bonjour mardi gras!

happy mardi gras, lovelies! i love new orleans. always have (our shop name reflects that, methinks). it is a wondrously spooky, southern, historic, well-fed place. i know that mardi gras isn't n'awlins specific, but my love of this holiday stems from my love for this city (note: i do not love crowds and being in new orleans during this holiday happens to make me break out into hives). regardless, i love the energy. most people who aren't from the southeast don't realize that mardi gras is celebrate all along the coastline of the former french territory reach spreading through mississippi, alabama, and even into north florida (though not as much as the rest).

i give up something for lent every year, though it isn't lent-specific either. i just like testing myself and why not kick of a test with a big ole party?! boy, do they have it right!

all of this is to say, i love this day. feast before fasting. gumbo, hurricanes, raucous laughter and my favourite in the world: king cake. i usually get one for my birthday. for some reason, that hasn't happened this year. sad. but it's okay. i've accumulated about thirty king cake recipes (cream cheese filled with sugar sprinkles instead of frosting is my favourite); but i doubt i'll ever make them. instead i purchase straight from nola and have them shipped. i save the little porcelain figures i get in each cake i've had. so i have a shelf of witches, skeletons holding umbrellas, and nameless saints (who share the shelf space with my growing collection of righteous day of the dead figures).

*sigh* it all just makes me terribly happy. i hope y'all take a second and do something festive ala mardi gras today. eat something incredible (jambalaya anyone??!), drink something with rum or bourbon in it (heh), dance to some zydeco, wear beads (but keep your top on...you don't have to of course, but you may want to save the bail money for when you really need it), don a crown, get a fleur de lis tattooed on your hiney i don't care! just have some fun!

so much love,

lu