One of my favorite childhood traditions was pleading with my parents to take me to Mcdonald’s for a Shamrock Shake. The Shamrock Shake, initially developed by Hal Rosen, a McDonald’s franchise owner out of Connecticut, debuted in 1967. He took the vanilla milkshake, a staple item on the menu, added a few drops of minty green syrup, and created a novelty item that found instant success when it launched in 1970 in select locations nationwide. I try to have at least one each season, and seeing that most places begin serving them towards the end of February, there usually is enough time to indulge more than once.
That is the beauty of music. It is the ultimate influencer, impacting our moods and feelings, what we choose to watch and purchase, and the tempo at which we shop or eat. For me, it even plays a factor in how I exercise. Many of my weekend mornings consist of sitting on my Echelon stationary bike, searching through each instructor’s music choices, and determining which will win the next hour of my life. Quite often, Jama Oliver’s perfectly curated playlists are the ones that keep me returning to her one-hour endurance rides.