Bridesmaid Bonding Weekend ** Photo Heavy Post***

A few weeks ago, all of my closest girlfriends, my sister, my nieces and my mom, traveled to Houston for an extended weekend of dress shopping, good food, cocktails & just good old fashioned girl time. We planned this so that my friends could get reacquainted with one another and get excited and prepared for the wedding next year and it was a really wonderful time.  My nieces were on Fall Break and were so excited about coming to Houston and searching for the wedding dresses, especially mine.

Mr. Mixogolist was such a trooper despite being inundated by a bunch of women for.four.whole.days ! LOL  He got lots of time to hang at the Cigar Lounge while we were in the streets, but when we were here, he was basically at my beck and call. He cooked unlimited amounts of his world famous creamy grits, grilled steaks and of course mixed his famous libations on request !

Thursday night, I had dinner ready when they arrived &  afterwards we decided to hit the streets and take my mom to a Jazz Club Phil & Dereks to see Houston's own Kyle Turner a wonderful saxophonist, you guys already know I am a big fan so I turned my mom on to his music a while ago. My mom had a complete blast, was acting like a complete groupie,  got to meet all the musicians after the show , took pictures with Kyle & just totally enjoyed herself. It was so much fun experiencing this with her.

Me and my dear friend and Bridesmaid

Me & my mom after the Jazz set 

My Mama the Groupie ! LOL

On Friday, we spent the day focusing on my dress. We started the day with a bit of a challenge as the first Bridal Salon,  Ventura's would not let my nieces, who are 10 & 11 come to the area, where I would be trying on dresses. The rule is no children under 12 in the Brides area. They had to sit outside in another area & couldn't see what I was trying on. I was not aware of this when I made the appointment. Savannah started first with a complete melt down, tears were flowing & then Olivia chimed in & I was heartbroken. They both are very tall & either of them could have passed for 12 and had I known honestly, I would have just lied about their ages. LOL But after the first dress, the lady who was helping us relented and since there were not a lot of customers at the time, she let them come to the back to sit & they were so excited ! I actually found a dress here that is in my top 3 that was very reasonably priced. 

Post "Water Works" 

So, I won't bore you with a bunch of pics of me in multiple dresses in this blog post,  plus I actually do want to save some elements of surprise until the wedding next year but I did have a great experience with my friends and my family at both Impressions Bridal and Weddings by Debbie. Although, I was off my crutches by then, I was still hobbling around with that boot on my ankle and the Bridal Consultants were so very helpful and patient with me. I narrowed it down to my top 3 and will make the final decision on my own to "say yes to the dress", probably by January. It was just a fun experience & I enjoyed it way more than I expected to. I will share one aspect here though. I had already fallen in love with the idea of wearing a " Birdcage Veil " based on all the photos I had already found on Pint.erest and trying them on just sealed the deal for me. 

Take a look.....

Going for a Vintage Look.......

Friday night we chilled at the house, and Mr. Mixologist worked his grill magic & we just caught up with each other, shared laughs & talked wedding stuff. Everyone in the wedding is very excited about a New Orleans wedding next year and of course everyone is trying to lose weight including me ! LOL 

Saturday we focused on the Bridesmaids dresses and the dresses for my nieces and my God daughter. Luckily we only had to go to two stores as we had great luck quickly finding dresses that everyone liked, that were flattering on everyone and did not break the bank ! #winning.  I was so relieved to get so many things marked off of my wedding planning checklist.  We cut the day short  & headed home to get ready to go out to dinner Saturday night at Brio Tuscan Grille in City Centre. As you will recall, I had been on crutches the week before so there were a few things that I did not get to do that I planned to do, but I was still able to put some baskets together for all the girls and my mom, to thank them for standing for me in my wedding. I got them some tote bags with their names embroidered on them with some scented lotion, and body scrub. I wrote each one of them a letter telling them why I love them and thanking them for their friendship & presented it to them at the dinner. It was a pretty emotional night in a good way. I am so completely blessed to have so much love around me. It was fun to take my Mom to see this area called City Centre since it's where we had our Engagement Party earlier this year. She really had a good time being out and about in Houston.  After dinner we walked around in the area, got cupcakes from Sweet and then walked around some more to walk off some calories. ! LOL

My best friend & God daughter 

My sister, niece & Mom

Two of my Bridesmaids 

Lifelong friends ! 

Ready for Dinner 

Sunday was the day my people had to leave but before they could go, we had a nice little Jazz Brunch at the home of my Bridesmaid that lives in Houston. This really wasn't a pre-wedding event, so to speak,  I just wanted an excuse to throw a little Soiree and invite a bunch of my friends from here to hang out with my friends and family from home & you know I love to party !!! We had quite the spread & Mr. Mixologist even got up very early to fry chicken for Chicken n' Waffles. We also had Quiche, Ham, Bacon, Hash Browns, Croissants, Seafood Pasta, Dirty Rice, Gooey Butter Coffee Cake, Monkey Bread, Fresh Fruit, Mimosa's, a secret concoction called "Brunch Punch" and Mr. Mixologist was shaking up his "Purple Haze" libation on demand, LOL. 

My dear friend, Soror and Bridesmaid 

Lets do Brunch ! 

My nieces and God daughter 

Mr Mixologist in action 

Hmmmm too many choices !

Great friends ! 

Me and my favorite girls

They love him almost as much as I do  !

My friends and family left several hours AFTER they had planned to because we had such a great time at the Brunch. LOL  Luckily my sister, who was the driver had the good sense to take off work Monday to recuperate cause it was a late night of driving for her. I won't lie, I definitely shed tears when they had to go. It was such a great time of bonding, reminiscing, and just enjoying each others company, these are my closest friends some that I have known since I was 13 years old & we have been through so much together. It was just a wonderful time of coming together and my heart is still so full, when I look through these photos and the wonderful memories we made.

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?   

Beautifully Complex

True Essence

I am back and still recovering from yet another memorable Essence Festival. My body is still aching a bit but it was all worth it. This was my first Essence Fest with Mr. Mixologist, but he is sold on it & we are already planning next years trip. He has some of his cousins on board already & I have some people in my circle who have never been before but are planning to go with us next year. Like I explained to him, many people will talk about going, but not every body will actually make the trip when it's time to make it happen. I have a core group of friends that have been coming for the last 12 years & I cannot imagine doing anything else on the July 4th Weekend.


We got to NOLA, hit the streets to grab some food, adult beverages, and of  course hit a Cigar Bar & get ready for the show. Me & my Beau mixed it up this year & decided to see a different side of New Orleans, so we picked only one Essence Concert which was Friday night  so we could have time exploring the city. The show was wonderful indeed. Dwele and Mint Condition were in the Super Lounges along with Tank. I missed Fantasia on the Main stage because I was listening to Mint Condition but they never disappoint & put on an awesome show. We then saw Jennifer Hudson, Charlie Wilson and Usher on the Main Stage.  Uncle Charlie SHUT IT DOWN. Seriously, I felt sorry for Usher having to come behind that, I mean there was just no way he was going to outdo him. This was my 3rd time seeing Charlie Wilson perform at Essence and his show just constantly gets better. You can tell he loves performing and did not want to leave the stage ! LOL

My Beau's fave spot

Dwele doing his thing !

Saturday morning Hennessy sponsored a brunch at our Hotel as they have for the past 4 years. I was sitting there tweeting, enjoying my food &some Hennessy concoction, when this guy with a camera accompanied by a guy with a boom mike walk up and say, "What are you doing?" I say, " Umm tweeting about this event ?" He then says, I need to get you to say that for me on camera & I proceed to repeat that into the mike & he filmed me and also the actual tweet! I tried to copy my tweet to the blog, but that's a little too technical for me LOL.  Supposedly I am going to be up on their site this week but I haven't been able to find it yet. And that, ladies and gentleman was my Essence Film Debut ! LOL

Enjoying Brunch

 Next up my Soror was hosting a Day Party, with some Belly Dancers, Saxophonist Chris "Soul" Mitchell and up and coming singer Andre Pitre, who just  happens to be Essence Single Man of the Month (May 2011). All of the performers are people that we actually know personally, so we came out to support them & the party was a success despite my friend being so nervous in the previous weeks!

Me & My Soror

Belly Dancers making moves

Soul Mitchell playing his horn !

  Andre Serenading the ladies !

Mr. Mixologist enjoyed himself tremendously. I knew that he had been before so I really didn't get it, but he explained that he came to Essence in the past he was a younger guy, hanging with the fellas, girl watchin' LOL & hanging out on Bourbon Street, doing the meat market thing. That was pretty much it. He had never attended any of the Concerts, any of the seminars or Convention Center activities, never shopped for Art, or attended any of the private parties. He told me that he saw a whole other side of things this year & is very excited to have some of his friends and family join us next year.

Me and my love :)

We spent the rest of the day Saturday at the Convention Center, shopping, and of course eating and drinking ! LOL I got some very nice jewelry, bought a couple of dresses and we both bought new hats. I was so excited to head to the Jazz Playhouse to get to meet one of my favorite writers/bloggers Demetria Lucas, also known as A Belle in Brooklyn. She read from the book, and I actually got a chance to sit and chat with her for a bit and of course get my book signed ! She was very beautiful and gracious. Also while at the event, I met some wonderful bloggers/twitter friends at the event from LA, Memphis & New Orleans !

Leaving our Hotel for  Cocktails with Belle !

Me & Demetria Lucas/ Belle in Brooklyn

 Saturday night Mr. Mixologist took me to a lovely Spanish Restaurant called Lola's with the most awesome food.! We never go anywhere without Yelping it and the reviews were on point. From the Service to the Crab Appetizer, to the Paella, to the Sangria, it was one for the books & we will definitely return. Paella is a rice dish with a bunch of seafood including shrimp, fish, mussels, calamari, We got the combination to share which also included sausage along with vegetables. It was heaven on a plate ! 

Spanish Paella

This crab dip was so fresh !

On our way to the restaurant, our Cab driver actually got lost, and took numerous wrong turns, which actually was a blessing in disguise and ultimately led us to the most valuable discovery of the trip.  We discovered an area of New Orleans called the Frenchman District which neither of us had ever been to before. After dinner we had a different cab driver take us back to that area & boy did we have a good time ! Some of the most talented local bands and singers ever & so many genres of music. We listed to a Reggae Band, some wonderful  Jazz Singers and Blues that first night. We had such a great time that we came back AGAIN on Sunday night & told some friends about it & they showed up too. The second night we listened to a Cuban Band that had everybody on the floor doing Salsa & Merengue ! 

Normally when you come to New Orleans you do the typical Bourbon Street for entertainment, but it was a nice change of pace to enjoy something very different and we just happened upon it. In my 12 years of coming to Essence, I never even knew this area existed, so it's nice to make a new discovery. So make sure when you visit, to make it on over there. It's located near the intersection of Decatur and Esplanade east of the French Quarter area. By mixing it up this year, I really got the true essence of New Orleans culture, not just the commercial aspect and we made some very nice memories ! 

Jazz Band on Frenchman Street

Reggae Band on Frenchman St.

On Monday afternoon when we checked out we met some friends for lunch, and did some more shopping. Of course Mr. Mixologist had to make one last stop at Don Leoncio Cigars. LOL I got some Pralines, and Beignets of course and had my last Hurricane and a Po Boy before we reluctantly headed home. It was a wonderful trip and I am already excited about next year !

Have you ever been to Essence Festival ?

How was your 4th of July ?

Thoughts ? Comments ? Questions ?

Beautifully Complex