Only in the South. I kickoff my Christmas break in Jackson, MS

Well my holiday break sure started off with a bang. I traveled to Jackson, Mississippi to visit my best friend in our Master's program, Kate Royals, that hails from there. It was a nice little drive, just under three hours up Highway 55 and I enjoyed it immensely. This was my first trip to visit Ms and not just pass through it, which was the case last time on my move out to Jacksonville, Fl.

Gosh, sometimes I get so caught up in Kyle and I's life together that I forget to plan a girls weekend every once in a while so I can fill my cup of friendship, gossip, laughter and a good cry. I pulled in Friday evening to her stunning home and I instantly felt comfortable.

I want to tell you a little bit about Kate so you know how wonderful a friend she is to me. We met our first day of grad school orientation and I knew within moments she was a keeper! One of those life-long friend type of gals. After a couple hours of talking, I knew why I liked her so much and was drawn to her so easily. She reminded me of my BFF Lacie. Kate was a Kappa Delta in her undergrad, as was Lace. Lace actually spent a short time living in Mississippi and both give me the warm and fuzzies when I'm around them. They're so inviting and kind, good listeners, have great families and are characters in their own way. The one distinguishable difference between the two? Kate is very liberal, as am I; Lace is very conservative. Oddly enough, Lace and I get along beautifully and couldn't be better friends. I can only imagine what it will be like to have all three of us together at some point. I'm sure it will be a fiasco of some sort. I'm looking forward to that day. Any how, Kate and I have only been friends for a few months so I'm still learning things about her. Including this amazing article she wrote for the Huffington Post, God and Abstinence. She is a talented writer! I can only hope to have half the skill she has some day....  "Stop, don't touch me there! You know this is my no-no square." You will only get this reference if you read the article she wrote. SO READ IT!


We started our evening at Babalus Tacos and Tapas. Here's our first toast to finishing our first semester of grad school with impressive GPAs. This was the first of many "cheers" we did that night. Kate's cousin Corbin joined us there shortly after. After some delicious tapas, including a crawfish-stuffed enchilada for yours truly, and a few bubbly margaritas, we went to one of the towny bars where the younger crowds frequent.

Before entering, this mini van was backing out (or attempting to back out) when a horrified and angelic face looked out the passenger side window and hollered for help. These two young gals, clearly not even out of high school, were trying to back their mom's mini van out of a tight spot and just couldn't do it! So, I thought "well I can't let them miss curfew or scratch up their mom's mini van" so I stuck out my palm and signaled for her to give me the keys and get our of the driver seat. And in less than a minute, me in my 5-inch heel and my still broken-foot-boot-wearing-self had that van out of that tight squeeze lickedy split! Then off to take some shots we went.

And No, I don't know what I'm doing with my hand!

So, we listened to some music, North Mississippi Allstars (you can hear them in the background of the video clip) danced and I met some of Kate's high school and undergrad friends and I was crowned MVP of the night for my good deeds and sporting my sexy boot.

Yep, it was pretty much a COMPLETE SUCCESS!

I enjoyed meeting her parents and hearing some of her dad's trial stories from his 30+ years as a criminal defense attorney and then Sunday morning came and on my way back to the bayou I went.

Oh but wait, I leave you with my 'Only in the South' moment of the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, following a morning of recovering from our Friday night adventures, we went to a local gas station turned cafe "Mimi's". It is an adorable cafe that opened up just more than a year ago I think and it was delightful and delicious. In fact, we got to meet Mimi herself. Here she is in a photo opp with Kate and myself.

Check out the cafe at, Mimisfamilyandfriends. I also walked away with, well I mean ate in 30 seconds before we scooted out the door, a delicious homemade chocolate chip and pecan cookie. Mm mm good!

We then walked around downtown Jackson and came across the diner that a scene from The Help was filmed. Ya'll know I loved the book and the movie was pretty good too!

I had a grand time and I hope to make a visit again. Gotta run!