Under Construction: Krewe of Muses

I did maybe the coolest thing ever in the history if the world last night. Ok that's an exaggeration but it was still pretty freekin' neat. I'm still learning all about Mardi Gras so I didn't know this but the Krewe of Muses is made up entirely of women and so (appropriately enough) they give away shoes during their parade.

Wait a second, lemme back up and put that into English for those of you who are (like me) ignorant of all things Mardi Gras. The Krewes are the big social groups that are responsible for sponsoring the different parades and hosting the balls during Mardi Gras. Best I can tell they are the adult equivalent to the Greek system in college. The groups are all very different, they have their own personalities if you will, and some are super exclusive while others are open to just about anyone coming or going. Some have been around for literally hundreds of years and some are less than a decade old. Some are super secretive with members who will not admit publicly that they are in fact members, and others are very very liberal and open with membership. Anyway Muses is one of the newer Krewes and as I said, is made up entirely of women. Lots of the Krewes throw things (beads, coins, small children, I dunno) during their parade, or hand out souvenirs to onlookers. If you're familiar with the Zulu coconuts at all you know what I'm talking about. These tokens of Mardi Gras are apparently a really big deal and are considered to be highly priced collectors items almost.

Well come to find out, several women here at the hospital where I work are members of Muses and are responsible for decorating by hand all of the shoes that they give away. I got invited to help make shoes and even though I had really no idea what that meant, I agreed to give it a try. It was awesome! They take old shoes that are donated and literally coat them from heel to tip ion glitter and sequins and feathers. They make these shoes look just ridiculously fantastic!