St. Patrick's Parade & Party!

Happy Monday to you! This Shopaholic is moving a little slower than normal today, we had way too much fun yesterday at the St. Patrick's Parade in Metairie. :-) For those who don't know the area, Metairie is a suburb of New Orleans and is known by the locals as the "south shore". The city is south of Lake Pontchartrain, and north of New Orleans.

This was the second year we've participated in what has quickly become a fun tradition. DH and I ride a chartered bus from Fairhope, AL with a huge group of friends. The party starts VERY early - the bus leaves at 5:30AM and shortly thereafter, the adult beverages begin to flow. We started with champagne mimosas (me) and bloody marys (DH). Later we were boring, and just drank beer. HA.

The bus ride takes about 2.5-3 hours, but honestly you're having so much fun, the time flies by! The ladies who coordinate the arrangements for the bus (collect everyone's $$$, make reservations, etc) always sell raffle tickets and draw for "door prizes" on the way. Some of the prizes you want to win - bottles of champagne, wine, etc; cool party gear such as "light up" cups and funky glasses. Other prizes are fairly irreverent and just plain hilarious (occasionally they're of the adult variety, minimum bus age is 21 after all!).

This year we were thrilled when my BFF Priscilla and her DH decided to make the trip with us. Also my BFF Ashleigh goes on the trip every year, and introduced us to this party last year. So it was a perfect day for me - a fun party with DH and two of my BFF's - honestly, does it get any better than that???

The parade lasts a long time - well over 2 hours. I have no idea how many floats are actually in the parade, but I'd guess at least 50! They throw all sorts of fun things - beads, cups and candy (like Mardi Gras). One of my favorite things is all the vegetables. Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions, etc are also thrown. I even caught a banana yesterday! Crazy huh? It's all very civilized - they "hand" you the stuff, not try to nail you in the head with a cabbage.....Promise!

DH and I with Priscilla and her DH. Aren't we cute?

Now, who has recipes for cabbage??? Not sure what I'm going to do with all this stuff...

Just for fun, I'm leaving you today with my "all day party" pointers, Shopaholic style.

1) Get a good nights sleep before the party - think at least 7-8 hours.
2) Be sure to eat - before, during and after the party - your liver will thank you!
3) Alternate adult beverages with water, Diet Coke or Gatorade. (I'm not good at following this advice, but I know it works).
4) Drink a huge Gatorade before you go to bed - and one when your feet hit the floor the next morning.
5) Take Aleve or Tylenol before hitting the hay (wash it down with the Gatorade mentioned above). The doctors would probably not advise this, but it works for me.
6) Take the majority of your photos early in the day. To quote an old friend "Let's take pictures now - you know - while we still look good".

Happy St. Patrick's Day my dear friends! What are you doing to celebrate?