I know, I know,We aren't great at this...

So, given our work schedule, and lets be honest, our need to play, we have been very bad at updating.  

Caryn and I just got back from staying at my hotel for the last few days because of how cold it was...no ice, just cold.  I've never been the most experienced winter weather driver in the room...it's kind of sad.  This is my first day off in 10 days, of which I logged close to 120 hours, and Caryn isn't far behind me, so you can see why the time we have off, we try very hard to stay away from computer.

Either way, here is a TON of photos, and a little insight to the NOLA life style.  Love you all and miss you!!

The Butcher by Cochon

We grabbed some lunch at a place called the Butcher by Cochon.  Cochon is a highly talked about restaurant, and this is a functioning butcher shop next door that makes amazing sandwiches.

The Backyard Bacon Melt

The Porkbelly Sandwich

Grilled Pimento Cheese

The Cubano

The Cochon Muffaleta

Roasted Turnips...amazing

Finally, we went to Mardi Gras World.  This place was really cool.  This is where the make a bunch of floats for the Mardi Gras parades.

I feel like we look like the Beatles

This was making fun of the Mardi Gras experiance.

A little bit of Dallas in New Orleans

I couldn't resist...MOTORBOAT!

A visit from the fam

So just after New Years, Matt's parents and brother came to visit.  we had a ton of fun and it was great to spend a little time with family.  We ate a ton, and spent some great time together.  The first night we went to The Rum House.  Now we have mentioned this place before, but here are some more great food items.

Probably my favorite thing that we did was visit the National WWII Museum.  I can't stress enough how much you have to visit this place.  They did an amazing job, and parts of it can get a little emotional.  If you do one thing in New Orleans, do this.

This may have been Matt's favorite thing.  This is the front of a B-24 bomber.  Matt's Grandfather flew 25 missions as a co-pilot in one just like it.  He is a true American Hero and we were all glad to see this in the museum.

Guy's Poboys

We found yet another great Poorboy joint.  Gut's is located on Magazine, close to Tulane.  It was pretty damn good.

Even though we went to a poorboy place, they offered hamburgers, and Cayrn was in the mood for one.  She  ordered a mushroom Swiss burger, and got this.  I guess it all comes on french bread.  Either way, it was amazing!

Matt got a fried pork chop poorboy...soooo good!

Magazin Pho

This is another great little place about 5 blocks from the house.  It was recommended to us by one of Matt's employees.  If you have never had Pho, find a place and get some.  It's a Vietnamese food that uses various broths and meats, and it is delicious!

A couple funny stories go along with this trip.  The first revolves around the fact that this place is BYOB.  Matt went a grabbed a bottle of wine while we were waiting on our food.  After Matt had poured a couple of glasses, he got distracted by who knows what, and was caught by Caryn and a staff member drinking out of the bottle.  It wasn't intentional, but I guess it goes to show that you can take the man out of the party, but you can't take the party out of the man...

The other stories almost put poor Caryn into the hospital.  If you notice, each of the plates came with fresh sliced jalapenos.  We each added them to our Pho, which gave it a nice spice, but not too bad.  Caryn happened to notice Matt eating one of his jalapenos, and asked if it was hot.  Now Matt had a chance to put Caryn through the ringer, but instead, he was honest, and let Caryn know that it was pretty hot.  Now here is where the communication broke down.  Caryn didn't know that there was a difference between pickled jalapenos and fresh jalapenos.  She decided that she would be fine, and casually ate one...I believe her exact quote was immediate and to the point..."I made a mistake, I regret that."  She followed that quote with the fast consumption of her water, then my water, then her wine, then she just soaked her lips in the ice left over from her water...  Matt couldn't stop laughing.  It happened before he could do anything to stop it.  Needless to say, Caryn will not be eating fresh jalapenos any more.

This is a Chicken spring roll, served with a hoisin peanut sauce. I have a recipe for the house, but have yet to try it...more to come!

Matt got the combination of steak, and meat balls.

Caryn go the filet tips.

Amos's New Friends

So, we aren't the only ones making new friends.  Amos has some new buddies too!

This is Hank.  He belongs to Luis and Ashley.  They have another dog, Murphy, but he's a little more shy.

Meet Peaches.  Our neighbors dog, who has more energy then any dog I've met.  This was after a looooong day of playing.

New Years Eve

Well, as per usual, we both worked on New Years Eve, but this year we had a pretty awesome night anyways.  We met at The Big House (Matt's hotel) and went to the 41st floor with some other staff members and watched the fireworks show that they do over the river...it was pretty amazing!