#TBT: Reminiscing

Thursday...we're are so close to the weekend!!  Woo Hoo!!  Today I'm hoping that it doesn't get here too, too fast because that means I'll be closer to Spring Break being over!  Since I didn't spend this week of on some fun vacation, for today's #TBT post, I'd reminisce a little about the vacations past...

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Vacation Memories

Back today linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals for Show and Tell Tuesdays.  Today we're telling about our favorite vacation.  This is really hard for me.  I love traveling.  I used to do so much more traveling before I had this mortgage to pay!!  I've gone on countless family vacations to North Carolina over the years, lots of cruises to the Caribbean with my bestie. To Disney a few times and Spring Break here and there in college.  It's really hard to narrow it down!! So here's a few of my favorite vacations!

Family Vacations to North Carolina:
In 1988, my family started renting a beach house on the Crystal Coast of North Carolina at a place called Emerald Isle.  It was pure heaven!!!  Back then it was not too well known, and not very crowded.  Pretty perfect!  We went there for years and years and years and I loved it.  Each year, our crowd got bigger and it made it that much more fun.  These past few years though we've gone to the Outer Banks.  It's about three hours closer.  (Still a 10 hour drive, but that better than 13!  Ha!!)  These days just my family alone fills up the house!!  We've come a long way since 1988!

Caribbean Cruising:
I've been on lots of cruises. I started going on cruises after college.  They were affordable on my measly catholic school teacher salary (especially when you go during hurricane season!) and lots of fun.  Ironically, my favorite days cruising are the super relaxing days at sea!  It's really hard to beat a beautiful day, laying out on the top deck, looking out and seeing nothing but beautiful, blue water. But I've done lots of awesome exscursions too!  Swam with dolphins, para-sailed, swam with sea otters, zip-lined in Belize.  took a Mexican cooking class (where the margs flowed like water!). Such awesome stuff!!   Actually one of my best vacations was when I went on the Mexican Rivera cruise out of Cali!  We broke the bank that trip!!  Went out to California a few days before the ship set sail! Stayed in West Hollywood and toured Hollywood Blvd in a red convertible, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Disneyland...the whole nine!! So fun!!

High above Labadee!

Nashville:  One of my favorite places ever!!  I love country music and one day my bestie and I just decided we would go to the CMA festival, the 4 day music festival they have each June for fans.  We got an awesome deal for the event, so we jumped on it.  That trip was a lot of fun, but it was the hottest June ever there and we pretty much died.  Like the sun was down and it was still 100 degrees.  So the next time we went in April, and that was more bearable.  The CMA trip was packed with so much to do, when we went in April, we basically did the touristy things, went to bars and listened to music...pretty perfect! Oh and we took a road trip to Dollywood!!  It was further from Nashville than we thought (and a different time zone!) but it was so much fun!  And we ended our long day with Sonic!!  My first Sonic (and only so far) experience ever!!  I will return to Nashville one of these days!!

Disney World:
Just wanted to end with a little funny!!
Is it bad that I've been to Disney so many times and loved it each time, but my favorite was probably when I was 8 or 10. My whole family got to go with my dad on a business trip. We probably stayed in one of the nicest hotels I ever remember staying in The Lake Buena Vista something.  At that hotel they had the BEST waffle cones ever!!!!!!!  I got one every night!!  I wanna say my that 10 year old self  thought they were free, but they probably weren't.  I know that probably pretty pathetic that my favorite part of that trip were those waffle cones, but that seriously was the best ice cream I've ever tasted!!

I just love traveling...it's one of my favorites!!  I hope to travel somewhere in 2015....
Can't wait to read about everyone's travels!!

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{This post first appeared on the blog on April 7, 2015} and since then, I unfortunately have NOT been a vacation vacation!}


Have a great Thursday and thanks as always for spending some of your day with me!!
Katie

Bright Pants!

Happy Style Perspectives Wednesday Ya'll. Last week's patterns and neutrals were a hit with everyone!  Before we get to this week's fun, here's a wrap-up of how each TBB lady interpreted the prompt!  Love everyone's style and how their personality shines through!!

Spring has Sprung and this week's Style Perspectives theme, bright pants is just the perfect prompt. No one's bright pants collection could rival Shaunacey's, that's for sure, (totally jealous!!) but bright pants were just the perfect look for Easter Sunday!!!

I love these blue pants and have had them for about a year but truth be told Sunday was the first day the tags came off!  I think I'll be wearing them a lot more often though!  Got many compliments on them and they were really comfy!

These are Old Navy Pixie Pants!  They come in so many colors and patterns.  I also have them in red and this fun flowery print that I save for summer!!  And since I got mine last year they seemed to have a lot more styles of them as well!  And at super affordable prices, which is good!!

C'mon I couldn't not have a post without a selfie in it could I!?!?  LOL

Such a fun pick!!  Do you do brave the bright pants too!  Link up with us and show us how!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Make sure you stop by the Blended Blog to see the featured lady.  

Please link up on the Blended Blog to show us how you would wear the prompt!

Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After : Library-Lovin'-Lady

Daily Style Finds: The Personal Stylist

Foxy's Domestic Side: The Crafty Engineer

Grumbling Grace: Toddler Tamer & Teacher

Simply Shaunacey: Reformed Frumpy Mommy

Two Teens and Their Mama: Stylish Midlife Mama

RSquared: The Not So Nerdy Accountant

Shoes to Shiraz: The Shoe Hoarding French Teacher

Puppies and Pretties: Cube Dwelling Fashionista

Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life:  Single Girl, Simple Style

A Lovely Little Wardrobe: A Casual Petite

Making the Most of Everyday Classic Yet Current Over Forty 

NickandNik: Mama with Curves

Living on Cloud Nine: Blissful Fashionista


Linking up this week with:

The Blended Blog/The Pleated Poppy/Sydney Fashion Hunter/Lisa @Daily Style Finds/Thursday Fashion Files

Easter Weekend Rewind!!

Happy Easter Saturday All!!  

It was a big week on the blog...check it out and see what you missed!!

Monday is shared my Spring Break Bucket List.  Some of which I've already completed...go me!!

Tuesday was all about the Soundtrack of My Life...my Mixed Tape!  It just might be my favorite post ever!

Wednesday the ladies of The Blended Blog and I got together for another edition of Style Perspectives!

Thursday was another Throwback edition.  It was Easter...pinned!!

Friday, as per usual, was the Favorites Edition!  

Have a a great weekend and Blessed Easter!!

Friday Favorites

Well I'm late to this Friday Party today!!  I had this post all done and scheduled to go.  But when you leave blogger open and don't return to the computer for 24 hours you find that it doesn't post!! DUH!!  Better late than never as they say!!

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Woo hoo!!  Spring Break!!  I am off for the next week!  Life is good...and so is sharing this week's favorites with you!!

Linking up today with Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites! 

{Feature Friday at The Blended Blog!}

And speaking of Erika...she's the Feature Friday Blogger on The Blended Blog today!!  Every Friday, a TBB contributor get to share a favorite blogger, and this week Erika is mine!!  Please head on over there to check it out!!  Thanks so much Erika for sharing!!

{My Mixed Tape}

Tuesday's Mixed Tape post was probably my favorite post ever!!  No joke!!  And I've been listening to these songs all week.  After reading a bunch of the posts, I realized there was so many more songs I could have added!!

{Spring Break}

Clearly, being on Spring Break is a favorite!!  And coming home after school on Wednesday, it's like Mother Nature just knew!!  It was so beautiful out and so warm that I was able to enjoy sometime in the sun on my rocking chair out front with that "it's officially Spring Break" glass of wine!!  I'd even dare to say I got a little bit of color!  One item already checked off the Spring Break Bucket List!!

{THIS SONG!}

I haven't been listening to all oldies this week!!  I am just loving this new Josh Kelley song!!  From the piano and the lyrics, to the dancing and of course his damn hot face, I love it all!!   Take a listen!!

{CP Awareness Day}

Today, March 25th, is National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day!  Wear some green to raise awareness and support people with CP, like me!!  I'll be rockin' my green!!

Have a Blessed Easter Weekend!!

Throwback Thursday: Easter Pinned!

Happy almost Easter Ya'll!!  Today's Throwback Thursday post is the Easter Pinned Edition!  Is it ok to voice that fact that I really don't like Easter in March!?!?  My St. Patrick's Day decorations weren't up long enough!  HAHAHA!!
But since I'm still dreaming about the Resurrection cookies I ate yesterday and reflecting on these next few holiest of days in our church calendar, I thought I throw it back to some Easter faves!!  Enjoy!!

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Easter...Pinned!

I wanted to get a post like this up and going before St. Patrick's Day but I never got around to it unfortunately.  So I thought I'd try again for Easter.  With Social Media, I go in spurts.  When I first got a Pinterest, I pinned all the time.  I've recently started pinning lots again, so I thought I'd share some of the things I'm loving for Easter!!

During Friendsgiving, I did some decorating.  I found a really fun subway art and put it in an 8x10 frame and placed it in my TV stand, that was pretty much empty, since my TV went up on the wall. I've kept this going since Thanksgiving and now change it for each month/holiday!  I found this one for Easter and put it in the frame.  I like that it marries both the religious and fun!

via Making Messes

Our family has lots of fun coloring hard-boiled eggs this time of year!  And I love eating them.  They're really just a great snack, that most times than not, I just eat like an apple!  HA!!  I know this is weird, but I actually had to look up how to make hard-boiled eggs!  Sure, I knew to put them in the cold water and boil them, but I wasn't sure of specifics, so naturally, I searched Pinterest!  And I found this!  And I gotta tell you...they come out pretty damn perfect!!  Easy to peel, not weird ring around the yolk, and super yum!!  I liked her story too!  That was totally me!!

It's Fitting

 I've also been pinning activities for my kiddos to do this Holy Week.  Teaching in Catholic School, I really like The Catholic Toolbox website/blog and have used this site's Easter Triduum resources.  During Holy Week, I like reading the kids The Tale of Three Trees in Library and use resources I've found on this site as checkout assignments for the kids.  This is one of my all-time favorite books. Some read it during Christmas, but I like to read it during Easter.  I feel that it's a good way to renew and reinforce our faith in God.

   

Yesterday at school one of the first grade teachers brought in Resurrection cookies for her class and shared some with me.  I had heard about them before but had never tried one!  She told me they were her own recipe.  She used chocolate chips and marshmallow.  I came home and tried to find it.  I couldn't find a recipe similar to hers.  Mostly everything I found on Pinterest included the pecans and vinegar (nut allergies in our school probably prevented her from following the exact recipe).  I pinned this for the story.  Yummy treats and a great way to share the story of Jesus with the kids!

via

Acually I've pinned a bunch of recipes!  I am off Thursday and Friday so, I'm going to make something to bring to Easter Sunday dinner!!

These are just a few of the things I've pinned lately! You can follow me on Pinterest {here}!

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This post originally appeared on the Blog on Tuesday, March 31, 2015.

Style Perspectives: Patterns and Neutrals

Week four of Style Perspectives?  Hard to believe!!  This series has been so much fun!!  Last week's link up was a hit and everyone's interpretations turned out great!  Here's a reminder....

Today over at The Blended Blog, it's Abbie's star turn...showing a neutrals with patterned tops!

For me there was no question when I heard the words neutral and pattern what I would wear.  Most weeks I am showcasing what I'd wear out for fun.  This week I have a wear to work look to share.  This is by no means a new outfit.  In fact, I've had it for many years.  But being a neutral with a classic pattern, I don't think it will ever go out of Style!!

I love it for a number of reasons...

• It's bright and screams spring to me!
• I can wear it with or without the cardigan and it will still look great (if I don't say so myself!)
• And when I bought this outfit, the saleslady at Loft told me, that I did such a great job matching it, that I should work there!  That's always stuck with me!  HA!!

So without further a-do today's perspective...

Paisley Tank with bright cardi and beige trouser pants

a closer look at the top

This is an oldie, but a goodie!!  Can't wait to check out all of today's looks!!  Link up with us too and tag your looks across all social media with #theblendedblogstyle

Check out another neutral/pattern look I tagged on intagram here!

See you next week....in bright pants!!  The perfect spring break accessory!!  

An InLinkz Link-up

14 bloggers each picked a look that defined their personal style.  

The featured blogger on the Blended Blog showcases her signature style (the prompt for that day) and then the other bloggers (on their personal blogs) show how they interpret it.  

Make sure you stop by the Blended Blog to see the featured lady.  

Please link up on the Blended Blog to show us how you would wear the prompt!

Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After : Library-Lovin'-Lady

Daily Style Finds: The Personal Stylist

Foxy's Domestic Side: The Crafty Engineer

Grumbling Grace: Toddler Tamer & Teacher

Simply Shaunacey: Reformed Frumpy Mommy

Two Teens and Their Mama: Stylish Midlife Mama

RSquared: The Not So Nerdy Accountant

Shoes to Shiraz: The Shoe Hoarding French Teacher

Puppies and Pretties: Cube Dwelling Fashionista

Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life:  Single Girl, Simple Style

A Lovely Little Wardrobe: A Casual Petite

Making the Most of Everyday Classic Yet Current Over Forty 

NickandNik: Mama with Curves

Living on Cloud Nine: Blissful Fashionista


Linking up this week with:
The Blended Blog/The Pleated Poppy/Sydney Fashion Hunter/Alice @ Happiness at Mid Life/A Pocketful of Polka Dots/Lisa @Daily Style Finds/The Mummy Chronicles/Thursday Fashion Files

My Mixed Tape: The Soundtrack of My Life

Today's Show and Tell Tuesday is a super fun topic! My Mixed Tape: The soundtrack of My Life...so far!!  There are so many songs I absolutely love and many that take me back in time, so I had a great time narrowing down songs to include!  Actually, it's more the artists that define times in my life rather than the songs...

K-K-K-Katie, My Beautiful Lady
I remember my grandfather singing this to me when I was little!  It's super old...from the 1900's.  The best version of it I found was this...but my grandpa's version was way better!!

Hats Off to Larry
When I was little my dad had a jukebox.  I danced around our den to that damn jukebox ALL the time.  The jukebox had a lot of oldies.  My favorite was Hats off to Larry...probably because I LOVED a guy named Larry!  He was in his 20's, I was 6 or 7!  HA!  Every single time, I imagined I was singing to him...hahahaha!

Any song by Debbie Gibson defines my young 80's self.  When I was seven I saw her in concert, third row, center at Radio City Music Hall in New York City and it was AMAZING...LOL  I was a dancer and a singer when I was little!!  I would blast the music and dance around my room for hours!!  From her very first album, to her last...I loved it all.  I actually met her a few years ago, and she signed my Out of the Blue Tape cover. I swear, when I met her I was seven again!!  I was a total fan girl!!  It kinda makes me cringe thinking back on it!!  My absolute favorite song of hers was called We Could Be Together. It was off the Electric Youth album.  I had a dance and everything.  I am pretty sure my sister and bestie were sick of hearing that song, the amount of times I had it on replay!!

My Tape signed...eeekkkkk!!

Part of Your World- The Little Mermaid
This one you just have to BELT OUT!  And this was the only song, that after singing, my bestie told me I had a good voice!  HA!  I will never forget that compliment as long as I live!!

I was also a big fan of the boy bands!  First New Kids in the 80's, the Backstreet Boys, and 98* in the 90's but the biggest piece of my heart goes to the boys of *NSYNC...two fifths of whom were on my Beloved MMC!! My bestie and I loved *NSYNC so much we saw them in concert twice in one week, during the summer of '99.  I recall losing my voice!!  I followed them from the very beginning all the way to the end!  And I love all of Justin's solo stuff, but I'll admit my heart broke a little when they broke up!!  So many of their songs are my favorites...Tearin' up My Heart is definitely up there!!
And they do an awesome cover of Christopher Cross' Sailing, too! #jussaying #atleastithinkso


Every year in college is defined by an artist that we listened to more than any other!

Freshman year it'd have to be Fleetwood Mac....Landslide is my absolute fave from them. BTW...Love the Dixie  Chicks version of Landslide too!!

Sophomore year for me was all about BRUCE!!!  Thunder Road was my JAM!! I played it on the jukebox at Bishops (our Bar!) every night I was there from sophomore year through senior year!!   I still love Bruce to this day and fully intend on seeing him in concert before I die!!

Junior Year was U2.  They released the album All that You Can't Leave Behind that year and the song Stuck in a Moment was pretty much my theme song then!!  There were a lot of moments in college I felt stuck in! They were all fun though!

I'd have to say that during all 4 years in college Billy Joel was a mainstay in our house.  As far as he goes, the catholic school girl in me will always love Only the Good Die Young and This is a Time to Remember was my HS Junior Prom Song...I liked that prom way more than I did the senior prom so when I hear that, I'm back at prom again....with my two dates!  Is there a better lyric for high school than "These are the days to hold unto cause we won't all though we'll want to"??   I think not!!  I wrote about the time my bestie and I saw Billy Joel's Last Play at Shea as a day I'd relive again {here} for a Show and Tell Tuesdays last year!!

And speaking of Billy Joel, Shameless, written by Billy Joel and sung by Garth Brooks will forever be my all time favorite song.  It's my secret wedding song. I'm holding out for the guy who'll sing Shameless to me!!  (Yes...I do realize I'm living in a dream world!)

The song that defined about 4 Memorial Day Irish Festivals camping, a bunch of St. Patrick's Day parades in NYC and a million unforgettable memories made with my cousins following college was by the band Sullivan's Jack.  Miles to Go...I just love it.  And I love the new Irish tunes that bring me closer to my heritage.  I know my cousins all love Rebel Song (my second fave), but for me Miles to Go was it...it just makes me wanna jig!!  

Sull Jack Groupies at the Reunion Show 2015

And how could I not include my Kenny on the soundtrack of my life!?!  There are so many I love but I would have to sat that two that define me right now are Never Wanted Nothing More and Beer in Mexico.  You might remember I wrote a little bit about Never Wanted Nothing More during the Quote Challenge.  A lot of times it's the lyrics that I find a little piece of myself in.  In Beer in Mexico there's a line that says,

"Maybe I'll settle down, get married or stay single and stay free, which road I'll travel is still a mystery to me....so I'll just sit right here, have another beer in Mexico do my best to waste another day, sit right here and have another beer in Mexico, let warm the air melt these blues away.....  

Who knows what will happen to me or where my life will go.  I'm gonna leave it in God's hands and until he gives me a sign to help me figure it out, I might as well enjoy myself...with a few beers!  ;)

As for my current place and time, I'm not sure there's a song that defines me....maybe All the Single Ladies!?!  LOL... just kidding!!  That's pretty much it for me!!  

I can not tell you the fun I had putting this together!!  I listened  to old songs on YouTube and danced around my living room.  Who knew all the lyrics would come back to me so quickly!! HAHAHAHA...if you want to hear one or all of these song head to YouTube!  I created a playlist here!

Have a great Tuesday!!  I can't wait to read about everyone's mixed tapes!!  

Spring Break Bucket List

Good Morning Monday!!

In just 72 short hours I'll be on Spring Break and free for the next week and a half.  Teaching Catholic School, our break spans Holy Thursday, Good Friday and the whole following week.  It's the longest break of the year. Even though I won't be going on some exotic vacation (a girl can dream!) I am still super excited.  Any day that my alarm's not going off at 5:25 a.m. is a good day!!  After reading this post Emily at Simply a Rough Draft put together of her kiddos Spring Break Goals , I thought it'd  might have to put together my own!!

Get a haircut

  This is a must....it's been like a year and a half since my last cut.  Seriously!  I am thinking I'll just get the dead ends cut off because I like long hair coming into summer, but who knows.  Sometimes I go in there and the salon takes over!

Toast for Breakfast

I went to Toast for Breakfast over Winter Break and hope to make it there again.  My sister wants to go too, so that will be more fun than my previous solo trips!!

Visit the Library

Hopefully some days  while I'm off, it will be nice and I can head into town.  I hope to visit the library to check out some books, DVD's and CD's and just enjoy the quiet.

Read 2 books

Piggybacking on the library visit, I want to read more over this break!!  I set a goal to read two books because I think it's totally doable.  I am in the middle of one now, and want to read another as well, if I can read one more as well, that'd be great!!

See some friends I haven't seen in awhile

I hope to do some lunches and dinners with some people I haven't seen!  Breaks are always a good time to catch up!

Happy Hour

Hope to head to Happy Hour at some point while I'm off.  Who couldn't use a lil 2-fer action from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.??  LOL

Get a Massage

I put this on my February Currently, and it didn't pan out!  Fingers crossed with the more time I have this break that it does this time around!!

Get a Tan

I know Spring Break is really early this year, but I hope we have some warm weather!  And I can sit out a bit and get a little tan!!  If even just on my face!  Everyone looks better with a tan!  HA!! (This one might be a stretch...I know!!)

Have a great week!!

Don't forget to head on over to The Blended Blog today to check out Lana's Spring Break post!!

Five things on a Friday!

Welcome to Friday!  Is it just me or are the week's getting slower?  Here's a bunch of random for your Friday pleasure...

Daylight Savings Time

Have always loved this...#truth

Some ee cards

And man was it crazy getting up Monday!  Pitch black!  But I am so on board the lighter later train for sure!

My new keyless entry

Definitely a fave this week.  If you saw Monday's post, I talked about my two favorite guys this week!  One was my neighbor, GUS who installed a new keyless entry for me!  And it is just awesome!  No more leaving my keys in the door.  And it locks me in too!  LOL  

Stations of the Cross

This is one of my  favorite days in school.  The fifth and seventh grade students reenact Jesus' Journey, with meditation, reflection and beautiful music. It's powerful!

This risotto...seriously yum!!  I got another Hello Fresh delivery on Monday and right away I made this!!  It was a meal for two but I probably ate 2/3 of it that night!

St. Patrick's Day!

One of my most favorite days of the year!  In years past it was always irish bands and beers that got me excited!  This time around it was green bagels with butter! How times have changed!!  The bagels were shared with me by my most favorite littles...my Kindergarten friends!! Seriously, I just love them.  It's like I'm a rockstar when I go in there...the screams, the hugs! Totally makes my day!  Also had a fun, impromtu dinner at The Meetball...my go-to in town!

Hope everyone had a great week and a Happy St. Patrick's Day, too!!

Linking up today!

Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites 

September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

April and the girls for Five on Friday

Katie and the girls for High Five for Friday!

Throwback Thursday: St. Patrick's Day Edition!

In honor of St. Patrick's Day today and my town's St. Patrick's Day Parade this Saturday on Main Street, I thought I share a throwback from last year's parade!  It was a super fun day!  Actually a great weekend all around....

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A fun-filled Family Weekend!

My weekend was so busy and so fun!!

After a snow-filled Friday night-in cooking up another Hello Fresh meal, I cleaned up the house and headed to be early, because Saturday was gonna be a big day!!

This Hello Fresh meal just might be my favorite so far , so I had to include it!  It was called Warm Grain Salad.  Barley, butter beans, shallots,  avocado, and grape tomatoes in a mustard, vinaigrette topped with basil.  So good, so easy..and perfect for a Friday during Lent!  I will definitely be getting these ingredients and making this again!

On Saturday I was fortunate enough to be able to go see Aladdin on Broadway! (Score for me that my cousin broke up with his girlfriend...LOL!!) It was an awesome show! Highly recommend the show when it comes to your city.

It was the 8 o'clock show, so we ate dinner beforehand. The rest of my family, (who I went to the with) were already in the city for the day, so I met them all at the restaurant after my train got in and I cabbed it! (I actually walked 10 minutes looking around for the place!) It was a really nice, laid back restaurant and since we had plenty of time before the show, it was just nice to chat and eat and drink, and chat and eat some more. My aunt Uncle and two cousins live in Pennsylvania, so we don't see them nearly as frequently as we like. So that was great!

The drink menu was really cool.  Specialty cocktails and Mocktails were named after shows:

Drinks like the OZ-mopolitan was named for Wicked 

Stormin' Mormon for the Book of Mormon 

And the Rye 'n King for The Lion King

We were thinking that The Best Friggin' Margarita in the City, might've been just that but now I'm thinking it's named for the best Little Whore House in Texas which was on Broadway in the 70's and 80's.

The mocktails were cute too!

Sippin' like Pippin' and Mary Pompins.

After dinner, we headed out toward the show. Stopping in Times Square to “soak it all in” as my aunt said! 

 Little known fact.... the New Year's Eve Ball that they drop in Times Square is actually up there all year round. When it's time for the celebration each year, they go up and change the lights for the year!

The view of the ball as we were waiting to head into the show

Aladdin was really phenomenal! The guy who played the Genie was absolutely hilarious and stole the show. The magic carpet ride was my favorite part. Very cool. Someone at work today asked me if they changed it from the movie. The story is much the same but the show has some elements updated for today and a new song or two. The Genie had an extra song. It was just really, really cute! I was so happy to go!

After the show, I stayed in the city with my sister and her family, who had been in there since Friday! Then I got up bright and early and headed home to my town's St. Patrick's Day parade.

Three seconds after I walked in the door, the rest of my family showed up at my door, ready to go to the parade. It was chilly out but a bright, beautiful day! It was a lot of fun. And we had a prime spot in front of my favorite place in town. It wasn't too crowded, so the kids were able to stand right out in front and had a great view of the whole parade.

Some fun pics from the day

The bagpipe bands were my fave!

And pretty cool that a beer Company has their on Pipes and Drums Band

There's players on the float and Mom screams for the duck! 

The old time cars, trucks,fire trucks and even an old time ambulance were fun too!

My niece actually got in the parade for a hot second with...this guy

My sister and BIL's niece was in the parade with her twirling group!

Photo Shoot at my house after the parade...

Following the parade, everything was so crowded, so we headed back home. My dad and I stopped in the liquor store to pick up some Bailey's (being the awful hostess I am, I had nothing IRISHY to serve).  We hung out a little. My sister and her family had to head home, as they were going to a birthday party later on in the day. My other sister and I convinced my mom and I to go back out to the bar and listen to the Irish band that was playing. Because it was still only 2:30 and we had the whole afternoon ahead of us.

When we walked in, it was still crowded, way more crowded than the first time (and I thought mom was going to kill us!) but my sister was able to wind her way to the front of the bar and after about 20 minutes of standing, by some miracle, 3 people left! So we hopped in their seats and settled in for an afternoon of fun and music. We love our Irish music!! Mom only had a diet coke but before we left my sister thought it would be funny if mom and I did a shot together! I picked an easy one: Baby Guinness! This is how mom does shots....

Because according to her it's too good not to sip and it's a waste of money!!

#shemayberight

All in all it was a great weekend!!!! I have so much fun with all my fam. I wish though that Monday didn't arrive so quickly, so I could've stayed in bed today! But already, it's here! THANK GOD for COFFEE!!

This post first appeared on the blog Monday, March 23, 20015

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Happy St. Patrick's Day all! No matter what your nationality, why not celebrate today by raising a pint and doing a jig! :)