Happy Belated St. Patty's Day!

Yes, I know...yesterday was the Irish holiday and all...but a day late and a dollar short, Happy St. Patrick's Day anyways. I always love this holiday...not because it is an excuse for drunken debauchery, but because I am a red headed, pale faced Irish kid, so it just feels like my holiday.

What did I do for St. Patty's Day?? Well...I wore a cute little shamrock shirt to work. And...in a very non-Irish way went out to eat at a Mexican food restaurant.

Two of my friends had birthdays this week, so we went out for dinner to celebrate their being brought into the world. The restaurant is a good one...it's a real, authentic Mexican restaurant...not one of those generic americanized mexican restaurants. We've been there a few times...and always got a good meal and a good time.

I wasn't sure what I was going to eat there. I actually considered just not ordering anything and just hanging out with them. I did check out a menu we had from the restaurant at work. Being a vegetarian...who also gave up all bread like substances for Lent (I know...my list of things I am giving up for Lent grows every single day)...I didn't know if the mexican restaurant would be very diet friendly to Shelley. I took a quick look. At first, it didn't look good. But upon looking again, they had a nice, appetizer salad. The salad was supposed to have chicken on it, but I could easily get it sans chicken. So, I decided on that. I ordered the salad...it came with lettuce, veggies and some avocado. I also asked for no dressing...and just put some of the salsa on for dressing. The salsa was hot hot hot...so you couldn't eat a lot of it even if you wanted to.

We had a nice time at dinner. My friends...well, they don't mind the big deal being made about their birthdays...you know...the singing, the dancing, the banging of pots, etc. They eat that stuff up. So, I let the manager know (who might be one of the nicest human beings on the planet) that it was their birthday. They came out and sang happy birthday...AND...they also brought out huge sombreros for the ladies to wear. Oh...and ice cream. Sombreros. You heard me. My friend was disappointed they didn't sing Happy Birthday en espanol so I sang a verse of Feliz Cumpleanos to her...since it was for HER birthday and all.

It was adorable though...and we had a very nice time. The manager also offered us a free shot of tequila before we left. I said no...of course...but it was very nice of him. I'll definitely eat there again and recommend it to anyone who wants a good, real Mexican meal.