Thoughts from the morning after a parade...

Last night, I rode in a Mardi Gras parade. Here are a few lingering thoughts from last night, as I sit here, in pretty rough shape at my desk the morning after.
1. Wigs are itchy. Everyday wig-wearers (I'm looking at you, Kim Zolciack-Married name), how do you do it? How do you tolerate the itchiness of a wig and the fact that it often gets askew?
2. If some of the stuff I threw to you had blood on it, I am sorry (and disease free, so don't worry!). Somehow all my fingers started bleeding at the same time.I'm blaming my homemade customized fingerless gloves for that. Which leads me to my next thing...
3. My fingernails hurt.
4. If you hold up a sign saying that you have a peg-leg, I will probably throw you a shoe. I saw two of these last night and both peg-legged gentlemen received shoes from me.
5. The punk rock version of the Mary Tyler Moore Show theme song is annoying. Behind my float, a semi-skanky dance crew did their thing (think grown women in tutus, ripped fishnets, knee-high boots, and tank tops with beefcake type men to accompany and regulate the touching from the crowd). The dancers weren't bad, but their choice of  music was highly questionable, not to mention the fact that it was the same 6 songs on repeat for 5 hours or so.

Anyway, Carnival season is officially upon us! A big thanks to everyone who made a sign for me last night! yay!

Happy Friday!

Lovely Things: Jewelry

Confession: I sometimes go to bhldn.com. Yes, it is a bridal website. No, I am not getting married. But they have such pretty things sometimes and not everything is for brides- they have a section for "bridesmaids and party goers", which I frequently am. Anyway, while perusing the site I came across a few pretty things that I thought I'd share.
Like this ring...

http://www.bhldn.com/shop-the-bride-bridal-jewelry/slice-of-sky-ring/productoptionids/a6b3b5d4-b30d-4f80-9a6a-f95eda786957

The aquamarine and gold Slice of Sky ring by Melissa Joy Manning. She makes such gorgeous simple and pretty jewelry. Love it. 

I'm not a huge earring person, but the tassel earrings by Miguel Ases are pretty too!

http://www.bhldn.com/shop-the-bride-bridal-jewelry/tassel-earrings/productoptionids/342632d7-5f2a-429b-89ef-5b539083fa5b

Anyway, that's all for now. Happy Thursday to you! 

Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is upon us in New Orleans! Actually it started around 2 weeks ago, but thanks to a football game, the two weeks were split with a week between, so we had a nice week off in between the weeks of debauchery and what not. In the spirit of all things gold, purple, and green, I have decided to do a post on Mardi Gras essentials- the things that you need to have a good time while Mardi Gras is going on.

1. A bike. Getting a bike changed my life for the much much better. New Orleans is very flat and relatively compact. Mardi Gras is an absolute disaster in terms of parking and traffic, and a bike solves these transportation problems very effectively. Even better than a bike, a tandem bike!

from-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rower_wieloosobowy_by_Zureks.jpg

Okay, maybe not for this many people. But a bicycle built for two is super fun for Mardi Gras! A dear dear friend let me borrow his a few years ago and it has become the best transportation around town.

2. Kleenex- trust me, you'll need this one.

3. Hand sanitizer- again, trust me.

4. Plenty of koozies- because you will most likely lose a few. Even better- bring a few of your own and catch a few off the floats!

5. Wigs- it's Mardi Gras... why not wear a wig? Also, if when weird stuff gets dumped on your head, at least you have a little protection.

http://www.costumecraze.com/WIG576.html

6. Clothes- only tourists take their clothes off for Mardi Gras. Lock it up.

7. Friends with a tent/spot on the parade route. Preferably those who can cook or have access to a bathroom. Bring them something nice!

8. Adult beverages. Whatever you're into. But if you take a shot in the street from a stranger, you might regret it (speaking from experience).

9. Popeye's. Even if you only eat fried chicken once a year, let it be from Popeye's during Mardi Gras. I don't know what it is, but something about Mardi Gras makes that chicken taste so so good. Don't forget a biscuit. It'll sop up whatever is in your stomach.

10. I'm having trouble thinking of a tenth thing. So we'll just leave it at 9 essential things for Mardi Gras.

Have fun!

And I'm back...

So, it's been a while. Like a year and a half since I last posted anything to this here blog. The Vernacular was started while I was writing my master's thesis in the summer of 2011 (the name, The Vernacular was inspired by the architectural stuff I was researching). After I finished the thesis and was no longer trapped in the library all day, I forgot about the blog. However, I've now decided to start back up. Thanks to some free time on my hands, The Vernacular is back! Yay! So here it goes...

New Crush!

I have a new crush... The state of Michigan! What a wonderful place to be in the summer, even Detroit, which could really use a little love about now.

God Bless Amurrrricaaa!!!!

Party in the U.S.A.

A bit of architectural nerdery

The Monadnock Building. Chicago, IL, built in 1884-85 and 1889-92 by Burnham and Root.

What an incredible building. Built when skyscrapers and steel framed buildings were just taking off, the Monadnock is an all masonry built throwback, not to mention the tallest solid masonry building in the country. It was commissioned by two brothers who did not trust this newfangled stuff called steel, so they insisted on masonry construction. It's abstract, barely detailed, and seems so modern.
Photo from: Wikipedia