Oh the Sun Shines Bright on my Old Kentucky Home...

Being a Kentucky gal, I guess I should have gone to the Kentucky Derby, the most famous horse race, more than I have, which is one time. However, I did only live in Kentucky for six Derbies, so that is not too terrible of a ratio. Now that I live far away from the Bluegrass state, I yearn to go to the Derby even more than I did when I lived in Louisville. My one experience at the Derby was really fun, even though I went to the infield. When I was a senior in high school, about six of us went to the Derby and since my high school boyfriend’s best friend’s father was a cop who always worked at the Derby jail (yes, they have a small holding cell at Churchill Downs), we were able to get out of the forty-dollar fee to enter the infield. The day was fortuitously beautiful, like this year, but we didn’t really see too many horses, which is kind of what you get in the infield unless you are right by the fence. We did see some crazy stuff though, like this guy who mugged another guy and jumped over the betting line to try to get away. I probably wouldn’t go to the infield again for Derby though, as it is too much like Louisville’s version of Mardi Gras, and that’s not really my style.



Now that I live in New England, I decided to bring a little bit of Kentucky to Massachusetts and held a fun Derby party on Saturday. I sent out cute e-invitations from Bobby Flay’s website (even though he is the devil), which matched my plates and napkins that my mom bought for me back home. I also planned a nice menu which was a cross between Mexican and Southern cuisine, since Cinco de Mayo was right around the corner as well. The menu consisted of chips and homemade guacamole, bourbon, mojitos, fruit salad, vegetarian enchiladas, a Cajun shrimp casserole, homemade sugar cookies in the shapes of horses and fleur-de-lis, and a Kentucky pie (if I mention Derby Pie, Kern’s will sue me). Natyra brought Benedictine sandwiches, Keith and Sarah brought salad, Mary and Matt brought chips, cookies, and Boston Cream Pie (yum), Seneca and Michael provided sparkling cider and blue cupcakes (for the Bluegrass state!), and Geralyn and Jason brought ice cream to accompany the pie. I think everyone enjoyed the food and we even received recipe requests!! I felt like Martha Stewart! We decorated the apartment with plastic jockey hats, jockey silk pictures that my guests and I colored at the party (sounds silly, but it was very cute), and had a random drawing for the horses. Brian picked up both the “Big”horses— Big Brown and Big Truck (not my favorite horse name) and won $20, although I felt bad because we were hosting the party. I don’t think anyone cared though. Unfortunately, Matt drew the last two finishers in the race and Seneca drew both the second and third place finishers, one of whom was Eight Belles, who everyone is very sad about because she was euthanized for breaking both of her ankles. Some people were dressed up, some weren’t. I probably should have worn more formal attire, but I was kind of tired from cooking and cleaning for most of the day. However, I had a lot of fun at the party even though I ate too much and drank too many mojitos! I was happy to bring a little bit of my home state to Massachusetts and I think the party guests enjoyed themselves. Also, I met Seneca and Michael, who came with Natyra, and they were very nice. Seneca went to Northeastern when I did, but unfortunately, we did not meet there. She is very fun and she is a Southern girl, too, hailing from Atlanta.



Although I have been very nostalgic and homesick lately, I have to think about other people I know who are much farther away from home than I am. I have a friend at work named Marta, who is from Brazil, and I know that she gets homesick as well. She gets to go home at most once a year, so I am very lucky to go home several times a year. In the past six months, I’ve been home four times. Part of that is because of my stepfather, but I am still happy to have gone home to visit friends and family. I only hope that I can eventually establish those kinds of connections in Massachusetts. :)