these irish eyes are hazy

Last night this lassie headed down to the lake front to participate in Milwaukee's annual Irish Fest. It is, by far, my favorite festival of the summer. The weather last night was perfect and the grounds were crowded. We have our annual traditions once we get there and the first thing we always do is get an Irish Twist. I am almost positive there is nothing 'Irish' about this sweet, sugary, doughnut like morsel, but it tastes like heaven and leaves you licking every inch of your sugary buttered fingers. Sorry team TwitFit, I fell off the wagon again last night. (but it was worth EVERY calorie)

Now, there are three types of people that go to Irish Fest. First you have you non-irish attenders. They come dressed in regular garb, drink beer, listen to the bands and enjoy the festivities. Some may enjoy all this festival has too offer a little too much, but in the end, they leave having had a good time.

Then there are the Irish lads and lassies. They come to enter their babes in the 'most freckles contest', watch their lassies dance an mean Irish step and share a pint with a friend or two. They are most often wearing some sort of Irish attire, but nothing too gaudy or flashy. By the end of the night they may be dancing the jig on the picnic tables in front of the Harley Stage, but I would not know anything about this, I swear!

Finally, there are the yahoos that may or may not be Irish, I tend to lean to the not. They are verbose, drunk and obnoxious from the moment their first beer graces their lips. They are decked out in loud green attire, Mardi Gra beads, neon green wigs and flashing beer mug hats. They. Make. Me. Cringe. While I was in Ireland I never saw a flashing beer mug hat or a full grown adult leprechaun in a neon green wig. This is probably why I yearn to go back there so!

All in all, we had a great time and listened to some great bands. Did you know that you can dance like a rooster to an Irish jig? Yeah, me neither. But the man dressed like a leprechaun thought it was the way to go before he leap frogged over a stool and fell to his demise. He falls into the third category for sure.

what makes this lassie sassy

Yes, it is true. I am a self proclaimed tattoo whore. I love them! I LOVE how they look, I love them on other people and well, quite frankly, they are a bit of a turn on. For confirmation of this fact please check out this distinguished gentleman. HELLLLOOOO there!! If you have a tat you can probably relate to this next stream of thought. For me it is all about the anticipation. Come on... admit it. That little flutter in your stomach as you sit down in the parlor chair. The intensity of the feeling when you first hear the buzz of the needle - it is all coming back to me now....mmmm. Ok, sorry for that...... back to the nitty gritty. Wait!! One more thing!! I will also take this chance to put this little disclaimer out there - my pics do NOT do justice to my tats. I had to take them myself with one hand while swatting away the three year old with the other. So for their poor quality, I apologize.

I got my first tat in 1993. I went with my BFF after an all night road trip from Milwaukee to good ole small town Ohio. We were over tired and had talked about getting one together for quite some. It was on the drive home (Ohio) that we decided that today was the day. She would get hers on her thigh and I would get mine on my hip. The deal was done and I was the new owner of one black ankh with two Druid symbols on the sides. I hid it from the parents for a while but they eventually saw it on a family trip to Florida. They weren't mad, they knew I wanted one since I was a young teen. But my Mom did ask why I didn't get something cute like a butterfly or bumble bee. Sigh.....



The next one was in 1996. I was officially living in Milwaukee - all grown up and on my own. I had my own apartment, my own paycheck, my own life. I was officially free! I had been craving the needle for quite some time. I decided to add an Aztec sun around my first tattoo. I guess I can admit that this is the one I regret, or at least, would not pick if I had the choice to do it all over again. I do like it, don't get me wrong, but it definitely shows where I was at that stage in my life and I am just not there anymore.

Next came my Celtic Knot in 1997. You can read all about that one HERE. This tattoo was a joint effort and was when I recruited my hubby to the dark side. I actually gave him his as a birthday gift and got mine, well, because I wanted another one! He too has been bitten by the ink bug and has had trips back to the chair... moo ah ha ha! Soon I will infect everyone!! Did I mention I even infected my mother for her 60th birthday? Oh yes, now there is another post my friends!

I went to Siberia in 2004 to backpack through the Sayanne Mountain range. (This is definitely another post someday!!) The long and short of it is this - I went to Siberia, everyone there HATES Americans, I got spit on, we got lost in the mountains, we were rescues by a Russian Special Forces helicopter, luckily by the grace of God, I got back home to the States. Yeah, that's a mouthful. On one of my descents down one of the mountains I cranked my left ankle. It hurt like nobody's business but there was nothing, literally nothing, I could do about it. I had to keep going. There is so much tht happened on this trip - good, bad, ugly - that I needed something to recognize it. So I chose this frog.
The frog is to remind me to be Fully Reliant On God. The stars and the moon were what I looked at every night - knowing that Drake and hubby were looking at the same thing. The Russian word underneath the frog is the name of the valley in the middle of the mountain range where we were rescued - Schumak (shoemauck). A lot of info for a little tat isn't it?

And finally, at least as of today, is my most recent tattoo and the tat I entered in the party. As I have hinted, it is my favorite. I get lots of compliments and comments on it. I love, love, LUV this tattoo. You can read all about it here and of course here.

I think that just about does it, at least for me. There still is a lot of other ink in the family but that will have to be saved for another day. Be sure to go check out all the other inked and trendy people at Sunshine's party. I have to say it has been one hell of a party! Maybe she will make this an annual event.... now there is an idea!

these irish eyes are smiling

Happy St. Patrick's day to everyone! It is, of course, a big deal in our house. Although, with it being on a Monday this year it has cramped the celebratory style we usually exhibit. Both hubby and I have busy days and cannot take off work as we have in the past. Plus we have those wee ones now that also demand time and consciousness. Hmmm, we will have to try and plan better for next year. We will still have fun with the kids tonight and celebrate the namesakes of two of the three boys. We got our favorite Dubliner cheese, Guinness and green Kool-Aid for the boys. A party in the making! On a negative note, my mood was almost damped by one of Grady's pre-school teacher that got on her soap box about how "Americanized" St' Patrick's Day has become (duh - we are in America) and that in Ireland it is a religious holiday (duh again). Yada, yada, yada. I will add that she was all garbed up in green and admitted to not being Irish at all. While in truth, America has made it into a day of mass media exploitation, excessive consumption of alcohol and outrageous shenanigans but really, what is the harm? A true Irishman can drink any American under the table and would do it with style. So pass the green beer and stop giving me so much blarney!!