to our hotel to drop off our stuff. We ate at The Ruby Slipper. I had the Egg Cochon which was amazing!
We took Boubon Street (super dirty even at noon on a Sunday) to Jackson Square and walked around a bit. Our flight was super early, and we had just sprang forward, so we opted to take a nap.
When we woke up, we decided it was time to get coffee at Sucre. This place is famous for their macaroons - my favorite is the chicory flavor. It also had gelato (which we would come back later for.)
At this point, we went back to our hotel to check in and get cleaned up for dinner. We chose Cane and Table. It had a great atmosphere. We sat outside, and the weather was perfect. My advice is to share your entree unless you are super hungry. We had so much food. The ribs were incredible but really spicy.
Day 2: We explored the Warehouse District. It was about a 15 minute walk from where we stayed.
We got coffee at Revelator. The baristas were so cool. We chatted with them a bit as we planned our day.
We headed over to the World War II Museum where we spent a couple of hours walking around and learning so much. I would say that is well worth the $24 ticket. I told them I was a teacher and they knocked off a couple of dollars.
We walked over to St. James Cheese Company for lunch. This place really was special. Taylor had a sandwich and the mac & cheese. I ordered the cheese plate. They select an assortment for you. It was just so yummy. However, my ultimate discovery was Rose Lemonade. I ordered many more throughout our trip.
We walked around some more before heading back to our hotel. We opted to take naps during the hottest part of the day. I think we watched some HGTV during this particular nap (I got my idea for what I want to do with our range hood during this time).
For dinner, we made the VERY long walk to Bacchanal Wine. If I did this again, I would Uber to this place. The walk from the French Quarter was about 45 minutes. But hey! I hit 15,000 steps that day!
The concept is you can buy a bottle of wine and sit on the patio for as long as you want. They also had beer if wine isn't your thing. You walk up to counter to order food, and they deliver is to your table. A jazz band started playing at 7:30. Get here early if you want a seat.
Second cheese plate of the day.
Day 3: Our last full day, we went to Arrow Coffee. It serves Four Barrel coffee which is a must if you haven't tried it before. We then went to City Park where we walked around, looked at some sculptures in their free sculpture garden, and played putt putt.
Taylor was being such a trooper, but his allergies were getting the best of him, so we decided to leave the park early, and enjoy some air conditioning and lunch. We went to St. Roch's Market. I highly recommend this place if you can't decide on a restaurant. It was like a classy and cool food court. We got lunch at Dirty Dishes and The Good Bird then drank a few cocktails at The Mayhaw. The cocktails were amazing!
For dinner that night, we ate at Orleans Grapevine. Another yummy place. Their baked brie was heavenly.
Places we skipped: Cafe du Monde. The long line when we walked by did not seem worth it.
Where we stayed: French Quarter Inn. We loved our hotel! It was right at the heart of the French Quarter which did mean touristy, but it did mean exciting because it was where all the action was.
New Orleans was a great city to explore and visit. Have you ever been to New Orleans? Is there anything we missed?
Today we are taking a look at how our wedding ceremony went down. (And I am going to talk about my dress.)
When we got married, hashtags for weddings had just become a thing. Taylor came up with ours since he is a wordsmith, and it has become a staple in our family's hashtag life. We have #bracksbighoneymoon and #bracksbighome and #bracksbigmove. When or if I get pregnant, I am thinking #bracksbigbelly or #bracksbigbaby are my top picks.
I don't know if it is the professional photography or the white dress, but why can't I be photogenic in any other photographs? I think it must be that after 983,984 photos are taken of you, there is bound to be at least 2 or 3 that you look good in.
Gosh, he is just the cutest. We chose to not to do a first look. No particular reason; I think it just worked out that way. Which explains the next picture...
... so this would be my crying face. I walked down the aisle to my bridal party singing "Come Thou Fount" a cappella. It was BEAUTIFUL.
My sister's father-in-law, Greg, officiated our wedding. He did an amazing job. And I would have him do it again.
Our very good friends, Kevin and Molly, sang in our wedding. They sang "Soon and Very Soon" by Hillsong United during communion.
We walked down the aisle together to this song. I have no idea what this song is about, but I think it might be about drugs.
After the ceremony, we took some more pictures, and I put on my amazing belt. My coworker heard that I was looking for a cute belt to wear for the reception, and she texted me out of the blue while she was on vacation, and said she had found the perfect belt for me. It was! Thank you, Jamie!
Our beautiful, color-coordinated families.
Here are the details on my dress: I wanted a short dress from the beginning, but I could not find anything that I liked. Finally, I decided to have it made. My sister had her dress made, so I turned to her dress-maker, Michelle. It was a great experience. I talked to her on the phone and described my vision. I wanted it to be short, I wanted it to have pockets, and I wanted it to twirl when I spun. I sent her pictures of some inspiration, and she sent me some sketches. We met in Houston at High Fashion Fabrics (we saw Beyonce's mom when we were there) and picked out the materials. Michelle took my measurements and finalized everything down to the buttons and tulle.
Here is a picture from the back. Since I was having my dress made, I felt the need to jazz it up thus the blue tulle!
Our groomsmen wore a shirt from Forever 21, whatever khaki pants their hearts desired, and a tie from somewhere.
My darling bridesmaids wore a dress from Modcloth. Originally, the dresses were crazy short. My mom sewed some extra fabric at the bottom to keep things rated G. By the way, my shoes are from Modcloth too. I have only worn them twice, but I will keep them forever. Lastly, I wore hair extensions. My bridesmaid, Beth, did my hair. I did my make-up. I think Taylor did all of his own grooming though.
Thank you for taking a look into our special day!
To see our wedding decorations and details, click here.