Lindsay's Big Night Out

Well it finally arrived. Lindsay's official "Big Night Out!" The entire New Orleans weekend was her bachelorette party of course, but while most of the weekend was pretty relaxed and unplanned, Saturday night had us on an itinerary starting at 6:30 sharp.

We started the evening with a little party in the hotel. The whole troop of girls came to our room, which was decorated to the nines and filled with swag and presents for Lindsay. We dolled her up in all kinds of pink pins and feather boas, did a champagne toast, and then showered her with a combination of silly and special gifts.

Poor lighting, but that's a pretty white bathrobe that says "Bride" for Lindsay to wear while getting ready on her wedding day. Less than two months to go!

Around 7:30 we headed down to the hotel bar for one more drink, then started to make our way down Bourbon Street.

Our first stop of the night was Pat O'Briens. Lindsay loves dueling piano bars, and Pat O'Briens has a famous one, so it was the perfect place to start the evening. The pianos were in full swing when we arrived so everyone enjoyed hanging out there while we waited an hour for our table to be ready. Soon enough, it was dinner time!

I loved Pat's because the whole restaurant was outdoors, and the evening air was the perfect temp for eating outside. I wasn't too hungry after eating a big lunch, so Cathleen and I decided to split an entree and each get a side salad. We also shared a giant hurricane for our drink. Apparently we're like a poor old married couple when we go out to eat, ha!

The salad was a typical house salad, but the restaurant's signature basil vinaigrette was pretty tasty. 

For our main meal, Cath and I went with a southern classic - shrimp with cheesy grits. Pat's was a little different in that the shrimp were served in a thick seafood gravy, almost like a chowder, and the grits were served on top as crispy wedges.

We liked their twist on the shrimp & grits and had no problem polishing it off. 

After dinner, we moved on down the street to The Cat's Meow, a famous New Orleans karaoke bar! It's no exaggeration when I say this was the best karaoke bar I've ever been to. The crowd got so into every song, it was awesome! We had a bachelorette party package set up, so everyone got free drinks and all kinds of swag to wear, including cat ears and tails. We wore them with pride.

We may not have great singing voices, but we're not shy either, so we all got up on stage with Lindsay to sing a Jersey classic, Livin' on a Prayer. The crowd loved it! At least we think so. :) It was a great time.

The rest of the night was spent dancing our way down Bourbon Street to a bunch of other little bars. A fun girls night out, indeed!

I had to leave earlier than the rest of the girls and come home on Sunday morning (such is life with a baby at home!), which was kind of a bummer, but I was pretty sapped of energy by the time I got home so it was really nice to sleep in my own bed. I took today off work so I could stay at home and hang out with my little man since I haven't seen him in a few days, and now we're headed off for a play date with my good friend Heather. Hope you had a great weekend!