PARADES

There is no shortage of parades during carnival season. And you really need to pace yourself because you're more than likely attending a parade a day. This year I rolled in Muses again and it was awesome.

Months before the day of the parade preparations begin. You order your throws and start working on shoes. As weeks get closer, you go to bead distribution to pick up your extras. Then there's load-in night. Somehow they manage to place all of your throws in the exact spot where you're standing. Now there's at least 40 women on each float—and at least 30 floats. How they coordinate such a spectacle I will never understand, but it's majestic to see it in action.

In the meantime, we work on our headdresses for the float. We design a whole headdress around our float's theme. This year was Muse's "sweet 16" so all the floats related to candy. Ours was the Guilty Way--all about crime and corruption.

When the day finally arrives I can barely stand it. I get dressed, load up all my stuff, we pick up Heather and then John drops us off at our pre party. Let the games begin! Time for drinks and snacks with a couple thousand Muses --and then we're off to our floats! We climb onboard and start digging through our bags of throws. Plastic bags are flying everywhere. Music is playing, ladies are laughing and giddy.

By about 7pm ( 5 hours into our day already ) the parade begins. Game on. Hail Muses!