green-go

Or gringo?

With St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, I’m getting out the green.
And “gringo” is sorta how I feel about it at times.

(Shamrock image)

I’m a girl who loves celebrating holidays as much as the next person. I look forward to the revolving holiday candy aisle at Target (and I definitely buy peanut butter cups in every new foil color, cause that’s the only way to guarantee freshness).

But sometimes I laugh at myself when I get excited about holidays that aren’t really “ours”, or mine at least. Cinco De Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day, Chinese New Year, are there others?

And I feel a bit like a gringo (….or white girl poser) for creating caricature of a culture, and making shamrock’s from split peas and rainbow cupcakes.  Am I celebrating green?  Am I celebrating Leprechauns?  Gold?  Lucky Charms cereal?
You know, I’m not even sure what St. Patrick’s Day is all about.
Time for Wikipedia.
(Ah, it’s a bit deeper than I thought.)

Overall I think it’s a day to have fun, eat good food, drink good drinks, and to pinch non-green-wearing spectators?  I think it’s kosher to turn our house green for a day in March.
Right?

(Green Shirt Dress)

Then here’s a roundup of green projects and St. Patrick’s Day inspiration…

TOP: Leprechaun Beard, two beautiful photos by Gordana AMLuck of Summer Rain and This Morning We Caught A Rainbow
MIDDLE: Lucky gold rocks, Shamrock Pizza Squares, Pot ‘O Gold bags
BOTTOM: Mini Pot of Gold favors, gold clover baby hat, scrap paper rainbows

LEFT: Creme de Menthe Brownies by How Sweet it is
RIGHT: cupcakes from Owen’s Rainbow birthday
LEFT: Shamrocks and Gold sugar cookies
MIDDLE: Kiwi Upside Down Cakes
RIGHT: Coconut-Lime Scones
Mini mint homemade milkshakes—mix them with a spoon.
And just a golden afternoon photo of Lucy, two years ago on St. Patrick’s Day.
Her hair was so long.
Happy early St. Patrick’s Day to any true Irish out there (and any wannabes like me)

  1. With children everything has a sense, also celebrating holidays not ours! I’m learning to appreciate this fact too! Every occasion is good to have fun!
    The shamrock with peas are very decorative!
    😉

  2. From a Catholic with plenty of Irish blood, you celebrate to your heart’s content. 😉

  3. My husband claims St. Patrick’s Day is his favorite holiday, but he forgets to wear green every.single.year.

  4. 4) Jennifer

    We’re Jewish but still enjoy all the holidays! I teach my daughter to appreciate them and we like how stores and houses are decorated for Christmas. I made my daughter a button bracelet for Friday (her school’s St. Pat’s celebration day) it has all green novelty buttons sewn on an elastic band. It’s all fun, nothing to fear.

  5. 5) Dakota

    Im actually half full irish. Heehee. But I know none of that side of my family at all.. So yea. I kinda dont count. But any holiday with decor and food is excuse enough for me to celebrate.

    • I like the idea of braclets made of buttons, green for st. Pats day, green & red for December maybe add gold or silver, spring colors for new birth of trees and flowers
      oh and red hearts for Valentines . Turkey buttons if you can find the for thanksgiving. I will look up how to make them on elastic thread. thanks Phyllis

  6. Dana, as always I love your ideas and your beautiful photographs, as a woman with green eyes it’s always nice when an on trend colour is also very flattering. My only quibble is with your referral to “kiwi” in the baking. As a New Zealander (now living in Melbourne) a kiwi is a flightless bird native to New Zealand or the colloquial term for a person who lives (or was born) in New Zealand. What you’re actually referring to is kiwifruit, just as a strawberry is a berry but is not just called straw the kiwifruit needs its whole name. I think embracing other cultures and their celebrations is great for our kids and in an often hum drum world, excitement and enthusiasm is to be encouraged – especially as you looked to the true background

    • 8) Heather

      We actually call “kiwifruit” just kiwi here. That’s natural to us. I’m sure she didn’t mean to offend! 🙂

  7. Don’t you know? Everybody’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂

  8. 10) becky

    i just loved that last pic of lucy…makes me think of pretty fairies and elfin folk…xx

  9. Hey Dana! I love your blog! I’ve been following it forever… for the past two weeks your new posts haven’t been updating in reader? Is it just me? If not I wanted to let you know!!! I had to go back and catch myself all up. I thought it was strange there would have been no new posts from you! I should have known better!

  10. 12) nopinkhere

    We never celebrate St. Patrick’s Day because it’s my son’s birthday! I also had an experience as a teen with a green hamburger bun that made me lose interest in the holiday even earlier. But I do enjoy the bright colors!

  11. I enjoy your inspiration round-ups. You find the coolest things. Happy St. Patty’s Day to you all. 🙂

  12. 14) Britt

    Being an Irish girl where St Patricks day is a super important family get together holiday. I think there is nothing wrong with decorating your house green and enjoying the traditions of the holiday even if your not Irish and having fun treats for the kidos. The only time I get annoyed is when the holiday is used as an excuse to drink green beer and be trashy. Its just not what its all about for me personally.

  13. 15) Jennifer

    Holy Cow! I love all of those random holidays, too!! I always have parties for the Chinese New Year, St. Patty’s Day, and Cinco de Mayo. I’m a sucker for dumplings, Irish Car Bombs, and margaritas. I even have a green shirt I bought several years ago and always wear that says Kiss Me I’m Not Irish.

  14. 16) Suzanne

    Hi Dana, I came over after spotting a link to the skirts post but have gotten blissfully distracted by your blog for the last two days. I just can’t tell you how impressed i was with the photos and all of the attention to detail you include in your tutorials. What a joy to read! Thank you for the diversion.

  15. 17) Laura

    Can you really be sure you don’t have a little Irish blood (those Celtic peoples were all over the place and back and forth from Scotland/England/Ireland/N. Europe)? I’m not even the right kind but (Scotch-Irish protestant with relatives in N. Ireland) I married a Bryan that is part Republic of Ireland Irish and Catholic. We now have a Patrick of our own. I claim you! Have green fun.

  16. 18) bdaiss

    Hahaha! My 2 year old has been learning all her colors and loves the stoplight “Green-go-green-go!” Of course with her little 2 year old pronunciation it sounds just like “Gringo”. Makes me giggle every time.

    I love St. Paddy’s day for one reason – I have an excuse to eat corned beef from sun up to sun down. Corned beef hash for breakfast, reuben for lunch, and roasted for dinner. : )

  17. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! If it makes you feel better about not being Irish, St. Patrick himself wasn’t born in Ireland. He was taken there as a slave and, after escaping, later returned to bring the Catholic faith there. So, no need to be Irish to celebrate! The use of the shamrock was St. Patrick’s way of explaining the Trinity (God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

  18. One more thing, I just read your post about the rainbow cupcakes and I completely agree….the cupcake is just the vehicle for getting frosting into your mouth. A cupcake with just a thin layer of frosting is just SO SAD!

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