Might as well face it, I'm addicted to........

Yes, it's true, I am an addict. I have been for quite some time, but there's a new addiction to add to my list along with purses, shoes and of course smoking. I know I'm weak but I just can't help it. I. Have. To. Have. It. Every day. My afternoon at work just isn't the same without it.

My name is Nikki... and I'm addicted to... Diet Dr. Pepper.

I know most of you are probably shocked because I am not a soda drinker. And if I do drink a soda it certainly doesn't have caffeine in it. Well I am and it does! And yes, I do suffer from the dreaded heartburn after drinking just one of these little babies. But I have to have it!
I haven't hit rock bottom with my addiction yet- I refuse to buy it for the house. That's all I would need. I'd be all hopped up on caffeine, groaning in heartburn pain, organizing and re-organizing everything, eyes bugging out of my head.

I won't let it break me. I will not bring this stuff into my home. I will not be out in some dark alley grocery store in the middle of the night looking for my next fix. I can handle this- I will get through. Pray for me...

My trip to Central America: Part Dos

We left the Madison airport at 7 am on Saturday March 28th and landed in St. Louis at 8:10am. After a 3 hour layover, some food and way too many bloody mary's and Brutus beers we almost missed our connecting flight to New Orleans- but made it on just in time and a little tipsy!


We arrived in New Orleans to 65 degree weather at 1pm and grabbed a cab to our hotel- The Inn on Bourbon St. We quickly freshened up, changed our clothes and hit the streets grabbing a much popular Hurricane drink to go. I'm sure most of you know that drinking on the streets is permitted in New Orleans as long as you do not have glass. We did a lot of exploring... and shopping... and drinking! We watched a small parade on horses as well as a wedding parade dancing through the streets.

We hit Jackson Square which is a popular place for street vendors, psychic readers and street performers.

This was a watercolor painting that I feel in love with in Jackson Square. It's a picture of the corner of Bourbon St and Toulouse St with our hotel in the background. I would have loved to purchase it but being our first day of vacation I didn't want to shell out the $90 dollars!



We walked around the park in Jackson square and went to the St. Louis Cathedral- one of the oldest cathedrals still in service. The church was beginning to fill up for 5 o'clock mass.


I was absolutely amazed at how busy the town was since Mardi Gras was only 2 weeks prior to us being there. I can't even imagine what the town is like during Mardi Gras and actually don't think I'd like to be there for it!




We started to head back to our hotel around 5pm as we had made reservations at the popular and very fancy Comannders Palace Restaurant for an 8pm dinner. On the way we got sucked into a little jazz bar where the trumpet player fell in love with Missy!



We changed into our dinner dresses and grabbed a cab to the restaurant. Our dinner was amazing and the restaurant was really neat with some of the best service I've ever had. After dinner we hit a liquor store to buy vodka to put in our water bottles to smuggle onto the cruise boat, had a few more drinks (a few too many) and actually hit the hay before midnight!


I purchased a very appropriate t-shirt while we were shopping and the below picture pretty much sums it up. The t-shirt says " I got Bourbon faced on Shit Street"!

Stay tuned for Part Tres- Day 2 of New Orleans and getting on the boat!

My trip to Central America: Part Uno

The much anticipated trip started on Friday March 27th at 7:30pm when I arrived in Madison at Missy's brothers house. We were going to spend the night at Jim's house because he had agreed to drive us to the airport the next morning at 6am so that we wouldn't need to pay for parking for the 10 days we'd be gone.

After arriving, Missy and I had decided to meet some of her friends out for a few bon voyage drinks and I did something that I like to call my "mid-way to midlife crisis" or "grasping at my youth with both hands". You can call it what you want!

Yes, I pierced my eyebrow- again! And I'll leave it at that! That was day one of our trip!

Stay tuned for Part Dos- New Orleans!

Welcome Brooklyn Marie

I had the honor of becoming an Auntie again yesterday! Crystal and Casey welcomed their little bundle of love!

Brooklyn Marie was born 4-13-09 (exactly one month before my birthday)! She weighed in at 5lbs 8oz and is 17 inches long.

I am alive!!!

Yes, I am alive... and well... and home now! Today is my first day back at work and honestly it is nice to be back. The vacation was absolutely amazing but both Missy and I were ready to come home. 10 days is a long time!
I will be posting pictures and stories of each day of our trip but may not get to this until later in the week or early next week. Being back to reality kind of sucks! There's unpacking & laundry to do, bills to pay, check book to balance, house to clean, etc!!!
Glad to be back though and it's probably going to take me weeks to catch up on everyone else's blogs!