This is an exciting time of the year with lots of events and holidays. For one week I'll have Mardi Gras decorations on my garden window!
These few decorations were bought at the 99 cent store, except for the fan. I hope to increase my collection little by little, so in the meantime I have a few beads, coins and the masks in the traditional purple, green and gold colors.
Tip: If you need an amazing mask for a Mardi Gras party, head over to Julian, CA and visit Pistols and Petticoats located at 2116 Main Street (upstairs). They have the best half and full masks at very affordable prices, it really is cheaper to buy it there than to make one yourself. That's where I got the cute purple feather fan!
As for San Diego Mardi Gras parties...check them out:
In Mexico, Valentine's Day is commonly marketed as "El Dia del Amor y la Amistad" which is the Day of Love and Friendship. Since this year I don't have a love, at least I shared the day with lots of friends at a kick-ass brutal metal concert!
The day didn't start very brutal though, I took a day off from writing, blogging and social media to spend it talking online with my friends overseas and from my hometown. I received as a gift from "someone" a box of yummy chocolates, which normally would last me up to a week since I don't have too big of a sweet tooth, but today the box was devoured as I watched - for the 100th time - the movie Sense and Sensibility.
For the rest of the day, I took my time to get ready for a concert at the House of Blues San Diego. The band I really wanted to see, Eluveitie, is one of the bands I'm obsessed with. They're a Swiss Folk/Melodic Death Metal band who combine all types of instruments and vocals; at least 5 of their songs are on the Warrior playlist I listen to when I'm at the gym.
Normally I take care of being well away from the mosh pit since I want to leave with fond memories and not bruises. Not this time! When the band started playing I was more or less in the middle of the stage with three rows of people in front of me. Once the mosh pit and pushing began I was able to get up front with only one row in front of me - unfortunately there was a very tall guy that blocked my view.
At times it would get very claustrophobic, I could barely breath or move; but I wasn't hurt, only my hair got pulled when a guy crowd-surfed just above me. The energy was awesome and it was totally worth being in the front. Also, I see this as training since my ultimate goal is to be in front at a Slayer concert....don't ask me why, I must have a death wish!
The rest of the time at the concert I hung out with my friends and we had an excellent time. It was a great date night for couples!
The concert ended relatively early (before midnight) and I had so much energy I couldn't go home yet, so I decided to get to The Ould Sod to take more pics with my other friends. That didn't work out as planned, as soon as I got there the adrenaline just melted away, I felt so tired I just couldn't stay and went home after only 10 minutes. At least I got to see my friends for a bit.
To start off, I don't like Valentine's Day, even when I have a boyfriend I completely avoid going out that day. Last year there was a last-minute San Diego Beer Club MeetUp at a local restaurant and I happily attended it only to be surrounded by women and very few men. I'm excited about this year though, I have tickets to go and see an amazing Folk Metal Band called Eluveitie at the House of Blues, several of my metal friends will be there, so it will be just perfect!
But I digress, I wasn't too excited about putting up lovey-dovey decorations, but my next door neighbor put up a nice and tasteful flower arrangement, so it was on!
I made a bouquet of 6 crepe red roses using Martha Stewart Crepe Paper Roses Kit. Unfortunately this item has been discontinued (what a shame!) good thing I had bought almost every one of the kits and made lots of bouquets for my friends and family. This was the last I had and now it's in my window.
In order to make the window look more festive and less traditional, I decided to use picture frames of my family as couples, which is the point of the "holiday", right?
To finish it off I added some color with scraps of fabric and voila! I have my Valentine's Day decorations .....can't wait to take it down and put up Mardi Gras!!
So there we were promptly at 8 AM at the Mission Bay Hilton, dressed in upscale casual clothing, some of us in flats, others in 3 - 5 inch heels (ouch!) waiting to be told what to do. The first task was to walk towards the Hilton looking excited to be there, as we were walking I chatted with a fellow extra and we looked excited as we talked about our matching side-braid.
Then we stood outside near the lobby and had to shout our excitement over Randy coming to San Diego (3 takes). After that we had to stand on the other side and start shouting, clapping and being incredibly excited when a big rig with Randy on it came around the corner (2 takes on that one).
Our next task was to go inside a tent (looking excited) filled with vendor booths, a stage, wedding dresses and accessories. We were asked to pair up with someone and just look around while we were being filmed. That part was so fun! The extras had a yellow wrist band and we saw some ladies with a purple wrist band, turns out they bought a ticket to be there and have a consultant, those were real brides-to-be!
I had a great time with my partner, we looked at every dress, it doesn't matter if you have no intention of getting married, looking at wedding gowns is an enormous treat! Here I confess I had no idea who Randy Fenoli was, but now I love him, the guy is so sweet. There was a point when we had to gather round to watch him on stage giving his opening lines, which he did a few times, and really, he made us all leave feeling special and beautiful.
I really hope Randy to the Rescue is a successful show, and for those of you interested in being cast as an extra for other shows, check out Tina Real's site. Here's the promo for Randy to the Rescue:
