I Put Some Whiskey, Into My Whiskey...

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite days of the year because I love celebrating the banishment of snakes (public enemy #1), listening to Irish music and drinking green beverages. This year did not disappoint!!! I spent the early part of the day with family. And our mom, like every St. Patrick's Day of my life, made our Irish Dinner.

Shamrock Shakes with my sister

Mom's amazing Irish meal

This plate brought to you by the letters Y-U-M

Then I went by the cemetary to take some flowers to my dad. Growing up he always gave my mom and my sisters and me a green corsage on St. Patrick's Day, so I try to return the favor.

After I that I went down to meet up with some friends. It was CRAZY crowded down there, who knew there were so many Irish people in Central PA ;) We drank beers and listened to a band in one of Harrisburg's "Irish Pubs". (Side Note: can we talk about how terrible DT Harrisburg is getting? No. 20 most dangerous city in America???)

Late night it was time for me to fulfill my little sister duties by picking up my brother from his yearly St. Patrick's Day celebration. It's the ONE day a year I have to do this for him so I don't mind, and it ended up being great times (there was a game called "Battleshots", enough said). I crashed the end of the party and got to reconnect with one of my favorite people from my past- my old babysitter, Erin. She was the COOLEST teenager. She introduced me to U2 at the age of 6 and her love of Bono and all things Irish has never waiver. It's been probably 15 years since I've last seen her but she's still one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet and it was so fitting that our reunion happened on St. Patrick's Day.


World Peace is photo bombing out reunited love

Party Host Brian- he's pretty happy about his outfit

Good seeing you, St. Patrick's Day. Looking forward to next year already- who know's where I'll be celebrating by then :)

~M



The Barroom Is Filled With The Joy of Making Old Friends...

So I went to Ireland and guess what? My face looked NOTHING like the terrain- severely disappointed, total bummer. Other than that, things were perfectly lovely and I'm quite sad to be back home (sorry America). I spent a good bit of time on my own, getting lost in the rain and tripping on cobblestone streets and doing proper nerdy things like visiting libraries, but I also met some really excellent new friends and drank a bunch of beer and fell in love with the city of Dublin. I learned the historical origin of the term "shit-faced", heard all about the decomposition of mice & rats, was repeatedly told how badly I need to visit Spain, tried amazing smelling deodorant (spray kind of course) from a girl in a bathroom who loved my "accent", discovered that people from Norway like to visit Ireland and drink massive amounts of Heineken, had wonderful conversations about music and literature and racism (awkward) but most importantly, confirmed that I really really really love traveling alone. I left feeling so much more confident about the time I want to spend in Europe next summer. Special thanks to my new BFF Eamon aka Ned aka Neddie who was so welcoming and generous with his time while I was there and is my favorite Irishman for promising to root against Notre Dame when they play in Dublin next fall. Also, many thanks to the sweetest couple in all of Ireland, Noel & Rose, who have invited me for a visit to their hometown of Galway upon my return, which I will absolutely take them up on.
Didn't take as many photos as I thought I would, I was too busy just enjoying myself (and shopping), but here are enough to bore you to death. Enjoy!


Making KC proud



Reading Room in the National Library



Adorable Trash Can



Wise Ole Oscar



Alley where I didn't get raped or murdered



My Hotel- there was tacky Irish Dancing every night



Rotunda in the Natioal Museum



St. Stephen's Green



Busy, busy Grafton Street



Not sure but I liked it!



Ha'Penny Bridge



Original Dublin City Wall & Gate, or something, I dunno



Christ Church Cathedral



Lit a Candle for my Dad



Festive Crypt



St. Patrick's Cathedral



Super Adorable Chairs



Token St. Pat's Photo



"Dance first. Think later. It's the natural order."



O'Connell Street



Dublin Custom House



Glow Tree



Can't be sure, but I think it says "We love you Mindy"... or just "Dublin"



Trinity College



Occupy



Again, can't be sure, but I think it's some expression of love for me.



Stairwell in City Hall



City Hall Rotunda



Anticlimactic Dublin Castle



Curse you uneven walking surfaces!



SHOTS SHOT SHOTS



Proudly avoided all touristy pubs like this, but it does make for a great photo!



LIES!!!!



Pop Quiz: Which of these fools is about to fall off this monument? (HINT: it's me)

Thanks for everything, Dublin. Can't wait to see you again in March :)
~M

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling…

Big news blog fans (by that I mean all of our moms and the person in Russia who’s been checking this site): I am going to Ireland! Well, only Dublin, and only for a few days, and in December when it’ll be freezing cold and NOT lush and green, and not for very long so I don’t really have time to do too much, but STILL- I’m going to Ireland. I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. My grandparents are from there and my mom & dad made several trips in the past. Growing up my Dad always used to tell me that my face looked like a map of Ireland. Let’s take a moment to compare…

I see it now, around the eyes, no?

Not sure why he always said that (trying to console me over my paleness???) but it makes me happy to think about that when I’m missing him. I’ve been trying to put together an epic adventure to Europe for next summer, but decided I couldn’t wait that long to go somewhere. Also, I wanted to test the waters a bit because I’m going to be traveling ALL ALONE (insert dramatic pause and "shocked" face here).

That’s right, I’m going to Dublin all by myself for five days and I couldn’t be more excited. No offense to others, but there are VERY few people I enjoy traveling with (obviously, these 3 other Girlfriends are included in my favorite travel buddies) and people don’t seem to have the time and/or money to do a lot of this stuff right now. I happen to blessed with both money and time (for the moment) so there’s no point to waiting any longer.

Now, let me step into “The Real World” confessional for a second (man, remember when the Real World on MTV was the best show ever?): I’m a tiny bit nervous that I’m going to be murdered. I go back and forth on this subject, should I pre-plan my funeral or leave it up to my mom and risk ending up with a Vera Bradley casket (she has a serious problem, but I'll save that for another post)??? After being nervous for 11 days I’ve now come to the conclusion that I most likely won’t be murdered in Dublin (KNOCK ON WOOD). I’m a smart traveler who doesn’t put herself in bad situations to begin with. Plus, if someone is going to steal me & kill me in a crowded pub they are probably insanely cray-cray and would succeed in doing that even if I had 13 other people with me. So being alone couldn’t really change anything in that scenario. Anyway, back to being excited…

I’m SO excited for the trip!! As soon as I told people where/when I was going I suddenly got inundated with names of people’s friends/family that live in and around Dublin (who knew so many people lived in Ireland?), so I have more than enough “emergency contacts” to go around. Also, I’ve been using couchsurfing to connect with some lovely Irish folks. I’ve gotten loads of good advice and have a few people I may meet up with for a drink or two when I’m there (assuming they aren’t murders. Surely murderers can't type?)

So there you have it, I’m going to Dublin to match my face to some landscape. There’ll be loads to discuss when I get back, in the meantime try not to be TOO jealous over my amazing adventure.

~M