Quote of the Week

"If you're lucky enough to be Irish, then you're lucky enough."-an old Irish saying

And this week I feel very lucky! This past weekend, I took my travels to Chicago to celebrate my birthday in the Windy City. Little did I know, that the entire city would be celebrating as well, but not my birthday...St . Patrick's Day! Chicago holds a huge all-day festival including a parade and dying the river bright green. The celebration was surely a sight to see and it made me very excited for the upcoming festivities on the actual holiday this Wednesday. Even though most people wear green, drink green beverages, eat corned beef and cabbage and celebrate with family and friends, regardless of their heritage, St. Patrick's Day has a special place in my heart because I do have a large amount of Irish family history. Both sets of parents have Irish lineage and my red hair does not hide those Celtic family roots.

So as part of my observance and celebration of this fine holiday, I decided to take this week to educate myself and you, the avid blog reader, about this festive day of green shamrocks and drinking.

St. Patrick, whose feast day is March 17th, is the patron saint of Ireland. It is believed that he died on March 17th 461 and to this day, it has been a celebration of Irish culture and history. St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Ireland. The largest celebration of this holiday takes place in Dublin, with a four-day festival from March 15th to March 19th. Some of the events include a parade, family carnivals, a treasure hunt, traditional Celtic dance and music performances and a theatre festival. One million people are expected to participate in the Dublin festivities this year. The grand parade on the 17th will include 3000 street performers and an expected 650,000 spectators. Traditional dress in Ireland on St. Patrick's day consists of green ribbons in the womens' hair, high-crowned green leprechaun hats and shamrock pins. The saying "the wearing of the green" refers to wearing a shamrock on one's clothing. And the party continues even in the United States. Boston, MA has hosted a St. Patrick's Day parade since 1737.

Fun Fact: Over 34 million Americans have Irish ancestry. So whether you are one of them like me, or you just want a reason to celebrate-wear your green proud and celebrate the Irish on this lucky day!