kiss me. i'm irish.

i was born with green blood. in my family, st. patrick's day is more spiritedly celebrated than christmas, easter, and the 4th of july. my late maternal grandmother (god rest her soul) believed that she was 100% irish, solely based on the fact that she was born on march 17th. despite what her heritage actually proved to be true (she was actually very czech) - she decked herself out from head to toe in green jewels, scarves, sweater and slacks, socks, and even shoes. on the contrary, it was her husband who was the real (sorry, nana!) irish one. his family reigned from county cork - the heart and soul of ireland. though i have not yet visited ireland, it sits and waits patiently on my bucket list (along with 1,000 other things such as going skydiving and witnessing the spectacular northern lights). while i work on crossing a few bullet points off my infinite list, i continue to partake in my annual kelleher tradition of consuming corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and redskin potatoes with the most complimentary beverage anyone lucky enough to be born and bred of irish decent could have - green beer (and lots of it). i have spent my feast days in various ways over the years - dining at nearby hometown restaurants, visiting my cousins in chicago to watch the little men in kayaks dye the river green, venturing to los angeles (before i actually lived here) to bring my jewish boyfriend (of course forcing him to wear green) to his first irish dinner at an irish bar just to do a few irish car bombs and drink a few not-so-irish, (though we would like to take credit for its existence) green beers. but this year, we decided to make our very first corned beef and cabbage dinner. with the help of allrecipes.com's video tutorial. it turned out splendidly - reminiscently comforting and filled with deliciousness. we even took the time to dye our brew green! hey, it's good to be festive. as i prepare to takeoff for the big o-h-i-o on my heritage feast day tomorrow, my tummy is full. my tastebuds are pleased. and i sit here drinking just one more green beer.