a green first day of spring

Happy official first day of spring my friends!
I don't know about you guys, but at least in Madison it has felt a lot more like summer and not too springy. Which is unseasonable, insane, unsettling, even scary. I say scary because if it is like this now we will either A: have a scorching hot summer. B: have snow in July. C. just have gorgeous weather forever?!I don't like to think about early spring here. It is mostly cold, wet, and above all else GREY (gray?)meh I like the looks of grey. more fancy). The snow is still melting, it is all gross from dirt and junk, and just not fun. I would show some pictures of Madison in March, but the only photos I have of us in March are from when we were in Spain.Unlike the negative descriptions of March Maddness in Madison, our view for a few weeks was enjoyably like this :) Naranjas.Alhambra was probably my favorite place. So amazing! We walked around the gigantic palace and gardens for hours. Afterwards we had a lovely lunch of pancetta sandwiches at a cafe on a cliff. Then we walked down, down, down the mountain to downtown and walked some more. Lots of walking.

It wasn't always sunny in Spain we had lots of rainy days. You shouldn't feel bad for us though. We pushed through it and somehow had a good time.Whoever said the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain, has apparently never been to Barcelona in March.

Moving on from Spain before my withdrawals become too hard to bear, Spring in Madison is wonderful this year! I celebrated all things green according to Madison's standards while walking around campus today. I grabbed a green tea frap from starbs for a quick snack before lecture. Watched some protesters sporting their giant metal peace symbols protesting the war while a local band rocked out. Madison doesn't mess around when it comes to practicing your civil rights. Our protesters always put on a good show! Need further example? Look up the protests last year with gov. walker.

Yup I sported all things green for a lovely first day of spring. Green frap, green protests, and green rainboots! Just need some more sun on those albino legs and things here will be just dandy!

Speaking of green we had a great St. Patrick's day. I made Joey rainbow pancakes with green eggs and milk. While I had a green smoothie (remember that sugar fast thing?)
I made Irish soda bread (no raisins or currents) which I ate too fast to get a photo of, but made an extremely delicious grilled cheese sandwich with Dubliner Irish white cheddar cheese for dinner.

Sunday was to be the closing ceremony of Irish celebratory feasting, I made a Guiness and steak Irish stew pot pie. Didn't read the recipe all the way through (which has never happened before?...) and started the stew too late to be able to eat that night. So tonight we are having it since I was on campus til 9 last night. It is Jaimie Oliver's recipe I will let you know how it is after tonight!After a big day of St. Paddies partying we were hungover...from luck of the Irish fun! Joey got this while we were all in our spots on the bed. Which is green...hmm I am sensing a theme here ;)

Hope your Irish festivities were great and that your first day of spring is fresh!