I have always wanted to go to New Orleans. It’s been a bucket list item since before hurricane Katrina in 2005. A month or so before my 30th birthday, I felt uneasy about not doing something special for it so I went online and checked out flights to NOLA from LA and when they turned out to be dirt cheap for RT tickets, I was like DONE! I booked the trip before even telling my fiance what my birthday plans were.

We also had to check out the Mardi Gras parade and get up close and personal to the floats. We so have to come back for FAT TUESDAY!

While I was in town, I figured why not squeeze in some work? I shot Lafitte Guest House & Gallery’s new interiors. They’re right on Bourbon St., also next door to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, one of the oldest bars in the French Quarter. The Lafitte hotel is no doubt haunted due to its history, and they have a rep for it. I was excited that we were placed in room 21, the notoriously haunted room there. I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. I also debunk everything “ghostly” so I was a bit thrown when during our second night there, I awoke in the middle of the night to my hair being pulled, enough to wake me out of a deep sleep. I went to shove my fiance, immediately thinking he probably rolled over onto my hair somehow, but he was actually on the complete opposite of me, on the other side of the bed. I sat up confused, rubbing the back of my head where it felt not sore, but like something definitely just happened. I questioned the reality of it and I still do today. Meh. Instead of swearing by it, I just now recommend any travelers in town to stay in room 21 and encounter something for yourself. Who knows what you’ll wake up to. Some have heard clinking china, a small girl, a grieving mother….hair pulling is a new one. As the concierge was walking us to our room before we checked in, he stops at the door as he’s unlocking it, pauses, and asks “They DID tell you about this room, right?”. AWESOME.

I love watching him play with my toys.

And what would a successful vacation be without getting tattooed?

Happy 30th birthday to me.