Fat Tuesday

Happy Mardi Gras, y’all! 

I had a very hard time deciding which Mardi Gras'd colored pants to wear today...

For all of you Yankee and International readers, translated from French, ‘Mardi Gras’ means ‘Fat Tuesday’. The weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday are a time for celebration, gluttony, and debauchery before the fasting days of lent begin on Ash Wednesday. While I haven’t participated in any of the parades or parties this year, I have been honoring the tradition of eating everything in sight. 

It all started on Superbowl Sunday with a crawfish boil at our buddy Ivan’s house. 

Our food tour of Houston continued with Buffalo Burgers at Barnaby’s (quite a delicious tongue twister)...

sushi at The Fish...

Sushi time with my Houston boys.

two trips to Brown Bag Deli for the best Tuna Sandwiches on the planet...

a stop by Menchie’s for my favorite yogurt spot...

a visit to Cafe Brussels for some mussels and Belgian fries...

and finally, the crown jewel of any trip back home: Mexican food. 

Our binging continued in Lake Charles where we enjoyed casino buffets and a fancy steak dinner.   

Then I celebrated Mardi Gras in true fashion today when April and I went to our old place of employment to enjoy some crawfish. 

And of course, I’ve been gorging on lots and lots of King Cake. 

King cake is the traditional dessert served around this time and it is de-lish! It’s basically a huge donut stuffed with some sort of creamy goodness. There’s usually a small plastic baby inside who represents the baby Jesus. The cakes are decorated in purple, green, and gold, each color signifying one of the three wise men.   

It’s definitely my favorite part of the Mardi Gras season, so I’m glad I’m in town for the tail end of it. I’m currently working on finishing up my 4^th King Cake and I’ve sampled the best that Lafayette, Cut Off, and Mandeville have to offer.

Speaking of Fat Tuesday, I’ve decided that this year I am giving up long distance running for lent. Running is my biggest addiction, and so cutting down my mileage is a huge sacrifice. I’m defining a ‘long-distance’ run as anything above 4 miles. I can’t cut jogging out completely because that wouldn’t be fair to Bailey-girl who has grown quite accustomed to her morning forest romps. 

I’m really nervous about how lowering my miles will affect me psychologically. It’s probably my favorite thing on earth and definitely my favorite way to start the day. I can’t imagine not lacing up my shoes and going for an hour long jog whenever I get stressed or need some down time. Hopefully this will give me an opportunity to turn to prayer and scripture as a means to deal with my anxieties, which is kind of the whole sentiment behind the lent season anyway. 

Do any of you participate in lent? If so, what are you giving up?