Erin’s First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party

When you’re as Irish as Erin is, people just expect you to throw a good St. Patrick’s Day party.  So we knew we had to set a high standard, but we also didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves or our precious little leprechaun. 

After we decided to compromise on a small gathering of friends and family, we sent out invites, expecting maybe a dozen adults and well under a half-dozen kids.  But when the dust settled and the last guests left, the final tally was twenty-one adults and eight kids.  Wow, our daughter’s even more popular than we thought!

Micheal and Shawnee brought a very tasty Guinness and lamb stew, and some homemade soda bread.  Michael and Brooks brought a tasty cookie cake with tongue-dying green icing.  Nef brought the fixin’s for Guinness milkshakes (which sadly went untried, although the ice cream is quite tasty on its own).  And although the bulk of the thanks go to Whole Foods Market and our crock pot, I cooked up an excellent corned beef.  (I used a nitrate-free/organic corned beef; it’s so tasty that I frankly don’t care if it’s healthier or not.) 

Oh, and apparently everyone (kids included) brought beer, because we somehow ended the party with more than when it started. 

The crowd was a great mix of friends, neighbors, co-workers, and family (some of whom fall in more than one category), and everyone got along just dandy.  Unlike some of the more infamous St. Paddy’s blowouts in my not-so-recent past, there were no injuries or property damage, nobody got sick, and we all woke up the next morning feeling just fine.  (Well, speaking for myself, Christine, and Erin; I don’t know what the rest of the crowd did after leaving our place!)

Although we did somehow end up with this picture on the camera:

…And I was wondering what happened to that glass of Guinness! 

An excellent time was had by all, and although we were joking around by calling it “Erin’s First Annual St. Patrick’s Day Party…” we’re definitely going to continue the tradition.

(A special thanks go out to Dave L., who was in town to attend South by Southwest, and took time out to attend Erin’s party.)