Food, Fun and more Food in New Orleans

The sun setting on Jackson Square.
I am so fortunate to work for an organization that encourages professional development. This past week, I was in New Orleans to attend my first ADRP Conference. (That’s Association of Donor Relations Professionals for those of you who don’t know.) I was really excited about this one because I didn’t have to go alone! My coworkers Michal and Andrew came, too.

We didn’t realize it at first, but we ended up flying there on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. Security in the Tulsa airport was more intense. Everyone got body scanned and a dog came by and sniffed our carry-on items before we boarded the plane. I am pretty calm about these things, but I definitely had butterflies until we landed in New Orleans. I kept thinking about the people who lost their lives that day. It started out like any other but ended up being a day none of us will ever forget. I think we were all sending up extra prayers that day for all those who lost loved ones and had their lives changed forever.

Once getting to NOLA safely, we jumped into the conference. We came away with more connections and several good ideas for our program. We also walked away a few pounds heavier! The food was really amazing, much to my surprise. I am not a fan of seafood in pretty much any form so I thought dining might be a little tricky for me. As it turns out, I really like Cajun food and there were plenty of non-seafood options to keep me well fed.

 Blackened chicken at Oceana on night 1. Maybe my favorite meal of the entire trip! 

 Beignets at Café Du Monde. They were messy but delicious! 


We visited Emeril's restaurant NOLA on our second evening. Again, great food. Unfortunately we didn't bump into Emeril! 
 
This was my first time in New Orleans and even though we were there early in the week, the streets were always active and there was plenty going on. Music was everywhere. In fact, when I walked into my room, there were earplugs waiting to greet me on my bed. I never used them, but I was tempted to the last night.
 
 
 This was the scene just outside my hotel room on Tuesday night.

One of my favorite parts was getting to see a mini parade on Monday night. I know it was nothing like Mardi Gras, but it was a fun experience. One minute we are souvenir shopping and the next thing we know, there’s a police car outside with lights flashing leading a parade of people dancing and having a great time. Michal even earned herself some beads! (Don’t worry, Wade. All she was flashing was her smile.) It was definitely a good place to visit. I don’t know that I’ll be planning another trip there too soon, though. I’m giving my waistline some time to recover.


Comments

  1. MichalOctober 13, 2011 at 3:53 AM

    Love it. Ah, NOLA. Yes...waistline definitely expanded that week! :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chi-town Shenanigans

Image
The Tuesday before last, I left for a trip to Chicago. The annual ADRP conference was there this year and while I've been in the past, this year was different because our ENTIRE team went. There were seven of us in all, and we had so much fun together! Chicago is a place I've never really been dying to visit. I haven't been opposed, it just wasn't on the top of my list. However, after going there, I definitely want to go back. It's a very clean city and there is so much to do and so many wonderful things to see. Kyle and I will have to plan a trip there some day. If I learned one thing this trip it was that I work with the most awesome people! On the airport parking shuttle on our way home we met a lady. She said she opted to take the full shuttle because she and four of her coworkers had been together for four days and needed a little time apart. We all smiled and nodded as if we understood completely, but in that moment I couldn't. We spent our spare ti
Read more

Love Text

Image
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but I LOVE the first Sex and the City Movie. The second, not so much, but I’m pretty sure everyone in America agrees with me on that one. I watched it while I was sick last week. In the movie, there’s an exchange between Carrie and Big that goes a little something like this: C: “Have you ever written me a love letter?” B: “Does a love fax count?” C: “When have I EVER gotten a love fax?” B: “Oh, I'm sure my secretary sent you one...at some point. What can I tell you, baby? It's just not my style. Besides, those guys had to write. They were separated from their loves by wars and hundreds and hundreds of miles. I'm right here. Hello. You make me very happy.” C: “Yeah, yeah. Put it in writing.” Comic genius. Anyway, that got me thinking that Kyle and I rarely ever stop to focus on what we love about each other. Unfortunately we spend far too much time pointing out things we wish the other would do differently.
Read more

Spring Break

Image
Contrary to popular belief, the OSU Foundation is not closed during spring break. In fact, we are open on most of the university-specific holidays. However, I was fortunate to be able to take 1 1/2 days off to spend a little time with the family during their break. My parents, Zach, Stacy and Asher had planned to visit my Donahue grandparents in Kansas, so I decided to tag along. Poor Kyle had to work, but he also got to spend the weekend with Greg and Stacie. They took him to a Thunder game and then out for golf on Saturday. They also found some basketball video game Greg and Kyle used to play as kids so that entertained them for most of Saturday evening. Stacie sent me this photo. They won with a dunk during the final seconds of the game. I think they're excited! :) Back on the farm, we got to spend a little time with Landon, who is now 6 months old. It's hard to believe how big his is! He is even sitting up on his own. Asher did pretty good with him although he did unintenti
Read more