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"Happy Fat Tuesday! I had a cookie for a post-breakfast snack, so I feel like I&amp;#x27;ve celebrated properly. But lots of people will be doing far more celebrating than me today. Because Mardi Gras is obviously a major deal, especially in New Orleans. That&amp;#x27;s a whole bunch of friends and me, in the Big Easy for a bachelorette party! I only lasted in those shoes for about half an hour. I&amp;#x27;m kind of sad that the one time I went to New Orleans it wasn&amp;#x27;t during Mardi Gras, so I&amp;#x27;ve never experienced the whole parades and masquerade balls and bead-throwing extravaganza--although come to think of it, there were pretty much all those things even during non-Mardi Gras time. Less so now that I&amp;#x27;m older and get all stressed out by noise and crowds, but back in my college days I loved the excitement of huge celebrations like this. For instance, I used to love going to celebrate Halloween down in Athens, Ohio, where I would head to the big street party with my college best friend and her Ohio University roommates, wearing slightly-too-skimpy costumes in the definitely-too-cold October weather. (And you know, occasionally kissing random boys for warmth. Don&amp;#x27;t judge. You know you did that at 19 too!) And once I went to this fantastic beer festival in Austria that was sort of like a mini-Oktoberfest (you might have caught my unusual outfit in this photo of my sister and me), and still ranks as one of my top five most fun days of life. Maybe neither of those compare to Mardi Gras, but they both made for some great memories! What&amp;#x27;s the craziest party you&amp;#x27;ve ever been to? Details, please! Have you ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? Would you even want to? Party party party: *Dating: How to Deal With a Horrendous Party Date *Ask a Guy: &amp;amp;#8220;How Can a Girl Get Noticed At a Party?&amp;amp;#8221; *Genius Party Idea: An Oscar Costume Party!"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/sex-love-life/blogs/smitten/2013/02/in-honor-of-mardi-gras-lets-di>