Saint Patrick's Day Savannah Year 2

St. Patrick's Day in Savannah is crazy. This year we had an estimated 1 million people in town to celebrate. Normally that would send me into a panic... okay I was sort of in a panic... but I really HATE crowds... anyways...


My best friend came into town along with Miguel's twin brother, Juan, Juan's girlfriend, Jessie, college friend, Jacob, and Jacob's fiancee, Katie. We did our fair share of contributing to the tourists =)

My bestie and me!

Friday night a bunch of our friends and their multiple house guests got together at our friend, Jason's, house. When Miguel and I pulled up to Jason's house this is what we were greeted with:

Friends on the roof

Such silliness! Miguel and I didn't climb up on the roof... but we got into the party spirit by wearing some green and a leprechaun hat. =) We didn't stay too late because I had to get up early the next morning...

One of the big draws here in Savannah is the St. Patrick's Day Parade. It's a lonnnnnng parade and in many ways feels very small town to me. The allure of parade isn't necessarily watching the parade, but more of the tailgating that goes hand-in-hand with it. This tailgating part of the equation is what had me waking up at 4:30 in the morning! People set up "tailgating" in the squares along the parade route. The squares don't "open" until a whistle is blown at 6:00 AM the day of the parade. This doesn't mean that people don't show up way before that to wait it out though... once that whistle is blown it is a full out race to get the coveted spots. People are nuts about it. Some have had their family "spot" for years, and will fight to make sure they retain that special location. I was determined to get a spot this year, especially since we had such a large party of people when you added all our friends up.  The night before Miguel and I parked one of our cars along the square we decided on. We packed it full of all our big items and non-perishable things we might need the next morning. This was such a great suggestion from a co-worker and Savannah native who has many St. Patrick's Day parades under her belt. It took a lot of pressure off of me to know that all I had to do the next morning was be dropped off (instead of fighting for street parking) and run to a spot. Though we thought we were prepared, the rush of the crowd running at 6 AM startled us a little bit and we were a little late to the game. We didn't end up with a spot along the street with good parade views, but we did claim a good section of the square. 

People setting up their tailgates at 6:00 AM

After Miguel dropped me off and helped me carry stuff out of the parked car, he headed to Jason's house to wake up friends and bring them and coffee back to me to wait it out till the parade started at 10.

A couple of hours before the parade started... getting busier!

I was so thankful for friends coming to keep me company! While we waited Miguel then headed back to our house to wake up our house guests and drag them out of bed to the parade. Miguel was so busy doing all that driving! He's the best!

We had a really fun time hanging out during the parade. We played corn hole, drinking games, and spent time with new and old friends! We didn't end up leaving till 3 in the afternoon... I was pretty sleepy. We all ended up taking naps when we got back to the house. But hey, that's why you visit Savannah on St. Patrick's Day right? To partake in the festivities? If you don't want to be in Savannah and enjoy the events that makes St. Patrick's Day here famous, then please don't come... stay home and go to bars in your own city ;)

Juan and his girl friend

Miguel enjoying spending time with Greg and Juan

I love how much the city gets into the holiday. Everywhere you looked there was green. You looked absolutely ridiculous if you weren't wearing green. I love themes and green is my favorite color... what a fun holiday!

Among the hundreds of thousands of visitors we had this weekend, we happened to set up our camp in the same square as my best friend's little brother, David!

Family love!

So much fun! I watched David grow up from diapers! Now he is starting medical school in the fall! I'm so glad we got to see him!

Look! He's wayyy taller than me now... still strange in some ways ;)

Like I previously said, I was pretty tired later that evening from being up so early, so I didn't want to do much Saturday night. After everyone eventually woke up from their naps, we headed to dinner and then I took Miguel and our guests downtown and then I came home and crashed into bed! Ahhh it felt so good! You know that feeling when all you want to do is shut your eyes and have a heavy, deep sleep? Mmmmm... =)

All in all I had a pretty good St. Patrick's Day... huge crowds and all! And I feel better prepared for next year! Bring on round three, Savannah! One of these years will have St. Patrick's Day here nailed down!

Easter Egg Wreath

This wreath is a fun way to brighten any room this Easter season! And it is so simple to make! 

I bought a flat, wooden, 12 inch wreath frame and wrapped it with white ribbon. Then traced the flat, wooden egg shape onto multiple colors of felt and then cut those out. 

Back of the wreath

A little bit of felt glue and glitter and I had some sparkly Easter eggs. All that was left was using a glue gun to attach them to the wreath frame. So simple! 

Egg detail

Egg detail

Egg detail

It takes a little bit of patience but I think it was fun and definitely suggest you try one for yourself! =)

"Americana"

This 18 inch "Americana" fabric wreath was a custom order requested after seeing my "American Spirit" wreath I made for the Habersham YMCA Hallway Silent Auction. This client wanted this wreath to accessorize her kitchen which is decorated in an Americana theme.

These fabric scrap wreaths are not my favorite to do simply because they are so time consuming. I have to cut up hundreds of fabric strips and then spend hours tying them in tiny knots around the wire wreath frame. This is also larger than the original "American Spirit" wreath and therefor took longer to complete. Each wreath is about $30 at cost and when I turn around and sell them at $50 a pop (for a fabric scrap, 18" wreath) I'm not sure the $20 profit I make is worth all the time that goes into creating them.



I really do enjoy the way it turns out though. On this wreath I added a red bow made from raffia and I particularly like the fabric I used on this wreath. My favorite is the gray, red, and blue stripe fabric.

Red raffia bow

Fabric detail

I think I will definitely make myself one to hang for Memorial Day and, of course, the 4th of July. And I know this wreath will look super cute in my customer's kitchen! 

Go Raiders!

I had some custom wreath orders requested this past weekend. Each wreath celebrates the Raiders and State Football Champions over at Savannah Christian Preparatory School. They boast the bright colors red, white, and black. I love that color combination. I added some sparkly ribbon and fabric scraps in these two and I really think it adds some fun to these wreaths! 

This was the first time I did an 18" fabric wreath, and I must say, after I complete one more custom order, it may be my last. Holy cow! It was just so time consuming! And to be quite honest, I'm not really sure it's worth the money. BUT I do love the way it turned out!! One of my favorite features is the skull and crossbones fabric I used.

GO RAIDERS! 

"Sic 'Em"

A couple of posts ago I blogged about the Habersham YMCA Priceless Gifts Campaign and the "American Spirit" wreath I made and donated to the Silent Auction. I also mentioned that I made a University of Georgia spirit wreath. Well, here is the final result. It's one of my favorite types of wreaths to make, a ribbon wreath. 

The "Sic 'Em" wreath can be hung indoors or outside. However, the longevity of the wreath varies based on the conditions in which you hang it. I made a similar "Boo" wreath for Halloween last year and hung it outside and it held up absolutely fine. 

 

For some final touches I added some white, glitter UGA letters and a big red bow.

UGA detail

The "Sic 'Em" wreath along with the "American Spirit" wreath are up for auction starting this week at the Habersham YMCA. The "Sic 'Em" wreath is valued around $45 and the "American Spirit" wreath starting at $35. If you are interested in purchasing either and supporting a good cause, please swing by and check them out! Each are handcrafted with lots of love, wags, and puppy kisses. 

If you are interested in owning your own handcrafted wreath please contact me and I will be happy to whip one up for you. I can customize your wreath to your specific theme and requests... I will even turn a blind eye to a Florida theme if you so choose. ;) 

It may be March Madness right now... but thinking of all our strong SEC teams is making me itch for the fall and some good, competitive college football! 

Shamrock

Friday night Miguel and I participated in the March of Dimes Shamrock Run 5k. This was my second ever run. Some friends of ours asked us to run it with them and we agreed but I was super nervous about it. I knew that I would be on my own during the run this time and I was scared I wouldn't have the self motivation to keep going. But I ended up doing just fine! I still had to walk at times, but I finished just shy of 3 minutes faster than the first 5k I ran. =)

This race sort of kicks off all the St. Patrick's Day festivities here in Savannah. It was so much fun being around the buzz and excitement. The city is definitely ready to get the party started! As you can see above Miguel jumped into the holiday spirit and dressed up for the race. =) Oh to have his confidence... 

We got to the race a little early and got to see the event get set up... well I watched as Miguel warmed up. 

City Market started to get more crowded...

I love how people really got into the dressing up part... there was even a dog costume contest which was pretty cute! Among the crowd was a fairy, a leprechaun, men playing bagpipes, and people running around in kilts.

Unfortunately, it rained during the race, but surprisingly I didn't really mind. I generally despise being wet and running so I was pretty sure I was going to be miserable during the event. I'm happy that wasn't the case though!

Before the race

Crossing the finish line... photo credit here

One of the reasons this race is so popular and fun is that it's a big party afterwards, complete with a glass of beer when you finish. Nothing could have been less desirable to me after I ran, but I was in the minority there.

Here are some of the dogs who dressed up... =)

I had a good time last night! After the race we were all wet but happy and met up with some friends for dinner. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I'm actually kinda, just a little bitty bit, looking forward to running the next 5k!

Happy St. Patrick's Day Yall!