St Patrick's Day Fun // The Tradition Series

Monday, March 16


So St. Patrick's day is Tuesday (tomorrow). It brings me back to the days of making leprechaun traps and eating green cupcakes! Good times! Today my sister-in-law Jenna is sharing her family's traditions on St. Patty's! Enjoy!!

Hi pretty people : ) My name is Jenna. I’m 25 years old, and living life as a photographer in Southern California with my husband, Nate. I have a deep love for Verve coffee, gluten free doughnuts, the outdoors, and all things Anthropologie.

I was raised in Ohio, by a very passionate family of 7 loud and hilarious people whom I love dearly. We’ve always taken advantage of every excuse to celebrate, and why wouldn’t we? Lost your 20th baby tooth? Got mediocre grades? It’s national “Polar Bear Day”? Let’s all go get ice cream! My parents taught me that life is too short not to make a big deal out of things that aren’t…a big deal. Plus, celebrating the important things that actually are. Life is worth celebrating!

Which brings me to our favorite day in the middle of March: St. Patricks Day! It wasn’t until college that I realized this was also considered “Green Beer Day”. Poor ol’ Pat, I don’t think he thought his conversion of Ireland would spur on such an obsession with green hops. BUT, luckily this was not the tradition my parents decided to partake in with us. And on a serious note, St. Patrick was actually a really rad guy whose story is fascinating (it involves being kidnapped by pirates) and definitely worth starting some fun traditions around!

My parents have had St. Patty’s day traditions for as long as I can remember. We began each March 17th by heading to school in our previously laid-out green outfits, and when we got home my mom would set up a scavenger hunt for all of us. We would find 5-10 riddles such as, “What has a ring, but no finger?” (telephone), that would lead us to the next riddle, and so on. At the end we would all find a little bag of gifts made for each kid. I remember being ecstatic finding the new NSYNC album in our dryer one year. What better way to celebrate Jesus saving the souls of many than with Justin Timberlake - AMIRIGHT!? As we got older, my mom even stepped up the gifts, giving us green-themed presents, such as a new shirt or necklace. (It is in all of our favors that J.Crew really fancies a nice jade color in a lot of their accessories!)

After opening our little bags, we would head in for our green St. Patrick’s Day dinner. The table was decorated in green and shamrock everything- from plates and cups, to streamers and balloons. There was always decorative attire involved as well…green top hats, glittery glasses, shamrock headbands, bow ties, and green boas. As for the food, it was something different every year! I remember one of my favorite dishes ever was pesto pasta filled with asparagus, spinach, and broccoli. We would dye our drinks green, and of course, have a green dessert like shamrock sugar cookies or mint chip ice cream! {3 fun recipes include:  Thin Mint TrufflesGF mint chocolate chip browniesHealthy Shamrock Shake (easily made vegan with dairy free milk) }

I’ve loved having these silly traditions with my family and have had a blast continuing them in my marriage. It brought meaning to one of the “little” holidays, that might otherwise go ignored and it gave us another reason to have fun together as a family. All this to say, life is tough sometimes, couldn’t we all use a reason to throw a party and dye our champagne green once in a while?!

Website: ACupOfTeaPhotography.com // Photography Blog: Blog.ACupOfTeaPhotography.com
Personal Blog: JennaJuby.com // Instagram: JennaJuby
Email: Jenna@ACupOfTeaPhotography.comJenna was kind enough to leave a few riddles idea in case you are wanting to throw a little St. Patty's day party with your kiddos, husband, friends, etc.:

-Add some color to your days! Pick these up; you’re on your way. (crayons)

-Keep it clean and keep it dry. Can you guess? Come on, just try! (dryer)

-What is white when it's dirty and black when it's clean? (Chalkboard)

-Stiff is my spine and my body is pale, but I'm always ready to tell a tale. (Book)

-Dark and rich or light and sweet. Fill your senses with this delicious treat. (chocolate)

-A berry so sweet, juicy and ripe. They taste even better with chocolate stripes. (strawberry)

 Hope whatever you do it's a memorable day wearing green and remembering the real St. Patrick! To read more of his story, click here! Happy Week friends! 

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