Hotel Living

I was blessed to have had the opportunity to tour a few times in 2014.

Hotel things I learned/did:

• The hotel laundry room might be a bit of a walk. Your pillow case can double as laundry bag when transporting clothes to and from the washing machine!
• Don't ever buy: coffee, tea, cookies, apples, oranges, or bananas because hotels will have them.
• Hotels that provide breakfast will have cereal and oatmeal, as well as peanut butter, yogurt, and cream cheese.
• Organization will help you feel more at home on the road, even if your home isn't organized. Keep your toiletries condensed to one or two areas. If you are traveling often, put items in the same place in every hotel room so you know where to find them. I always put business items and car keys on the TV stand. I had a portable blender, and I always put it on the microwave (if there was one) or next to the coffee maker (there almost always is a coffee maker) so I could pretend that was the kitchen. I set up an "office" either at the desk or on a bed side table. My office was mainly a charging station.
• I promise you will feel so good if you make your bed in the morning. If you're leaving and never coming back then never mind don't do that.

St. Patrick's Day

Once I went to middle school St. Patrick's Day wasn't really a thing that happened in my house because I stopped bringing home leprechaun cut outs from class. This year my mom's family celebrated by marching in the Philadelphia St. Patrick's Day Parade in memory of my pop pop.
I put some chocolate coins and green tic tacs labeled "Leprechaun Poos" into my mom's lunchbox.
And I made scones! I love this recipe. It makes two large scones, or four "normal" sized scones. They have a feel and taste of cookie and cake baby and that is ok. My ad ins for this recipe were craisins and maraschino cherry juice. Then I made a quick milk-and-powdered-sugar glaze to put on top of the scones so I could cover them in shamrock sprinkles I bought last year. Next time I think I will form each scone individually instead of cutting triangles out of a circle. The edges will look cleaner this way.

There were four and then I ate one

Earlier this week, the question "Why do you, personally, celebrate St. Patrick's Day?" appeared on my newsfeed. I'm not sure if this status update was genuine or snarky, but after seeing this and a train car filled with green clad students I began to ask myself this same question. This year my family celebrated because of my pop pop's passing. The 17th was a time of togetherness for my Irish family for the first time ever, and we celebrated the spud from which we all grew. My pop pop was incredibly proud of his heritage, and a large part of our background, and many Irish families' background, is routed in Christianity. St. Patrick spread Christianity throughout Ireland (using the clover to teach the holy trinity,) so the holiday, to me, is a celebration of the spread of faith that is created my family's values. 

I am not perturbed by the sea of drunken green people the third week of March. I love it! St. Patrick's Day has become a time of togetherness and partying. Irish people love this. St. Patrick was a major contributor to Irish values. So, by transitive property, the modern American celebration of St. Patrick is appropriate.