After 4 years of Mardi Gras celebrations, I’m suffering from major FOMO on the New Orleans fun this year! Gets me feeling all kinds of nostalgia, and thinking about the reasons to get the party started regardless of what city you’re in or whether you know what it means to miss New Orleans!

1. Purple, green & gold

The colors of Mardi Gras are a super celeb ratory party color block style! With purple representing justice, green representing faith, and gold representing power. No shame in the mix of weekend night shades of gold metallic, neon green, lilac game!

2. Masks

For those nights when you’re just not feeling your eye make-up shade, and wishing you could go out all mysterious-like, incognito! The answer is...Mardi Gras Masks! Yup, a party with coverage, and intrigue.. Kind of all underground, spyish and what not! How can you resist??

3. King cake

Introducing the holy dessert celebration of Mardi Gras! It’s not just an opportunity for dessert & outfit twinning, but a super delicious Mardi Gras colored cake. Oval shaped representing unity of faith, and there’s even a hidden plastic baby inside for luck & prosperity for that one slice owner! I personally think it represents fav glaze donut and put a lot of sugar in my cupcake sweets! AKA the perfect union!

4. Beads

No strings attached bead throwing! It’s a little raunchy but involves oh so necessary flirtation to “get those beads!” The bigger the better, the more colorful they are the more bragging rights granted! Yup, if you get them flaunt them, rock those with pride! It’s ain’t a Mardi Gras party until there’s a story to tell behind the acquisition of those beads! Ssshh we’ll keep that one between us gals!

5. Parades

Ok, this one may be a little challenging to pull off if you’re not actually in New Orleans, but there’s always an impromptu runway show, or selfie cat walk! In New Orleans they’re huge floats, in another city they may be ice cream flavored or you can throw a couple of kiddie pool floats over your biceps and show em what you’re made of!

6. Fat Tuesday

In New Orleans, we’d stay up all night for the biggest party of them all! This year, I’m thinking all night food gorge! Skipping the purple & green, I’ll likely go straight for the late night red italian sauced pizza, and honor the gold with golden mozzarella stix at my local diner. Proving that Mardi Gras traditions can still be applied to my post-college, new found adulting lifestyle :)!