When last yuh went Maqueripe...

Last week Sunday the family and I headed west to the Chaguaramas peninsula to take a bike ride and then head to Maqueripe. My boys have NEVER been to Maqueripe as most times when we say beach, that means Maracas.

Though my boys have bikes, I had to rent one so we made our way to the bike rental place...which was closed. And looked like it had been closed for some time. So that was my first surprise on Sunday!

We decided to head straight to Maqueripe. Now I have not been to Maqueripe in over a year (or maybe more), and the last time I went there they were just starting the renovations.

Let me tell you Maqueripe has had a complete makeover and the place is lovely!

Makes me feel like I could visit more often! (if only male sea bathers didn't wear their boxers shorts in the ocean).

Here are some shots I took.

I got pulled over by the police

After a long ass day at the office last evening, I pack up, jump in the car and head out of the parking lot. It's just a couple of minutes to 7 and now starting to get a lil dark.

Driving down Dundonald Street, a police car comes out of Oxford Street and stops while I pass by. A couple seconds later, approaching the red light at the end of the street, I hear the sound of the police siren and think "Steups, damn police does never want to wait eh. What is the damn emergency?" and I pull to the side to let the police pass.

Aye aye, is because the police car comes in front of me and two police officers, one male and female, come out from the vehicle and approach my car. I pull up my handbrakes and switch off.

The male officer asks me, "Why aren't your lights working?"

I reply, "They aren't? Oh, I just didn't put them on" *moves to put on light*

Officer, "Can you put on your park lights please?"

Me, "Sure"

Officer, "Miss your park lights are not working so you will need to have that checked out"

Me, "Oh okay, thanks, I'll do that"

Office, "I hope we didn't scare you eh, but we just have to be sure in these types of situations"

Me, "Of course you scared me!!" LOL.

Officer, "Sorry about that. Have a good evening"

Me, "Thank you, same to you."

It was a heart stopping moment. Needless to say I almost peed myself. This was the first time I was actually pulled over in such a manner that wasn't a roadblock or something of that nature.

Still haven't fixedthose lights though, maybe tomorrow. LOL.

HAPPY EASTER!!

HAPPY EASTER TO ALL!!

SEA today

Well today my oldest son is writing the SEA examination.

For those of you who don't know what that is...Google is yuh friend.

And dis SEA Exam is not like the Common Entrance of my day some plenty years ago eh.

Is no multiple choice, yuh hadda write everything now, and it eh have no more Science and Social Studies either, is only Mathematics, English and Composition. The only thing that is the same is that you still have to write it in pencil.

So after 2 years of what seemed like never ending lessons, morning and evening in school and every Saturday in Trincity, hence my weekly sojourns to the mall every weekend (no I doh like Trincity Mall that much)...DE DAY is finally here.

De day that all parents worry over.

De Day that all parents stress over.

De day all parents fret over.

De day that the children look forward to ending so dey could go Movietowne with dey friends after de day over.

I remember it was just the other day when my child was born, then braps so he started first year, and before I blinked he was writing SEA.

This post is just to wish my big son good luck and just do your best!

(Just think I have to all this over again the next two years with the next one!)

And de Boleface Award goes to...

So I wake up Sunday morning and after giving thanks for waking up to see another hot, steamy day, I grab for Halle (my Blackberry).

I check out twitter for my news updates and of course check my Facebook account.

Only to see that Saucy has posted a link to Carnival Glitz Fan Page on Facebook that is using MY (SEXY) LEGS to pimp their sales of Carnival tights! Now this is MY personal photo which I sent to Saucy for her to use on HER blog eh, which she did here.

I eh go even talk bout the fact that they selling them tights for a ridiculous markup even after yuh convert from Jamaican to TT dollars.

I mean I could fully understand that yuh using that pic to sell yuh thing eh, cause dem sexy legs could sell PLENTY tights!

But yuh gone and take the photo from the www.trinidadcarnivaldiary.com site without permission (Saucy confirmed this) and use it on yuh Fan Page boleface so! Even though it have all kinda disclaimer saying that if you want to use the people thing, please send an email.

I subsequently sent a message to the young lady whose Fan Page it is and asked her to remove the photo of meh legs, please and thanks, which she did.

This is not the first time something like this has happened, (remember the Newsday episode?) and I'm sure it won't be the last. But people come nah man, just send and ask for permission nah, oh gosh!

D’Krewe 2010 Review – Carnival Tuesday

CARNIVAL TUESDAY

I got up at 4:30am despite my intention of waking up at half 5.

The time to meet the band was 11:00am. After having a bath and hastily shaving my legs, I made my way to my makeup artist, Rachiel in the living room. :)

Aunty Rachiel does my makeup for me every year and this year was no different. I had to wait for my sister in law who was getting ready to meet her band for 6:30am. While waiting I had breakfast of a ham sandwich and a hot cup of tea courtesy my mummy :)

The usual “leaving the house chaos Carnival Tuesday morning” took place, with the eleven or so of us getting dressed, adjusting costumes, putting on backpacks, being sprayed with sunscreen, grabbing bags and cups, picking up vex money and hiding keys in the flowerpot under the sink.

I was the last to get ready, and had to be laced up into my corset. After being laced up I could not breathe or bend, so my husband had to help me into my socks and then into my boots. I put on my headpiece and was ready to go!

I got to the band, and the band was looking really good!

Unfortunately in the haste to leave the house, I left my arm twisties at home, I ended up getting one from the mas camp. I was happy.

The band made their way down to Ariapita Avenue, the costumes looking nice, the music sounding good. We arrived at the first judging point at Adam Smith Square.

My section which was undoubtedly the best section in the band was second to last in the line up which didn’t bother me one bit, cause I does only be in my section to cross the stage anyways.

My only problem with the band on Tuesday was the actual lineup in terms of the colours, I found that the colours were too close in some instances. Like Hawk, Riptide and Desert. Anyhoo.

We crossed Adam Smith and made our way to Victoria Square. As usual, there were no judges at this judging point when we arrived and there was also no spectator control. We then slowly made our way to Independence Square.

After crossing Adam Smith, I attempted to get a drink by the bar. This proved to be unsuccessful. There were too many people and not enough bar. The one bar truck which was way too tall for my 5’4” was always crowded and jammed with people. I bought drinks (Coke, juice, water) for most of the day to save myself the stress and jostling.

On the way to Independence Square I found that the band was moving way too slowly so I walked ahead to see what was the holdup. There was nothing. The band was just strolling down the road and taking their time. I left the band and walked downtown to see some other bands and wait for my band.

After crossing the stage just after 1:00pm, we made our way up Frederick Street and I was wondering what was going on with lunch as no announcement was made and in the letter I got, I didn’t read anything about a lunch stop. I saw the bandleader (he didn’t need a tag like some others) and asked him about lunch. He told me the band was stopping on Hart Street so that is where I went.

I was one of the first people to arrive to get lunch and was able to find a nice cool spot on a bench in Woodford Square. The lunch was rice, plantain (my favourite!), potato salad and a HUGE slab of fish. The food was tasty and my only complaint would be gravy. I like my food wet. Maybe some peas in a cup on he side would have helped.

After lunch I got a call from my mum and dad, they were on Independence Square, so after using the Wee Wee truck to freshen up, I went looking for the parents. Mac Farlane looked really nice in their full costume.

I headed back to my band on Frederick Street, where we then proceeded to Charlotte Street and settled in for a LONG wait. D’Krewe crossed the Savannah space/stage at approximately half past 8, after spending some 4 hours on Charlotte Street. I did not stay with the band during this wait though, but went to meet my sons who were waiting for me up by the Savannah. I chilled with them a bit, walked along and saw some other family and friends and then bounced up the parents in MAc Farlane yet again, as they were a few bands behind us waiting to cross.

Now the four hour wait wasn’t so bad for me, as I sat right on the pavement just in front of NAPA and got to see Trini Revellers, Legacy, Genesis, Ronnie and Caro, All Stars, We International, Showtime, some traditional mas, as well as some other random bands I had never heard of with some dubious looking costumes.

After we crossed the stage, I waited for Mac Farlane and chipped home with the parents sometime after 9:00pm, my latest Carnival Tuesday in REAL years!

Overall I had a great time with D’Krewe. Some of the things that I think D’Krewe should look at improving on are: the number of and the height of the bars and the number of people actually making the snocones, one man is just not enough by any stretch of the imagination.

Again, I must say MUCH thanks to Carnival Kris (MUAH!), thanks to Angeli for accommodating me at the last minute and a big thanks to that band that didn’t want me or my money cause if it wasn’t for them I would not have had the opportunity to play in the BEST Carnival costume EVER! Yes, ever!

This was one of my favourite costumes…Loved it, loved it, loved it!

It needed no adjustments and was the same as the prototype and was SUPER comfy.

Who would have thought that after such a disastrous Carnival Sunday, that my Carnival would have turned out so great?

D'Krewe 2010 Review

This is my review of D'Krewe.

Now after the series of unfortunate incidents on Carnival Sunday night (read the 3 posts before this one if yuh lost), I had to go find a costume. I visited Ronnie and Caro and Legacy/Jhalwa looking for a costume on Carnival Sunday night and came up with salt, so I went home feeling just a tad bit plenty depressed.

Having just about resigned myself to not playing mas, I visited Trinidad Carnival Diary to vent and share my story on the chat box. It was while chatting there I got a bbm from Saucy who wanted to know if I wanted a costume in D'Krewe, specifically Kindred Spirit (hell yeah!).

Long story short, Carnival Kris who is also on the blog, hooked me the heck up and I got a call saying to get my ass to the mascamp, which was right around the corner from me.

Twenty minutes and $2500 later, I had collected my Kindred Spirit costume! WOOT!WOOT!!

(Of course, being me, I had to ask if the frontline was still available).

I then hastily made my way to Samaroo's to get some material to cover my corset. Unfortunately, at 10minutes to midnight Samaroo's was closed, but no biggie, I figured I would figure something out.

Costume collection: A breeze!!

Carnival Monday

D'Krewe gave us about 4 yards of material, which I spent a few minutes on Monday morning turning into a tunic trimming it out with some braid and gems.

I paired my tunic with blue boy shorts from a couple years before and a top underneath it.

I also made a matching bag from some silver material that I had purchased previously and sprayed my white knee high boots silver.

I think the overall look was really cute, if I do say so myself...and I do. :)

The band was scheduled to meet at 11:00am (I think) and I left home just around that time and walked around the corner to meet the band on Pole Carew Street.

Now this would be my first time playing mas by myself, as I usually play with at least one or two family members. Even though I didn't really know anyone who would be playing, I was thinking it would be a fun experience, no worries.

As I got to Pole Carew Street a guy in the band watched me and told me I looked so regal. (HA! Ah tell yuh ah was looking good!) That started me off on a good note. The band moved off about 1/2 hour after I got there. While waiting I had a snocone from the snocone truck and of course I must have my Coke on the rocks!

We were moving slowly down Pole Carew heading to Ariapita so I took the opportunity to walk forward a bit to see what was up. Up to the front of the band just behind the King costume I saw the Kindred Spirit Individual and had a serious case of "why dat wasn't me!?!?!" :( That costume was fantastic, I dunno why the person didn't come out on Tuesday...dey could well give me the thing to parade for them! Anyhoo...

We were right behind Dream Team's Gems of the World, who was waiting for Island People to pass. I ended up walking through IP on the avenue looking for anyone I may know and did see a couple friends and took some pics. IP looked really good (but smaller than usual) on Monday. Loved the cloth they got, loved what the ladies did with them!

I also saw Mac Farlane on the road and got to see my mum and dad in their crocus bag Monday outfits. The Mac Farlane peeps real get on with the cloth too! All kinda fancy ting! And if yuh see dem palance papayo! Mac Farlane peeps get the prize for Most Coordinated Palance, they should rename them Mac Parlance...nobody would think that was an "ole people band" if they saw them.

We hit and crossed Adam Smith and Ariapita (no judges there, why?) and made our way to Independence Square. I stayed with the band, for most of the day. My brother and sister in law left the band they played with to come check me when we were on Park Street. I saw one of my girlfriends from the bank in the band and took a chip with her for a while.

We got an afternoon snack of a chicken sandwich which was tasty enough, just before we hit downtown. After we crossed the downtown judging point, I waited to see Mar Farlane (and the parents) who had done some kinda magic and were now behind us.

After meeting up with my parents, i decided that I would cut my Monday short (it was about half 4) and head home. We jumped into a taxi on South Quay and headed to St. James.

Carnival Monday: Not bad at all! 6.5 palance out of 10.

The Spice Saga Pt. 3 - My Money Ha Ha!

Spice Saga Pt. 1 - Costume Collection

Spice Saga Pt. 2 - Say It Ain't So Spice

CARNIVAL SUNDAY

So I left my brother and sister in law up at the Hilton to buy me a costume. I left my sizes and 5 preferred sections. I know they say beggars cyar be choosers, but as far as I was concerned I wasn't begging, I was paying. The bra size didn't matter to me that much cause I was going to strip it off and put it onto a corset anyways.

In the meantime I head home to finish off and package the few boots I have remaining for my friends who I would be seeing later in the evening. (Didn't go to Lara because of the timing etc so no review, sorry).

In between doing boots, I kept getting updates from my family who were up at the Hilton. The general report was utter chaos at the distribution centre with people coming back to exchange costumes, swapping sizes etc. One call I got said no bra in my size, a next report was only bras and no belt or accessories. After spending an hour at the Hilton and coming up with nothing, I told my brother and sister in law to come back home.

My sister in law was one of the lucky ones and was able to change her Isis Fl (which didn't have the feathers like in the prototype, and parts of the monokini glued and not stitched) to a Moroccan Heat FL.

So now it is about 6 o'clock on Carnival Sunday and I am sans costume. (Sans mean 'without' fuh de non-French people).

Imagine my level of stress!

Is Carnival Sunday.

6 o'clock.

No damn costume. None.

Money in meh pocket.

NO COSTUME!

I think I went into shock and may have blacked out at that point cause I doh really remember much. I know I logged on to Fineahban to see if anyone was selling a Mumbai, Greece or a something. Is salt all over the place!

I finally resigned myself to having no costume and staying home huddled in a dark corner in my room on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

Still had to meet my peeps for our annual Carni-Sunday lime so I packed up my boots for my peeps and made my way to the lime.

During the lime I re-tell my story much to the disbelief of my friends. Nobody could believe that I of all people, Miss Carnival herself doh have a costume. Anyhoo, one Coke on the rocks later, I get a text from my younger bro to call a contact in the Spice Distribution area. YAYYY!!!

I called The Contact and he said yes there were costumes but I needed to come up to the Hilton NOW. I made my excuses and buss it from de lime quick quick and made my way back up to the Hilton to check The Contact who ended up being the same Tee who I spoke with earlier. When we got up to the Hilton this time, the doors are closed and they are only letting in people 2 at a time.

I call Tee when I got there, and he comes outside to tell me that things are tight, but he took my information (costume, bra in any size etc) and goes back inside. Over the next one and a half hours my sister in law camped outside of the ballroom waiting for Tee to get me a costume, I saw several people walking outside with boxes of costumes. Tee came out at various times to tell me to hold on, he had nothing yet.

Eventually I realised that nothing was happening with this glorious hook up, so I stood up and waited to go inside the ballroom.

When the doors were eventually opened for the 15 or so people who were outside I made my way in. At this point in time all of the management and staff were there, Anya, Rocky, Senior Elias, Daddy Elias etc.

The PR of the band saw me and told one of the women there "This lady was here earlier when you are finished help her." The lady asked me for my measurements which I gave her. I made sure to tell her that the bra size did not matter, I would be ripping it off to put it onto my corset.

She goes to the back and less than 5 minutes later she comes back and says that they have nothing in my size. I tell her the size does NOT matter I will be redoing the bra. She says there is nothing.

I then ask the same PR woman and she tell me to hold on and she will have someone go look. I tell her the same thing, size does not matter.

During the 15minute wait, I notice the PR woman just milling around chatting with management and sipping coffee (water/juice/whatever).

In the meantime other people are being served and among them a girl next to me being served by one of the staff. The girl next to me is offered a Thailand costume in 36D which she refuses because she was not willing to pay more than USD$500 for a costume and the costumes were being sold at full price.

When she refuses the costume I ask her if she is sure she doesn't want it and she says no. I say GREAT! I tell the guy helping her that I will take the costume.

At this point the guy goes to the back for them to have the costume pulled.

I notice management speaking to him.

The guy comes back to me and says he's sorry but the costume is booked. :|

I ask him how could the costume be booked for me, but not for her? *pointing to the girl next to me*

The guy then tells me to hold on and goes in the back.

I turn to my sister in law who was standing there all along and ask, "What going on here? Is it that these people refusing to sell me a costume?!" My sister in law says to me "You know how long I watching them talking and looking back here."

I was infrickingcredulous. I went into shock again.

I ask the girl who was initially offered the costume that I was refused, if she would consider buying the costume for me then I would buy it back from her, she says no problem.

Then sense sets in and I tell my sister in law, "Yuh know wht, I doh need to play mas with this band. Let's go!"

Up to this point the guy who told me the costume was booked eh reach back YET!

Make your own inference about what happened, I chose to believe that Spice refused to sell me a costume. A willing paying customer.

I left Hilton super pissed and fricking upset. And no costume.

Carnival Sunday.

10:30pm

Money in my pocket.

Being blanked a costume by a band.

The Spice Saga Pt.2 - Say It Ain't so Spice

Spice Saga Pt. 1 - Costume Collection

Well I was going to return my costume to get my refund on Carnival Friday, but instead ended up going back on Carnival Saturday afternoon.

CARNIVAL SATURDAY

Anyhoo, fast forward to Carnival Saturday evening and I go up to Hilton by myself this time, with my costume box and goody bag, having left the backpack and headpiece in the car.

I see Miss Band Leader herself, but went straight to Rocky as instructed. I explained the situation to Rocky, letting him know that my preference was to switch sections, and not get a refund as I did want to play mas, and play with my brother, sister in law (who had her own Isis FL dramuh), and my two cousins in Spice.

Rocky told me that they could only do that the next day when they saw what was remaining after their overseas masqueraders had collected their costumes. I told him I understood that. He asked me what section I would consider for the switch and I told him Rubies of Mumbai, he said that should not be a problem cause there were lots of headpieces/costumes in that section, but I still had to come back tomorrow. I asked him if there would be a problem with me getting a refund if that was the case, he said no.

Feeling calm and collected, I left Hilton.

In between all this costume dramuh, I got a BBM from a friend telling me that someone at the Express/TV6 wanted to interview myself and another friend and fellow Spice masquerader (Isis FL again) about our costume strife.

When the reporter contacted me I told her I would not be willing to go on camera to talk about anything (camera does add 10lbs and all that), but I would be willing to talk to her once I found out what the situation was with the refund. They told me fine, they would call me the next day. I heard nothing further from them.

CARNIVAL SUNDAY

2:15pm and my sister in law with the Isis FL costume, my brother and I are up at the Hilton. As I head in the direction of the Hilton ballroom I see a TV6 camera crew, with some masqueraders outside chatting with them. It was only then I remembered about the reporter, and I figured they came to the source to get the info.

As I was walking by with the backpack on my back, the reporter shouted to me as I was passing, "Are you taking back your costume?"

Me: Yes

Reporter: Why?

Me: Cause it is not what was advertised...

I continued into the ballroom and did not stop to be interviewed by TV6. I put down my costume stuff, and went to Rocky who told me he could not accommodate me in any other section and they would organise my refund for me. I asked him if he was sure and he said yes and asked me for my receipts. I went to tell my brother that it did not look like I would be playing mas cause they do not have a costume for me.

While waiting on my sister in law to get through with her exchange, there was one person who my brother knew in distribution. He spoke with her and she asked me if I would take a backline costume instead and I indicated to her that at this point that was fine, I just wanted to play with my bro et al. My brother's friend who I will call Cee, looked and looked but could not get me costume in either Rubies, Thailand or Isis.

While she was looking for me I spotted a guy there who I knew who I will call Tee, asked me what was up. It was during my lil convo with Tee that the bandleader's mother, Elias Senior, approaches me and says, "I will be handling your refund...you are to come to me!"

She says this in a tone that I really did not appreciate and that get me hot one time.

I turned to her and said "That's fine, but at this point in time, I am talking my friend here, and when I'm done I will come to you."

Elias Senior says in her gruff ass tone, "Yes, but I am the one dealing with you so you will come to me."

I turn to her again and say, "That's great, but like I said to YOU before I am speaking to MY friend here and I will come to you when I am DONE."

After this interaction I told my brother I really did not care to play with the band anymore if that was the attitude of their management. I told him I would take my money and go elsewhere. My brother convinced me to hold on a while until his friend got me a costume.

It should be noted that the staff working in the distribution area for the most part were really trying to help out those persons who were there with issues, while Anya herself could not be seen.

Cee then came and said my best bet to get a costume would be to come back after 4:00pm which is when they would be selling off the costumes which had not been collected. I spoke with Tee who agreed and he told me that the best thing would be to take my refund and come back at 4:00pm to buy another costume.

I then went to Elias Senior who with great attitude did up a note on a piece of scrap paper indicating my section and the amount of my refund, then asked for some "witnesses" while she counted out my money. So she had her "witnesses" and I called my brother as a "witness" (rolls eyes).

After counting out my money the first time Elias Senior realises that she wrote up her paper with the incorrect amount and she had to do it over again. I counted the money along with her, they gave me a total of $5,600 (which she just left on the table and did not give me in my hand, which is a pet peeve of mine) and I opened up my wallet and gave her her $5 change. I didn't want nobody saying I owe dem nuttin at that point!

I then gave my brother some of my cash to buy a costume for me when 4:00pm came, as he had to stay at the Hilton as well with his wife for her to exchange her Isis FL.

I went home with no costume but feeling good that a costume would be mine by the afternoon period...

Stay tuned for The Spice Saga Pt. 3 - WTF Spice?

The Spice Saga Pt.1 - Costume Collection

I was extremely excited when I saw that costume collection for my section was on the Wednesday before Carnival, no collecting costume on Carnival Friday for me!

Costume on the Spice Carnival website

Wednesday

When I got to the Hilton just after 4:30pm, I was met by Mr. Rocky himself who gave me a number and told me to have a seat to wait to pay for the costume via Linx. After waiting no more than 5minutes I went up to pay for my costume. When it was time to swipe, my husband (who was paying for my costume :D ) was unable to get through, as the machine registered an error with the transaction.

Unfortunately, because I had to get back to the office I could not wait around while they sorted out their issues with the bank and I left. Rocky told my husband that I could come back the next day to collect no problem.

Thursday
Got back to Spice shortly after 12noon to collect my costume, this time with my brother who had to exchange his boardshorts in Adulis. Everything went smoothly, I gave them my cash and was then told to proceed to the next stop. The next stop is where the girl checks your receipt, makes uneccessary small talk, then directs you to collect your costume.

When I got my headpiece the first thing I asked the young lady who handed it to me was if this was the right headpiece. She said yes. I told her the feathers look very dull and grey, and she said yes, a lot of people are saying that. On a second look however, she noticed that I wasregisteredfor a frontline costume and NOT a backline.
I thought *whew* let dem backline BABES deal with that! Lo and behold, the extremely helpful young lady brings out the frontline headpiece and it's the same dull dirty grey looking feathers.



I got the box with my costume pieces which the young lady went through with me. Bra, belt (SKIMPY! and had to be exchanged, this was done with no fuss on the spot), arm. leg, neck (which was pretty lame) pieces. The thong I had ordered was not in the box and I got this exchanged on the spot as well, although this seemed to be a different colour to the bra, but no biggie cause it would be covered up by my belt anyways.



I then collected my backpack.



The same dull grey blue dirty looking feathers greeted me on my backpack. I was NOT impressed. My brother thought they looked dull but passable, but what do men know?

This was the costume I registered for in October last year.
This was the costume that I had obsessed about for weeks on end.
This was the costume that I done a wallpaper collage for as my desktop wallpaper.
This was the costume I had planned all my accessories, boots, bag, etc around. and they hand me this backpack, with these dull ass washed out dirty looking feathers.

Close up of the feathers on my backpack

So after I got my adjustments (gems fell off my bra and leg piece), got the ribbon for my backpack, I go to the next station to get my stuff checked and collect my goodie bag.

At this point I ask the lady who I later found out was the bandleader, Anya's mother, if she found that the feathers looked dirty.

She looked at me and said, "No they look fine, they do not look dirty to me, it is supposed to represent the sea you know."

I say "This does not look like what was on the website."

She says "It looks fine to me. The designer herself went to China and picked those feathers."

I then see Anya and ask her, "Anya don;t these feathers lok dirty to you?" Anya says no, they look fine.

Because my brother and 4 year old niece with me and we had already been there for close to an hour, I took the costume and went home.

After getting home, and taking the backpack out of the car, I notice that the backpack looks unfinished, as there are white spaces where it should be covered. I go to the computer and pull up the costume and of course, my feathers are not drain water blue, but a rich vibrant blue. At this point I feel so disappointed, people are texting and messaging me to find out how the costume is and I just tell them "Meh."
I took pictures of the backpack, costume pieces, and went ahead with finishing up my boots on time.

A little later that evening I took my entire costume back up to have it exchanged as I was really unhappy about how the costume had turned out.
On the way there with my mom I decided to keep the costume and just add the usual Afro Chic flair. I had already planned to buy gems to bling out the feathers and backpack anyways and hopefully that could give the costume a lil summin summin.

I ended up just exchanging my backpack for a completed one, this was done with no hassle and after that I made my way to Tulip to get some bling. Bling purchased, I was a lot happier when I got home, went ahead and finished off my boot orders.

Friday
Friday morning comes and I wake up thinking, you know what Afro...you work hard hard hard, you pay for dis! So I decided to call someone at Spice to find out if I can switch my section.

I call the Spice number that I was given by Hilton and ask to speak with either Anya or Rocky. Lucky me I got the bandleader herself on the phone. I explained the situation to Anya and reminded her that I had spoken to her about the feathers when I collected the costume the day before.

Costume at the band launch

Anya explained that the costume on the website had been 'enhanced' which is why the feathers were a different colour. I asked if I could exchange my section, as I did want to play mas, just no longer in that section. Anya told me that was not an option, Spice does not switch sections. I told her then if that was the case I would like to get a refund on my costume as I did not get what was advertised. Anya then responded, "I doh handle dat. "
I asked, "Aren't YOU the bandleader, who else would handle it?"

She replied, "I doh handle dat, you could go up to Hilton and talk to Rocky, he up there now."

I said fine and hung up the phone.

At this point I was pissed off by her attitude and dismissive tone when she spoke to me and the fact that they were no willing to admit that an error had been made and own up to it.
It should be noted that before this I was just taking things real calm and trying not to go Hulk on people. I eh raise my voice or cuss or carry on. Yet.

I decided that after work I would carry back my costume and go "talk to Rocky." and this is when the real drama started...

PALANCE FOR DE ROAD!!!

Happy Carnival Monday to all!

Have a safe one and be sure to look out for my Spice - Costume Collection saga (yes,saga!), which ended with me playing with D'Krewe on Monday and Tuesday!

My Soca Pick Of The Week - Week 6

Didn't like this song when I heard it at first, but it grew on me. I hope Blaxx performs this tune for Soca Monarch!.

My Soca Pick of the Week - Week 5

Not of of my faves, but the hubby loves this song.

My Soca Pick of the Week - Week 4

This song just real. I sure plenty people feel like this for Carnival.
I hope they place high in Soca Monarch.