Mardi Gra/Fat Tuesday

HI!

I meant to post this earlier today, but you know how that goes. Time flies by without you noticing :P

Right now I'm watching "The Princess and the Frog" with my hubby. It's at the part where Ray *spoiler alert* passes on and becomes a star. *sniff sniff* *sob* That just chokes me up!

I'm sorry, I'm getting distracted.

There it's done.

Okay, where were we? Ah.

I always like watching that around Mardi Gras. It just gets me in the mood for all the New Orleans goings on this time of year. 

That brings me to the subject of my post. Mardi Gras. A.k.a Fat Tuesday. My family never celebrated Mardi Gras growing up, but being Catholic, Fat Tuesday was always a big day of eating up the last of whatever you were giving up for Lent, before Ash Wednesday. 

I wish people wouldn't look at me like I had a chimpanzee on my head when I have a cross of ashes on my forehead. I realize some people have never heard of it, but it's still kind of ridiculous. Anymore, I just brush it off. (Not the ashes! People's comments.)

So, back to Mardi Gras. I didn't really know the reason why we had never celebrated it until recently. And I was like, oh that's why.

If you didn't know,  here's a link to a website about how it all started and why it's ended up the way it is now. Just go to the history and traditions section.

But I also discovered after reading up on the history of Mari Gras, that I actually kind of like it. The beautiful masks, the beads, the king cake, the beignets (french donuts), the colors, etc.
And if you ever want to visit New Orlean's during Mardi Gras, but have been afraid to because of the wild college spring-breakers, you just have to know where to go. There are family friendly streets to go to that don't allow the wild people or any of that nasty stuff to pass through.

I was really happy to hear that :)

So today, I dressed accordingly:

I even wore my beads to work.

The masks in the pic below are one I've been working on for my Etsy shop.

And here are some random Mardi Gras pictures that I thought looked pretty awesome.

Look what my sister got me for my late Valentine's Day present! Just look at it! IT'S ADORABLE! I need to think up a name for it.....

For dinner tonight I made Chicken breast with Chili seasoning, chopped up tomatoes, and cilantro. It smelled and tasted wonderful!

And french cut beans, just for kicks. I seasoned these with Garam Masala, and Salt and Pepper.

Well since it is so late, I shall end this post here. 

Happy Beginning of Lent to you! And Happy CLEAN Mardi Gras!

Cheers!