I lie in the incredibly comfortable bed at the Ritz-Carlton as the sun starts to peek through the tiny crack in the curtains. Zach isn’t awake yet, and I’m already thinking about the breakfast we’ll have soon. Honestly, I’m mainly thinking about coffee. Per usual, I can’t wait for the coffee.

Let’s talk about my weekend. Friday night was date night, a night we’d been looking forward to for weeks. We had our favorite Mexican restaurant and margaritas, courtesy of a wedding present. I wore my new skort, which is currently my favorite outfit. It was lovely. On this date, we decided to get up Saturday morning and head to New Orleans.

We’d been car shopping rather intensely for the last week. In reality, we’ve been looking at cars on and off for the last two years. We finally found something I was excited about, only to learn that the car had been wrecked and the dealer couldn’t get it to me. We found another option in Kenner, LA and decided to make the trip.

Cars are kind of a big deal to me. (As you can tell by this post.) I don’t do designer handbags or fancy things most of the time. But cars are a different story. I’m incredibly particular about how they look and how they drive. Most importantly, they have to be fast. I don’t drive recklessly, but when the light turns green, I’m ready to move. You can imagine that it’s been difficult then, to find an adequate replacement for this beauty.

That car was my first luxury car purchase. I had to overcome so many limiting beliefs to buy and enjoy that car. I more than earned it, but letting myself have it was a struggle. I’ll never forget the snide comments from my own family members.

I’ll also never forget how much I loved that car. I kept it for longer than any other vehicle and not wanting to give it up is what took me so long to upgrade to something larger. That car was a dream. It taught me so many lessons about life and about myself. And it was so fun to drive.

Now, I’ve finally taken the plunge and bought something large enough to hold my new family + some. I’ll be able to haul around light fixtures and equipment for these houses much more easily. It’s such a nice car.

Getting a new car isn’t the only thing that made this weekend special. We realized at dinner that this was our first solo trip to take together since 2018, right before Zach’s incident. We’ve been a few places for work related trips. We’ve taken individual trips, and we’ve taken several trips with the kids. But it’s been years since we’ve traveled somewhere, just the two of us, to do something fun. No wonder we were having such a good time!

And we’re staying at the Ritz! It’s our first time. When you add low pandemic rates + rewards, and you can stay at the Ritz for $65, I think that’s a no brainer, right? This little detail will just add to the exciting way in which I remember this quick trip. I joked that we left our tiny, two bedroom house and five hound dogs to go buy a fancy Lincoln and stay at the Ritz. Does that make us “well-rounded?” Or is it a “country came to town situation?”

We had dinner at Crescent City Steakhouse which had the coolest vibe. It has been in the same location since 1934 and the story was so cool. My favorite part was that we were seated in this little booth with curtains where we were separated from everyone else in the main dining room. It felt so special. There was also a purse hook on the wall and little details like that always get me. Very cool place.

After dinner, we drove through City Park and made our way to watch the sunset over Lake Pontchartrain. It looked and felt like we’d escaped to a beach somewhere. I loved seeing these parts of New Orleans because I’m not a big fan of the other stuff that NOLA is known for.

We finished the night by eating Creole Creamery in the back of the new car, because we weren’t allowed to eat it inside the restaurant and I wasn’t ready to eat ice cream from waffle cones in the new ride just yet! It was a simple, effortless night and it’ll be one I remember with a smile for a long time. 

Truthfully, we were only in New Orleans for about 24 hours. We arrived, bought a vehicle, and squeezed as many cool things into our time there as possible. Honestly, we almost didn’t even stay the night. We almost just drove back home. It makes me sad to think that this fun night would have been missed.

Instead, we stayed at the Ritz, ate at some cool places, watched a beautiful sunset, zipped around town in our new car, and had so much fun exploring for our first time away together in a long time.

If there’s a lesson here, I think it’s to take the trip. It’s to watch the sunsets, even if you have to walk a ways to see them. It might be to buy the car, but it’s most definitely to stay at the Ritz when it’s only $65.