From guest blogger Marsha Takeda-Morrison of Sweatpantsmom

I have to admit St. Patrick’s Day is not a big holiday around our house. Although it should be, seeing as my husband is something like one-eighth Irish, along with some Scottish, English, Polish, and a certain allegiance to Australia since most of his relatives are there. Add to that my Japanese ancestry, and you can see how celebrating all of our cultures would be a little daunting. I think the most Irish thing my husband has ever done is hang an air freshener in his car that was shaped like a four-leaf clover.

But this year we plan to celebrate that one-eighth, by downing an Irish beer (or five). St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Monday, so the festivities will be in full swing the weekend before. We’ll start off by heading straight to our favorite, Tom Bergin’s, a classic Irish pub that bills itself as the oldest Irish establishment in Los Angeles. It’s housed in a quaint cottage in the classic Fairfax District, close to the L.A. County Museum of Art. Along with the beer, I’m determined to order corned beef and cabbage. Believe it or not I grew up eating this traditional Irish dish – my Japanese mom used to make it regularly, although I remember it always being served with a side of rice. Hear that? It’s the sound of a thousand leprechauns groaning.

From there we’ll head down the street to Molly Malone’s, which is unique because it also has live music almost every night of the week, everything from acoustic to rock to reggae as well as traditional Irish music. Some popular bands have gotten their start on this stage: Weezer, 5 For Fighting, Train, Tears For Fears and occasionally musicians will show up and play with bands they know – Lenny Kravitz was there recently. I wish I had caught that – listening to Lenny Kravitz play while sipping an Irish whiskey? Awesome, whether you’re Irish or not.

Monday, March 17 happens to be the first day of Spring Break, so with the kids off of school and my husband and I taking the week off, we’ll be able to head downtown to L.A.’s ninth annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade. It starts close to one of our favorite locations, Olvera Street, so maybe we’ll start off with a Mexican breakfast. Which is such an L.A. experience – huevos rancheros to begin our Irish day. Come to think of it, the parade also puts us close to Little Tokyo, so maybe the day will end with dinner at one of our favorite sushi bars, Sushi Gen. Our two daughters should be completely confused about their heritage by the end of the day.

Close by, the hip local joint Bar 107 is hosting an all-day party; doors open at 6am. And it’s a wildly popular event – last year there was a line of people waiting to get in even at that early hour, ready to down their $2 Guinness. Somehow drinking at that early hour seems crazy to me, though – I’m sure the Irish experience would end with that most American of pastimes – getting over a massive beer hangover.

How do you plan on celebrating St. Patrick’s Day? Will you wear green, or are you hoping to get pinched?

From guest blogger, Marsha Takeda-Morrison, of Sweatpantsmom.

If you happen to stop by my house on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 8 and 9:30 and you’re not delivering a pizza, chances are you’ll be left standing at the door. Okay, maybe my husband will answer, but he’ll be under strict orders to get rid of whoever is there as soon as possible. This is because me and my two daughters cannot be disturbed while we’re engaged in that most noble of American pastimes: Heckling the performers on American Idol.

I admit to being completely disinterested at first in the blatherings of Ryan, Randy, Paula and Simon. I managed to avoid any Idol talk at parties and playgroups, proud to be the .0001% of the viewing public that wasn’t part of Idol hysteria. That is until my daughters watched it at their friends’ house, convinced me to tune in one fateful Tuesday night, and got me absolutely, hopelessly hooked.

You know the part where Randy shouts out, “Welcome to Hollywood, dawg”? Well they actually do come to Hollywood, believe it or not. The shows leading up to the finals are taped at CBS Television City, home of legendary shows like the Ed Sullivan Show, All in the Family and Hollywood Squares. More recently the studio has been the location for Dancing With the Stars and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader. That’s a lot of TV dinners.

If you’re one of the gazillion viewers that would like to attend a taping of AI, you might want to check out OnCameraAudiences.com, a source for tickets to various show tapings. Once you’ve scored your ticket and flown, driven or hitchhiked your way to Hollywood, stop by Swingers Diner which is just down the street from CBS Television City. They have an awesome turkey meatloaf and a cool retro vibe. (Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t the setting for the Vince Vaughn movie “Swingers.” That would be the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop, located a few miles to the north.)

The finals of American Idol are filmed at the Kodak Theater, home of the Oscars. I attended an industry awards show at the Kodak a few years back, and have to confess that one of the most thrilling things was going to the ladies restroom. I couldn’t help but think, “Angelina Jolie might have sat in this very spot!” But even if you don’t make it into the theater, the surrounding Hollywood and Highland Center is worthy of a day trip. It’s a massive complex with shops, restaurants and clubs, and great for people watching. We like to take the kids to the Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley, which is bowling at its most high-tech and luxurious. (More useless trivia: Brandon Routh from “Superman Returns” was a bartender here.) The complex also has one of those dying relics: an actual brick and mortar record store. You’ll find the Virgin Records Megastore on the ground floor if you ever decide to take a break from downloading your favorite AI tunes and buy one of those round, shiny things. What were they called? Oh yeah, CDs.

Who do you think will be the next American Idol? (Sorry, I won’t be answering comments on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 8 and 9:30.)

From guest blogger, Marsha Takeda-Morrison, of Sweatpantsmom.

Did you watch the Academy Awards? Did you enjoy hanging out with all the winners at the Governors Ball afterwards? Yeah, my invitation got lost in the mail, too.

But there are other ways of brushing elbows with the A-listers, without having to lie your way into the Oscars by telling the guard that you’re Nicole Kidman’s obstetrician there to administer an ultrasound. (Which totally would have worked, by the way, if Keith Urban hadn’t noticed that I was flashing my library card and not a medical ID.) Here in L.A. the celebs are everywhere – buying sweaters, having coffee, eating lunch – just like you and me! Except with more money and better hair.

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From guest blogger, Marsha Takeda-Morrison, of Sweatpantsmom.

When Kango asked me to make this week’s post about wintertime in Los Angeles, I thought about it for a moment, as I sat outside in my tank top and capris sipping an iced tea. What do Angelenos know about winter anyways? Even a drop of rain has the weatherman on the local news drooling with excitement. Speaking for myself, any day where it drops below 65° is reason to bundle up in a ski parka and thermal underwear.

But there are places where us sun worshippers can get a little taste of what the rest of the country experiences during these winter months. We may point and laugh when we see you on TV, digging out your cars and putting on boots just to get your newspaper, but we secretly want a little of the cold weather – just as long as we can still drive home in our shorts.

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