St Patty's Day and a Little Taste of Home.

Mom & Dad dancing at the Reception August 2012

Today is/was St Patrick's Day!

 For many, this day evokes vague memories of green beer and walks of shame. But for me, it evokes something all together different. Though I'm neither Catholic, nor Irish, nor a heavy drinker I still observe this holiday every year.

See, my mom is Irish (as if it weren't obvious). For as long as I can remember St. Patty's day being on my radar, I remember celebrating it with my family. Somehow, we'd usually come up with a boiled dinner (corned beef and cabbage - yum). In fact, I remember having my first sip of Guiness during an at-home St. Patty's day celebration. (For the record, I hated it. Who would have thought I'd be into dark beers now? Go figure. Then again, I still considered Guiness from a can a complete waste...but I digress...)

Last year, I was on the hunt for a new Irish pub. In my hometown, we had one I hung out at regularly. Nearly every Sunday I could be found enjoying a Black N' Tan or  Strongbow Cider (on tap - yum) and some of the wonderful music (which was sung by a Scottsman - a fact I never ceased to enjoy the irony of).

Well, our hunt last year proved fruitless, at least for St Patty's day, was a bit of a bust. All of the pubs worth going to were in Seattle - 10 miles and a 2 hr ferry ride away. So we ended up at a local sports bar which served beer, (bad) corned beef and cabbage, and had an irish folk singer there. The music and the beer was the best part of that day.

This year, I planned ahead. Instead of hitting up the local Euro Gastropub, I opted to just cook in. My corned beef turned out tough (but still better than last years) and the veggies (carrots, parsnips, cabbage, and potatoes) turned out rather good though. My Sailor is working and I had a bunch of housework to catch up on.

So I had my dinner after folding 3 loads of laundry, doing a load of dishes, and taking Odin for a hike. My quads are feeling the C25K and the squats TrainerGuy has been working with me on, so I decided to keep it easy today and just hike (well, as easy as hiking with a 90lb ball of white fur and muscle can be).


My Sailor will be reheating his some time after midnight.

Dessert is probably going to be a baked apple with a scoop of Snickerdoodle ice cream, if I don't just pass out after chores are done. Still 3 more loads of laundry to fold and put away. Dusting will just have to wait for another day.

And this year, for the beer, I opted for a little taste of home - Stone. The Stone brewery is actually located in my hometown. The grounds and the gardens are gorgeous, so my family stops in there whenever we can.

The rest of my family went to Arizona this week to catch a couple of Spring Training Padres games. I have to admit, I'm just a tiny bit jealous - and I'm glad Dad was able to get out, get some vitamin D, and see the Padres WIN!

Stay turned for some vacation photos in the This Amazing Life blog!