A Great St. Pat's Day!

I have always loved St. Patrick's Day. Partly because it's holiday with no real traditions to follow and partly because you can have a good time no matter what your doing. The weather this year for St. Pat's couldn't have been better. Here is a great example of just how beautiful it was yesterday.

This is one of the trees growing in Sam's yard. It seems that the tree is under the impression spring is already here, and I'm ok it.

In year past, my St. Pat's day was always celebrated the same way- with a hockey game with my family. Like I've said before, I'm from Michigan and we just really like hockey. However, for St. Pat's it wasn't just any hockey game, it was the "Green Ice Game".

Since moving from Michigan and getting old enough to drink, St. Patrick's Day hasn't been the same. In the last few years, I have used the day as an excuse to get friends together and socialize. And this year was no different.

I started my day off yesterday meeting up with my college roommates and getting some lunch. With the weather being so nice, we had to eat outside.

Lunch lasted just over an hour and we all got sunburned. Lucky for me I have a light base tan because of my office window so I didn't burn too bad. However, I can't say the same for the roommates.

After lunch, I had to head to Sam's and get ready to the St. Pat's Day grill out that I decided to have and host on Thursday night. I love putting together parties on the fly- there is no need for extensive planning.

In honor of the holiday, I made my traditional "St. Patrick's Day Punch". (I'm not sure when something becomes a "traditional" item, but I created this drink my first year of grad school- so it's like 4 years old tradition.) Making this drink is pretty simple, and it taste a lot like a fruit roll-up. 

I love really sweet girly drinks, so this is prefect and you get the green color needed for St. Pat's Day. 

Normally for our grill outs, we ask our friends to bring something so no one person spends a lot of money on the party and it usually works out pretty well. For this party I asked my college roommate Jen to bring a dessert, and I know she loves to make cupcakes so it worked out great. However, her cupcake making talents really need to be showcased. This is what we got to eat- S'more Cupcakes!

These were very tasty and very cool looking. 

The grill out went well. We had a few rain drops at the beginning of the night, but by the time it got dark it had cleared up. We had a bone fire, got caught up on each others lives, and shared old stories. 

Out of the group of friend we had there last night, 4 of them have known each other since junior high. That makes for over 15 years of stories that could have been told.

It's kind of cool to still have a solid group of friends that you have had so many experiences with over the years. I feel blessed when it comes to my friendships. 

It was a great day and I can't have asked for better company.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!