No one will be able to do this one for you. Sometimes life comes at you fast, like my husband Jared likes to say. And when that happens, I like to slooowwwww ittttt downnnnnnnn. We've been trying to take advantage of small weekend getaway opportunities since the beginning of the year and I must say, I think we're doing a pretty good job considering we both have multiple jobs, a toddler, and an asshole-ish cat. We're lucky enough to have family who will forego 2 nights of sleep and endure grueling hours of Lucy kicking, spinning and Tasmanian-deviling in a shared bed at night so that we're able to travel two hours down the road for some jiu jitsu, hot summer NOLA air, and finally check out an exclusive Creole-Italian restaurant we've been trying to get into like Studio 54 circa 1978. the theme for this weekend: do whatcha wanna.
Entrance to the rooftop bar of our hotel - The Troubadour
Rooftop bar of our Hotel with handsome hubby - The Troubadour
Our view from the rooftop
So far this year we've been able to enjoy work trips and play once the job is done. Since February, we've seen one of my favorite artists, Lan Del Rey, in concert, ate at magnificent restaurants, took long romantic strolls, and saw Joe Rogan live. This weekend after the very timely-run AGF tournament (BJJ wives applaud timely-run tournaments) we got to finally make it into a NOLA restaurant we've been eyeballing HARD - Adolfo's on Frenchman. It's settled in an old establishment right on top of a Frenchman Street bar with barely enough AC to cool a Prius, only 11 tables, a cash-only policy and an impressive line in the oppressive Louisiana summer humidity. We were the second couple to be sat, promptly at 5:30 when all of our grandparents' generations eat dinner so they don't go to bed with molten-lava heartburn. We didn't mind - we were on NOLA time and knew that we could eat dinner at 5:30 pm and could order 24 hour breakfast to be delivered at 2 am if we so wished (and we did so wish, and so our will was done).
Upon ordering, we barely spoke to each other except to moan in satisfaction of butter-ladened mussels, perfect cannelloni in ocean sauce and stuffed trout. No words were uttered, but boy did our eyes communicate. Jared was smitten and deemed this meal as one of his 5 best in ALL OF HIS THIRTY YEARS OF LIFE. It was magnificent. We indulged. It was like baby Jesus came down and hand made these dishes just for our liking. The ocean sauce should be a food group. The cannelloni was mouth-watering and although I was so very full, my fork just wouldn't stop bringing other bites into my mouth...and another bite...and another. And I'm not one bit upset about it. If you get the chance, try out Adolfo's. After our fabulous Adolfo ocean sauce baptism, we walked down Frenchman to check out some vinyl at the Louisiana Music Factory where I discovered some funk music by David Robinson that made my soul happy and my feet dance.
---> click HERE to listen to the funky track (pass your lil ears on that.)
We made our way back to our hotel in time for a nighttime rooftop date overlooking the city and just enjoying each other's company with adult conversation and breathing in the humid New Orleans air sitting above the city. Just a few years ago we would have just been getting ready for a night out on the town. This time, we were getting ready for a comfy night night in, snuggling, doing what we wanna, and doing all of that knowing that we had no need for an alarm the next morning. I always look forward to meditating when I'm out of town, so I definitely took advantage of my down time and listened to some theta binaural guided meditation practices. All in all it was a refreshing adult weekend getaway with lots of conversations about Lucy, life and love. We were ready to see our girl as soon as the tires hit the Atchafalaya bridge and I only cried once on the way there when I heard Guns and Roses' "Sweet Child of Mine" on XM radio on the way - to which Jared giggled at my soft heart and comforted me with his signature "Awww, Boo..."
Until the next soul-feeding, that'll do for a little while, universe.