Happy Sunday everyone, woo!
First off, holy crap, I leave for NOLA on WEDNESDAY, like in three days! *insert mild freak out*
Moving on, I tend to get very stressed before traveling. The inner “planner” in me comes out and I run myself into a tizzy making sure things are ready, packed, clean and organized for when I get back so I can easily get myself re-acclimated.
I know, I’m probably making a big deal out of it but what can I say, I’m high strung :)
So to prep to travel to NOLA this week, I went a little insane this weekend getting stuff done around the house. Here’s what I accomplished:
- Cook for the few days in town so meals are easy
- Grocery shop for bare necessities
- Pick a recipe for next week
- Write out my grocery shopping list for next weekend
- Laundry
- Laying out clothes to pack
- Bringing out the suitcase
- Clean bathroom and kitchen (I half-a**ed the kitchen), dust living room
- Balance checkbook
- Pay bills
- Research restaurants and tourist activities in NOLA
- Pick out a Mother’s Day card to mail before I leave
Yeah, I was productive (to say the least). And oh my gosh my house is so pretty when it’s clean!
But before I surrendered to pre-travel prep, Friday, I went with co-workers to Hai Yen, a Vietnamese restaurant, in Uptown and had Vietnamese food for the first time ever.
And it was amazing. And I took no pictures. FAIL.
I can’t even recall everything we had but I know there was make-your-own spring rolls, amazing pork and pho and everything was absolutely delicious and so light that I didn’t feel heavy or weighed down after (which I do sometimes from fried food).
I would 100 percent go back, it was that amazing.
I also sorted out last week’s Amazon order drama and was able to finally enjoy this movie, which I did twice:
I wrote a review about it here because absolutely love it. Sometimes, a good Victorian movie makes me very happy :)
What about everyone? How was your weekend? Was anyone else bitten by the cleaning bug?
Holy organized! I’m so impressed, I’m very bad at packing and planning in general. I tend to forget bringing stuff. Little essential stuff. Like I can bring toothbrush, but not toothpaste. Weirdo.
ps. love Vietnamese food too!:)
i have no idea what NOLA is but have fun and can’t wait to hear all about it!!
I can’t believe it’s here already…I’m a planner too! :)
I can’t believe your NOLA trip has arrived so soon!! have fun, and like I said earlier, have a beignet for me!!
Oh! Your organization is so inspirational! I love to get things ready for when I come back from a trip, sometimes that is the best part about going away.
I love that you cleaned before your trip. I always do that, too. I just hate coming home to a dirty house!
Ooh, I love Emily Blunt and don’t know how I had never heard of that movie! I already added it to my Netflix queue.
Good for you for being so organized! Hope you have fun!
When I’m travelling, I start making a list of all the things I have to do about a week ahead of time. If not, I’d definitely forget stuff.
Have fun on your trip!!! You really do plan everything out…I thought I was bad! =)
Oh, have fun on your trip!
I always find I have so much time and energy to clean whenever I have tons of other stuff to do, like homework and studying.
i definitely spent a good portion of my sunday morning cleaning the apartment like a mad woman. i just love the end result, it’s so fulfilling. and yay for nola, so excited for you!
Oooooo. That is so going on my Netflix list!
Well, you know our little deal, so YES, I did all my laundry and re-organized my closet. I am actually pretty thrilled to have that stuff so organized :)
Enjoy NOLA!
That movie is totally in my Netflix queue! Maybe I need to move it up a little higher. I’m about halfway through a movie called The Secret Lives of Pippa Lee. Have you seen it? I’d never heard of it, but it’s kind of weird and quirky and thus, I love it. I had to shut it off at about 12:30 a.m. today so I wasn’t a zombie for work.
yay – you’re ready to go! we cleaned but only because we were having people over & the way we normally live is disgusting. :) can’t wait to hear how your trip goes!
The cleaning bug definitely bit me too, and now it’s the sorting bug today. I’m making heaps of things that go to the second-hand shop, family or friends and I’m reorganizing things that are staying. I love it when things are organized. :)
Have fun on your trip!
Check out Nhu Lan, 2612 W. Lawrence. Their sandwiches are AWESOME. I get the #4. Pate ain’t bad, either.
I’m so excited for your trip! You’re going to have an amazing time.
I’ve never had Vietnamese food either. I need to try it. Even my picky-eater husband loves it.
Here are some suggestions for your trip.
Don’t miss the D-Day Museum, it’s totally worth it. The Herman-Grimma House and the Gallier House — two historic homes in the FQ that will give you an idea what it was live to be wealthy and living in NO in the 1800s. Very cool! Aquarium of the Americas — awesome. Audubon Zoo — Love it. Ride the street car all the way to the end at Carrolton, turn the seat around and ride all the way back. Just enjoy the sites.
Don’t miss the Napolean House for a Pimm’s Cup and red beans & rice (the house was originally built as the home for Napolean had he successfully escaped exile from Elba). Port of Call (on Esplanade) for a fabulous hamburger and baked potato, make sure you drink a Red Turtle! Central Grocery for a muffaletta — A MUST! DON’T miss it, seriously. If you can get to Cochon, even for lunch do it! It’s delicious. Have a drink at the Carousel Bar in the Monteleone Hotel, it actually spins and the bar stools are carousel animals. I promise, it’s not tacky! Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop is a super old bar (I think the oldest in NOLA)…at the end of Bourbon Street, fun stuff. Sucre on Magazine Street for delicious sweets. Magazine Street is a mecca for antique shopping (or looking, anyway). The bar in The Columns Hotel is great! Irene’s Cuisine is NO style Italian, which is different from Italian anywhere else. They a super oyster dish with cheese, peppers and prusciutto. Yum! You must, must, must do to Cafe du Monde and have beignets and cafe au lait. Mother’s for a debris po-boy.
If you were on or near Argyle then you went to the right place for Vietnamese food. Yummy is right!
I think we had the opposite bug swarm through our house … the make-it-messy-because-we’re-doing-projects bug. Oh my. Thank goodness for cleaning ladies who come on Tuesdays! =)
No, definitely not bit by the cleaning bug this weekend. Though I wish it had! And Victorian movies…do nothing for me??? I just don’t get into period pieces. I never have. It is weird. But maybe I need to try again.
Okay, two recommendations, though you’ve probably already planned everything by this point ;) Eat at Mothers for lunch (poboy) and if you want an amazing fancy meal out, John Besh’s Restaurant August is the best food I have every put into my mouth. Have so much fun–give NO my love :)
I stress out before I travel too, even if I’m just going home, but moreso if I’m going somewhere I’ve never been. The thing I worry about most is having the right kind of clothes and having food. I always pack food! Even if it’s just a bag of nuts or dried fruit, I never go on a trip without at least one snack.
I am so excited for your upcoming trip! I am also envious of your planning skills. I am not a planner. At. All. I had intentions of cleaning this weekend (ha, I do every weekend) but largely ignored it for other more fun things (again, as I do every weekend) like Mexican food with my little cousin. =)
do you really balance your checkbook? I don’t own a checkbook although I do have checks.
Spring cleaning must have been the theme of this weekend because I also (semi) cleaned/organized my apartment before I leave for next weekend. But I’m just going home, not anywhere FABULOUS like NOLA. Have so much fun (and don’t forget about Cafe Du Monde and Port of Call)!!!
Also, I have passed by Hai Yen and wondered how it is. Some of my favorite things in all the world are spring rolls and Pho…so you are taking me there, k? :)
P.S. They showed Young Victoria on my flight back from Las Vegas. I cried….again. Good thing most of the people on my flight were sleeping because plane crying is kinda AWKWARD.
Alright, I’m going to stop writing my life story as a comment on your blog. Talk to you tomorrow ;)
I love when my home is clean, I just wish I could keep it clean longer than I usually do. Or I guess if I am going to wish for things I should wish for a maid.
But have a blast on your trip. Can’t wait to read about the recap.
Yay for your upcoming NOLA trip! If you can grab a po-boy from Mothers, you won’t be sorry!
This Vietnamese friend is shocked that you never had Vietnamese food before. That settles it! I’m cooking for you!