Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Having an annual St. Patrick's Day party is probably the most genius idea I've ever had. This year we celebrated our 2nd annual event and had such a blast! At the official count we had: 22 adults, 5 babies and 1 toddler cramped into our tiny apartment but everyone had a great time!

We celebrate in a more traditional and authentic way, playing Celtic music and serving up traditional Irish dishes. We joked about having an Irish jig competition but just had fun visiting with all our friends.

I've never worried about running out of food at one of my parties before, but this year it was a reality. People ate and ate until everything was gone. We served: Irish Country Stew; Soda Bread w/ Irish butter; Irish Cheddar & Dubliner Cheeses w/ Melba Toast; Scones (lemon ginger, raspberry white chocolate and blueberry); Eton Mess (meringue cookies in whipped cream with strawberries); Mini Toad in the Hole (sausage in Yorkshire pudding). To top it all off we served Mormon beer: Homemade Rootbeer carbonated with dry ice, which seriously stole the show! It was quite the feast!

Thanks so much for everyone who was able to attend! We had so much fun and look forward to hosting next year's big bash. Does March 15 sound good?

Our Friends (sadly, this isn't everyone):

     L to R: Sariah, Shaun, Michael, Julie, Jeremy, Jon, Denae

  Jon, Denae, Shani (Amelia & Antone) & Kathy  

Kelley, Joe & Marty

 Nathan & Martina

Leila, Chris & Jaime. 

Gotta love the photo-bombers, Jeff & Alexander.

Jeff & Gina

The Food!:

The Decor:

Alexander's warning, he was wearing his blue Scotland shirt

Real Shamrocks!

Hearts and Flowers

Some people feel that Valentine's day is a commercially created excuse for people to spend money. That may be true, but I also believe it is a genuine opportunity to tell those around you how much you love them. No, we shouldn't need a special day to show our love, we can do that every day, but a little extra emphasis doesn't hurt either.

Valentine's Day was fun this year. We never go all out, but we do like an excuse to celebrate. I created a little scavenger hunt for Alexander as an activity while I went to work. Apparently I need to find better hiding places because he said it was too easy.

These are the treats I hid for him:

When I got home, he had this cute little bear and chocolates waiting for me. Alexander is a sucker for a sappy-face stuffed animal ;).

He then had these gorgeous flowers delivered to me. They are from this awesome florist shop who specializes in eclectic arrangements. I have been following them ever since we moved here and this was the first time I've ever been a recipient of their handiwork. I was so elated!

We mad a really simple dinner. The pasta was heart-shaped, which was just too cute to pass up and I made the salad festive by cutting the cucumbers into hearts.

 I'm so lucky to have such a wonderful husband to be my special Valentine!