Mr. and Mrs. Smith Went To Washington

Hello there! For starters, sorry I've been MIA these last few weeks. Between running, traveling, and work, I chose to spend my downtime cuddled with Mr. Smith vs. huddled in front of the computer. No offense ;)

St. Patrick's Day is always one of my favorite holidays. I love to celebrate the fact that I'm 1/32 part Irish by dressing up in ridiculous costumes and downing Irish Carbombs. Who doesn't?

We kicked the party off a little early this year with the Leprechaun Lap the first weekend of March. It's a pub crawl that takes you all over DC to favorites like Sign of the Whale, McFaddens, Mad Hatter. I only managed to snap a few pics, but we had a blast as usual.

To continue the Gaelic festivities, last Tuesday we attended the DC Guinness Pouring Contest at Fado in DC. Eoghain competed against 25 other bartenders from Irish pubs in the area to see who could 1) pour the "Perfect Pint" and 2) create the best Guinness freestyle drink. It was like Iron Chef, only the language was foul and the spectators got to sample the products throughout. We strategically posted up by the judges, therefore got several complementary pints ;) Much to our delight, Eoghain won! He's the 2012 Guinness Pouring Champion and has the trophy to prove it.

4 judges: 2 work for Guinness. They were intense!

Mayors of P Brennans, current and former.

A "perfect pint"

One freestyle pour- cut a hole near the pee pee of the statue,
run a hose through it, fill 4 pints.

Eoghain's freestyle: Red Velvet Cupcake Shot.

Cake Vodka, grenadine, Guinness, whipcream topper.
Delicious!

Crowning the victor

#1 Fans

Next, we went to an Irish Whiskey tasting Thursday evening at P Brennan's. This is the 4th tasting we've done there and we love them! It's a great way to learn about the history of the brands, what actually goes into making them, and discover something other than "the usual". {Hint, hint: there are other types of Irish Whiskey besides Jameson!} I didn't get many pics of the evening, this one was much more low key for me since I had the half marathon only 2 days after. I was a good girl and went home at 9:00 :)

My favorite was Redbreast {top right bottle} with 2 ice cubes. Has a good caramel flavor.

And finally... St. Paddy's day arrives! Half marathon time!

Chaotic metro ride there... packed wall to wall with anxious runners.

Me + Blair = shoe twins!! I also bought us matching Double T running charms to add some bling. Aren't we cute??

Holding steady at mile 6.
Me: "BABE! Come grab my tutu! This thing sucks!" And he did :)

Slow and steady doesn't win the race. It finishes. Good enough for me!
Me crossing the 13.1 line {in the white hat}

Proud hubby

Running buddies!

The run was a lot harder than I expected. I feel like we were prepared for the distance, but not for the surprise "hills" on the course. We went through several tunnels and under bridges. And what goes downhill must come uphill-- no fun! But overall, the weather was awesome, the spectators and bands kept it lively and fun... it was a great experience. I can definitely say I would do one again!

After the race, we showered/rested up, then headed to P Brennan's for some real St. Paddy's day festivities.