Happy Engagement!

For the last weekend in September, Rod and I headed to Louisiana to celebrate Stephen and Elise's Engagement Party. We missed our first flight by 10 minutes (we were there in time, but American Airlines' ticketing agent wasn't). With enough tears and sobbing, we were able to fly standby on the first flight out the next morning. We had to get up at 4 a.m. to make sure we were the first ones on the standby list.

By the time we landed in Baton Rouge, we were exhausted. We grabbed lunch at Zeeland Street Market and then spent the afternoon napping. By the time we woke up, it was time for dinner at Acme Oyster House's new location in Baton Rouge.

The next morning, we watched an uncomfortably close between LSU and Mississippi State, stopped by to visit Aunt Jumy, Amy, and family, before heading to Jennings. The party was at a remodeled country club on Lake Arthur that has been in Elise's family for a couple generations. The decorations were fabulous and the food was even better. I would have bet money that they spent a fortune on both, but they were completely homemade. Every detail was perfect down to the last monogrammed napkin. The party really got started when Mr. Lagarde (Elise's dad) started pouring Patron shots and playing, in Rod's words, "music white people can dance to."

We were in the last shuttle group of the evening. We had 22 people (and several open bottles of wine/liquor) in a 15 passenger van. It was a long, but entertaining ride back to the hotel. When we got back, no one was ready to go to bed. We spent about 15 minutes talking about going to the Waffle House--apparently a Louisiana post-drinking tradition. One by one, people eventually went to bed.

In front of the hotel.

After getting back from Jennings--where we later learned from CNN News that a serial killer is loose--but before catching our flight, we stopped in for one last great seafood meal at The Chimes and made a quick visit to Mrs. Caroline, Rod's third Grandma. Amazingly, despite being one day short, we were able to see almost everyone on our trip. It was at breakneck speed, but we did it. Congratulations Stephen and Elise! We are so happy for you and cannot wait for your wedding.