Boden: Diminishing Discount 20% Off Until 2/25. Plus More on a Vanishing Dina.

Hi, everyone!

More on my vanishing act in a bit.  ;-)

First, I am sorry I didn't tell you this sooner, but Boden started there diminishing discount a couple of days ago.  Bad news is that I didn't tell you then (seriously, worst Boden blogger ever, lol), but the good news is that there is still today and tomorrow to shop.

The deal is the same as prior diminishing discounts, the beginning is front-loaded with the most days of savings at the highest percentage off (this time 20%).  On Friday it is 15% off, and I believe by Sunday it goes down to 10% off.

So the best way to approach this is to buy the things you *need* now or that are already sold out, like the lovely Martha dress in the floral shades.  In fact, the popback items, from the sold out category, could even be purchases at 15% off since they are the kind of items that even in deepest clearance never get reduced by much more than that, anyhow.  Of course you could wait and take your chance that the item that is sold out will popback in a moment when a category like dresses is on sale and get more % off (I've done that a handful of times over the years), but it is a bit like trying to catch a swift bunny on a muddy field. 

Okay, so that Martha dress.  I was sure that danged thing wouldn't fit me, but I loved the design so much that I went ahead and ordered the ivory in the 8 regular.  I may have preferred an 8 long, but they were all sold out.  So I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.  Because the model has a bit of a shapelier bottom, I suspected I may be okay since I carry weight in the hips and upper thighs, and by some miracle, the dress fit in the 8 regular.  It is a touch big in the bodice, and a bit big in the waist, but the hips and thigh areas don't pull or look strained.  Thankfully the fabric is stretchy, including the lining, so it really is a well-thought design in form and execution. There are two pleats at the upper hip area, so if you are concerned about highlighting that area, bear that in mind.

The ivory is a bit muddy, more light tan, but it doesn't look off on me personally.  It may not work on cooler complexions, and would probably look silly on skin tones that are that exact shade.

I have only bought a couple of things from the spring.  Besides the Martha dress and a few others, I haven't been wowed.  I keep hoping.  I guess it is good that if I am going to be a bad Boden blogger I do it when they've lost a bit of their mojo.  ;-)

The mini stuff is awesome, though.  My daughter has received a few darling items from the spring, and they are so wonderful that I desperately wish they would do those designs in adult sizes.  The bird printed sweatshirt dress is easily one of my favorites.

Second.  Me.  I received an email (so sweet, btw) from a reader who noticed how quiet I have been.  And I have been.  Really quiet. (Except on Instagram.  Wow.  So much easier to upload a single photo with a few words daily than execute a blog post.)

1. Sewing.  I worked so hard and so furiously and with such focus on the red coat in January that I was literally worn out from the process.  I also made this dress to wear on National Wear Red Day (Go Red for Women), so that took some time too.  My daughter has her First Holy Communion in May and I am both altering and creating anew my Communion dress so she has something special to wear.  (My Communion dress was handmade from a 1974 pattern!)  I am currently working on a project for Fabric Mart, and I am stoked to get it done.  It will be fun and sporty and probably very "me," lol.  There are other things, too, and as many of you realize from your own sewing, these just take a lot of energy and time.  (BTW, Pattern Review interviewed me as their "member in focus" for February, too.  That was such an honor!)

2. College Classes.  I have to recertify this year in VA.  You are required 180 recertification hours to do so, which is equal to two college classes.  I could have made my life easier and done this before returning to work, but baby Angus made that a bit of a challenge.  Now that he is older, much easier, but difficult from a time standpoint.  I love the classes, but unlike when I was in university initially, I am in constant worry that I am not doing things on time.  For one, the idea of a syllabus being presented on the first day and pored over is not really a thing anymore, and I was flailing about the first few weeks on the maze that is Blackboard.  (I assume it can be clearer, but if the professor makes it a maze, good luck!)  The classes are "Guiding the Behavior of Children," and "History of Photography."  Both work for me, especially since I am trained to teach Middle-Schoolers and work with preschoolers and kindergarteners.  Definitely different styles there.  History of Photography is fascinating and useful both for my training as a history teacher and to get my desire to pull out my SLR and get some shooting done.

3. Sicknesses.  I got pinkeye.  I got Strep Throat.  I am a grown woman with diseases that affect six-year olds.  If you teach computer, I suggest gloves, eyewear, and handwashing constantly.  BTW, Strep SUCKS.

4. Teaching.  My job is fine, but I love the saying "part time means half the pay for twice the work."  LOL.  People say that to me to keep me going, but I am a bit surprised by how much more work I do than I remember doing when I was at the middle school.  ;-)  I suspect the above plus three small children have an affect, too.

5. Blog.  My blog turned seven (7!) on January 15, 2016.  Whoops.  I forgot its birthday.  Sorry blog.  :-/

Okay, that's all for now.  Won't be back for a couple of days (I will, though, come back), but I do appreciate all of you who come to visit me from time to time.

OOTDs: Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia. In Reverse.

Day: Tuesday, June 16, 2015.

Where:  Haircut with my sister-in-law, niece, and daughter, here in Georgia.  Apparently I only cut my hair away from home.  ;-)

Ease of Wear: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  This Boden casual weekend dress I bought last year and I fell in love with it then, and still love it now.  They have the same style this year, but none of the colors spoke to me, so I just said no this time 'round.  Had they had a pattern I really loved, I would have probably gotten another one.  The pockets are the best, and it is so soft. 

You have already seen these sandals on me before, but they really are quite a buy.  Target did good.  The original review of them is here.  I am very glad I brought these with me on vacation.

Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden (find this year's version here); Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, Madewell here.

Anecdote of the Day: I got sick in North Carolina (food poisoning) and haven't been able to eat much since the incident, so to get calories, both Monday lunch and Tuesday lunch I ate milkshakes.  Well, half a milkshake each day.  It is a sad day when a milkshake, half-drunk, gets passed to a husband to be finished off.  :-(  On the plus side, I usually gain a couple pounds on vacation (hello, yummy Steak and Shake!), but this time I will probably not have to worry about that.  

INSTAGRAM HERE.
INSTAGRAM OF OUR HAIRCUTS HERE.

Day: Sunday, June 14, 2015.

Where:  Church and a Mexican restaurant.

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I made these dresses for both CW and me for a Fabric Mart blog post back in May.  If you are interested in the construction, fabric, or thought process that went into these, definitely check out that blog post.  (Also check out my latest make--a button-up shirt for my husband for Father's Day--yeah, he got it early!)

They are Lilly Pulitzer inspired, you are not imagining it.  The fabric turned out to be actual Lilly fabric from the summer of 2014, and you better believe I was thrilled to find it and buy enough yardage to make the two dresses (and have a touch left over for an American Girl dress).

I used a vintage pattern for my dress, and while it fits fine, I feel like I should have shortened the torso since I feel like the extra length there puts a narrower bit of the dress's body at my larger hipline.  The next time I make it up, I will shorten it by an inch at the bodice and lengthen it by an inch at the hem to make up the difference.

Because I made the dress for me to my needs, it is long enough for church, and even though it is not as loose as I would like it at the hips, it still fits great.  Most actual Lilly dresses are too short AND too tight in the hips.  I rarely purchase Lilly Pulitzer for myself because of that.  (The only one I have, in fact, is an altered size 10 dress I found at a consignment shop, its bodice is much smaller than a size 10, but the hips are still the larger size 10.)

I wish I had a different pair of shoes to wear with this dress, but since we are on vacation, we are limited in our choices, and no one threw things at me because I dared to wear Birkenstocks with "Lilly."  In fact, if I am being honest, I kind of think it looks cute together.  Kind of 1960s Palm Beach.  ;-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, handmade; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com.

Anecdote of the Day: The Mexican restaurant we went to that day is the restaurant that made me sick.  I forgive them as they have never made me sick before, but dang, what a vacation bummer, you know?  

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Saturday, June 14, 2015.

Where:  Mellow Mushroom and downtown Greensboro.

Ease of Wear: (4.25 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  We had driven the whole day after being at Rex's baseball game early in the morning, so no matter what I wore, I was going to feel not the best.  Considering all that, though, the comfort level was pretty high.  These Bistro shorts are from last year, but this year's versions have some cute designs.  One thing to note about this year's version is that the long is a very long inseam, at 9 inches, I think they added 2 extra inches to their inseam from last year.  I don't mind the extra length, but I think seven inches makes them more casual and easier to style.  In fact, because of the extra length, I haven't worn them yet since I am still a bit stumped on how to wear them and not look too frumpy.

The shoes are awesome, duh, lol, I already loved on them in the above outfits.  The tee is from American Apparel and while it's cute, it is very thin fabric and required both a cami and a bra.  That's a lot of coverage for someone who is not especially well-endowed.

Outfit Details:  Tee, American Apparel; Shorts, Boden here; Sandals, Target here, but if you want the real thing (Birkenstock Arizona), you can find them here at zappos.com; Necklace, J. Crew.

Anecdote of the Day: I point a lot in my photos.  I don't know why I do that.  It's weird.  And sometimes when I point, I think I am pointing at what I should be pointing at (this time yummy drink), but instead I am pointing at something I didn't even know was in the background, this time the waiter putting an order into his till.  It looks like I am pretty excited by him doing that instead of the amazing drink I received.  Hee.

INSTAGRAM HERE.

Day: Friday, June 12, 2015.

Where:  Last Day of School! YES!

Ease of Wear: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  How did this knot detail dress get so long?  I mean seriously?  Last year it wasn't this long (three inches below my knees) but this year it is.  It grew!  I don't want it to be that long, so I dinged the points on ease down.  The outfit, though, is seriously very comfortable. 

And though I am not usually a Birkenstock fan, I guess I have changed my tune.  I guess I was so oversaturated with them in the 90s (I wore them a ton--I seriously looked just like this girl on a daily basis, minus the socks), I never thought I would want to wear them again.  I still am not sure about my current "I am wearing them all the time" choice either.  :-)

But, like the white Target versions above, I do really like these J. Crew Birkenstock Metallic Madrid sandals.  I think these are a whole lot more sleek than the white ones, so I think they can be worn more easily with more outfits.  I had to try two sizes before I discovered what worked for me.  Because I have a very narrow foot, I often have to size down, and I kept reading how the sizing was big on these, so I chose to try the 39 first, which is equal to about an 8-8.5.  That would be a full size down from my normal J. Crew size.  And while the 39 fit me, they were too short, by a lot.  (I do have long feet, though.)  I had very little hope that the 40 would fit since I figured they would be too wide, but nope, as long as I did the closures up to the next to last hole, they were fine.  Eventually I will have to cinch it to the last hole, but that won't be for a summer, at least.  For those of you with thin and long feet, go to a half-size down (the 40 they say is a 9), but remember to cinch the closure tighter.  After having done that, it was perfect.  :-)

Outfit Details:  Dress, Boden; Necklace, tru.che here; Birkenstock Metallic Madrid Sandals, J. Crew here, but you can also find them at Amazon (which I recommend if you have Prime for free shipping, since the price is the same as J. Crew right now, they also have more sizes!); Sunglasses, Anthropologie.

Anecdote of the Day: I got a farmer's tan that day.  It was so flipping hot and sunny.  So not only did the dress grow on me from last year, I got the world's funkiest burn on my shoulders and neck.  Drrrr.  I am so good about SPF normally, too.  But, on the plus side, NO PICKUP from school for a couple months.  Woo!

You all have a great day.  I should be back on with more vacation outfits soon.  If you want to keep up with the vacation, I am posting at Instagram a bit.  :-)

Boden: Catch of the Day Sale! Today is Tops and Tees!

Good Monday evening!

It has been a bit since I have published a post here and in the time in between posts, Boden started up a Catch of the Day sale on Sunday, January 25, 2015.  On Sunday and Monday, they took 20% off dresses.  Unfortunately I didn't announce that sale here, but I did at least manage to get the news out to my Facebook page friends.

The folks at Boden have been doing this Catch of the Day thing forever, and I remember enjoying the extra savings way back when.  I think this percentage amount is a decent savings, but since it is the same amount off as I enjoyed during Preview time, I am not going to participate, but since I know many of you choose to wait, this will give you the same amount off.  :-)

Today the tops and tees are 20% off.  I have only reviewed one top, in fact I only have one top from this new season, the Casual Dip Back Sweater (here at Boden).  (It isn't under knitwear as far as I can tell even though it is called a sweater.)  You can see that review here.

I don't know what the Catch of the Day will be for the rest of the week, but they usually cover the popular categories, so do expect to see knitwear, skirts and pants, and on the last day you will likely see a hodgepodge of all the categories. (I also suspect outerwear since the only ads that the affiliate program have include photos of the "outerwear" catch.)

This tops and tees sale expires tonight, with the next one starting thereafter.

I will be back tomorrow with information about which items are in the catch for tomorrow, and thereafter the catches for the rest of the week.  I included a link to the sale at the bottom of this post.

He wanted light blue and dark blue striped.  The tech was really good at his job!

Very quickly, and so you all know, Sunday I spent hiking at Great Falls National Park.  It was glorious and a few of my friends who were also close to W. (my friend who committed suicide in December) went with me to spend the day hiking in his honor.  Of course because my life is one big adventure after another, I received a call that Rex had been hurt at the ice skating birthday party he had attended while I was out doing that.  My husband had left him there since he had the other two kids to help out with, so poor Rex was hurt for a bit at the party with neither of us there.

We all assumed he had just gotten bruised or banged up but by the time I got to him, he had been howling in pain for a couple of hours and it wasn't letting up, so I immediately suspected a break, even though the physical evidence was not there.

And you know how this ends, right?  He ended up sustaining a spiral tibia fracture (fortunately the fibula was not injured) and now has a full leg cast and strict orders to stay home until the pain subsides, and thereafter to be in a wheelchair unless he must be up and using crutches.  (His school has stairs only since it is very old.) 

It is hard to see him in pain and it also very difficult to figure out how to get him around since he is very sensitive to the pain and since he is also very heavy, lifting him to get him to the bathroom and the bed and the couch is very hard.  If you have *any* advice for me, I will take it, happily.

Thanks for all your help.  As usual, it is really great to have such wonderful blog friends.

Ignore that this says outerwear.  Maybe that means tomorrow is outerwear?  The link is good, I just tried the one in the sidebar and it worked fine to get to the sale.

OOTDs: 13 on the 13th and a Stunned Sewer.

Before I start the ootds post, I wanted to let you know there is a reason I am a "stunned sewer."  Turns out that I *won* the Fabric Mart Fashion Challenge.  Woah!  I honestly thought I was going to come in third, *maybe* second if I was really lucky, but nope, first!  I wrote this all over the place this morning, but I was really glad that I was sitting when I received the news since I had to compose myself, so weird, right?  :-)  I guess I was a tiny bit excited!

Nakisha came in second with her gorgeous interpretation of minimalism architecture, and Sue's amazing, yellow trench coat inspired by Pop Art came in third.  It was a true honor to be in the last challenge with them.  

I have a lot of thoughts about the competition, what I learned, what I experienced, and how the whole thing went, but I will save that for another time (I do want to dissect it, though, since the progress was pretty significant overall--more so than I expected it to be).  I do really want to say thank you to Fabric Mart for hosting the competition, the judges for all their thoughts and words about the garments I sewed up, and to my fellow sewing friends in the contest with me, it was wonderful to be part of such a cool thing with such gracious, generous, and gifted sewers.  And of course, I *know* so many of you voted for me, or left incredibly kind comments here or at my FB page, so thank you for that.  I had many moments where comments were what I needed to keep my head up high, since there were points in the challenge where I wondered if I should keep on keeping on...

Okay, onto the outfits...both featuring dresses I sewed up in the competition (there's the connection, lol).

Day: Monday, October 13, 2014.

Where:  To celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary, Mr. Dina took me to America Eats, which has moved from its downtown DC location (featured at this post and here at this post) to the Ritz Carlton Tysons (ooh, fancy!).

Ease of Wear: (3.5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  I made this dress for me (read more on that here), but it is still a fancy dress worn with heels.  It won't be the most comfortable dress ever, but considering that normally dresses feel too tight in my hips, it was a nice change of pace to feel not restricted there, for once.  :-)

Cool Factor: (4.5 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  I love it.  I think I looked really nice, and I always, ALWAYS want my hair to look that good *why can't it always behave--WHIIIIINE!*. 

Anecdote from the day:  Driving to Tysons it was SUPER FOGGY out.  We have a few tall buildings in our neighborhood and there are really tall buildings (well, by DC standards anyhow) in Tysons, and the tops of the buildings were completely hidden behind the wall of fog.  I love fog, so I was really into it, but Mr. Dina was freaked out.

Yeah, we've been married for 13 years and it was awesome that it was on the 13th.  Wish it had been a Friday, too, that would have been even better.

Day: Saturday, October 18, 2014.

Where:  International Fair at the school.

Ease of Wear: (5 of 5 stars--5 being the most easy to wear.)  Yeah, this dress is so comfortable.  I am really glad I spent all those hours patterning out the original and sewing up a gazillion gathers (wrote the process up here).  Worth all the effort.  Such a breezy, lovely dress. 

Cool Factor: (4 of 5 stars--5 being the coolest.)  Very pretty and presentable outfit, and perfection for the weather we had here today (umm, gorgeous, with a slight breeze).

Anecdote from the day:  We have been a house of sick lately.  I was sick with the flu for a week and then both CW and I came down with laryngitis.  Unfortunately Mr. Dina and Angus now have it, too, and they are struggling.  Only Rex seems immune.  I bet he scares the germs away.  :-)  We had a good time at the International Fair, though.  One of my favorite families from the school are Ethiopian and they remembered how much Rex likes the yellow pea dish, so they made that special so Rex would be able to enjoy his favorite.  Isn't that so sweet?  What a nice and generous gesture. 

Okay, that's all for now.  Still pinching myself over the win, cannot wait to give another sewing project a go, and now that I have a bit more time, I think I will be tackling a coat or jacket, which I have always wanted to sew up. 

Have a great night!

Boden: Mid-Season Sale Time!

UPDATE!  (10/10/14): Boden has announced an extra 10% off your mid-season sale order by using this code G2B2 in your shopping bag.  Go forth and enjoy!  :-) 

I know that many of you discovered this sale yesterday, since the sale notice was emailed out (at least it was to my emails), but I know that sometimes we miss those things, so I figured it was definitely a good idea to make sure that the awesome readers of this blog knew about the sale, too.  (Just in case, of course!)  Thank you, as well, to Monica, of the great blog Colour Makes People, who let us know that the sale was up and running yesterday.  CC had also mentioned it in a post comment last week, so thank you to her, too!

I did put up the sidebar link to the sale yesterday morning, but that was all I could do since I was feeling pretty bad.  In fact, the me of yesterday almost wrote a blog post entitled "As Sick as an Underdog," since I was feeling like I needed to have a major pity party, but I was so sick and tired that I couldn't even get up the energy to write it.  :-)

Those of you who do care, I came down with a flu of some sort on Saturday (probably due to substituting Kindergarten last week) and I was very achy, with a fever, and chilled.  I still had it on Sunday.  Add that to the fact that I have another round of sewing to go for the next competition, and you have a very blue me.  I fortunately have enough time to sew up my entry (I know exactly what I am going to do), but since I am the only one left who hasn't won one of the weekly competitions yet, I am feeling very much overwhelmed and like an "underdog," so my proposed title for the post was at least sort of witty.  ;-)  Anyhow, who knows what will happen with this week, but I can tell you that even though I am feeling  better this morning, I am still feeling a bit like David battling Goliath.  And there is the inevitable, "why am I putting so much of myself on the line and getting so emotionally invested?"  Why can't I just be all robotic about it and realize that ultimately it is just a competition of sewing clothing and that whether I win anything doesn't matter, since I *like* what I am making, and that should be good enough, right?

Anyhow, thanks for reading my mini dramatic diary above. 

The BWRRs have a few items that may be in this mid-season sale, including the Amy dress, which I wore in this post.  That post also featured a giveaway, which I hopefully can pick the winner from today (obviously couldn't on Saturday or Sunday).  When I do know who has won, I will contact them and make a formal announcement here and at the FB page.

Okay, that's all for now.  Have a great morning!  Talk with you all soon!

Ireland: The Photos.

Well it has been *almost a year* since we went to Ireland, and because *life* got in my way, I never actually got around to publishing either of my intended Ireland posts, "The Photos," and "The Outfits."  So today I will publish the (ridiculous number of) photos and tomorrow I will publish the outfits (far fewer photos).  What better day to make amends for not publishing photos from Ireland than St. Patty's Day?  ;-)

What a better way to start this Irish journey than with Rex and a leprechaun?

Angus crawled into this window seat in a pub in Dublin.  Mr. Dina insisted I grab a photo even though I was all, "agh, he's going to open that window and fall out!"  He was just a year old here, so my fears were probably unfounded.

 

Some street in Dublin!

When Target announced they would carry Boots products in their stores all those years ago, I rejoiced.  Then I saw what they actually were carrying and realized I would still need to travel to the UK/Ireland to get my Badedas/Nivea fix every few years.  I have no idea why CW is sticking out her tongue.

St. Stephen's Green

Pigeons freaking CW out in St. Stephen's Green.

Wolfe Tone Statue at Entrance to St. Stephen's Green

Family being all crazy...

Of course Dublin would have a showing of something Mr. Dina would just love while we're there.

Even better for him it was literally right next door to our hotel.  This "One Man Star Wars Trilogy" may have been his favorite part of the trip.  Not mine, though, 'cause I don't care about Star Wars.

This drink in Belfast was not my most favorite part of the trip, but it was very very close...

You all might recognize the lovely Avril (she of School Gate Style), and isn't it nice to see her all dressed up enjoying fish and chips?  I did enjoy the fish and chips, too, but I looked far less glamorous, sadly, so I refuse to put up those photos.  LOL.  You will see more of Avril tomorrow, but here is a sneak peek from her blog (she writes her posts in a far more timely manner).

Rex loves this photo!

Enjoying the hills of the Giant's Causeway.

CW always finds a reason to pose...

My best friend from high school, M., declared that we basically were the Royal Tenenbaums after seeing this photo on facebook.

The Giant's Causeway is so insanely beautiful...this was my most favorite part of the trip.

I told Mr. Dina he looked like he was leading the charge like in his other favorite movie series, The Lord of the Ring.  Is anyone surprised that he liked that reference?  I of course loved being compared to Angelica Huston in the Royal Tenenbaums, so I have to be understanding.  ;-)

Yes, it appears that my children enjoy recreating the Houses of the Holy album cover, just a bit too cold to go butt-naked, however.

We liked this photo so much that it became our Christmas Card this year.

So cute!

He was just learning to walk here...

Last one, I promise, from the Giant's Causeway.

Street art in Kilkenny, Ireland.

CW liked the kitty in the sign.  Dude in the back looks confused.

Outside Kilkenny Castle

Almost inside Kilkenny Castle

On the Kilkenny Castle grounds...

Also on the grounds of the castle was a very cool playground.  Why don't they have swings like this in the United States?

And...outside Kilkenny Castle...again.

Bunratty Castle for their nightly festivities...

I can, with 100% certainty, assure you that CW is looking at her dress and plotting ways to get *me* to make her one.

Another family photo, hey! (And what may be my first--of many--glasses of mead.)

I have a stupid amount of photos where this exact set of faces is occurring.

Rex enjoyed being "jailed" far more than he should have...

The Bunratty singers are insanely good at their job, and they helped get us our food, too.  And a staggering amount of mead, which I have to admit I *may* have drunk a bit too much of.  I do recommend it, so take a look here if you are interested in attending yourself.

Evidence that I drank far too much mead.  I barely even noticed these people were staring at the creek, cameras ready.  I figured they were all were out for a night's walk.  Nope...not so much.  Apparently some dolphins made their way into the stream and these people were hoping for a look-see at one of them.  The dolphins should not have been there, so it was a really big deal.

If you squint and look to the right you will see poor Mr. Dina all sick and exhausted.  The day after our stay in Bunratty, he got some sort of stomach flu (not food poisoning as we first thought) and basically slept the next twenty-four hours.  So he missed his last day in Dublin.  In the world of "God is kind," I didn't get the stomach bug until after we had landed home.  So I spent twenty-four hours asleep and miserable after landing.  Better than both of us being out of commission with three small children in a foreign country, I suppose.  :-P

Okay, that's all!  I am sure that was enough for you all, lol.  Have a wonderful St. Patty's Day!