(Photo: Associated Press/Ron Edmonds)

Here at UnBeige HQ, we're celebrating St. Patrick's Day in our usual way: by reading aloud choice passages from the novels of James Joyce, stuffing ourselves with artfully sprinkled green cupcakes, and making collages inspired by the work of our favorite Irish designer, Eileen Gray. But our festivities pale in comparison to those of the White House, which for the first time in history has dyed the water in its fountains green to mark Ireland's national holiday. The Associated Press reports that it was the idea of First Lady Michelle Obama, perhaps pining for the temporarily green waters of the Chicago River (which today appears practically radioactive, thanks to 40 pounds of dye and members of the city's Journeymen Plumbers Union). As for the White House fountains, "The green hue will stay until the dye runs out," notes the AP.