A Gay Old Time

Allo good peoples!

How do these posts usually start?

Oh, yes.

Yesterday me and some of the crew of the Texarkana Renaissance Faire participated in the Texarkana Mardi Gras parade. 

The theme of the parade was "decades" so I chose the 1890s (ish) for my group since most of us already have Victorian(ish) costuming from steampunk events. I decorated a 12-ft trailer myself using plastic table cloths, flowers and paper doilies I got from the Just A Dollar that's going out of business so everything was $.69.

The float was supposed to be set up to look like a quaint little cafe on Bourbon Street but I was unable to pick up the bench, cafe table and streetlamp from my mom's place. So two of our dining chairs, plus two TV trays were set up to kind of act as a cafe setting. The day I was working on the float I saw one of the neighbors had been evicted and all of their furniture was out on the lawn, headed to be burned because it reeked horrifically of cat pish and other odors of general uncleanliness.

I was in need of two more chairs for the float so I held my breath and got two of their dining chairs and gave them a thorough power spray down after soaking the cushions in baking soda and Dawn dish soap. 

The ride down to the parade site made the float decor a little wonky but by that time I kind of didn't care anymore. I was so burnt out on float decorating.

Many of our folks were in Galveston for their Mardi Gras as the Pirates of the Caribbean so we were missing a few familiar faces. The good thing is, we had a few folks come in from Shreveport, LA to join us so we had plenty of folks!

My view from the float.

We dropped the kiddos off at their cousin's birthday party before the parade, so me and the husband were able to get in a little "us time" doing what we love to do: 

Looking weird and eating Cajun food.

Even at a crazy event like Mardi Gras we get stares but they're mostly followed by compliments and requests for photos. I actually love the attention and I love when little girls run up to me giggling and squealing because I look like some kind of Disney Princesses reject.

Have you ever had Étouffée? It's a very popular cajun dish; a kind of stew of shellfish served over rice. It's usually made with crawfish but this vendor was selling it with shrimp which makes it a little more affordable to make and sell. Still great tho!

The band featured at Mardi Gras was a group called Pelican212; a Dixieland style family band fronted by twin 11-year old trumpet players in shiny suits and glittery hi-top sneakers. They've been on Little Big Shots and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and they are so full of spunk and raw talent.

The adorable gorup!

You can see one of their amazing performances on Steve Harvey's Little Big Shots here:

Did you do anything for Mardi Gras this weekend?

Catch up, ketchup, catsup...

Sa

Saturday:

I bought myself a toy.

Seriously, I bought myself a $1 Yellow Submarine Hot Wheels. I said it was for the kids, but it's mine. MINE!

So, let's get caught up. 

My freelance social media management business is doing great! I get to work for super super cool companies that I simply adore. I'm not going to give names (just a courtesy thing) but I'm currently working for an American Tribal Style belly dance collaborative, a Russian merchandise store (totes in love with it), a clogging dance team (!) and a child abuse awareness program.

So basically what I do is update their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest accounts for them using my wicked self-taught marketing skillz to help them gain clients and more sales and stuff.

I frigging love it. If you need help with something just gimme a holler, I can squeeze in a couple more clients (and I'm cheap too!).

I'm also helping out with the city's Mardi Gras parade this year. I've volunteered to coordinate the kid and pet parade, helping design flyers and promoting and all that good stuff. I can do all that from home so it's been pretty easy to do.

I'm also in charge of the faire's float this year since the new owners will be in Galveston at the BIG Texas Mardi Gras prade to be a part of our friend's crew there. Our friend (Fred Flores) is going to be Jack Sparrow in the parade and many of our folks will be playing the rest of the Pirates of the Caribbean folks with him. So there's that. We got reps in two hotspots during Mardi Gras so YAY.

Here's a sneak peek of my costume for Mardi Gras. The parade theme is "decades" and I chose the 1880s for us since most of us do steampunk stuff and already have victorian-ish clothes... easy peasy. I put this outfit together in about 10 minutes. It's a thrifted hat I bent into a more shape, a satin nightgown, skirt to a Tudor costume, my gypsy overskirt and custom leather waist half-corset. Not the most period correct Victorian costume but I'm cheap and I have no intentions of buying a costume for this. This'll do just fine.

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

 Sunday:

We were running super late for church, so I literally just started picking up clothes off the floor and threw them on. I do that a lot. Coordinating outfits gives me a headache. I like the spontaneous "just grab something" method much better.

Sunday evening we took the kiddies to a park that's new to us. Too lazy to find a different outfit for outdoors play, I just took off the leggings and caftan thingy. The temperature dropped and it got uber windy, I regretted the strip-down but I held my own.

Have you ever seen me show so much leg before? Oooh laa laa! 

And now it's time to go see what you wackos have been up to. Laterz!

Mardi Blah

It's wacky. It's festive. It's steeped in tradition.

It's MARDI GRAS 

(er, Mardi Gras Saturday really - Mardi Gras is Tuesday)

This is Texarkana's third Mardi Gras parade and the area was packed. I like to see that! The parade, which is supposed to be the highlight of the day was kind of lame - but hey, we got to eat some awesome gumbo, fried pork... stuff... and we got to have a nice family outing.

We've all be sick for about a month. We're just spreading the same germs around and it's driving me nuts. I've been running a mild fever for a couple days, I'm coughing up bits of lung but I was more than ready to get out the darn house. Can't keep me from Mardi Gras!

GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! GUMBO! 

What's gumbo you ask? It's a cajun stew I guess you could call it? It's crawfish in some kind of brown stuff, served over rice. You can add anything to your gumbo - traditionally shrimp, andouille, alligator (chicken if you've no gator) and crab.

I think I'm in the wrong line of business. I wanna blow bubbles for a living!

Does this outfit look familiar?

Since I decided to pass on participating in the parade I loaned out my costuming to a good friend who was walking with the rest of the faire folk. Isn't she adorable??

 Isn't this lamé gown awesome? She made it herself. Ruff, hat and all.She's one of my gypsies at the faire and a very, very loyal faire supporter.

 The dress below is also handmade. The lady below is a professional seamstress and sells costumes at the faire. She makes all her own stuff and wedding gowns and all sorts of awesomeness. 

 I got to catch up with the rest of the crew. Isn't it weird seeing me with the guys wearing street clothes?

Why did I pass on the parade? Well me and my husband were going to sign up for a ballroom dancing workshop (true) but we realized at the last minute it was scheduled for the same day as the parade. We REALLY wanted to do the dance class but I got pretty irritated that a city organization would schedule something like that DURING a major event also hosted by the city. So it was kind of my way of boycotting the workshop I guess.

This town isn't big enough for event competition. We all need to work together and when I see stuff like that, I see red. 

I didn't walk with the faire group because well, I'm sick and also I wanted to actually SEE a parade, not be in it. This was the second parade of got to watch and not participate in since I was a little girl. I've been in parades all my life! 

Cray!

Oh, and here's my face... and a Mardi Gras headband I bought for Cedar but thought it would look better on me.

Did you do anything for Mardi Gras this Saturday? Got any plans for Tuesday?

A Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball with a steamy twist

How do these post always start off? Ok, here goes:

Last night me and my crew hosted - insert event here:

A Mardi Gras Masqerade Ball with a steampunk theme.

It was so much - insert adjective here:

Fun.

The attendance was - insert disappointing number here:

about 20. 

I have no idea where everyone was last night. Many of our event usuals and local steampunk enthusiasts were missing. Most of the people who bought tickets in advance and contest winners didn't even show up.

My best guess is because:

 1. There was a Mardi Gras parade earlier that day so people were probably pooped from that.

2. We hosted the event at a new and rather unfamiliar location.

3. Mardi Gras is still pretty new to our town.

4. Mari Gras + Steampunk = mind boggling concept to the average person.

So really, it turned out to be like a little mixer with a little dancing.

Ugh, I've thrown spontaneous HOUSE parties where more than 20 people came.

MY $5 MARDI GRAS STEAMPUNK COSTUME:

As usual I didn't buy anything for this costume except for the green top hat I revamped.

**Check out my post about making it HERE!!**

Thrifted blouse

Bodice, worn inside out, made by a friend last year, last seen here:

Green overskirt- $5 find from Etsy a couple years ago + purple silk sari skirt tucked and pinned, last seen here:

The makeup and da face.

The PARTY!!

The husband!

 Bustin' a move!

ME!!

Drinking my first Hurricane after a loooong night of socializing and goofery.

 (The Hurricane is kind of the official mixed drink of Mardi Gras)

So yeah, that's it.

Time to go blog stalk! So you all next week!!