St. Patrick's Day - Why we Celebrate

St. Patrick's Day holds a special place in my heart. We have always celebrated it (at least I have as an adult). My mother never really acknowledged it when I was younger. I remember while growing up that my best friends birthday was on that day so I always celebrated with her (until sadly we drifted apart as some friendships do). Getting back to it, as an adult I would of course go out and Drink Green beer and cocktails with my friends sporting those "Kiss me I'm Irish" shirts, even though I'm not Irish. I never even really understood why it was celebrated. It wasn't until I googled it that I learned it was both a Cultural and Religious Celebration. 

All that aside, the reason it holds such a dear place in my heart is that on St. Patrick's Day 12 Years ago I had my first date with my now Husband. I remember most of it like it was yesterday. I was closing up at work and he was the last customer that evening, I remember convincing him to come over to the local bar and have a few drinks with me to celebrate St. Paddy's Day. He agreed and we stayed out way too late, Drank way too much Green beer, Danced the night away and I'm pretty sure ended up making out in the parking lot of that scuzzy bar. But little did I know that evening when I invited him to join me for a few drinks that it would be the start of our relationship. Here we are 12 years later, Married for almost 9 years and 2 amazing little boy's later. I must have had Luck of the Irish on that one. 


Now as time has gone on our celebrations are no longer booze filled with Green beer and Irish pub fare, but we do make it a point to celebrate as a family. I have collected some great treasures from the Dollar Store, decor items we can use again, and silly hats and glasses. We try to have as many fun themed foods as possible and of course build a leprechaun trap to try and catch the leprechaun. My kids get a kick out of it and why not celebrate for the day and sport the colour Green. (We really take advantage of this holiday as Everything is green and is one of the dyes that my son can have!) With Green being his favourite colour it's a WIN!

Decor: Decor is super simple and quite often inexpensive, green balloons, napkins, plates, cups etc it all works. Most of it can be found in the dollar bins or at the local dollar store. We have a felt shamrock garland that we reuse. 3 Heart shaped balloons tied together make a shamrock. Gold Chocolate coins make a great decor item for your 'pot of gold' and also a fun treat to eat. Part of our decor is our leprechaun trap. This can literally be made out of recycled items from the home. My oldest really enjoyed this activity last year and has been planning his new one for this year. 

Food: Honestly the possibilities are endless. You could spend hours on pinterest looking at ideas but we generally keep it quite simple. We have a veggie/fuit platter that looks like a rainbow easily achieved using a variety of colourful produce. We made green leprechaun punch last year and will probably do it again. (Sprite or Gingerale with fruit juice and a pinch of green food colouring does the trick) We usually have foods that are pub foods. I'll make mini pizza's, nachos, potato skins etc. Again the possibilities are endless.

This year St. Patrick's Day falls at the end of March Break a perfect way to end the week. Whether you celebrate to honor your Irish Roots, or just because, enjoy it, embrace it and have fun with it. I definitely have found my pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

~ Mommy Dearest

May your troubles be less

 and your blessings be more

 and nothing but happiness come through your door.