This blog post is way overdue, trust me, I know! But, my dreaded semester is over (let’s toast to that). Remind me never to take classes for fun again.
We (and by we, I mean Alex) did a lot of driving the last few days of our trip. After Dallas we headed to New Orleans to visit one of my long time best friends, who is like a sister to me, Christine. Every morning we were leaving a little later and later as we gradually lost an hour each day. We didn’t get to New Orleans until right around dinner time. We ate at The Original French Market Restaurant where my husband ate about 5 pounds of crawfish! I don’t know about you but the little things creep me out. I’ve never even tried one and I never plan to. I had a crab cake with some very delicious sweet potato fries. I can’t remember exactly what Christine had, but I do remember that it was a stuffed avocado salad and it looked delicious! After dinner, we walked around looking for pralines and I wanted to stop at a candy apple store that we had passed on our way to the restaurant but it was sadly closed. It was really great to see her. About 5 years ago you would’ve never seen one of us without the other but so many things have changed since I deployed to Afghanistan and shortly after returning home she left for bootcamp and after completing her school was stationed in Japan. The next morning Alex and I were in no rush to get on the road. We wanted to go by the candy apple shop — which had way more than just candy apples — before leaving and instead of grabbing some fast food for breakfast we stop at The Ruby Slipper and the breakfast was soooo delicious! But, I can’t say that it won over my love from Cody’s. They had green fried tomatoes that I was reluctant to eat and decided not try after Alex decided he didn’t like it.
That Thursday after breakfast we had our longest drive to Richmond Hill, GA where another one of my besties and Christine’s older sister, Michelle lives with her family. We didn’t get to Richmond Hill until close to mid-night and all I wanted to do at that point was sleep. I had naps in the car but nothing satisfying. I knew if I wanted to crash, I could’ve only imagine how much Alex just wanted to lay down and get some rest. Especially knowing, that we were staying in Richmond Hill until Saturday morning.
Friday morning Michelle and I went to have breakfast at All Things Chocolate. We had yummy Belgian waffles and crepes! They also had a huge selection of chocolate. Bigger than what was in the candy apple store! I bought a chocolate shaped camera and a bunch of other goodies. Then we headed to an antique store called Two Women and a Warehouse and it had so many things I wanted! I need to find a place like that in the Northern Virginia area. I know we have the District Digs but I haven’t checked it out yet.
For dinner we all went to a pizza place called, Mellow Mushroom. It was delicious! And it had such a fun environment. It was really great being around Michelle and her family. Her kids are hilarious and goofy. Before moving into our apartment I rented a room from her parents (who I just refer to as Mom and Dad anyway) after I came home from Afghanistan until last month to save me some money. Michelle and her kids lived there for some time too while her husband was deployed to Afghanistan so being around them was just like being home. Alex and I loved the area so much, we may try to make our way down there permanently in the next few years. Wish us luck!
Saturday morning we left Georgia to finally head home to our apartment. It rained almost the entire drive from Richmond Hill to Woodbridge. We got to Woodbridge and unloaded our things and then made our way to the furniture store to pick our couched and a bed. I already knew I wanted to have a grey couch and have purple or coral as an accent accent color. So when I saw grey couch with lilac pillows, I knew it was meant to be. I had to do some pleading to convince Alex that the couch isn’t as feminine as he thinks just because it had a few lilac pillows. After that we headed to Target for some essentials and then to Ikea for Alex’s first time. Ikea is always fun and he was so overwhelmed and excited at the same time. GIVE US ALL THE THINGS! But we left with we came for, a dresser, a desk for Alex and a TV stand.
We were initially going to stay the first night at Alex’s parents house since the only thing in our apartment was a few bins or my clothes, pots/pans, some dishes and a box of Stouffer’s lasagna in the freezer because I knew I wasn’t cooking after a 9 hour ride. But we we’re both excited to have a place together, a space of just for the two of us and begin our real first chapter that we roughed it out on the floor for a night until we picked up my car which had our air mattress.
Stay tuned on Facebook for sneak peeks of our apartment as it slowly comes together! Happy Wednesday Folks 🙂
