Embracing Life

I wanted to write a moving and inspirational post about celebrating my two-year post-transplant milestone. (I also wanted to post a nice family picture, where everyone was looking at the camera, the twins did not have to be separated because they were hitting each other, the shorter boy on the right was not squeezing his brother's stomach too tightly, and I did not have a glowing bulb of sunlight shining brightly on my lady parts, but well... you know... that's life.) Instead I will share one of my favorite pictures of this day. We had wanted to do an outdoor autumn photo shoot with my family (grandparents included). It was scheduled for the end of September in Chicago. So of course, I bought (matching) long-sleeved shirts for the boys, had a pretty (color-coordinating) sweater picked out for my girl, Keith was going to wear his grey pullover, and I lovingly pulled out my tights and boots for what I thought was going to be a cool and beautiful fall day. It was 88 degrees...

Our first full day in New Orleans began with Keith getting up super early for a run.  (I slept in.)   When he got back, we took advantage of the expanded continental breakfast that the hotel offered.  It was yummy, except for the waffle-making incident someone incurred. ;)  After I finished getting ready, we headed out to walk around the French Quarter. We found ourselves on the other side of Jackson Square for my first beignet in 10 years.  It was wonderful! I love the cafe au lait as well.  Even when you order one around Chicago, it just doesn't taste as good as when you have it at the Cafe du Monde. :)  After eating, we walked down to the French Market, this amazing flea market that has basically everything you could imagine.  For lunch, we ate at the French Market Cafe - Keith had an alligator po-boy, dressed, and I had a muffaletta.  Thank goodness I only ordered half - Keith had to finish it! It was huge!   ...

For fun and memories, I'm sharing a day-by-day recap of our anniversary trip to New Orleans. We arrived on November 3. Our flight left Chicago at 11:30 a.m., so our morning was a flurry of getting kids ready for school, last minute packing (for me and the kids), and driving to the airport. The flight was uneventful - I am glad we went with Midway since it's smaller. The hotel shuttle dropped us off at the amazing Dauphine Orleans hotel. Choosing a hotel was one of the hardest decisions I had to make about this trip. I wanted something in the French Quarter, close to everything we love, as well as steeped in history... and ghosts . Yup, that's me. :)  Now, sadly, we did not see a ghost, but we still had a great time! Our room. We stayed in one of the carriage house guest rooms. I loved the look and feel of the room. The view outside our door Another view from our doorway The door to our room After checking out the hotel (they serve iced tea and cook...

We just got back from an amazing 10 year anniversary present to ourselves: New Orleans! I'll be blogging about the trip soon, but wanted to share the present I got in NOLA. Every time we go, I buy a piece of jewelry from a place where everything is made by local artists. Here is my newest piece: