Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

Today is Fat Tuesday!  If you happen to live in a part of the country (world?) where this has no meaning, it's the last, biggest day to indulge before the start of Lent tomorrow, Ash Wednesday.  In New Orleans, parades will roll all day long as locals and tourists revel until they can't revel no mo'.  Those in the know might tell you the party really gets started the Thursday before Mardi Gras, when the Krewe of MUSES rolls through the streets of New Orleans.

I've been a lucky member of this krewe for almost ten years.  When I was first up for a coveted rider spot on the floats, I thought it would be an incredible once-in-a-lifetime, bucket-list opportunity…and it still is, every year when I return to the fabulous group of women on my float and the city that still pulls our heart strings.  See the woman on the light blue float looking directly into the camera with a deliriously happy look in her eyes?  That would be me.  Oh, I know what it means to miss New Orleans!  I feel blessed each time I return for a visit that I once called that place home and even more blessed that some of its residents still claim me too.

Wishing you a day of indulgence in what makes your heart happy!
Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

In the glitterauge

The Krewe of Muses rolls in just over one week!  Nothing like a deadline to prompt temporary conversion of the dining table to the glitterauge.  Three more pairs of boots are freshly spray-painted outside.  One week is plenty of time to make them parade-fabulous, yes?

Riding with the Muses

Once again, I rolled with the Krewe of Muses in New Orleans Mardi Gras. Oh my word.  How to describe so much fun?  It was such a blast and happened so fast somehow that I hardly took any pictures.  I was on the top deck this time, so taking pictures was a bit less obvious.  Throwing beads and fun goodies like it was going out of style, however, was incredibly obvious.





The best way to describe riding with the Muses is like having a fabulous party with your girlfriends that is so incredibly fun that half the city and a legion of tourists come too.  Making it even better this year were the 610 Stompers right behind our float.  They kept me laughing and dancing all along the ride.  We got a late start this year, but the crowds stayed for us.  As I mentioned in my brief post, people lined the streets from start to finish.  There wasn't a single place that was thinned out.  Miraculously, this was the first year I didn't run out of throws, so I actually had something good for people at the very end.

When we returned home, there were class presentations for the girls.  Their classmates loved the stories and the costume, but especially loved light-up throws and other beads we brought back to share.  The homemade King Cake went over very well too!





Another Mardi Gras over for the year, but this one was full of firsts.  The first Mardi Gras for the girls.  The first time my little family all saw me on a float.  The first time my girls attended any Mardi Gras parades (which they declared the best thing ever).  The first weekend they spent in New Orleans.  The first time they ate beignets (pronounced "ben-yays").  The first visit to NOLA lasting more than a day for my husband, who hadn't been there much since Katrina.  The first time our dear friends who still live there were able to meet both of our girls.  The first time those friends came to the parade to see me ride.



And we get to do it all again next year!

Glitter in progress

With the Muses parade less than a month away, I am woefully behind on glittering shoes (as in, I hadn't started yet!).  I was starting to have bad dreams in which I showed up late for the parade, without my costume, without any glittered shoes, on the wrong day...trauma!

What am I talking about?  The Krewe of Muses, a New Orleans Mardi Gras krewe (club) with the most popular parade for several years running!  The first part of this blog name is "a muse", because I am a member of the Krewe of Muses, made up of the most fabulous, diverse group of women in New Orleans and elsewhere.

 

I joined Muses when we lived in New Orleans and experienced my first parade as a rider the following year after Katrina (2007).  That's me in the photo, looking ecstatic (because I was!).    When I signed up, I thought it would be a bucket list experience, riding in a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade.  Who gets to do that?!  I had no idea how amazing it would be, how much positive energy and thrilling excitement radiates from the crowds, or how wonderfully funny and supportive would be the women on my float.  They have stuck with me through four international moves, sending me a very heavy and expensive care package with all the goodies to make red beans and rice and other treats while I was in Holland, holding my spot without reservation despite the fact that our float itself has a waiting list because so many women want to ride with them.  I flew from Australia to ride with them again last year, and it was even more incredible that I had remembered. Now that I'm back in the States, I could not miss the opportunity to be an official rider again.  The parade rolls on February 7.  I'll be up top on float #18 on the driver's side, so make a big sign and hold it up for me so I can throw you something good!



So, what's this about glitter?  Aside from all the plastic beads and toys and assorted whatnots we throw to the crowds, the most highly prized score from the Muses parade is a glittered high heeled shoe.  We can't throw them for obvious reasons, so parade goers who score a shoe are usually handed one directly and feel very chosen.  It's funny (and wonderful!) how much sheer joy is associated with getting a shoe from the parade.  But of course, before they can be given, they have to be made.  That's where this post comes in.



Last night, I had two girlfriends over for wine, cheese, chocolate and glitter!  I had purchased and collected (thanks, Grandmary!) simple pairs of high heels in good condition from thrift stores (I've never paid more than $5 for a pair).  We spray-painted them gold or silver, and then the glueing and glittering could begin.



Now I have glitter all over myself and my house, even in my refrigerator.  I've given it a good clean, but I think it's a lost cause, at least until Mardi Gras is over.  Keep calm and glitter on!

Happy Mardi Gras!

While the revelry is well underway in New Orleans, I'm back Down Under trying to readjust to "normal" and process the most amazing time I had in that crazy city. A girlfriend here sat down with me for a cuppa and asked me to tell her all about it. I could see her eyes glazing over, as she had no frame of reference with which to understand any of what I was saying. Thinking pictures might help, I showed her a few, and her glazed expression turned to one of shock. She admitted that the best image she'd been able to come up with in her mind was a small parade involving one "float" (which she pictured as a glorified trailer) and me on it with a couple of other women. No wonder she was shocked when I told her I was on float 10 of 26 (on the third parade of the night!), and there are an average of 30 women per float (though mine had over 40).

To my delight, our family friend Grandmary came to witness the goodness firsthand and she shot this video for me (and you!). You'll hear her shouting loud and clear for me, and I'm so glad she did. I never would have spotted her otherwise. Of course, once I throw her some beads, you can hear others take up the call...

Grandmary's spot was downtown, close to the end of a very long parade route. The crowds were thinner (though no less enthusiastic) and most of the Muses had run out of throws. I shot this little video from early on in the parade (on Magazine Street). People often ask me if kids can go to the parades, and the answer is yes, especially in Uptown! They typically perch on Mardi Gras ladders (ladders with seat boxes built onto the top). You'll see those in the video too.

Just in case there is any doubt that the Muses deliver the best Mardi Gras has to offer and the women of my float in particular are exceptionally awesome, the Chicago Tribune ran a little story on Mardi Gras, and look who they featured (can you spot me on the bottom left of the photo?).