Irish Eyes are Smiling

Over the years, I’ve heard of St. Patrick’s Day Parade on the South side. As there are a ton of Irish living in the area, I knew I needed to make the journey one day.

Amanda has proven she’s more than just a friend you want to travel with, she’s the one who finds you random things in the city to do. Case in point: she got us on a wagon, pulled by Clydesdales, in the South Side Irish Parade.

Despite the rain/drizzle and cold temps, we had an absolute blast working out our arms and cheeks as we waved to kids and parents donning tweed hats and Irish fisherman sweaters. Plus, we had bagpipers right in front of us during the parade line-up.

We’ll do it all again this weekend during the downtown Irish parade. And for the very first time, I’ll see the river turn green instead of just catching the “aftermath” on Monday morning while going into work. I’ll find any and all excuses to wear my Irish Drinking socks straight from the Emerald Isle and sing “Galway Girl.”

Obviously I can get behind gal pals that love Eire

Light It Up Round Two

Last year, we wrangled Rudolph.

This year…..

We’ve Elfed ourselves. That’s right. From 11-4 tomorrow at Pioneer Square during the Festival of Lights, we’re dressed as elves. It’s time to relive the glory days of being a mascot. Finally.

The Checks Keep on Happening

This past year has been a crazy year of firsts. Going on my first blind date, my first trapeze class, my first Blackhawks game as a Chicago resident, the first time I read over 50 books in a year, the first time I took a challenge to write a novel, the first time I went rafting and the first time I spontaneously hopped a plane to travel.

But I didn’t stop there. This year also  marks the first time I marched down Michigan Avenue in the Festival of Lights parade as a balloon handler. With Kara, Sarah, Durda and Amanda, we manned the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer balloon. The balloon, as big as a house, was a beast in the wind. Thankfully, we only had a couple of scares while walking down Magnificent Mile, including the reindeer game of getting Rudolph’s head stuck in a tree.

It was a fantastic time with the gals and I’m not sure if we had more fun creating a spontaneous sing-a-long while moving down the street or helping deflate the balloon at the very end. All in all, such a worthy bucket list item.

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