Good bye Mardi Gras! Helloooo Lent!

Oh, it has been such a great Mardi Gras Holiday!  Yep, it is a holiday down here in the South!  I've been off of work since Friday and I am dreading going back to work because it has been so nice to have no stress or worries! 

It has been a busy six days!  At first I wondered what I would do with myself, but now, I'm wondering, "Where did the time go?"

Mardi Gras
I was able to get down to New Orleans on Sunday for parades.  I have to say that this was one of the easiest trips I've ever taken.  It only took 1 1/2 hours to get down to the Quarter and find a parking spot.  For Mardi Gras time, that was like "ZOOM".  That never happens.  Plus we were able to find a great parking spot in a really nice (clean, well lit) parking garage.  Not to mention pretty cheap, only $20 for the day. 

We hit 4 parades: Okeanos, Thoth, Bacchus, and Endymion.  Endymion is typically a Saturday parade but due to the torrential rains that our area had on Saturday, they moved the parade to Sunday.  We were on a great corner, Tchoupitoulas and Poydras, that was at the end of the parade routes and were surrounded by great people who were fun to talk to and were polite!

Captain of Okeanos

This is either Okeanos or Thoth.  Can't remember!

King of Bacchus, Andy Garcia!  He was a great king! 

His float was stuck in front of us for about 10 minutes and he really played it up for the crowds!

One of the Bacchus floats.  This year they were playing tribute to World War II vets. 



Crafting

I did get some stitching and scrapping done!  It wasn't all fun down in New Orleans, although a very good time was had down there! What happens in New Orleans, stays in New Orleans! :)

Baby Blanket

I have managed to finish the well and the bucket on the baby blanket.  When you look at it as a whole, I don't feel that I have very much more to do.  So, I hope I can keep it up and continue to work on it!

Butterfly Fairy - Night

On February 27, my sister's birthday, I started the latest project I am doing for her.  I've made some progress on it. 

Scrapping

I even managed to get one page done of scrapping.  Finally I did some pictures of my niece Cassady Hope.  In these pictures she was 7 months old.  So I've got some catching up to do and a pile of pictures to finish off!

Well, that's all I have for now!  I go back to work tomorrow.  Yuck!  I had an interview with a headhunter today that went very well, so now I am just waiting on a call back.  Friday brings Stacy and Marly Grace into town.  They are spending Friday night with me before they head off on a cruise.  I can't wait to have a night out with them! 

The 40 days of Lent started today.  For Lent I am giving up all fast food, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Burger King, and Sonic.  Which will really limit when I go out for lunch during the work week but will also  help with me saving money! :)

Till later!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring has hit the South!  Everything is green with pollen and thus allergies have kicked into high gear!  The weather has been gorgeous but I can only venture out for a few minutes at a time before I start sneezing.  Breathing through my nose is non-existent at this point and my new best friend is my box of Kleenex!!!  But I'm not complaining!  I am loving the warm weather!  I was even able to get out and plant some new flowers this past weekend!  Got the hanging baskets out on the balcony again!  Yay!

I've been working on several projects!  I love making progess and letting people see it!  I look forward to the finished products!

Baby Quilt
I've been working on Cassady Hope's baby quilt.  She turns 2 at the end of March and I really hope to have it finished by then!  By making sure that I work on it a little bit every day, I've made great progress!

I've finished all the satin stitches in the border!

I was home sick (allergy related) one day last week and finished the puppy dog and two small flowers:

This weekend, while listening to LSU whoop up on Holy Cross, I started working on the bucket.  I didn't finish because I was pretty restless but I came close.  Just a few more crosses and then the back stitching and it will be over.

Dragon Knot 2
I've also been working on Dragon Knot 2 (HAED).  It is coming right along!  I've finished another page (it wasn't a full page of stitching).  I hope to finish this project this year (yes, I've been saying that for the last 2 years!).

The Butterfly Fairy
Yesterday was my sister's birthday so I started on her next present.  The Night Butterfly Fairy.  I took a picture but it came out extremely dark so I am going to pass posting a progress picture at this point.  It wasn't much of a start anyway, just a teeny bit of the upper left corner!  I'm hoping to finish this for Christmas! 

LSU Baseball
Woo hoo!  The Tigers are starting the season off undefeated!  Yay!  They are crushing their opponents!  I'm hoping that this continues on into SEC play!  They have played 7 games so far and have reached double digits in each game except 1.  Pretty impressive! 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day
Hope that everyone had a nice day!  Whether you celebrated/recognized the day as Valentine's Day or not.  It was a pretty spring day here in South Louisiana, although I didn't really get to enjoy it as I had to work.  But I did get some Valentine's goodies!  My parents gave me flowers and my favorite, chocolate covered cherries.  Then my boss gave me some chocolate covered cherries and some chocolate liqueurs.  So, it turned out to be an ok day.  LOL Today is also my parents' 36th wedding anniversary.  Can't believe they have been married that long (my mom says it surprises her too! lol)!!

Busy Weekend
It was a beautiful spring weekend.  The sun was shining all weekend and the temperatures warmed up!  I'm just hoping it stays like this through next weekend when the Mardi Gras parades start!  I even pulled up some of the dead plants out on my patio and started re-planting.  My dad gave me a bulb that will grown into an elephant ear.  We'll see if I kill that one or not!!

Lots of projects
I guess the beautiful weather had me feeling so good that I worked on a bunch of projects! 


I FINALLY scrapped the photos from my vacation in August with Jill.  Two pages worth!  It came out cute. I am a very amateur scrapbooker.  My layouts are very simple but I like them none the less! I hope that with Mardi Gras I will have a few more pages to scrap!  Those are the most fun!

I pulled out a couple of different cross stitch projects to work on and even kitted up and started a new one!

I worked on Cassady Hope's baby quilt.  I'm just working at the satin stitches in the border.  I should be done with this project but I've avoided it.  As I've avoided Brendan's baby quilt too.  So I am determined to work on this project a teeny tiny bit each day!

I worked on Dragon Knot 2 (not a lot, but I did pick it up again). The 3rd vertical black line is what I worked on last night for a tiny bit.

I worked, and have spent the majority of my time on, Mirabilia's The Kiss:

I kitted up and started a new one for Cassady Hope, Snow White!  The first one I ever did for her older sister was a portrait of Snow White so now I am doing this one for her.  You can see the basket and part of her skirt forming:

Today, as a treat for myself, I bought some new fabric (had a 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby) to start another new project for my sister (How is this a treat for myself if I am buying it for a project for my sister?).  This is from a booklet containing two patterns for Butterfly Fairies.  One is day and one is night.  I 've completed the day one for her MANY MANY years ago and I'm going to do the night one for her to match.  I hope to have it completed for Christmas or her birthday next year.