And Everywhere Else It's Just Tuesday

So I made it through another Mardi Gras. Even though I didn't catch any totally amazing throws (or amazing enough to blog about), I did have a pretty successful Mardi Gras. I wanted to give a brief recap of my seven days of partying like a rock star in the best city on the planet.

There were some great one liners.

Scene: Sitting at a bar talking to some friends, with a group of young (I'm not sure they were even suppose to be at the bar) gentlemen sitting next to us. One of the guys is way beyond the point of a happy buzz and is chain smoking as he struggles to balance on his chair.

His friend loudly says to him "Hey- ash your cigarette" We look over and see him turn his glazed eyes slowly to his friend and then to his cigarette, which is 90% ash. He taps it on the ash tray. His friend responds "good- you were really starting to look white trash."

Scene: After marching in a parade dressed up as mermaids, my friends and I are piled into a car heading home. We think we see someone we know on the street, so Steph makes a U-turn, pulls up to the guys and shouts their name (or the name of the person we thought we recognized). It wasn't him. The two guys look at us and Steph explains "Sorry- wrong person." To which one of the guys replies "want to give us a ride?" Rachel and I quickly say 'no,' but Steph asks "how old are you?" They answer at the same time: "32" "17" We guessed they were about 21 and left them to enjoy their night stroll together.

If I was going to get in a car with total strangers, it would definitely be with angry mermaids.

There was some really good food eaten.

Mardi Gras is by far my favorite time of year but I am always happy when it is over. One time my dad and I had a conversation about the most calories we have consumed in a day. I told him it was easily over 4,000 and he didn't believe me. Then I walked him through a typical day during Mardi Gras. He quickly agreed. After all of the gumbo, red beans, Zapp's, and fast food consumed I wish there was a way to purge myself like a crawfish (but without the whole dying and being eaten thing).

In fact, Steph and I shared a goal of obtaining Mardi Gras boyfriends (out of towners who were  nice to look at that would do our bidding for us for a few days). My MG BF would have to scramble around the bottom of the ladder and pick up any good beads I dropped (I told you I am shameless). Steph's MG BF needed to go get her Wendy's every morning to help her fight ethanol poisoning. In a weird twist of fate, Steph ended up being my MG BF when she lured me out of bed with a double stack on Mardi Gras day.

There were some amazing moments.

If Steph hadn't shown up with the greasy goodness, I would have never made it downtown. The French Quarter on Fat Tuesday is surreal. It's like walking in a Tim Burton dream. It's amazing.

As I mentioned before, I love just about everything about Mardi Gras. If you step back to look- there are so many beautiful sights. This Mardi Gras- I got to witness one that tops my list. We made it to the river as the Saint Anne's parade gathered near the water. We watched as participants threw ashes of loved ones into the river as a final farewell on Fat Tuesday. It might sound weird to some of you, but I can't think of a better send off than that- a crowd of revelers pausing the party to say goodbye to loved ones in their Mardi Gras finest (including large men in silver hot shorts and pink boas). It's New Orleans and it's Mardi Gras. And everywhere else it's just Tuesday.