silent45

Freedom Fire

2010-11-03T15:28:00.000Z

"When Bush celebrated the explosive and irrepressible [Iraqi] thirst for freedom as a “fire in the minds of men,” the unintended irony was that he used a phrase from Dostoevsky’s The Possessed. Dostoevsky used the phrase to describe the ruthless activity of radical anarchists who burned a village: “The fire is in the minds of men, not on the roofs of houses.” Today, we already see—and smell—the smoke of this fire."

-Slavoj Zizek's "The Not-So-Quiet American" for InTheseTimes.com

Poena Cullei

2010-10-08T20:13:00.000+01:00

Poena Cuelli: Form of ritualisic killing whereby the condemned man had his head covered in wolf skin and he was put in a sack with serpents, a dog and a rooster and thrown into water.

TGIF happy Friday!

Shower of Blood

2010-10-04T21:29:00.000+01:00

Morning returned in joy. The mountains showed their gray heads, the blue face of ocean smiled. The white wave is seen tumbling 'round the distant rock, a mist rose slowly from the lake. It came, in the figure of an aged man, along the silent plain. Its large limbs did not move in steps, for a ghost supported it in mid air. It came towards Selma's hall and dissolved in a shower of blood.

Ahhh I love ancient Irish sagas!

Boo.

2010-09-27T04:16:00.000+01:00

BC Parents Weekend

2010-09-24T18:08:00.000+01:00

It's Boston College Parents weekend! Here's my one-liners regarding the event:

It's BC Parents Weekend! Campus looks like a Brooks Brothers trunk show.

It's BC Parents Weekend! The cafeteria foie gras and flan counters are stocked and ready.

It's BC Parents Weekend! The lawyer-dad's tour of art-history-son's department appears on the itinerary simply as "Trail of Tears".

It's BC Parents Weekend! Tea Party lapel pins and autographed copies of Glenn Beck's "The Overton Window" available in the campus book store!

It's BC Parents Weekend! The dorm bathrooms are filled with the scent of Trophy Wife perfume.

It's BC Parents Weekend, but the campus is a dead ringer for a Doctor-Lawyer Convention.

It's BC Parents Weekend! What do you mean they won't valet my Mercedes? What is this, Bosnia?

It's BC Parents Weekend! God help you if you're not wearing an ascot.

It's BC Parents Weekend! The air sings with the money-begging lilt of "Da-ddy!"

It's BC Parents Weekend! Keynote Speaker: Christine O'Donnell.

It's BC Parents Weekend, which explains the tax-writeoff forms next to the coin fountain choked with $100s.

It's BC Parents Weekend! Quick, everyone hide evidence of your expensive cocaine habit!

It's BC Parents Weekend! Just me, or are girl's skirts on this campus a few inches longer than normal today?

It's BC Parents Weekend! That's funny, that mom's Sigg water bottle smells like Christmas trees.

hahahaha, rich people. Have a good weekend everyone!

Kate Studying

2010-09-22T17:35:00.000+01:00

Here's where I am right now, in Bapst Library, reading a shitty book on Human Rights and the Bildungsroman. In the last 72 hours, I've been here more than I've been home.

So, that's me studying, lookin' kinda scruffy! There you go!

Bus v. Subway

2010-09-15T20:14:00.000+01:00

Bus
+ it's usually faster
+ you get to look around at the sights out the window
+ no rats or poo to contend with

- usually smell like urine
- the seats area is always sketch
- vom-inducing bus driving
- cold in winter, hot in summer
- who the hell knows how to navigate a bus schedule/bus route?

Subway
+ pretty easy to navigate
+ that sing-song destination voice
+ its underground, like a Ninja Turtle
+ if you've successfully gotten through one, you can handle 'em all
+ have become classic landmarks: Tube, Paris Metro, NYC Metro, El, San Fran's trolleys, Luas...

- Pee, poo and rats
- Germtown, population: germs
- It's hot underground
- Can be expensive
- Never takes you exactly where you want to go

Timeless.

2010-09-14T06:40:00.000+01:00

Ancient Irish sagas, I am finding, are not often the stuff of great reading. I think something may be getting lost in the time and translation. It was written 8,000 years ago. That's Bronze Age, for those who are counting. Most other civilizations were still in their infancy, still rooting for berries n' stuff. The Celtic bards were memorizing stories. So, okay, it's old. But this stuff is usually dry, sometimes confusing. Typical excerpt:

In Eiru, there was complete peace during Conare's reign, save that battle was proposed in Tuadmumu between two men named Coirpre, both foster-brothers of Conare, and th matter was not put right until Conare arrived. There was a geiss against his going to settle a quarrel before the quarrelers came to him, but he went all the same and made peace between them. He stayed five nights with each man, and there was also a geiss against that.

......*blink*

Sometimes, there is a sparkling moment. A rare literary gem among the clogged arteries of complicated names and battle catalogs.

Just read this. You'll love this.

In The Only Jealousy of Emer, Ireland's greatest warrior, Cu Chualind (Koo-kul-ind) cheats on his wife Emer (Ee-mer) with this beautiful banshee, Fand. Here's how that goes:

"Where will we meet again?" Fand asked. They decided upon Ibor Cind Trachta. This was told to Emer, and she prepared knives with which to kill Fand.

Ha! So, she's miffed. Poor Emer! She confronts Cu Chualind.

"Why, Cu Chulaind, have you dishonoured me before the women of the province and the women of Eiru (Ireland) and all the people of rank?" asked Emer.

"Emer, why will you not permit me to see this woman? She is pure and modest, fair and clever..."

Yeah yeah. Let me cut you off there, buddy. Emer answers like any woman would:

"Perhaps this woman you have chosen is no better than I," answered Emer. "But what's red is beautiful, what's new is bright, what's tall is fair, what's familiar is stale. The unknown is honored, the known is neglected -- until all is known."

So true! Many a woman has been burned by this very truth. Then, Emer brings it home.

"Lad, we lived together in harmony once, and we could do so again if only I still pleased you."

Oh! Swoon swoon swoon. I love this! Tattoo this on me. Tattoo this on my cat. Write this on the inside of my Trapper Keeper and tape it up over my Joey McIntyre wall poster. How lovely! How sad! How horribly, terribly loving.

Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it amazing to connect with a story told 8,000 years ago? 6,000 years before the Bible. Before the Romans, the Egyptians. Before bronze. The metal, bronze! Emer's story connects us with the universal, down through the ages.

Warner on Marriage

2010-09-10T18:24:00.000+01:00

"Adults who marry are not necessarily more mature than adults who do not; often enough the reverse is true. Yet marrying is deeply embedded in the cultural unconscious as a sign of majority attained. It makes people feel grown up. What an extraordinary power we grant the government over our innermost lives!"

from Michael Warner's The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics and the Ethics of Queer Life

Thoughts?

Short Story About A Long Book

2010-09-09T23:17:00.000+01:00

As a class assignment, I'm supposed to read chapters 2-4 of a book.

I pick up the book.

It has only 4 chapters.

Chapter 1 is a 20-page preface. The rest is 300 pages long.

It's one of two books I have to read by next class.

I have 3 classes.

My first thought: "Oh so this is the overwhelming work they were talking about..."

(cue shake n' pop! CUE IT! c'mon I need it!)

That's better.

Shake n Pop

2010-09-08T16:33:00.002+01:00

Why I think I might love Boston:

While on the Freedom Trail, my sister saw Benjamin Franklin dancing to this:

Room of Kates

2010-09-08T02:26:00.003+01:00

This being the first day of school, here are some things that already feel different from undergrad. And things that haven't changed at all:

1. Different: Went to gym at 8am. Never did that as an undergrad! Turns out, the tradition of undergrads never working out before noon is a time-tested one. The place was deserted.

2. Same: Walked through a diag, nearly got hit in the head with a frisbee. I have my suspicions it was of an "ultimate" nature.

3. Different: Went to the department's grad orientation. Everyone there was brilliant. We're talking Ivy League, Phi Beta Kappa, cancer research grant writers, NPR producers, real readers and thinkers. One girl was even published in...wait for it....Highlights magazine. Ye gods! ....well, everyone else seemed truly brilliant. Which is not to say UM Lit kids weren't. What it DOES say is that you can't appear talented and bright until you've been given time in the real world to make something of yourself. I felt really honored to be a part of that group.

4. Different: As part of the writing fellowship I've been invited to participate in, I will be coaching 12 students in an undergrad course (Econ, in my case) on their papers as the semester goes by. So today I had to introduce myself to the class! The way a TA does! I was the one at the front of the lecture hall, raising my hand and giving everyone a brief hello as the professor introduced me. How weird is that?!
Sub-Same: The kids in the class stared at me with a cool, disaffected glaze. Some things never change.
Sub-sub-Different: Some of those kids would have been born in 1992. Jeeza.

Good first day. I feel old. Everyone in my class came straight from undergrad except the weirdos. Wait....am I a weirdo? Hahaha, yeah I am. Who am I kidding?!

But outside of the babies and weirdos, everyone does seem kinda like me. More than that...I'll be honest, it was a room of Kates. In our meet-n-greet, we had to give a fun fact for our ice breaker (yay). One girl said she keeps a sourdough starter in her pantry and has for 2 years. One girl makes her own cider. One girl taught her parakeet how to sing the Star Wars theme. A chick admitted to loving building Ikea furniture "above nearly all other things." One guy plays an ancient proto-form of Chinese chess. One chick spent her summer teaching ropes courses in a Redwood forest and is, "having a hard time adjusting to life back on the ground." How cool/eccentric are all those things? In other words, how me are all those things? I'm excited to be back in the all-embracing arms of the liberal arts.

If you were wondering, my fun fact was that my favorite book is and always will be "The Giver". The more books I read, the more I love it. But like I told some friends tonight, I wish I had told the story of the time in a rural Ireland sing-song when, after everyone sang lovely ballads, I sang the theme song from the Fresh Prince of Bellaire. But it's a long story. And maybe it paints me as more than eccentric.

More to come. Have a good Wednesday!

Some Things

2010-09-06T02:32:00.000+01:00

This interim time before school starts is crawling. Here's some entertaining stuff for us all to pass the time.

via Redux

Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells

via Tumblr

gorgeous prints at Simply Hue's etsy site

Finale Desserts in Boston and Brighton

via superpoop

Have a good Labor Day!

Fenway and The Burger

2010-09-04T17:17:00.000+01:00

Last week, while Mike was in town and Cristina was new to Boston (we're veterans now), we took a tour of Fenway Park.

Fenway!

Amurrica's Oldest Remaining Baseball Stadium

Cristina loves her some sports, and Mike eats, breathes and sleeps baseball, so the tour was made really fun by their enthusiasm.

THEN WE ATE AT JERRY REMY'S! Home of, in case you'd forgotten:

My one true love: The Remy Burger. YES, I will eat this burger again. YES, if you come to town and enjoy unhinging your jaw over a 1/2 lb of meat, cheese and caramalized onion, we will eat this burger. YES, it makes you feel full to the point of being perhaps a little sick but you endure. YOU ENDURE for Remy! All hail the Remy burger for it is good and just.

So this was the highlight of my Fenway day. Check out the slideshow for shots of the park, of the Green Monster, of the burger and of everyone going nuts over the burger. Then there are some shots of us walking around Boston in a post-burger daze. It's worth a look.

Counting down the days here 'til school starts. We've been trudging to mixers, socials, orientations and other such get-to-know-me events around campus. I think everyone's ready to hit the ground running once the semester begins on Tuesday. I am more than ready...I'm enjoying the time off but this calm-before-the-storm feeling is pretty grating. They say your first week you feel terrified and snowed in. Can't wait, homies!

So stay tuned for first-day-of-school pictures! Yeup, those are so happening.

Day of Funness and/or Peanut Butter Bacon Burgers

2010-08-27T03:37:00.000+01:00

Oh my gosh! What a fun day in the new city! I took some pics and I wanna tell you about it. LISTEN, DAMMIT! For once in your life, sit down and really listen to me. Do yourself this one favor.

Now. First I met up with Erin for matcha (that's green tea milk smoothie, you backwater neophyte--sike I totally learned that on Food Network. Now who's lame?!) If you wonder how I know Erin, I met Erin in Eire but she's originally Bostonian. Capisce? You'sa betta capisce! *angry fist shake, followed by sigh and changing leg cross* Anyway, Erin's in town for a bit so she graciously met me in Harvard Square to catch up over a cuppa tay and then take a walk around her alma mater (one of them, anyway. She's wicked smaht.)

Also, we found a Harvard dorm that is named something awesome:

.....pppbbfftttt mkay whatever Harvard!

End Scene...I don't know why I'm douchily stage-directing this but I'm really tired and I've had about 4000 calories today, so bear with me.

Next I had lunch with the wonderful Stephanie. Steph and I go way back but we re-met each other today. We did so over 1/2lb burgers. Nothing says, "Get to know me!" like a big piece of meat [twss].

But guys. This burger I ate. I have to tell you something about it. It had bacon and.....prepare yourself....I mean it, gird thine loins cuz this is nuts....peanut butter.

It was good! I mean, not life changing like the REMY BURGER (all hail the remy burger):

But the peanut butter was good! Came with about 3/4 cup of pb on the burger. Think about that. That's a sh*t ton of peanut butter, in actuality. I think it was Skippy (wtf amirite?). I mean...I ate it. I ate the whole thing. Then I washed it down with 2 beers and a really, really awesome catch-up conversation with Steph.

But more on the meat [twss]. I guess I don't know how to feel about that burger. It's a mystery. Enigmaburger. I happily ate the entire thing, but then, afterward I could actually feel it wrapping itself around my heart and I think that might be what left me with a case of the no-thank-yous. Steph, if you're reading this, you were right. The bbq burger was the way to go!

OKAY nevertheless aren't I pathetic for getting so excited about a burger that I forgot to snap a shot of me and Steph? God I am terrible! Next time, no meat, more photos [twss].

So then I walked down Newbury and did some Back-Bay shoppin', which is really good for the record. Then I traipsed through Boston Commons before jumping on the T home. What a lovely day!

Yay Boston is awesome when the rain FINALLY dissipates!

The Bawston Apahtment

2010-08-25T19:07:00.000+01:00

Oh my gawhd I'm finally unpacked....mostly.

Here's the apartment.

Please excuse the mess.

Also, imagine some artwork onto the walls as you watch this, because I haven't hung any yet. Hold your ahtichoke hahts! Patience! All in due time.

It's only been 3 days but progress is being made. Oh, also I'm an expert on Boston now and know everything there is to possibly know about the city. For example, for the best pizza in Boston, go to...the place on the corner right here. And for the best groceries, go to... uhm, Whole Foods right down from me on Washington. And the best place to run is...aaaaround my neighborhood. See? I'mma frickin' sage. Run n' tell that!

In addition to unpacking (which Damian says I do relentlessly and a bit compulsively), I've gotten a few runs in around my neighborhood including the loop around the big beautiful Chestnut Hill Reseroir. I'll put up a few photos later this week but it's a gorgeous swan-filled pond surrounded by willows and big Bostonian mansions. I'm slowly getting my bearings but it's hard work in 4 days of constant downpour.

Kate moved to Boston. And Boston wept.

Beantown-Bound

2010-08-05T17:09:00.001+01:00

The adventure begins in 5 days...

Summer Cuppycakes

2010-07-28T16:37:00.000+01:00

Look at these lil cupcakes! I got the idea from bakerella.com

This Monday Needs Something.

2010-07-26T22:01:00.000+01:00

Moving in 5 Weeks

2010-07-16T14:51:00.000+01:00

I'm moving to Boston in 5 weeks. I'll be taking up the lost art (lol) of blogging again.

You may be interested in such fine topics as:

Bostonians!
Return to college life!
Preppy Chestnut Hill kids!
My new apartment, which has already been given the moniker "The Rookery".
Being broke!
Being busy!
Requesting the company of guests and visitors!!!
Running and clean livin'!
The odd recipe!

And photos pertaining to the abovementioned topics. So, you know, stay tuned n' junk.

In Other News

2010-04-28T13:05:00.000+01:00

Things I Have To Tell You

1. I'm going to Boston College in the fall. MA in Lit. It was my first school pick so I'm pretty excited. The Irish Lit program there is insanely good, in fact #2 in the country. In other words, it has real Irish professors, haha. Like Yeats. Yeah. Who's laughing now?! Okay maybe not Yeats. Read the fine print below if you're interested in my focus (because I'm assuming the vast majority of my readership---a good 6 or 7 folks--is not.)

Postcolonial Irish and 20th-Century British literatures with a subfocus on global lits written in the diaspora following British decolonization. Think Joyce meets Rushdie meets Woolf. Swoon.

2. I'm back working at Entertainment this summer (I worked for them for a year in 2006 before moving to Ireland the 2nd time). I'm assisting the Custom Book team. We publish little coupon books for corporate clients to give as gifts or incentives. Maybe you've gotten one before? Wasn't much of an incentive, was it? Yeah we get that. But the work pays the bills. Holla!

3. I've been off cigarettes for a little over a month now! I'm running and trying to be fit. I'm joining Weight Watchers so if anyone has tried it I'd like to hear your impressions.

Things To Cover In Later Posts

1. The visit to Ireland recapped plus photos

2. The visit to Boston and Rhode Island recapped plus photos

3. The Hogwartsness of Boston College, exposed.

Okay I believe we're all squared up! Kinda. More to come!

Back to Eire

2010-03-10T17:40:00.002Z

I'm in Ireland for the next 2 weeks! I'm going to get up to shenanigans with all my favorite Irish folk for Paddy's Day...and before Paddy's Day...and after Paddy's Day too. :)

Stay tuned for the recap. Have a great St Pat's!

The Quiltness, Part 3

2010-02-28T03:25:00.021Z

If you checked Silent45 in January you read about how I've started working on a quilt as a way of keeping my hands busy during the long, nasty, crusty, snowy, gray, boring, Michigan winter. Not that I don't love Michigan winter....okay I hate Michigan winter.

For a rather uninteresting [to anyone but me, I'm sure] update on Da Quilt, read on.

I finished sewing the border on El Quilto and ironed all my dainty lil 1/4" seams on the back side.

I pinned the top, batting and muslin backing together in preparation for Das Quilt 2010.

Then I made my quilting templates. This is most definitely my own method, I'm not sure how real quilters do it. But I wanted a version of these patterns I found in an old quilting pattern book. So I traced the tiny patterns out, step one.

NOTE: I have 2 patterns. These pics interchange patterns cuz I wasn't really dedicated to taking pics while I worked through this. Deal.

I traced it on quadrille paper so it'd be easy to enlarge.

Next I straight up took a photo of the image, bluetoothed it to my computer and opened it in paint. DON'T QUESTION MY METHODS! I stretched the image to 8"x 8" to fit my quilt squares and inverted the color (read: not 'colour') to make it easier to trace.

I cut out the shapes and traced them onto manilla cardboard to make a sturdier stencil. Et voila:

Last Step: Trace onto a quilt square and quilt to the batting and back.

One square down, 19 to go. Stay tuned!

Flipadelphia

2010-02-27T06:12:00.004Z

Landed in Philadelphia to spend a few days with cousins Gabby, Jacob and Dalton. Was kinda thinking about loading up the kids and going searching for Charlie, Dee, Denis and Mac but decided against it. :)

So far so awesome. We've watched a ton of hockey and basketball, eaten loads of junk food, watched a mess o' snow fall and basically laugh and nap for the remaining gaps in time.

Here's Dalton giving me his sass face. Pretty much my favorite thing so far.

Set him up on ThisIsPhotoBomb.com and FailBlog yesterday and he hasn't gotten off since.

Aaaaaaaand here come the teenagers. Sweatpants, laptops and disaffected gazes in their sweet young eyes. On the plus side they play me lots of top 20 hits on their shiny lil macs.

We'll be hanging out til Tuesday then I'm off for a quick day in NYC before heading home Thursday. We'll keep you posted on our extended weekend o' madness down here.

And Then There Was Texas

2010-02-22T19:31:00.029Z

You've heard about the first week of my epic trip to Florida and Texas with SBarr.

It is time to conquer the second half.

And it was big. Maybe equal in epic-ness (epic-nicity?) to the Florida half.

'Nuff said.

We drove north out of Florida playing Phoenix and Tenacious D interchangeably and unceasingly. I believe my lyrical memories of that drive will forever be intertwined with Sarah shouting "WHIP CRACK WENT HIS WHIPPY TAIL!" at me....while I shouted it at passing vehicles. We may have scared/annoyed Florida on our departure.

There was a pause for oranges and alligators before leaving Flaw-i-da.

Sar and I stopped in Mobile for the night and Sar treated us to a pimp suite of sorts. It was a reward for having slept on a pullout sofa for 2 nights and working hard to pack up her adorable Melbourne apartment. So we booked the Radisson Mobile, valeted the Corolla, headed inside....and found out what was going on in Mobile that night:

MARDI GRAS.

Oh....my.

We got gussied up, perfected our team Sar-Kate high five, had a shot with the speech-impedimented hotel bartender ("are you two shistersh?") and made our way into downtown Mobile.

We went dancing.

We made friends.

We bonded.

I made some phone calls (sorry, call recipient) and we headed back to our amazing hotel room to sleep in cloud beds.

The next morning we took our heinie's to Mobile's famous Tiny Diny for SOUTHERN BREAKFAST. We met the owners, old, southern, cotton-candy-haired Miss Susan and Miss Betty, who thought we were Dutch and insisted that we dance for them. It was confusing so we fled to the refuge of grits, sausage patties and biscuits.

So happy!

Satiated, we headed out of town en route for Houston. We got Sarah into her adorable Clear Lake apartment and Sarah showed me her new stomping grounds.

We made our way down to Austin to see mister Andy Marsden too.

In Austin we fell in love with...

Sixth Street

Alamo Roadhouse movie theatre (where we saw their Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of Transformers AND a singalong of Moulin Rouge)

Fried Pickles and Guinness Milkshakes

BBQ at Kreuz BBQ

Andy's girlfriend, Raven the Raptor

And I named Andy's Lexus (picture not provided) Gail Sayers. So if you see him, say hello to Gail. And call her Gail. For she is Gail.

And with that all wrapped up, I headed home to snowy ol' Michigan! WHAT A TRIP!! Thanks to everyone south of the Mason-Dixon line who made it such a fun two weeks. :)

I want to say I'm grounded for awhile, but I cannot. On Thursday I'm off to Philly to see my aaaawesome cousins Gabby, Jacob and Dalton, and there miiight be a day trip to NYC in the works too, we shall see.

Then it's back to Michigan for a few days before I head out to EIRE FOR TWO WEEKS. Fiona, Fiona, Fiona (lol there are a few), Susan, Eileen, Stephen, Carmel, Eoghan, John, Marianne, Jake, Foggy Dew, Hogges & Figgis, Chapters, Marlay Park, Fallon & Byrne, Zara, Oasis, Lusk, Cork, Kerry....GET READY! :D I can't wait.

Just another chapter in Kate's Book Of Layoff And Relocation. Life may have given me a few lemons, but I think I've made some sweet, wanderlusty lemonade.

Edy and Fiona Take Florida and Texas

2010-02-17T05:24:00.023Z

Guess what?! I went to Flori-di-a to visit the great Miss Sarah Barr.

Isn't she the business? Aren't we the business?

You have to love that girl's expressions. LOL

I came down to play with Sar in Florida then move her back home to Texas and play a bit in Houston and Austin too. So this trip will be covered in 2-3 posts. 2-3 epic posts.

Day 1: Fly into Orlando, drive to Miami. We had cuban sandwiches and mojitos and saw some pretty epic drag shows. I love drag queens the most, the most. But how could you not love this face?!

IT'S SO PRICELESS.

(cuban sandwiches, my one pic of Miami by day)

For the long version of the Miami night story complete with narwhals, various hotels, ocean swims, international friends, the Cleavlander, the hostel locker, Dutch girls speaking English, breakfast cuban sandwiches, et alia, please contact Sarah or myself directly. :)

We made our way down to Key West the next day.

It was an amaaaazing 81 degrees on the drive down, so naturally I kept things classy while trying to tan in the passenger's seat:

Bikini in the Corolla. I know. But it's so coooold in Michigan, and so not sunny in Ireland! I was sun-drunk.

We spent the night on famous Duval Street in Key West, met some interesting characters, made our way out onto a sailboat moored by Christmas Island to watch the sun rise over the Gulf of Mexico. We went to a nude bar called Adam and Eve too. But we kept all our clothing on. Cuz we're classy. Classier in the nude bar than in the Corolla. Go figure.

That's us in Key West. Just take my word for it, 'kay? For you Nancy Drews, you can tell I'm in the keys because my hair is frizz-diculous, despite having straightened it THIRTY MINUTES before this photo was taken. I had a total Channel 5 Eyewitness News 'do going on that night. GROSS.

For the long (and I do mean long) version of the Key West story complete with Norwegians, gingers, two-step, jet skis, life preservers, God rock, piiiiiineapple, $4,000 giraffes, pink taxis, roosters at Sunoco, Racetrac, jammit, et alia, please contact Sarah or myself directly. ;)

After that we met up with some friends in Boyton Beach then headed back to Sarah's in Melbourne to pack her up and get her home! We luxuriated in the warm-ish weather and good tropical fruit. When do we get cheap papaya in January in Michigan?

Oh and we visited Cocoa Beach, where I added to the jewelry I got in Ireland (with Miss Kara Samuels). Please don't tell me my ear looks like a zipper now. I'll flip. I can't take it.

Okay, and here's the real treat for you. Two videos of Sarah scaring the h-e-double-hockey-sticks out of me trying to catch a MASSIVE FLORIDIAN PRIMORDIAL BEAST stuck to her wall. I screamed, I ran for the porch. Unfortunately the sliding glass door was closed. Later, I would windex my faceprint off the door in shame............shame.

Sigh (Sarah, read: saigh), if work is THAT slow for you today, here's the two videos I took while bug-spazzing. They're pretty funny, honestly. G'head, enjoy. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXu-6B64bzM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzSuSaCR-k

We packed, we partied, we packed some more. We left Florida and headed for Alabama where, unbeknownst to us, Mardi Gras was already underway. But that's a story for Post #2.....Stay tuned!

Post for Karabey

2010-01-21T23:55:00.013Z

This is a post about Kara.

Kara doesn't know that I'm going to post about her.

Surprise, Karabey!

(Don't call her that. Please, it'd be weird. It's just for us, and a select group of super-elite fellow oddballs. We have a thing.)

Oh Kara, don't hate me for this post.

Kara and I go back. Way back. 4th grade back. Or perhaps further than that. Farther? Further.

Observe: Kara's dad, the fabulous photographer Poppa Sammies, even took our senior photos together.

So young, so disaffected.

Kara came to visit me in Ireland. This is Kara's opinion of this Irish chocolate bar.

She didn't like it.

And this is Kara wishing me farewell for Ireland.

Don't worry Kara. I have a readership of about 7 people. It's not as embarrassing as you think.

This is Kara's fabulous, gloriously huge great dane, Peewit.

He likes me.

This isn't Kara. It's my flatmate, Stephen. He was drawing with his feet.

But only because Kara told us to.

It's cool though. There were no hard feelings.

She's fantastic and one of the besties a gal could ever have. Hope you get to meet her one day. The End! :)

Erotic Falconry

2010-01-18T20:05:00.004Z

Well, I'm keepin busy. I've got a few things on my docket for the next few weeks:

1. Surprise road trip this weekend with 4-5 very, very cool people. Details TBA. Hence, "surprise".

2. Big ol' trip to see the Great Miss Sarah Barr in February. And perhaps other Texans as well.

3. The Quit Quilt

4. The conquering of Ulysses with Sara Barcus. Line by beautiful, befuddling line.

I suppose if I needed another pasttime, I could head over to EroticFalconry.com and get a few pointers on that timeless hobby. I mean, who hasn't heard of/wanted to try erotic falconry but just couldn't fit the time into their schedule? We've all been there.

No but seriously, this site is hilarious:

LOL! That's one of the funniest and most random sites I've seen in a long time. It's definitely in that family of FU Penguin or Cats n' Racks. There seems to be no end to fauna comedy. Faumedy? No. Okay. Well, enjoy the sites anyway. Props to Sarah Barr for finding it, btw.

The Quit Quilt

2010-01-15T04:09:00.010Z

New Year, new you: I've started 2010 by making a change. I'm quitting a certain bad habit that I recently picked up again. The lifestyle change has left me with fidgety hands and a bit of extra time to play with so I've picked up a hobby.

I'm quilting.

Now, come with me while I show you my quilt!

..........Okay, hang on a second. Shut the door for a minute, champ. Let's talk about this. I used to post stories about Stonehenge, the Vatican, Versailles, Turkish baths, German Christmas Markets. There was even a time when I flippantly glossed over a five-day trip to Milan and the Lakes. Now I'm posting extensively about a quilt. The irony is not lost on me, folks. But bear with me. It's new and different but it's still great, I promise. And believe it or not I'm loving life as much here as I was on the Continent. In a different way, yes, but I am so enjoying it. It sounds silly but it is so, SO true!

So shut up and look at my damn quilt!

I'm going to sew a patchwork blanket, stuff it, back it, then sew a pocket and use the whole thing to cover an old but well-loved goosedown throw.

I started by washing, drying, ironing and cutting my fabric into squares:

I know, roysh? Cute 5000.

Then I laid out my pattern. Well, actually I should show you my first picture because it is indicative of the mistakes I've made in EVERY STEP of this quilt so far. I forgot a color and laid out a 4-color quilt. And it looked great. And for a brief, shining moment, I felt awesome.

Then I realized things weren't looking red enough...

Okay that's better.

Then I sewed 7 strips and ironed the hems down. It also presented its share of challenges, for example how to fill a bobbin and how to....um, hem. Hey I'm new to this!

Next I sewed the strips together, ironed the hems down...

et voila! Quilt thing!

Next step is to add a 4" border around the edges, then sew batting and a back to it. Stay tuned.

And again, SORRY ABOUT THE QUILT POST. This is where I am now! Just fillin' you in! :)

New Year, New Layout

2010-01-13T17:17:00.003Z

It's been awhile but I'm back. Back!

First things first, I threw a new layout up to commemorate my return to the US. As you can see, the old header doesn't work so well if you're no longer living in Eire:

I'll miss you old, bluey layout! But onwards and upwards...

It's been a busy few weeks since I got home. I've caught up with lots of folks, gotten my hands dirty doing a lot of chores and errands that have built up over 3 years, and I've been doing what I can to fill my belly with all the American treats I've been missing.

I might have moved out of Ireland, but there's still lots of news to keep you entertained! Stay tuned to this aul blog for all the latest and greatest.

America!

2009-11-26T21:46:00.001Z

Hi Everyone!

Just a quick note to tell those of you who don't know that I'll be moving back to the USA in 22 days!

I was feeling very Amerrrrican on this Thanksgiving Day and felt compelled to share the news!

See all of you soon!

England Part 3: Stratford

2009-11-20T12:26:00.004Z

Welcome to the third installment of Kate and Shayna's madcap English weekend. For those of you just joining me, I'm taking a slow trek across our jam-packed weekend in the English countryside. We covered so much ground, I have to parse it into a few posts.

So far we've covered Bath and Stonehenge and that was just the morning of the first day.

After taking a rather windswept loop around Stonehenge, Shayna and I drove north to Stratford-upon-Avon, better known as the birthplace of Shakespeare. It's where the Stratford Theatre Festivals get their name. Not from Stratford, Ontario. Nice try, Canada!

It was 4pm or so and the sun was just setting (welcome to the British Isles in winter, people). But we bundled up and headed out to check out the 16th century Tudor architecture aruond the city.

Don't know Tudor?

Well, it was popularised in the wealthy times during the 16th-century reign of this guy:

That's right. Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

And for anyone living outside America who actually got a real education in school, what I really meant was this guy:

Sorry Americans. But it's true. Should I ask Leno to do a Jaywalking skit with this photo and see how many people call him Henry VIII? Does that need to happen? I think we all know how that'd end. "Um, Ben Franklin?"

By the way, I found that picture of Henry Tudor on a site called "Sassafras Junction". Doesn't that seem like a baby name given to the child of Gwen Stefani or Ashlee Simpson? LOL

Moving on.

Many of the folks who came to prosperity during the reign of Henry VIII (aka Henry Tudor) built fancy houses with expensive wooden facades to show off their cash money.

Ergo, Timber became the architectural bling of the 16th century.

That one there is like a Tudor-gasm.

So here are some of the buildings we saw in Stratford. It's amazing how they've sort of sunken and gotten lumpy with time, as though they're barely propped up anymore yet still standing.

I mean, you're looking at a house that was built 20-40 years after the clock was invented. THE CLOCK! You know? It really makes me devalue the 70s walkup I used to live in that leaked like a sieve when it rained.

Walking around Stratford at dusk:

The fact that they didn't put "Ye Olde" in the title shows restraint. And I like that.

And then, lit by the light of a dozen nasty orange street lamps, we stumbled upon Shakespeare's digs:

Then we went to eat in one of the Tudor buildings, which contain about 45 fireplaces and as many dark timbers as you see on the outside. Here I try to take a sly picture before anyone sees me. Shayna said I wasn't very sneaky at all, and in fact everyone saw me.

One blurry picture of not a whole lot. Was it worth it?

Then we went window shopping a little. I have to show you this one store. It seemed like a Gap inside, all knitwear and ribbed tees and brightly colored mitten sets. Then we stepped outside and saw the name of the shop.

LOL. They skipped the innuendo and jumped straight to their target market.

SO Stratford was nice! And a lovely place to stay! We spent the night in the rooftop twin room in a little old couple's B&B. The husband made us a "cracking good English brekkie" in the morning. The wife actually said "jolly good". TWICE. I wanted to stuff her in a crumpet tin and take her home as a souvenir. WHY DIDN'T I?! My one regret...

We left Stratford in the morning and headed to Warwick (pron. Warrick), home of the WARWICK CASTLE!!! Get excited: There was a falconer.

I repeat: There was a falconer.

More on that later. :)

England Part 2: Stonehenge

2009-11-18T09:37:00.002Z

Welcome to Chapter 2 in the Weekend in England chronicle! For those just joining us, I'm sharing all the pics and stories piece by piece. The weekend was packed with Britishy goodness and there is a lot to share!

NOTE: Due to unknown causes I've got Barry Manilow on the brain this morning. But I'm doing my best to shake it off and get into a Englisher state of mind. ("Englisher"...yep, I can do that)

Oh Mandy, you came and you gave without taking....

To recap, Shayna and I met up in Bristol and drove straight to Bath. The blog--jam-packed with photos of that-- can be found here.

After a morning in the town of Bath we drove to Stonehenge, which is about an hour southeast. In a field. A big field. With nothing else around. Bar cows. There were cows. And rain. Oh, there was wind and rain!

Oh Stonehenge, you kissed me and stopped me from shaking...but I pushed you away...

You pull up in a field, pay £6.50 (yep, that's $13) to a gal in a trailer and head into a fenced off field with Stonehenge sitting it it. It's relatively surreal. One minute you're in the endless English countryside, the next you're staring at Stonehenge...in the endless English countryside.

Then you walk a path around the stones--no touching!--and snap some photos.

From England

I'm looking at these photos now going, "holy cow I was at Stonehenge". But at the time it was extremely underwhelming. I can't stress enough how it looks like a lump of rocks in a field on the side of the highway. But the photos make me realize how amazing it is. How ancient it is!

And then there was the wind and rain. Shayna and I tried desperately to get some photos of the 2 of us, but the wind and piercing rain was making me go all Gilbert Gottfried squinty.

Oh Gilbert, you came and you gave without taking....

You thought I was exagerrating, didn't you.

LOL Medusa bangs.

Shayna is visibly laughing at me at this stage.

LOL, and Shayna looks great (in the last one she's shouting "STONEHENGE!") But between my Medusa hair and Gottfried squint, this photo op was not meant to be.

We were half frozen, but we stopped and got hot cocoa on the way out and it warmed us right up.

Hot cocoa...you kissed me and stopped me from shaking

Oh boy, this is a bad case of the Manilows. I can see what kind of Wednesday this is going to be.

Well before I knew it we were gone! 10 minutes in a field with some of the oldest architecture on the planet, and then we were off down the road, heading north to Stratford-upon-Avon.

But more on that in Part 3. :)

Weekend in England: The Bath Edition

2009-11-16T12:43:00.003Z

I had a great weekend in England with Shayna. We went looooads of places in just 2 days including:

Town of Bath, home of the ancient Roman Baths
Stonehenge, home of some rocks in a windy field
Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare's birthplace and Tudor architectural mecca
Warwick Castle, bad-assest castle in England (they had falcons!)
Stow-on-the-Wold, Broadway and other Cotswold villages

In an effort to pace my photo editing and blogging fun, I'll be bringing you installments of our trip over the next week or so. Full photo album will be available here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kerryanntomkie/England#

So we start with BATH!

Shayna and I rolled into Bath on Friday night and landed at the quaint, albeit cheesily painted hostel.

From England

The next day I got up early and tooled around the city, which was designed in one go by a father/son pair who definitely got it right. Every building is made of the same creamy stone that lends the city a warm, golden color. It was really amazing.

We visited the Roman Baths, an ancient complex built on a thermal spring. The English remodeled it in the medieval ages and again in the 18th century and it became a hub for the social elite and sickies looking to benefit from the mineral-rich water...or so the audio guide told me.

Parts of the baths that still look Roman-y:

Sacred Spring. No one swam here, they just prayed and sacrificed here. You can see it's a thermal spring, really warm (steam).

Main baths. Dudes swam here. Shayna makes a phone call to 1998 on the old-cell-looking audio guide.

Roman Baths

LOL. Me and some real native Romans. Side note: can anyone confirm that the Romans had jeri curls? I'm dubious. "Hey Titian! Let your sooooul gloooow!"

Englishy Looking Bath Places

Entrance. You know I love a good ceiling.

Pump Rooms. Popularized in the 1700s-1800s. If you read enough Austen, Elliot or Dickens, you'll run into someone who holidays in Bath and "takes the waters at the Pump Room". And therefore if you know me, you'll know I was pretty excited about this.

The pump!

"Taking the waters"! The water is from a thermal mineral spring so it's warm, and it tastes normal, with a little iron and suphur, basically Up North well water. Or, as the guy next to me said, "It tastes like blood. And it tastes hollow! Is hollow a taste?" Nope. It is not.

And that was our Saturday morning! From here we went on to Stonehenge, which you can read about in my next post. :)

Next Weekends Plans, In Pictures

2009-11-04T11:43:00.005Z

This is the story of a weekend in the very very near future.

Me

and Shayna

Are going for a weekend drive around Southwest England

We'll see Bath

And Stonehenge

And Cotswold and Devon

We'll pet some animals

Sample the local fare

Stay in quaint bed & breakfasts

And maybe even make some English friends

It's all very exciting. Can't wait!

My Dublin Shoes

2009-10-29T12:02:00.012Z

I thought I'd introduce you to some of my favorite shoes.

I don't have a ton of shoes here. Eventually I will have to fit all my clothes into a suitcase to return home, so I try to keep a modestly-sized wardrobe. But on occassion I do indulge in a girly treat for the feet. :)

First off, I should be honest and tell you that about 99.5% of the time I wear either ballet flats or Chuck Taylors (observe):

When I'm out on the town though, I like to throw on the trendy heels. And I've been known to purchase some pretty intense heels. :)

Dublin girls are really into their their trendy heels (I looked for a trendy-heeled-Kate picture but couldn't find any. I think that's reason enough to plan a night out soon!) . I have fallen for some fads hook, line and sinker, despite the agony they put my feet through somtimes.

Here are some of my favorite going-out-in-Dublin trendy heels:

First off, the boots! My 4" ankle boots from Office. And yes, I wear them with skinny jeans or leggings! Get on board Americans, it is a cute look! :)

My satin peep toes. Kaitlyn helped me pick these out last Christmas. These usually get worn with black tights and a skirt or bare legs and a minidress. They're torture on the feet though and once led to a pretty nasty fall on the cobble stone street! Darn cobblestones! :P

The newest acquisition: Fuscia alligator-print platform stilettos. I wore them out the other night with opaque tights and a white mini-shirtdress. I LOVE them!!! They were a pick-me-up purchase, and I have to say they really did the trick.

I thought I'd show you these too. These are my 2008 Detroit heels: my Babyphat leopard print fur wedges. Not yo mama's going out heels. I like to wear them with a pencil skirt and cream blouse with baby blue jewelery.......Okay, full disclosure. Sometimes I just throw them on with my pj's while I do my dishes and laundry. Never done it? It's an easy way to make yourself feel sliiiightly more glamorous, and get you motivated to get dressed up and head out. And it gives your flatmate something to laugh about too, so everyone wins. Hehe

Siiiigh. That's it! I've got other heels but their not half as fun, just basic black, grey, brown ones. Oh and knee-high brown suede BCBG boots. I guess I could have shown you those. One day I'll have a big ol' American closet that I can fill with lots more fun shoes, but for now I get a real kick out of throwing on one of these and heading out into the Dublin nightlife. :)

Dublin Ghost Bus

2009-10-27T09:39:00.011Z

Claire and I took the Dublin Ghost Bus Tour last week!

The Dublin Ghost Bus Tour is a big box of Frankenberry cereal on wheels that shuffles around the city every night. Who wouldn't want to climb aboard?!

Our tour began after dark. We visited some of the spookiest places in Dublin led by a pretty creepy guide who knew way too much about the occult and paranormal in our Fair City. You sit in the top of the bus and he tells you stories as you drive around looking out at haunted buildings.

One of the places we visited were the original gates to the city. Well, the oldest gates still standing. Dublin has been around for 1100 years, if you can believe that. In medieval times lepers used to be relegated to living near these gates on the then-outskirts of town:

We also visited a crumbling church from the 1500's, which is build on the foundations of a church from the 800's. The church was the site of several horrific events, which has resulted in some pretty scary hauntings. Here's the church by day. It looks like an overgrown bush:

At night it's a little more scary:

In this church the guide told Claire and I that a woman last week saw two monk ghosts who told her they burned in a fire. It turns out two medieval monks really did die in a fire in the church, and that the fire was started mysteriously when a woman was being exorcised there in the 1300s. The monks were locked in the church to carry out the exorcism. They burned alive.

The guide said this: A woman walked into the church and immediately froze. She told the tour guide, "I see two monks behind you. They are telling me to ask you not to speak." And she got a little vial of holy water out of her bag and started to sprinkle him with it (lots of Catholic people carry holy water, that's very common, especially over here). The guide started to speak and she said, "Do not say what you're thinking right now. Do not speak." But the guide spoke anyway. He says to her "Ask them what my name is," just out of curiosity to see if this is real. And at first the woman won't say, but finally she goes, "The monks are saying it's Brent." This was true. And at a staff meeting a few days later Brent did a little research and found out "brent" comes from medieval English for "burnt".

Anyway, so if you'd like a second ghosty story, here's the other creepy thing to have happened in the church. During the Reformation, Catholics were banned from practicing their faith. This was punishable by torturous death. There was a bishop who would say secret masses in St Kevin's in the pitch black so as to go undetected. But someone ratted him out, and he was dragged from St Kevin's to Dublin Castle (a 25 min walk at least), and in Dublin Castle he was tortured. They put his legs in iron buckets of oil and put them in the fire to cook and asked him to renounce the Pope, but he would not. So they hung him by thorned vines in the streets to die slowly. The bishop has been frequently sighted inside the church. In fact, over his memorial stone where the altar used to be, he is sighted quite often.

Naturally I took some photos by the memorial stone. :) Hey, I watch TAPS. I know what shows up in pictures in haunted spots! hehe. I took these over the course of 10 minutes or so. And I dunno if it's anything or not, but I always got the same speck (orb?) at the head of the memorial stone. See if you can see it too. These are every single photo I took over there--the spot always shows up in roughly the same place over and over again, always by the headstone (hovering over the brownish grassy patch), even if I move my camera:

Anyway, it was probably just the lens catching some dust in the same spot a few times, but it kinda creeped us out while we were there, standing in the pitch-black crumbling medieval church! :)

The ghost bus was a blast, but I confess I am really going to miss visiting Haunted Houses for Kara's birthday like we used to. Michigan has fantastic haunted houses! And they're always so funny too--or maybe that's just Kara's effect on haunted houses. I seem to recall one with a fat guy in a baby costume....not sure how we were supposed to be scared by that...

Have a happy Halloween week everyone!

Kate Font

2009-10-21T14:56:00.008+01:00

for more on what I've been up to this October check out:

http://silent45.blogspot.com/2009/10/my-october.html

and

http://picasaweb.google.com/kerryanntomkie/Oct2009Ireland#

My October

2009-10-19T15:22:00.000+01:00

What I've been up to this October...

I've been to the theatre 3 times in October:

I visited some of the hundred or so museums and galleries open for free on Dublin Culture night:

From General Post Office (GPO)

Poster in the Garda Museum ("well childers, be careful now! mind the divil in the river!")

And I went for my biannual walk in Marlay Park. Marlay Park, as you might recall, is a public park made from the grounds of a 1700s Anglo-Irish manor in the Dublin countryside.

I went up to Stephen's home in Armagh for a weekend:

We got up to our usual drunken fun, did some exploring around his house, and his mom made us go to church on Sunday as per usual. :)

I travelled around Co. Kerry for a weekend with my friend Claire who is leaving soon for China. We stayed in a hotel called Darby O'Gill's Guest House. LOL! The views were gorgeous this weekend, we had a ton of fun.

It's been a very rewarding month in Ireland, and I've been working hard to make the most of my time here. :)

Autumn Is Here

2009-10-02T14:37:00.004+01:00

Fall has set in in Dublintown. I've been keeping busy with...

Researching my grad school application paper. I'm applying to a few MA Lit programs in the US and Ireland. I'm considering getting a PhD, possibly in postcolonial Irish diaspora literary studies....but as you can imagine, that's a pretty narrow field. :) So I might lean other ways; that can all be fleshed out during my MA studies.

I'm writing my application paper on the counterrevivalist Irish movement and writer (but not 'Irish writer'...he'd hate that I said that) Patrick Kavanagh. It's requiring a lot of research and note-taking, done under the gorgeous Georgian dome of the National Library of Ireland. I have spent many hours here already, with many more to come:

Running in Phoenix Park trails. I've lost 10lbs in September since I ramped up my mileage/frequency. I'm up to roughly 7k (4 1/2-5miles), 4 times a week. Phoenix Park is the biggest city park in Europe. It has herds of deer, rolling hills, forests, streams and TONS of on- and offroad trails. Here's a pic of a tiny sliver of the park, and as you can see even the tiny sliver is huge! This is taken from so high up you can't even see the cars on the road!

I'm planning a weekend "away down the country" in Ireland with Claire. We're going to Donegal. It's....well...stunning:

My Halloween weekend trip to the continent. It's between a return trip to my favorite city, Paris, or possibly Vienna:

And in December, it's off to the Christmas market in Munich:

(okay this is the Hamborg Weinachtsmarkt, but it looks very similar to the Munchen one and it was a better quality photo. Please don't riot in the streets over my sloppy photo inaccuracies!)

And then I might have some more plans in the works for myself for 2010...

See you soon, USA. :)

Summer Trips: SF, Scotland

2009-08-26T18:09:00.002+01:00

I went to San Francisco to see Evan. I fell in love with the city.

See my Ex-Fran-vaganza (har har) here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kerryanntomkie/SanFran#

From San Fran

Then we came back to Ireland and visited Scotland. Went to Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Highlands. We took the Hogwart's Express! True story! Go look:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kerryanntomkie/Scotland#

From Scotland

And that is my August vacation log. Looks like I'll be traveling around Ireland in Sept and then going over to the continent (somewhere, tbd) in October, so stay tuned!

Including 7 Wiener Shots!

2009-07-27T12:54:00.000+01:00

I'm running again. Look. This is my run tracker for the month:

I've returned to running to shed a few. In case you hadn't herad, I've gained a few pounds over my last 2 1/2 years in Ireland.

To find out why, I encourage you to check out my Hossin' Out Round the World photo album.

That's a lot of wieners!

Have a good Monday!

Have a Good Weekend

2009-07-24T13:25:00.004+01:00

1. I'm headed to the U2 360 concert tonight! 84,000 people packed in to see the King of Ireland (har har). The setup looks crazy--it takes like something like 15 semi's just to move it around.

2. Thought I'd show you a pic of my desktop at work. It's of Norah when she was just a little corgi puppy. What always makes me laugh is how her corgi-puppy expression is unchanging in every single shot.

Notice in the middle photo how someone just extended this dog into the frame. LOL

:)

2009-07-18T21:54:00.005+01:00

Yep.

Only 2 more weeks til I visit San Fran.

I can't wait. :)

Irish Summer

2009-07-01T11:29:00.002+01:00

We're enjoying weeks and weeks of perfect weather over here. It is some much appreciated warmth and sun after 3 really rainy summers in a row. I've been out in the parks and countryside reading, catching up with friends, picnicking etc.

Thought I'd post a few nice Ireland pictures for you to snack on. Give you a little bit of pretty Ireland to enjoy too!

From Donegal 2008

Kerrytown, Co. Donegal

Giant's Causeway, Co. Antrim

MacGuillicuddy's Reeks, Co. Kerry

Iveagh Gardens Co. Dublin, one of the parks I've been hanging out in

Glendalough Co. Wicklow

LAST DAY!

2009-06-23T11:52:00.005+01:00

Last day of my Food Blog Week! How it's flown by!

Lessons learned:

It's harder--but more rewarding--to imagine your meal through a camera lens. It makes you question what you're feeding yourself.
Also, this makes you snack less often because you are tired of carrying that camera everywhere!
I eat well on weekdays but make a hems of things on weekends. Carnivals do not help.
I might want to think about changing up my breakfast routine a little to kickstart my metabolism (altho perfectly fit people eat the saaaame bowl of cereal every day!)
Doing something like taking a picture of your food (or cal counting before a meal) creates a disconnect between the food-idea stage of meals (what will I have? ooh, ), and the actual eating phase. If there's not a big enough gap between food-idea and food-actualization, you'll end up cooking/ordering what you crave. This means you'll eat garbage. Or you'll not eat garbage but you'll end up unhappy with your healthy meal, because you're craving garbage.

Last day of food blog starts with the SSDD (that's an office/Stephen King saying):

Dinner: Goulash?

2009-06-22T23:45:00.000+01:00

Dinner was a sort of a broke-til-Friday goulash. Had some random food lying around, put it all together. I know you've had nights like this, right?

Cooked off 1/2 cup white wine, cap chopped tomatoes, garlic/salt/pepper in a pan for 15 mins, added 2cups cooked pasta with 1/2 cup pasta water, allowed to thicken then added 1Tbsp sour cream and 1/2 cup frozen peas, a little snipped basil from my trusty basil plant.

Then munched on Stephen's extra dinner: 1/4 lemon pepper chicken breast.

THEN.......a ate 4 tsp's chocolate frosting and played Sims3. It was a muggy summer night. It was called for. I have no regrets. No regrets!!!

Lunch and Snack

2009-06-22T14:45:00.003+01:00

Lunch: Tossed salad with balsamic vinaigrette, 100g feta cheese. Nutri grain.

Snack: Grapes and Mars min (81cals)

Breakfast: HEALTHY THINGS

2009-06-22T09:31:00.003+01:00

I think we can all agree I had a decadent Saturday and Sunday.

I have 2 defence arguments.

1. I ran a 5k on Saturday....that counts for something, yes?

2. The 5k boosted my metabolism up until Sunday night. I was sweating through shirts all weekend, a sure sign I had earned that rare and ellusive 48hr postrun metaboost. Oh, it's a thing people. Does that make you want to take up running? Yeah, it should. It's awesome. You sit there watching a movie and can feel your body burning up cals as you veg out.

Nevertheless, I'm on my best behavior today:

Lunch, Dinner: Leftovers and Chicken

2009-06-21T21:23:00.000+01:00

Lunch was my leftover vegetable enchiladas and lime-marinated chicken breast from Friday.

Dinner was orange-roasted chicken (skin on, guilty guilty), vinaigrette salad, a glass of white and lemon souffle for dessert.

Breakfast: Toast & Quiche

2009-06-21T09:17:00.000+01:00

Sunday morning I had 2 pieces of apricot jam toast on the way to church, then vegetable quiche and a latte after church with Claire and Diana.

Dinner: Lasagna and Salad

2009-06-20T21:06:00.001+01:00

Marks & Spencer's baked lasagne for dinner with Stephen Saturday night. Every other weekend they do a deal: main dish, side, dessert and bottle of wine for 2 people for €12.50. The only thing left when we went was the lasagna, I SWEAR!

Lasagna, Salad, (with a baby second helping), chocolate trifle and 2 glasses of shiraz.

Lasagna (with Frank's hot sauce on it of COURSE), FIRST helping

Cheeky second helping

Chocolate trifle. It's like a chocolate biscit with pudding on top and whipped cream. I kinda forgot about the picture until I was almost done! Whoops!

Wine #1.

Wine #2.

Lunch: Street Food

2009-06-20T14:00:00.001+01:00

Lunch on Saturday was at the World Street Performance Festival in Dublin. I had a bratwurst and a 99 ice cream cone, which Elisa will confirm are DA BOMB. As such, I have no regrets. :)

Saturday Morning Breakfast!

2009-06-20T12:13:00.007+01:00

You're witnessing the cornerstone of 17 Sprangers Yard, my apartment.

Saturday morning breakfast.

When I moved here in January 2008 I had just left a really nasty set of roommates. I lived with a messy, angry brother sister pair. Long story sort it was awful. But the first weekend I was here, my new flatmate Stephen woke up on Saturday and cooked a big family-style breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs, beans, toast and tea. I felt like I was home! It was so kind and a sign to me that things were going to be a lot better here.

Because Stephen loves his breakfasts, it's a tradition we've happily kept up...or rather I joined. You'll rarely wake up on Saturday morning in our apartment and not smell sausages and eggs frying.

This morning I had a Special K bar and went for a run.

But when I got back do you know what was already cookin?

Today we had egg whites, sausages, beans (the beans here are tomato sauce beans, not bbq. it works, trust me) and potato farl, which is kind of like a soft biscuit.

And if you think I was messing about Stephen loving his breakfast, check out the pack of sausages he picked up for the week:

Dinner: Enchiladas

2009-06-19T19:49:00.000+01:00

Had a fun cooking night as a Friday night treat. I thought I'd try making a summer vegetable sort of enchilada. I added a lime, garlic and jalapeno marinated chicken breast to it. Very tasty, pretty healthy too!

So I added THREE 70cal spoons of frosting for dessert---this was a splurge. I admit it!!!! But I said I'd post what I eat, so posting I am. :)

For the enchiladas, I sauteed zucchini, green beans and corn.

Then I tossed in about 50g (sorry I don't know how much that is--I just use the containers to measure) sour cream and a handful of chopped chives. I wrapped a scoop in a tortilla and topped with a sauce made of sour cream, lime juice and chives.

For the chicken, I marinated a chicken breast in lime juice, chopped jalapeno with seeds, cumin and chopped garlic. Then I George Forman-ed that sucka and topped it with salsa.

Snack: 30g Trail Mix

2009-06-19T15:58:00.002+01:00

Lunch: Leftovers

2009-06-19T15:26:00.005+01:00

Get excited!

Leftover baked eggplant and wild rice. Sugar-free jello after.

Cooking night tonight! Planning on making something nice for dinner. Stay tuned!

Snack: Yogurt

2009-06-19T13:10:00.001+01:00

Day 4: Food Blog Week!

2009-06-19T11:40:00.004+01:00

GOOD NEWS: Thanks to the photo challenge, I've stuck to my calorie goals every day since I started! And by keeping good on my food promises, I was motivated to exercise a lot more this week too. If I keep this up, I may actually tone up a little!

QUESTION! They say eating a good breakfast helps jumpstart your metabolism. Does it make me too predictable that I am now keeping "stock photos" of my breakfast foods? Should I be cooking myself a proper and varied breakfast in the morning? Thoughts?

Dinner: Chicken and Tomatoes

2009-06-18T20:54:00.004+01:00

So after yoga I grabbed my dinner stuff really quick. I did seared tomatoes topped with 1 oz brie and a breast of spicy grilled chicken. pppbbffftt, nasty I know but carb-free so the cals were low.

And I'm not one to forget dessert, but I kinda mailed it in tonight: Sugar-free jello. Cal-free BARF!

COFFEE

2009-06-18T16:08:00.002+01:00

Yep, it's one of those days. 2 cups required.

BONUS: Regina Spektor's new album is on preview on NPR AllSongs! AND IT IS GOOD.

NPR's "Far" Preview

Afternoon Snack: Berries

2009-06-18T14:10:00.002+01:00

I bought one of each yesterday and divided them in half. I saved one container in the fridge and had the other straight away. Good snack, only 88cals (I double checked this time) and since it's the end of berry season they were cheap, too.

Lunch: CALORIE-RICH Soup

2009-06-18T13:54:00.004+01:00

I am disgusted with myself right now.

But then, maybe I should share this. Maybe it's happened to someone else.

...........I misread the packaging on the soup. The soup isn't 175 cals for a carton. It's 350.

The SOUP! I've had to go back and change all my calorie totals for the last 3 days!

The SOUP!! How could I have been so naive?

The SOUP! THE SOUP! I'm eating it again for lunch today, cuz yesterday there was a 2 for 1 special.

What?

Snack: Yogurt

2009-06-18T12:51:00.002+01:00

GOD do I have to show you guys everything?!

Oh yeah, I do.....I made up the rules.

Okay well then in that case here's my yogurt.

Why fat-free Activia? If you really want to know, I eat Danone activia because I'm afraid of tooting in yoga. I've been in yoga for 3 weeks now and someone always toots at some point. And I don't want that to be me. And I hear Activia prevents such maladies. There. I said it. It's out. We might as well deal with it.

Food Blog Day 3

2009-06-18T12:33:00.004+01:00

Breakfast was the classic standby, coffee with skim milk and 60g Special K.

But the REAL news is this BBA Challenge I've been reading about this morning. BBA is the definitive breadbaking cookbook "Bread Baker's Apprentice", which outlines recipes on dozens of breads. There is an online community of hundreds of folks who love baking at home and are going to work through all the recipes in the book together. The blogs are amazing, the breads look fantastic and everyone looks like they're having a lot of fun. Check it out at the BBA Challenge Info Page.

Dinner: Baked Eggplant, Tomato Salad

2009-06-17T21:19:00.016+01:00

Tonight I didn't have much on the agenda so I treated myself to a cooking project. I thought I'd try and see if you can bread and bake eggplant. Turns out you can. And it's really creamy inside.

Anyway, I thought as long as I was taking pictures of my meal, I'd show you what a cooking project night is like in my place.

So first off I stopped by the market, which just brought in heirloom tomatoes recently and 3 colors of eggplant. I went with a stripey one and got some tomatoes for a tomato salad.

So first I made up a tomato salad. I tossed tomatoes with salt, olive oil and some basil from the basil plant.

Next I cut the eggplant and floured, egged and breadcrumbed each piece. I added some salt, pepper and garlic to the Italian breadcrumbs too.

I baked them at 375 for 25 mins. They were pretty crunchy outside and really creamy inside.

I had them with baked rice. Baked rice is easy: add 1 cup brown rice 2 cups water and 2 pats of butter, dash salt to a glass dish, cover tightly with foil and bake on 375 for 1 hr.

That's it! Not that fancy or anything but it tasted pretty good and the whole thing was only 300 cals. So I had 2 heaping teaspoons of Duncan Heins frosting for dessert, which is only 140 cals (good for a dessert!).

I put a pic of both the spoons. It seemed like cheating if I only put one picture. They were just. so. good.

That's it for the day! Talk to you on Day 3!

You're checking out my frosting.

To find out why, read here.

Lunch: Soup, Berries

2009-06-17T13:26:00.004+01:00

Tomato soup for the second lunch in a row--hey, at 157 cals for 300g you can't beat it! 2 rolls, blackberries and raspberries.

I have to come clean: lunch would usually involve some sort of chocolate instead of these winkydink berries, but I have to admit that when the cameras on me I'm behaving. Like the bottled water with the popcorn last night at the movies? Yeah that wasn't the norm.

Maybe we should all give the week of food blogging a try?

You're staring at my soup.

To find out why, read here.

Food Blog Week Day 2

2009-06-17T10:58:00.005+01:00

Breakfast on this cold and rainy Dublin day:

(if my Irish friends heard me say this out loud, they'd call me "Sooooo American!"): Starbucks triple grande nonfat iced latte. Momma needs her rocket fuel:

And meet the lead character in my breakfast routine: 30g Special K and skim milk. You'll be seeing his face a lot over the next week.

You're staring at my breakfast cereal.

To find out why, read here.

Dinner: Yikes.

2009-06-16T20:39:00.007+01:00

Dinner was a collection of things [shudder]:

Popcorn and water at the screening of Sunshine Cleaning (which was good btw!)

2 bites of leftover homemade lettuce wrap filling.

Leftover vinaigrette potato salad from Sunday dinner with Claire and Dianna.

And sugar-free, calorie-free raspberry Jell-o (imported from the US, thanks Elisa!) for dessert:

Come on, everyone has these nights, right? :) What an embarassing start to this week! You would think that since was my idea I'd at least start on a night I had something fancy and delicious and healthy planned to eat! And yet, here we are, one particularly fridgey tupperware container of potato salad later...

Cup of peppermint tea before bed and I am done with day 1! Hope you're eating better on your end! Have a great Tuesday.

...Snack Two: Cereal

2009-06-16T17:06:00.003+01:00

Ohh, I see. Here's where the experiment gets embarassing! So quickly, I'm impressed!

I just had a second bowl of Special K at 4pm. And I have to admit that in this post. I'm going to a movie screening right after work and I want to avoid the temptation to get a US-sized bucket o' popcorn.

There. Now I'll just get a teeeeeeny popcorn ;)

You're looking at my 4pm cereal.

To find out why, read on here.

Snack: Nuts and Tea

2009-06-16T15:26:00.007+01:00

Handful nuts and cranberies, fruit infusion tea.

You're staring at my snacktime nuts.

To find out why, scroll down or find out here.

Here's a pic out my window at my desk, since I have the camera on anyway. Nice day in Dublin!:

Lunch: Soup

2009-06-16T13:31:00.003+01:00

At my desk as you see. Tomato Soup, whole grain toast (x2), fat-free yogurt.

You're staring at my soup.

To find out why, read below or here.

PS: This project more than likely ought to be hosted on mlia.com, I get that. But who knows? Maybe someone can learn from my habits too?

"Elevenses": Special K

2009-06-16T12:05:00.001+01:00

You're staring at a bowl of my breakfast cereal.

Find out why below, or here.

Food Blog Week!

2009-06-16T09:35:00.005+01:00

Do you feel like you don't have a firm grip on all the food you consume? Do you use a calorie counter? Are you regularly surprised by your daily calorie total?

No? Just me? ;)

I've been watching my food intake and exercise fairly regularly for about 1 year now, yet I've failed to really lose the 10-15lbs I want and tone myself to a level I'm happy with. Whenever I spend a few days eating healthily and exercising regularly, I end up spending the burned calories on a couple needless splurges. I'm watching what I eat without really respecting the process.

And from what I gather this is a pretty common problem, especially with girls in my 20-30 age group. We seem to get out of college, into an office and sorta fill out. We get into relationships, into routines, into desk chairs and get complacent. Exercise gets a little harder, the sofa at the end of a long work day gets a little softer, and consequently so do our hips, our thighs, our tummies. Come mid-twenties you find yourself still eating and drinking like you're 19 but not really burning like ya used to. And you realize: It's time to start watching what you eat.

SO, I'm making an effort to break the habit. Over the next week I will be watching what I eat. There may be some chocolate in there, there might be the occasional movie popcorn or snacksize doritos, but I'll be tracking everything honestly in an effort to really examine what I eat.

And you can track it too. Because for the next week 16th - 23rd June I will be posting a photo of every lil thing I eat on silent45. It's overkill, I know it is, but it's a cleaver through my old habits. It's an overblown gesture that I hope will cause me to more closely consider food before I eat it, rather than after (in the form of bitter, bitter regret). And I'm hoping that by putting it up on the interwebs others might learn along with me.

So be sure to check in and follow along. I'll be posting throughout the day. I'm starting the first one riiiiight now:

Coffee and Special K 90cal bar for breakfast

Oh and bear witness to my Michigan pride right there. Thanks for the mug Kaitlyn!

Stay tuned!

The Prague Post

2009-06-08T14:31:00.005+01:00

Photos are finally up, and I encourage you to see all of them becuase Prague is a really lovely city and Dresden was very pretty too, and the slideshow I posted is kind of a solid introduction to the two cities. Come on, everyone's talking about Prague these days, go see what the fuss is about!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kerryanntomkie/Prague#

BASICALLY, the trip went like this:

From Prague

Got into the hotel, had a beer. Budweiser is a classic Czech beer--same name, different beer! Although, similar taste, and similar reputation, but that is coincidental and is a long fun-fact-filled story that only I would find interesting, so we'll leave it there!

From Prague

Walked up to Prague Castle, biggest castle in Europe (or one of, depending on who you're talking to). Saw the changing of the guards, walked around the castle, cathedral, Guild lane and dungeon (I'm one of those Romanesque lovers of medieveal-torturey things)

From Prague

Saw lots of other things, but that night had a nice traditional Czech dinner and ordered a "large" beer. You know, I saw that the menu said large was 1 litre, but I didn't really consider how much one litre is (thanks, British standard of measures). Turns out 1 litre of beer is too much, that's how much it is.

From Prague

The next day I took a train to Germany. I saw the Zwinger Palace, the Frauenkirche and the Großer Garten (if you visit the full slideshow, you can find out what those places are!) I also saw a lot of statue butt, but it was picturesque statue butt so I snapped some shots.

From Prague

That night I had a nice long walk around town. Prague is one of the prettiest night-lit cities I've seen.

From Prague

The last day I walked around Prague in the sunshine and visited the National Museum, which had a really cool Natural History section.

From Prague

I had a great time in Prague and Dresden. Again, check out the full album for more!

Sims Trois.

2009-06-05T09:31:00.002+01:00

My desktop at work.

Okay, so I might be a little over-excited. But we haven't gotten a new version of Sims since 2005!

Today's the day...God I'm glad this is going to be a cold, rainy weekend and I can hole up in front of my laptop guilt-free!

I Pragued.

2009-06-02T13:20:00.007+01:00

Back from Prague! Lots to show, lots to tell. The highlights are that I visited the famous Prague Castle and walked across the Charles Bridge, among other things. My hotel was gorgeous, tho it was nestled between 2 strip clubs, nestled like a bachelor's face in a pair of....well, anyway. Last highlight: I visited Dresden, much improved since the fall of communism in 1989, or so I hear. Everything's new and built up and lovely. And German. So, so German.

I haven't really edited my photos yet, but in the meantime I'll tell you the story of this cocky-ass Czech peacock who shook his moneymaker for this lady peacock in a park in Prague.

The Cocky Czech Peacock

Here's the peacock. He was pretty much minding his own business, enjoying the day.

Then this lady peacock showed up for a minute.

And outta nowhere, he goes all copa cabana.

Lady peacock ate a leaf while she watched and kind of made a dinner-and-a-show of it. But in the end she headed down to hang out with white peacock instead.

Fin.

Oh by the way...

2009-05-28T11:34:00.002+01:00

So, um...

I'm going to Prague tomorrow.

No biggie.

Juuuuust kidding. I am so excited! Three days in this beautiful city!

Followed by a possible day in Dresden, Germany (it's so close, thought I'd pop over and see what there is to see). How gorgeous does it look? I can't wait!

Day at Bray

2009-05-25T10:15:00.003+01:00

This weekend was Ireland's Good Weather Weekend 2009! Meaning it was the one weekend this year that we'll have sunny skies and 70 degrees. You think I'm joking...you haven't been here for 3 summers though, have you? :)

I was outside tons this weekend, including a trip to Bray on Sunday with my friend Claire and a few of her buddies from London. We hiked up to the top of Bray Head, a peak overlooking the Irish Sea just south of Dublin. From there you can take a trail about 10k to the village of Greystones in Co. Wicklow. The views were fantastic, the scenery was summery and lovely and the weather, again, was perfect. Here are some of the shots from the day!

From Bray Head

Claire's friend Vik shooting Bray Head. We will hike to that tiny cross on top.

From Bray Head

Claire (right) and her friend Sarah

From Bray Head

The trail to the top

From Bray Head

At the summit, looking at the trail to Greystones

From Bray Head

Walking in Dublin

2009-05-21T12:20:00.002+01:00

Lately I've traded in my running for the nicer pace of walking. The weather's been changeable in Dublin and while it's nice to take an umbrella out for a walk that may turn sunny, it's awful to jog out into a sunny street only to be rained on 10 minutes later. So walking it is!

I took pictures this week of the route that I walk in Dublin to give you an idea of where I live. As I said, it was misty/rainy, but it made for a nice green walk anyway.

I've posted the "green" half of my walk below. The second half is through the coture shopping area and city streets, which I'll post another time.

Enjoy!

From My Walk in Dublin

tree in Trinity College grounds

From My Walk in Dublin

Dorms, Trinity College

From My Walk in Dublin

Callaghan Hotel, Merrion Square

From My Walk in Dublin

Check it out! Come study in Dublin!

From My Walk in Dublin

Georgian district

From My Walk in Dublin

Merrion Square

From My Walk in Dublin

Outside St. Stephen's Green

From My Walk in Dublin

Stephen's Green gardener's lodgings

From My Walk in Dublin

Stephen's Green

Living History

2009-05-11T15:00:00.012+01:00

Most people probably already know that my sister Allie is a Civil War reenactor in her free time. She sews all her own clothing and likes to cook according to the times too. She's pretty good at it and I'm sure one day soon she'll be doing the costumes for Little Women-esque movies.

This weekend she was at the Avon Living History reenactment. I've been tweaking a few of her photos here, you can see it looked like a really fun, unique way to spend a weekend!

Cup of Tae

2009-04-30T11:43:00.002+01:00

So this is kind of interesting...

This weekend is the Cup of Tae Festival in Ardara, Co.

Donegal. You say it "Cup of Tay".

Cup of Tae is an Irish music festival or a fleadh ceol (pron. as "flaw kee-ol"). During a fleadh, a village is filled with Irish musicians--in the streets, in the pu

bs and everywhere in between. A fleadh is for drinking with friends, listening to good music, singing, dancing and generally enjoying about the Irish-est weekend you can imagine.

Naturally, I'm intrigued.

I've never been to a fleadh or the Cup of Tae, and there's a chance I may go up this weekend. Here are some photos of fleadhs and Cup of Tae Festival of years past, to give you an idea of what they're like.

Fleadh Thír Eoghain (Tyrone fleadh)

awwww! kids at Offaly Fleadh

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!!

You will never guess what I just found!

As I was searching the web for fleadh images, this website came up:

http://www.detroitima.org/

The Detroit Irish Music Association!

AND! AND!

They host the Midwest Fleadh! Can you believe that? How funny. IN TWO WEEKS! May 15th, Doubletree Dearborn (em, not really a sleepy Irish village, but I hear the craic is mighty in the Doubletree Dearborn, LOL).

http://www.midwestfleadh.com/current/fleadh/

Day 1: Milan

2009-04-24T13:20:00.004+01:00

I have a lot to post on! I'll be catching you up about me and Elisa's great trip around Ireland in the week to come, but for now, I've got a little Milan info for you.

SO Thursday I got into Milan to my hotel, which was OMFG fantastic. If you find yourself in Milan, be sure to stay at the Hotel Christoforo Colombo. The customer service is amazing. In the restaurant they remembered my coffee order every morning, and the concierge gavegreat advice on complicated things like how to get the train to Como. Also theirs is the best free city map any hotel has ever given me. A random but important fact.

My room had a bidet in it. Bidets happen. Especially in Italy. They have a little soap dish next to them. That is for butt soap. True story.

Friday I visited the city. I saw the Duomo, the 3rd largest cathedral in Europe.

From Milan and the Lakes

There's a carved wood statue of St. Bartholomew, who was flayed alive. It scared me a little.

From Milan and the Lakes

You can pay to take the stairs to the roof for good views of the city and cathedral.

From Milan and the Lakes

I also saw Via della Spiga, the high fashion street, as Milan is known as the fashion capital of Europe. The street was particularly beautiful that night when I revisited it (as was the Duomo, see below).

From Milan and the Lakes

In the heart of Milan you can walk through this huge shopping arcade called Galleria Vittorio Emanuale II, which is outstandingly gorgeous. I may or may not have taken 75 photos of it over the course of the weekend...

From Milan and the Lakes

I visited the Pinacotecca di Brera, the famouse Milanese art school that has trained all the greats through the centuries. I fell in love with Hayez's "Il Bacio", aka The Kiss:

From Milan and the Lakes

I saw lots of other things on Friday, but my favorite was La Scala, the famous opera house in the heart of Milan. It looks like a giant jewellery box inside. It was closed for Easter, but you could pay €5 to walk around in it and see the museum. I have never been so amazed just standing looking at an empty room before. The experience was unforgettable.

From Milan and the Lakes

The weather forecast was 50 and rain, but instead we got 74 and pure sun. I read in the park for awhile, walked around and did some shopping. I was outside for a total of 14 blissful hours. I haven't seen so much sun since last year in Michigan!

From Milan and the Lakes

That night, I went for dinner in the Galleria and met a nice Amurrican girl who was also visiting, and we grabbed some 'za and wine together. Then I walked around a little and saw things at night, including some nasty lookin fashion, lol!

From Milan and the Lakes

The next day I went to Lake Como....which, let's be crystal clear, deserves it's own post. We'll leave it there for now. ;)

From Milan and the Lakes

Have a great weekend--I'll be sending Elisa off (boooo!) and then doing some catch up at home and some reading in cafes since it's going to be a rainy Dublin weekend. Have a good one!

Milan and the Lakes for Easter

2009-04-06T15:41:00.003+01:00

I'm going to Milan on Thursday! I'll be there all Easter weekend, enjoying sunny 68 degree bliss. I've got so so many things planned. I actually cannot believe how exciting this trip is turning out to be. I'm doing what I can to turn a lemon of a lonely Easter weekend away from home into some nice, Italian limonada! :)

I'm visiting Lake Como and Lake Maggiore, seeing Bellagio and Isole Borromee:

In Milan I'm going to see the Duomo (3rd biggest church in the world--do my Catholic Grandmas proud on Easter!), GalleriaVittorio Emanuale II (aka the Milanese mall), La Scala (most famous opera house in Europe) and *hopefully* the Last Supper painting, though the ticket line is three MONTHS long.

And the best part is the spa hotel I'm staying in, the Hotel Cristoforio Colombo. Check out the spa, the restaurant and the bedrooms!

I hope everyone has a fantastic Easter. I'll be missing our family Easter dinner, Easter morning mass and the Pickering's famous Easter basket hunt! I hope everyone has a great vacation wherever you are!