New Orleans Moments Southern Style

So many great times this past weekend…some uniquely New Orleans moments that made up a wonderful visit to one of my favorite cities in the U.S.

This past weekend I was in NOLA for the Southern Style Now Festival chatting about the influence of southern design. The bonus to this fabulous and inspiring weekend was spending time with one of my best friends FF and her hubby CCF at their stunning NOLA mansion on St. Charles Ave, known as the ‘Wedding Cake House’…pictured above… Their house is a Victorian colonial-revival home dating back to l896 that they restored about 10 years ago. Today, this all white mansion with all of its columns and decorative detailing is part of the history of New Orleans’ Garden District…a New Orleans landmark. We spent most of the weekend at the house hanging out with FF’s family and friends and somehow she effortlessly hosted a party for 80..yes 8-0 people, while I was there! New Orleans is one of my favorite places to visit, not just to visit friends, but to be surrounded by a sense of hospitality and amazing design everywhere you look…it is so different from the hustle of Los Angeles.The weekend was filled with a pace of life that I wish I would adopt more often…We had Louisiana farm fresh eggs given to FF as a gift from a family member’s farm, fruit salad I made for breakfast and lunch at La Casita Taqueria on Oak Street. I also had soft shell crab and bread pudding at Clancy’s. FF and CCF also had a crawfish boil party with crawfish, jambalaya, fried catfish and strawberry green salad…calories don’t count in NOLA right?? The inaugural Southern Style Now Festival was such a success! I was a part of their blogger panel where several Southerners and I discussed the business of blogging…do not ask me how they let a California girl be a part of this panel but I’m not complaining…it was such a honor! The weekend was a few days of soireés with top designers and bloggers across the country. I was among my peers and it was fabulous, people like Vicki Bolick from Ace of Space, Paloma Contreras from La Dolce Vita, Toma Clark Haines from The Antiques Diva, Courtney from French Country Cottage and Jamie Meares from I Suwannee. We started the weekend off with a cocktail party at former Domino editor Sara Ruffin Costello’s home where she designed, among other noteworthy details, stunning walls with green trellis in an indoor nook!Southern Style Now partnered with Traditional Home to design a showhouse in the heart of NOLA. We saw a master bedroom balcony in blue and white designed by Paloma Contreras of @LaDolceVitaBlog, a blue and white den Chinoiserie style and a beautiful white painted iron railing outside the show house. Was able to glean some design inspiration from that house tour. I came home so ready to get started on this next season of designs at COCOCOZY.Already planning my next trip back to the south! Thank you to FF, CCF and godson CGF for entertaining me for a great weekend. Was so great seeing FF and CCFs family and friends including her sister SG, CF and her fiance TB, TF and wife KF, and seeing FF’s best of friend in NOLA and my good friend FM and her hubby CM. I feel like I have a wonderful community of people in NOLA! Love them.