Mardi Gras New Orleans 2017

HAPPY FAT TUESDAY!!

This is an areal view of what Mardi Gras in the French Quarters in New Orleans looked like this past weekend.  Of course we had sense enough to stay away from this area of town, as you can see why. Our adventure started of with my husband and two children ages 12 and 15, and one of my best friends who lives in New Orleans attending a parade Friday night.  Thank God for her, because she knew exactly which streets to avoid, where the parade routes started and ended, and which back roads to take to get there.  Saturday we attended one of the most popular parades, which was the Endymion parade.  Several other friend joined us at this parade and we had a blast.  There was a DJ, people dancing in the street, people grilling, and everyone just have an awesome time.  The parade began and the kids, and me too :), had fun catching as many beads as we could.

Our adventure didn't stop there, of course we had to taste some of the food that New Orleans has to offer.  One restaurant we tried for brunch was the Ruby Slipper located on Magazine Street, near the University Area.  I had the Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes stuffed with Cream Cheese served with chicken sausage and a cup of coffee, my daughter had the French Toast Batons tossed in powdered sugared and served with applewood bacon, my son build his own omelette, and my two friends had specials that were not on the menu.  The adults had adult beverages with our brunch, and one to go, yes you can take alcoholic beverages to go in Louisiana, gotta love Louisiana.

 After our wonderful brunch, we browsed through all of the unique shops that were along magazine street and discovered some very unique finds. 

New Orleans is a very unique, nostalgic, and a city rich in history, and I would encourage anyone who has not visited this wonderful city to visit and taste New Orleans.  

Super Bowl L1 Halftime Show

So, I decided to volunteer for Super Bowl activities since it was being held in my city.  I filled out a volunteer application and received a response that they had met their quota and I would be placed on a waiting list.  I was kind of bummed, then got over it.  About a month later I received an email stating they needed extra people in a certain area, and guess what that area was....  helping with the halftime show.   I read the email a second and third time and thought to myself this cannot be real.  I began checking credential for the production company and sure enough it was real.  I then began filling out my application, including information for a background check, and later found out I was going to be paid to volunteer for this gig.

SaveSave

Although, this wasn't an ordinary gig, at our orientation I found out I would be setting up Lady Gaga's stage for the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and also rehearsing with her.  I was so excited because I would be part of two of my favorite things, live entertainment and football.  

Our rehearsals consisted of moving our "carts" in and out the stadium. Picture above is an actual picture of us bringing in our"carts".   The purpose of bringing our "carts" in and out over and over again so that we can have everything set up and waiting for Lady Gaga to perform within 6 minutes. 

On the third day Lady Gaga arrived at the stadium to begin her rehearsals, she was so pleased to see her stage.  She ran around the field and gave everyone hi-fives, hugging and kisses her crew she was very happy and very personable.  Her mother was also there to watch her rehearse.

 After about a week in a half of watching the lighting, sound, pyrotechnic, and even Lady Gaga rehearse, the big day finally came.  On the big game day we all arrived at a local football stadium, ate and loaded on to our buses, where we were then police escorted to the stadium.  Once on the stadium ground, it was so exciting.  People like Simone Byles, coaches, former president George Bush were all passing in front of us.  Dogs, The S.W.A.T. Team, National Security were everywhere.  

While standing amist of all of this action, in our assigned areas, we were patiently awaiting for the second quarter to end.  While waiting to go into the stadium it felt very surreal.  I felt excited and anxious at the same time, because this was the day we all worked so hard to prepare for.  

We all rolled our "carts" in.  Once I entered the stadium and saw people sitting in every seat from the top of the stadium to the bottom of the stadium, I felt so thrilled and privileged to have been part of such an awesome event.  

Once in the stadium, we positioned our "cart" in the exact area, like practiced, and moved out of the way and stood at the Falcon's enzone and watched an awesome show that we had been preparing for.  

As I look up a  partially opened roof at the fireworks my eyes began to water, not because I was sad, but because I was so happy to have been part of such an awesome event and to meet such awesome people, and also that this was the end of a once in a life time experience.  I would definitely do this again.

Oh by the way, we got the stage set up and all of the equipment into the stadium way under 6 minutes!!!