Valentine's Day and Mardi Gras

Homemade stuff first: this is my grandmother's costume jewelry bracelet that matched my Mardi Gras dress perfectly, so I had to get Lucas to snap a pic.


And I finished the Split-neck sweater I've been working on since December.


I've worn it to work twice - love it! It just tends to grow in length and become tunic-like, which is fine when being worn with tight pants.


I'm happy with the V-neck, too. Next time I'll make the sleeves a wee bit smaller, but that's a minor issue.


And yet another shout-out to Aprons at Publix, where you sample the meal then buy every ingredient right there at the booth. Dean had a meeting, so I opted to cook Valentine's Day dinner myself - GASP! Publix had a delicious lobster pasta dinner already packaged.


You just throw it on a sheet pan for 11 minutes and voila:


They also had a recommended side item that I fixed, roasted asparagus with tomatoes and pistachios.


And now we pause for our Taiwan cherry tree...which bloomed for approximately 3 days...


and somebody else's tree, which also only bloomed for a few days. I was running and shot this, and the next time I ran every flower was gone.


Now back to homemade stuff. I ordered a 9-skein sample of Willow Sudsy Spray yarn that seems to be targeted at spa items like washcloths, towels, and even spa slippers, and Lucas requested a striped one, so this was the easiest pattern I could find on Ravelry, which is crocheted.


This is a knitted one for myself, and it turned out super soft - love this stuff! Making one for my mom next....did I mention I have 9 more skeins coming that are more striped? It was a 2 for 1, and I can't resist pretty colors.


On to the main event. Drew and his girlfriend came down for his first ride in Endymion, New Orleans' biggest parade on Saturday before Mardi Gras. It's hard to take a good selfie when you're staring straight into the sun.


Here are the boys all costumed up before heading for the float.


Meanwhile, Lucas, Camille, and I headed off in search of the Krewe of Lofcadio, otherwise known as the chefs' parade...because they throw out wooden spoons!


Spoons in hand, we headed to Canal Street for Iris and Tucks, where we met some guys in town from New York for a bachelor party. They were taken with my Auburn beads that Dean had bought in Mobile, though it turns out they never heard of Auburn University, but were big fans of War Eagle bourbon from Kentucky, which I never heard of! I very kindly traded my beads for this one's cup, because that's what you do in New Orleans!


So here's Drew on the float...


and here's a shot of the crowd...


and here's their float coming into the Superdome...


where Camille and I were waiting with a sign so they'd see us. Which was funny, because Dean had no idea we made this. It worked like a charm, then I used it as a table centerpiece so he'd find the table easier - ha! I think it ended up out in the Quarter somewhere, so he'll be like Flat Stanley traveling around the city.


And here's Drew all tuckered out but still smiling. Needless to say, he didn't stay up long enough to see Kiss (none of us did), but he had a great time.


And now they're back at college, and we're mired in that post-fun depression, so I'm starting a new knitting project as therapy. Hope you had a great Mardi Gras...oh, and I realize I didn't mention all the accidents this year, but I'll summarize by saying there were 2 groups run over by vehicles in 2 different states (everybody's okay, amazingly), and 3 men fell off floats and a truck in 3 different states, one right in front of us on Sunday, one in Mississippi who landed on rebar and died, and one in Mobile who was in critical condition on Tuesday. Maybe Mardi Gras isn't so fun....