Happy Mardi Gras!

So for those that are unaware (and apparently live under a rock), today is "Fat Tuesday" aka Mardi Gras. The season of Lent starts tomorrow on Ash Wednesday. I didn't used to celebrate or take part in Lent much at all until the last few years, after making a couple of friends who were Catholic and observed it. I found it interesting, and so decided to start observing it myself the last two or three years.

It's customary to "fast" during Lent by giving up something you enjoy. This year, until Easter when Lent is over, I'm giving up both chocolate and caffeine (in other words, caffeinated drinks). Now (being a girl) I'm a pretty big fan of chocolate. And I'm also a morning coffee drinker and fan of Starbucks, so this should be interesting. I'm preparing to have a pretty nice big headache over the next few days as a result of no caffeine. Unless you're brave, you might want to keep your distance... heh.

So today being Fat Tuesday (typically celebrated by going out and enjoying yourself, especially those things that you're about to start fasting from), I wanted to at the very least go out to dinner with some friends. Jon suggested Yats, an appropriate idea since it's a Cajun (read: New Orleans food) restaurant and they're so big on Mardi Gras. So myself, Lauren, Jon, Doug, and the Broaddi met up in Broad Ripple at Yats. We discovered they were closed to prepare for the Mardi Gras party that evening. So we went to Bazbeaux Pizza for dinner instead. Uh, yeah - where the dinner discussion and talk of what some people were giving up for Lent made me suddenly feel like I was in an episode of Seinfeld. (If you want to know more, ask Jon and Maurice. I'm not sure I'm really at liberty to clarify.)

After dinner, Jon, Lauren, Doug, and I headed back to Yats to check out the party. Doug didn't stay too long, but the rest of us hung around for a bit. It was rocking. Lauren and I managed to pick up some beads (we won't tell how!) and it was free drinks all around. Yay free alcohol! There was no way we could pass that up. Yats seemed to be the happening place for Mardi Gras. Fun was had by all.

So here I am now... to finish up my Fat Tuesday, I had to stop at Starbucks for my last "fix" for a while. I covered all my bases with a peppermint mocha and an espresso brownie. I'm enjoying it now as I prepare for headache central tomorrow. Bleh.

In other news... I'm still working on "getting my head out of my ass" (from the post below). I've got some things in the works, but I'm starting to think maybe I'm not making an effort at the simple things enough - like just communicating more with the people whose paths I cross each day. We all just get so wrapped up in what we're doing, it's easy to forget sometimes that there are other people around us just trying to live their lives too. Anyway...

Enjoy "Fat Tuesday" - it's just about over.