Happy St. Paddy's Day

We'll be spending the day hosting friends for Irish deliciousness and beer cocktails. It's the third annual Teague/McLeod St. Patrick's Day Potluck (has it been three years already?) Check out the party from 2009 and forgive me for being such a slacker last year in 2010, where I didn't take photos.

On the menu this time is guinness slow-cooked brisket, scalloped potatoes, roasted carrots, steamed cabbage with vinegars, and herb bread with Irish butter and herbed cheese. I know friends will be bringing carbomb cupcakes, banoffee pie, colcannon, and lots of beer.

Sláinte my friends!
May your home always be too small to hold all your friends.

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It's a New Day.

source

It's a new Year.


December flew right by and left in its wake a mess of stress, plenty of tears, more fun than I can handle, and precious time with family and friends.
Then just when you're starting to get into it, they're gone.

After GLAM in Gainesville, we traveled down to SRQ for the Atomic Holiday Bazaar. It was fun and profitable (even if not as much as GLAM) and I was so happy to share my craft with our loved ones in the area. I don't know if it would have even been a money making situation if not for so many wonderfully supportive family friends who came down and purchased gifts for the holidays. Lessons were learned and the biggest was that stress does not help anything, and that even if not 100% done to my satisfaction things will turn out great. What matters is your attitude and your grace.
Then we came back to Gainesville for another couple weeks where work ramped up (as usual) and the obligations of the holidays hit me. I worried, worked too late, didn't eat enough and came home exhausted every day. Next xmas, it will be different. I realize now that I just have to have no shame in starting projects far in advance and be strong in saying 'no' when I need a break.
We made it through though, and traveled down to SRQ again just in time for Festivus and Christmas. Friday to Sunday were blocked solidly by family. By the end of it all we were both really really tired of talking about our jobs (which we did with everyone at Thanksgiving, when we were down for GLAM, and then again at Christmas!) and when Collin is going to do grad school. Ask him enough and he won't, okay? But Monday and Tuesday relaxation, friends, and hanging out recharged our batteries enough to get home, work one day and then enjoy our New Year's.

We invited friends over to celebrate with way too much tasty food, champagne punch, beers, and fun. Some came over and hung out while others were no-shows and still more were out of town. I was a little disappointed that so few people came, but those who did had fun and I got to end the night watching 200 Cigarettes on TV in my pj's. We were even able to break out the leftovers during the football game (which we won!) on Saturday.
Good times.

And now another year is over, and the new one begun. I've made a few resolutions that are casual and constant (budgeting/saving, eating more healthfully, walking the dog) and a few that are bigger and more unfamiliar (eating lunch every day, drinking more water, reducing stress and my reactions to stress, cutting back on bad habits around June). Many of my tasks on the life list are not yet done and I am certain that by September when my 1001 days are up won't be finished either. Can I edit it this late in the game?? Maybe I'll outline the new resolutions later, maybe I'll keep them to myself as to reduce the pressure. Maybe we have a big resolution/goal that the two of us want to accomplish in the Fall that we're not ready to tell people about yet.

Either way,
Cheers to 2011
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Springtime Clothes Swap

This spring, before you hit the mall or the web for new warm-weather clothes, why not try having a clothes swap party!?

Last year a small group of girls and I got together at my house to unload all our never-worn items and rifle through each others loot. At the end of the day I kept two dresses, five shirts, a long cardigan and a cute sparkly shrug - all of which I have worn several times in the last year. Some of them have even become favorites that I wear weekly (or more than that thank you).

If you're interested in holding a clothes swap of your own, here are some tips I have after learning from last year.

1. Sort sort sort. Before friends arrive, sort your own items into groups. As the others start to file in, they can go through their own bags and add stuff to the designated area. This saves time and allows people enough space to sort through and really look at the clothes without getting overwhelmed by choices. I even set up a rack with some hangers for particularly pretty shirts and dresses almost as a showcase.

2. Let people try things on. I kicked out Collin and Gabe that day and plan on keeping it a girls-only party again this year. With that many ladies wanting to try on clothes, giving everyone private (or at least semi-private) space is very thoughtful. Lines can form if everyone starts using the bathroom as a dressing room so think of other places you can transform. Hang a sheet to divide off your dining room and use the bedroom for changing too. Every space helps; some of you may already be friends who have no problems trying on clothes with each other but others may be less familiar or have other reasons to want privacy.

3. No even-trades required. The whole point of a clothes swap (if you ask me) is to be generous towards your friends with clothes that you already intend to donate. If you're already going to give it away, there's no need to keep track of how much each person brings or with how much they walk away.

4. Provide snacks. Sure, it's not always your favorite thing to try on clothes after you've eaten but having something to nosh on while you're hanging out and swapping keeps up the blood sugar and the morale. A light drink and something simple are all you need. As the host you can elect to do some of this yourself or you can enlist your friends or suggest a potluck style. Maybe a friend who has no clothes to contribute wants to make muffins instead? Perfect!

5. Donate it all at the end like you said. I have my own personal thrift store to which I like to donate and as the host I volunteer to transport all the leftover clothes there myself after the party. If any of my guests have another organization they would prefer to help, they can certainly take home a big bag of clothes to do so. It's a little extra motivation for people to come out if they only have to transport all their crap once.


Have you ever hosted or attended a clothes swap before? What other tips and suggestions do you have for someone looking to do the same this spring?
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The Luck of the Irish

You probably don't know that Collin and I are ridiculously scotch-irish, but we are.
With a surname like McLeod, it's pretty much given away. I've always felt lucky that Collin's last name allowed me to still represent part of my heritage after our marriage. It's probably a big part of why the decision to change my name was so easy to make.

I do consider myself a generally lucky person. Come on, my cat is even named Lucky! Celebrating St. Patrick's day was a yearly tradition for both of us. Growing up two blocks from my paternal grandparents meant I got to go for a dinner of corned beef and cabbage, carrots and potatoes. Nothing fancy, just dinner as usual - but somehow special. Really I'm just another white American girl. But on St. Patrick's day I can remember that of the many families that make up my tree, most hail from the same corner of the globe.







That photo is us two years ago. Yes, I did just erase that last sentence after looking at the file name again to see that it was indeed from 2007. More and more it seems I am reminded of how fast time passes and small the world really is.
That year, Collin's parents took us on vacation to Epcot for a day with a night in a nice hotel before hand. Now, we're in Gainesville so it's not really that much of a trip but any time spent at Disney is what I call a vacation. Epcot is totally my favorite Disney park. I know, you say, "it's boring" but no way! The World Showcase is amazing, and Future World has its finer parts. I went on "Living With The Land" (a ride inside - you guessed it - "The Land") for the first time on that trip and they have the most amazing hydroponic fruit and vegetable gardens. Big trellised pumpkins trained into a Mickey-head shape, canopies of tomatoes and conveyor belts of organic herbs.
Good fun, that trip.
We spent lunch time in the UK of the World Showcase and ate such things as pasties, pastry-topped meat stew, and plenty of green beers.
Thankfully Erin and I thought ahead and made reservations.
I say "thankfully" because food will always play a big part in my celebrating St. Patrick's day. I'm not sure if I only make these dishes once a year because I only crave them around this time or if it's because I want to keep them really special.
Last year was a dinner for two; a quiet night at home after work.
This year was a party!
My fellow Irish lady Rachel (former roommate and actual Ireland traveler) helped me put together a feast for our friends. This past weekend was incredibly fun. Cooking and sharing food with people we love, that's all I need.



The menu for the night was delicious! I have to say, we were pretty creative in altering some recipes to make them party friendly. Things started later than dinner time so that the night could run late and give those working enough time to join us. Traditional whole corned beef and steamed cabbage wasn't going to work too well. I'm not sure how appetizing all of that would be to those who didn't grow up with it either. Instead, we came up with this:

Savory

Shepherd's Tarts
corned beef and peas in pastry shells, topped
with mashed potatoes

Cabbage Hand-Pies
pastry pockets filled with cabbage, potatoes and mushrooms

Reuben Braidscorned beef, sauerkraut, 1000 island dressing and
irish blarney cheese in a braided crescent roll dough

Herbed Cheese and Crackers
okay, not Irish in any way - but tasty!


Sweet

Banoffee Pie
toffee and fresh sliced banana in a graham crust, topped with
banana pudding and fresh unsweetened whipped cream

Shamrock Sugar Cookies

a not-too sweet sugar cookie with royal icing

Car Bomb Cupcakesguinness chocolate cupcakes filled with Scotch whiskey ganache,

topped with a Bailey's Irish buttercream frosting
Edits were made to this recipe from smittenkitchen


Drink

Black and Tan

guinness stout + bass ale

Golden
harp lager + bass ale

Half and Half
guinness stout + harp lager

Irish Car Bomb
guinness + a shot (1/2 whiskey + 1/2 bailey's)

Black Velvet
guinness + champagne

People ate a lot of food, drank good Irish beer (of which very few were green), and in general had a good time. We'd downloaded some music; the Chieftains, Dropkick Murphy's, the Pogues, and the like.

We had plenty of leftovers to share with those who couldn't make it. We even had some left over for ourselves (but not so much that we had to throw any away). Perfect.



Next year I'll be making the car bomb cupcakes again. They are now a McLeod family tradition.
I loved the reuben braid even though I don't like traditional reubens. It was the absence of the rye bread for sure. ick.
On St. Patrick's day proper I used the little leftover meat we had to make some corned beef hash with eggs and blarney cheese. It hit the spot after already chowing down on dinnertime favorites.


Slainte to all the Irish among us!

May the road rise up to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back,
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
And the rains fall soft upon your fields.

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hello 2009

NYE was the jam.
Very fun, although I wish I'd been able to have a little more to drink. Plenty to eat though :D it was great to see all our friends stuffing their faces and talking about cross-dipping theories regarding the sweet potato latkes and basil dressing. It was a good crowd and not too big, a few people we invited who we really wanted to see didn't make it but overall, the night was a success.
It makes me want to have more parties.

I've been working on figuring out my new year's resolutions... it's hard.
I may make one of those 101 things in 1001 days lists that I see people making all over the internets.. 1001 days seems like a better timeline - but that's a lot of fucking things to do.

Maybe I will just try in the next year to:

Really, actually, 100% quit smoking cigarettes. I "quit" late last spring and haven't bought a pack since, even went over a month with zero smoking to get that hundred bucks from the boss man at work... but I still take drags from Collin's when we're on the porch and that means I haven't yet quit. I think I'm just being lazy.

Read 5 new books... and the His Dark Materials trilogy that I devoured in a week doesn't count. #1 will be Atlas Shrugged because I've been putting it off for years due to the small print and looming 1k+ pages. Whatevs, when I get into a book I could be done with that in days. Others may include the newest Palahniuck book that got a good review by my book soul-mate Regina when I saw her at the christmas party.

Get myself to start hitting the gym before work at least twice a week. I'm hoping I can get this going by March when it's not quite so cold. A reminder: I already wake at 6:40ish to get to work around 7:30. I'm guessing that to get to the gym, work out, and get to work by around 7:30 will require me to wake up on those days at 5:45 or so.
Not terrible, but I'll have to work it out so I don't mess with Gabe's normal morning routine of waking up around that time or shortly before to get to work by 6. Can I make it at 5:30?

Pay off 1/2 of my credit card debt. This is a big one, and it's going to be a bitch because I don't really have any extra money and I'm still sitting on debt incurred from those good ole college days when my loans and scholarships didn't really cover enough. Oh, and those couple months before the wedding where we kind of said fuck it and just put shit on the cards to deal with later because we needed all the cash for vendor payments, rent, and making up for each taking 2 weeks off work.

Finally, I really want to be a better employee. I do realize that I'm saying this while wasting half an hour lj-ing instead of working. Mostly I need to cut the frivolous wedding websites out of my habits since, you know, I'm kind of done with our wedding.


Oh, and Go Gators! Kick ass in Miami tonight, let's get another national championship title so I can run around celebrating with strangers in the streets. Yes, this is my husband and roommate battling to keep control of their "champion cock".
Let's make this year equally as badass.
Watching this makes me want to stop by XTC on my way home to keep the tradition alive - the original was destroyed by people trying to steal it. I think Gabe still has it in his room though.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

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