Its been so long, old friend!

I know, I've been terrible at blogging! Its been a crazy three months, where do I start. I'm glad to have my bff back and we've been spending more time than ever together. Which is great because Ruby is getting bigger and just more lovely every day. She's officially 3 months now! Check out this adorable photo: I have to keep visiting at least every few days because I love seeing that beautiful face smile when she recognizes me. Too cute. While its been a great few months, they have been difficult for me because I've felt just restless. I've always had a bit of a gypsy soul that needs to travel a bit, and thats hard to do while staying on budget. But I have two big trips planned before my big November debt free celebration, and the first one was my New Orleans trip. The New Orleans idea came out of nowhere. Its been a city I've always wanted to visit because I just adore the music, the history, architecture, food, you name it. Once I found out there was a jazz festival the same weekend I was thinking of going, I couldnt pass it up. So I planned this awesome trip for the Satchmo Festival, celebrating Louis Armstrong, and I picked a great historical b&b type of hotel. It was all set to go and my friend had to bail out at the last minute, which was extremely sad. Fortunately that meant that my sister was able to come in her place! We took this photo at the festival the first day we were there. What was so funny about the weather was that every day it was hot and muggy and then around lunchtime it would pour, just literally downpour for about 15 minutes to half an hour. It would bring the temperature down about 15 degrees and then it was fine! We took this right before it downpoured. What I loved the most about New Orleans was the architecture - just check out some of these buildings, arent they just romantic? Our hotel was across the street from those buildings. Our location was just over a block away from the festivities so it was really easy to just walk around. We had gumbo, catfish, crepes and the music was fantastic. Because I was so enthralled by the festival I wasnt able to see as many of the typical tourist sites of New Orleans as I would have liked, but that wasnt my goal so I'm ok with that. Right after the above pic this band started playing so I took this video, because to me, it was the epitomy of the trip.
Everyone was so friendly and especially at the festival there was nothing but dancing and smiles. Just check this guy rocking it...



Overall it was a fantastic trip and a good bonding experience for me and my sister. Next is Vegas!