The Good Life According to Liz [Week of 4/1/2012]

Liz Clements | Lifestyles Editor

The worst part of growing up in springtime is missing out on all the holiday festivities and the lack of anticipation, because for you, there is no egg hunt, Easter basket, or visit from a life size, traveling rabbit. For you, the joy lies in getting drunk and watching as your weird uncle pretends he’s a life size bunny. But this doesn’t have to be so; you can restore the magic of the holidays and enjoy Easter for grownups.

While the little ones in your family are hunting for eggs and getting high off chocolate and sugary beans, you and the ladies of your family can relax on the porch. Make Easter a day to get super dressed up in pretty spring colors and patterns, and to take off the heels and run around barefoot. Maybe even treat your toes to a pedicure in pastels. Make grown-up Easter baskets with flip-flops, Easter eggs filled with Advil (to cure the headache from screaming, hyper children), a decadent Dove chocolate bar, and an airplane bottle of everyone’s favorite liquor. Also, go to the dollar store and buy stemware and glass paint to personalize everyone’s glass.

Make a pitcher of mimosas or a sparking punch and relax with a quiche or some Easter bread. Share your favorite childhood memories or play a game of cards. Create a new tradition that is just for you adults; maybe it’s baking a pie in the afternoon, going on a long walk, or getting a mani-pedi while the men watch the kids.  Holidays quickly become stressful, and often times we forget that holidays are suppose to be relaxing and filled with treasured memories. We also want to have so fun, so make sure all the kids go to bed early.

You know those awesome Jell-O jiggler molds shaped like Easter eggs? Well, guess what they can be turned into? Yes, that’s right, Jell-O shots. Let the fun begin. One year my mom came up with an idea to put them on toothpicks and attach them to string. She hung them off a hanger, and if you wanted a Jell-O shot you had to bite, yes bite, one off of the moving ceiling fan. There you have it my friends, the ultimate Easter drinking game. Imagine trying to get one off after you’ve already had a few; it’s a sight that warrants some pretty good videos.

If biting for Jell-O isn’t your thing, how about a friendly game of poker? Use all the leftover candy, whether they are bite size butterfingers of loose jellybeans, and you have the perfect loot to bet. Let me tell you, some of those flavored jellybeans become pretty valuable.

When I was a little girl I always remember Easter as being a very holiday, and it can still be today. No one seemed like they were in a rush, unlike other holidays like Christmas, and no matter what the weather was, Easter Sunday always seemed bright and sunny. Everyone seems crisp in their Sunday best and thankful to be with you. It’s a day unlike any other, no matter how you spend it. Last year I spent it just with Vin and his dad, because my grandma took my brother on a cruise. So I cooked and we ate, we drank, and we laughed. They watched sports and I read, and the sun beamed in the window. Everything was wholesome and peaceful, and it was a picture perfect holiday as far as I’m concerned..

Easter Sunday is the epitome of day of rest. So make sure you make it just that; relax, enjoy and leave the worries and frets of life behind you. Even if you don’t go all out and play biting for Jell-O or Jellybean poker, just remember that – to relax – and then come back to school and work on Monday!