st. patrick's day.

It is a time-honored JVC tradition for each community to host a party for the other communities in their region. Usually these parties are themed around holidays (ie. Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween, etc.). Naturally, Boston being Boston, our party was St. Patrick's Day.

casa taj: st. patrick's day style.

That meant that a week and half ago, around forty JVs from the East coast descended upon our house (along with about twenty more locals that showed up just for the party). It was mildly chaotic at times, but so, so much fun having everyone here. Our house has never been so crowded, but it's also probably never been so much fun.

so much green food coloring!

Some communities came in on Friday night, but most people showed up on Saturday, and I took a group downtown to explore Boston. That was pretty cool, as I started to realize how good I've gotten at playing tour guide. It's nice to feel like I really know this city now. On Sunday, most people had to head out pretty early, but a few of us went out to the St. Patrick's Day parade in South Boston, which was also a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful, which made it even better.

on our way to the parade in Southie.

Along with all of our other JVC visitors, my college roommate, Sakshi, was also able to make the trip to Boston for the weekend. Having her here was wonderful, as she was able to meet my roommates, see our house, meet a bunch of other people, and just experience the ridiculousness that is JVC. It was nice to feel like someone from home, who was such an integral part of my college years, was able to experience what my life is like now.

ROOMIE.

Monday morning felt like the post-St. Patrick's Day Slump--almost like the way  December 26th feels after all of the preparations for Christmas. St. Patrick's Day was something I had legitimately been looking forward to since August--and add in Sakshi's visit--and I'd had a countdown going for weeks.

However, it's ironic that last week actually ended ended up going by really quick--especially after I finally got a decent night's sleep. And as always, it's the little things that make my days, like weather in the 70's and 80's (!) almost all week and being able to really enjoy our balcony again (no worries, the weather in Boston has reverted back to it's normal 40-ish degrees for March... I should have known it wouldn't last).

And here we are now, in the final days of March... when home and family are just a few short weeks away, the end of Lent is even sooner, and before I know it, it will really be summer in Boston. The heat of last week reminded me once again of the first days of JVC, and those memories have brought back some of the reckless enthusiasm I used to have. So, St. Patrick's Day's over, but there's still plenty to look forward too, after all. (Especially because I will be spending this weekend on an island in Maine. More to come about that!)