A St. Patrick's Celebration

I'm not quite sure how it's come about that our family, who has barely a drop of Irish blood, ends up celebrating St. Patrick's Day every year . . .

Our celebration this year began in downtown Chicago, early last Saturday morning, where we went to see the annual dying green of the Chicago River . . .

A boat, manned by a small crew dumps about 40 pounds of a harmless vegetable dye into the river, turning its waters a bright green for a few hours . . .  Do you notice the brave little ducks trying to stay out of the path of the boat?  This article explains how Chicago's quirky tradition came about . . .

My husband is the guest photographer for all of the pictures taken downtown, since he has a shiny new smart phone with a cool new camera that he wanted to try out . . .

Me, I usually get so caught up in whatever is happening that I forget to take pictures . . .

We found a nice spot to watch on the Riverwalk, right across from Trump Tower, the skyscraper that has given so many Chicagoans heartburn because of its 20-foot-high Trump sign, which is seen as brash and tasteless . . .

Mr. Trump does seem to have a way of antagonizing folks . . .

The people watching was . . . marvelous . . .

The dyeing of the river was followed by the St. Patrick's Day parade . . .

But it was crowded, with so many young people walking in packs, and drinking, I felt like I was at Daytona Beach during Spring break . . .  

Even though we only stayed for a few minutes of the parade, by the time we got home our day was pretty much gone.  Chicago is always fun, but with a crowd like this, everything moves slowly.  We got home and collapsed on the couch and you wouldn't have been able to budge us if you tried . . . And I had to conserve my energy for our St. Pat's dinner party the following night . . .

Now THIS way of celebrating is more my style!  I really, really love my florist, Robert . . . He's made so many beautiful arrangements for me over the years, that I've lost count . . .

With minimal instructions from me via e-mail, this is what he managed to put together:  Three baskets that held white daisies, lime green button pom poms, white limonium, white wax berries, minty green carnations . . .

And, Bells of Ireland spikes gave the arrangements some height . . .

Robert placed the arrangements in brown rattan baskets, and that became the inspiration for the rest of the table . . .

I used my Spode Delamere Brown . . .  Somehow, this pattern feels right at home whether I dress it up or down, and seemed to get along very nicely with the rustic rattan baskets . . .

The napkins were an Etsy find.  I alternated the two designs throughout the table . . .

Each place setting included an individual butter dish that held delicious Kerrygold Irish butter to spread on Irish Soda bread . . . St. Patrick's Day is the best excuse ever for eating Irish Soda Bread . . .

And a great opportunity to bring out my Laguiole spreaders with the cute little bee on the handles . . .

The hurricane lantern votive holders added a touch more green . . .

Then I scattered some lucky charms on the table . . .

To hopefully lead us to the end of a rainbow, so we could find a pot o' gold!

These brownies with mocha cream frosting and chocolate chips would do very nicely for those who preferred chocolate to a pot o' gold . . . Especially when served with mint chocolate chip ice cream on the side . . .  After they finished their corned beef and cabbage, of course . . .

It was all so much fun, we were all happy to pretend being Irish for a little while! Éire go Brách!

Joining Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Tablescape Thursday.  Please stop by!

Halfway to St. Patrick's Day - September Baseball

I was given some White Sox tickets for Friday, September 17th. I had never been to a White Sox game before. My family follows the Cubs with a stoicism that only another Cubs fan would truly appreciate. It defies understanding, seeing as the Cubs haven't won a World Series in over . . . 100 YEARS! But there you have it. We lived and set roots on the North side of Chicago. If you are a North sider, you are probably a Cubs fan (except for my brother, but he's weird), and if you are a South sider, you are a Sox fan. In Chicago, you had better choose sides. Pacifists like me, who like the Cubs, but have nothing against the Sox, are viewed with mild contempt.

I do understand how irritating it is for the Sox, who have won a couple of World Series in recent years to be, for the most part, ignored by the city, while the Cubs, who can't figure out how to win, fill Wrigley Field to capacity every single game. In fact, Wrigley Field is located in the middle of an old North side neighborhood, and the surrounding two-flats have adapted their rooftops and sell tickets to the game, because oftentimes, tickets inside the stadium are sold out.

But I digress, we went to the game and on arrival found out that a special celebration had been put in place - "Halfway to St. Patrick's Day" (see what I mean? they'll do anything to fill that stadium!)

It was a little strange seeing all that green in September . . .

There's a large Irish population in Chicago . . .

This Pet Check sign threw me for a loop. Why would you bring your pet to a baseball game? A game where fireworks exploded every time the team scored a home run?

Pretty flower bed, though . . .

The day was hazy, and it was close to 6:30 P.M., but we still had a great view of the Chicago skyline. The tallest building on the left is the Sears Tower, which has recently been sold and renamed after its new owners - The Willis Tower (we still call it the Sears Tower) . . .

Chicago has a most impressive skyline, and, fronted by Lake Michigan, it's a wonderful sight to see on a clear day.

Our seats were in the nosebleed section. This was the view from our seats straight down. Acrophobics: Stay away! The view of the field was surprisingly good, though . . .

All ticket holders received a green and white baseball cap. Here are my husband, Lee, and son, David humoring Mom by wearing the caps . . .

There was a parade featuring bagpipe players, and Irish dancers . . .

Those hot dogs . . . I'm still suffering from sticker shock: $5 for one hot dog! I need to get out more . . . I'm told this is not all that unusual at these public venues . . . but still . . . $5!

The Sox got creamed that night, with a final score of 9-2. Since I'm a pathetic excuse for a fan, I had a great time. The people-watching was outstanding!

I wonder what those poor marketing people will have to think up to draw fans to the park next year . . . “Halfway to Groundhog Day?” With Punxsutawney Phil making an appearance . . . ? or perhaps “Halfway to Casimir Pulaski Day” and instead of hot dogs they could sell kielbasa . . . ? At $5 each . . . ?

The morning commute

Another wonderful morning facing construction and bumper-to-bumper traffic. I can hardly wait to add snow to this joyful mix! Aren't I the cheerful one today?

On days like this I ask myself: “Self, do you know why you live in Chicago?” And then “Self” replies: “No, but if you hum a few bars . . .”

I hope that if I keep asking the question, at some point the universe will deem fit to provide me with an answer that will resonate.

Chicago baseball

What is the world coming to? A Sox hat (even a partial hat) on the Picasso? Everybody knows the Picasso is a North sider, he'd never root for the Sox! But we all know that Mayor Daley is a big Sox fan, so that explains that.

We just heard on the news that the Ricketts family is finalizing the purchase of the Cubs franchise. Let's hope the new owners are interested in winning the World Series one of these days. It's just been too long without a win. Cubs fans need a break.