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Wow, I can’t believe we’re at the dawn of our first wedding anniversary! Yes, this Saturday, November 7, we will be celebrating one full year of wedded bliss.
Even when times are tight, I believe you have to live each day to the fullest, especially the important days… so we’re taking 3 day vacation in Dublin, leaving tomorrow and coming back on Sunday. I can’t wait! It will probably be our last little getaway as just the two of us and it may be the only time I get to Dublin this holiday season.
Here are some of the things we have planned!
- The Four Seasons by Candlelight - concert at The National Concert Hall
- The CHQ building for shopping at Meadows & Byrne and a meal at Toss’d.
- The Irish Museum of Modern Art
- Dundrum Town Centre – shopping at Hamleys Toy Store and a night at the movies!
- Kilmainham Gaol – historic jail used from 1700s to recently
- Two-night Bed and Breakfast stay at the Paramount Hotel in Temple Bar
- Browsing the wonderful foods of Fallon & Byrne
Of course, we plan to do a lot of relaxing as well and maybe a spot of Christmas shopping… but all in all, it should be a great couple of days away. Look out for pictures in an upcoming post!
I have a few minutes before one of my favorite shows, BBC’s “Masterchef,” starts, so I thought I’d plug in a quick blog. (Incidentally, the other shows I really get into over here are “The Supersizers” and “Cash In the Attic.”)
So far it’s been a glorious summer in Ireland (as you can see from lazy Georgie above!). After two summers of straight rain, everyone was pulling out all the stops in prayers to their favorite Saints so we could get some real sunshine, and it must have worked! In a recession summer, no one can refuse free sunshine!
However, there’s a funny thing you have to understand about the Irish: they’re superstitious about jinxing things. (In fact, I’ve probably just jinxed everything…) You won’t hear them saying much about this summer being gorgeous – they’re afraid it might go away! Instead, quite humorously, they complain. If I had a euro for every time I hear someone fan themselves and sigh, “It’s very warm, isn’t it?” or a dollar for every instance I’ve watched someone flop into a chair and declare “it’s roasting!”… I would be a millionaire, at least in one country. As for me, I’m finding it pleasantly warm (60 – 75 degrees F does not “roast” me, especially after eight years in Indiana…) and I grab all the rays of sun I can with gratefulness. Jinxed or not!
One of the nicer places to enjoy the weather is at work – yes, at work. The doctor’s office where I am a receptionist is in a tall old brick house on Fair Street – one of many interconnected houses of similar size and composition, most of which have been converted to commercial properties. The coolest part about the building, though, aside from the three flights of steep stairs patients have to climb (try that in America! Ha!), is that there is a secret garden out the back! See, the building, and subsequently all the neighboring buildings, were once stately family homes with walled-in Victorian gardens. Ever seen PBS’s show “1900 House?” Our garden is like that. It is completely private, with high ivy-draped walls, trees, climbing roses, and shrubs. The practice manager has actually been working the garden part of the plot and has all manner of vegetables and flowers growing. On nice days, the staff will take our lunch out to the picnic table and just soak up the air.
We are probably the only business on the street to take advantage of our space, though. It’s slightly sad, slightly romantic, to look over the walls into the other gardens, long neglected and overgrown, and imagine what they did look like, and perhaps what they could look like again. It’s no surprise that the history buff in me longs to see pictures or read accounts of what life was like 100 years ago on this street, and what little worlds were contained in each corresponding garden.
In the meantime… I’ll just have to be content with what my mind can make up!
I think if I ever get a second degree and the coolest job ever… I’m going to become a food historian. If anyone wants to sponsor me on that endeavor … I promise, I’ll thank you in the forthcoming book. *wink*
I am pouting because I just remembered the Oscars do not show live in Ireland or online, so I will have to wait until tomorrow night to watch the taped, edited version of the show. They show the US Superbowl live here but the world’s most watched awards program? Noooo….
So, in lieu of an Oscars post, which would have focused on my former expertise of film, I’ve decided to have my own awards show featuring my new area of expertise … chocolate Easter eggs!!! Welcome to the Eggsters, my friends.
And the nominees are:
“MILK-chocolate Cadbury Creme Egg”
The classic we’re all used to – you either love ‘em or hate ‘em. This was as predictable a nomination as anything that bears the name Sean Penn, Ron Howard, Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg… you get the idea. That sticky sweet milk chocolate shell covering a creamy white and yellow goo made to resemble real egg yolks. Incidentally, these bad boys are scoring low in recent ratings compared to other brands of chocolate eggs… but will the Big Name win when the night is over? Will the “underdog” (that’s not really an underdog) again surface and save the day? Me? I never get tired of these… but I don’t know if they deserve the 2009 Best Eggster.
“The Curious Case of the Kindersurprise”
Let’s face it, you’re either investing in chocolate eggs for the chocolate or the novelty. While I enjoy the novelty (last time I got a pirate monkey and some stickers), the kid-aimed hollow milk and white chocolate shell on these is completely unmemorable. Still… the 2009 toys have greatly improved to the 2008 toys as my 5 year-old nephew can attest (“But Aunt Ya-Ya, what is it?” he asked last April when we opened one and were dumbfounded by some random pieces of plastic that were supposed to be a toy).
Chocolate for a middle-class audience… those of us who snub our noses at Mr. Hershey or Ms. Cadbury, but are not willing to fork out the money for Godiva on up. Yet, these chocolate truffle eggs are irresistibly good, particularly the dark chocolate ones, albeit non-traditional in their half-egg shape. (I like my egg to look and feel like an egg, darn it!) But are they good enough? Will you be thinking about these all year until next Easter? Or will you be just as happy eating their cheery cousins, The Dove Promises? Note: I can’t get Dove chocolate here, so if anyone can do me a favor and Fed-Ex some out here, this competition will be a lot more fair… thanks…
“Mark/Spencer (and their creme egg)”
These babies are so new that I can’t even find a picture of them (though if you click on the link above, you can see some of their other Easter treats this year). Made from Belgian milk chocolate (probably fair trade, as is custom with most M&S stuff) and filled with a fluffy vanilla fondant that borders between Cadbury’s filling and a marshmallow, I’m not sure what to make of this year’s indie nominee. Part of me feels like an alcoholic who just wants to go back to the cheap comfort of Pabst Blue Ribbon (i.e. Cadbury’s Eggs)… but the sweet crunch of Belgian chocolate is indeed very good and makes me curious enough to try another. And truly, if we’re talking about cost here, these are only 20 cents or so more than a typical Cadbury Egg.
The first thing you’ll notice about a Lindt Lindor Truffle Egg is that it’s probably a third the size of any of these other eggs. It almost takes it out of the running, as this is a competition for features, not shorts. Almost. But we figured that while size may be seen as a downside, you have to go to the heart of the matter – what does the egg taste like? How does that silky smooth chocolate make you feel when you indulge? Does it cause you to forget the outside world and want to be a better person? Or does it simply dissolve unnoticed in your mouth, causing you to look for something else to fill the proverbial hole? Even worse, is it offensive? We’ll let the judges decide….
Since I have to wait for the Oscar outcomes, you shall have to wait for the Eggsters… until then, fill in your ballots, charge your camera battery and get your tuxedo dry-cleaned because it’s going to be a big night for some lucky egg!
“And the Eggster goes to…”
Well, folks, here are the promised pictures. I’d love to tell you stories and details about each one, but as I’ve got more important things to do… hehehe… I’ll just give you a few of my favorite recollections from the trip.
Story 1: Since we were doing “Paris on a budget,” I found a well-recommended reasonably priced hotel online. Well… the “up-and-coming neighborhood” has still yet to get up and while the hotel staff were kind and the place clean, our room was a little wonky, to put it in Irish terms. Haha. The room itself was stuffed into a corner of a corridor (sort of like a Harry Potter moment) and once inside, the walls and ceiling were going all different angles! The bathroom smelled like rotten eggs and was sporadic with its hot water supply and we were only allowed one pillow each. We had a nice flatscreen TV, though, with about six channels – three in French, two in English (BBC and CNN) and MTV in German!!!
Story 2: On Friday, we went to the lovely little village of Montmartre. The cobbled streets and art galleries were everywhere, along with tacky gift shops (my weakness) and, on the nicer streets, cheese shops, chocolate shops, gourmet wine and spice shops, bakeries, toy stores, and cafes! We had lunch at Les Deux Moulins which, as fans of the film “Amelie” remember, was the cafe where Audrey Tatou worked. The strangest thing, though – I ordered what turned out to be a toasted cheese sandwich and the cheese was so strong that my lips and mouth began to tingle and itch like crazy! I thought it was just me, but Frank felt it, too, when he had some of the sandwich! Nice flavours, but a most unpleasant sensation! Oh well… it was a fun and romantic lunch anyhow!
Story 3: On our way up the hill to the Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, we (I) were stopped by a gang of African men making bracelets. No matter how many times I said, “Non!” and tried to dodge them, I got caught in their web and before I knew it, one of them was tying a “good luck” bracelet on my arm and telling me “don’t be afraid!” Of course, it was all a scam to get money (“Please lady, this is only 5 euros”), and in Frank’s attempt to rescue me, he got caught in the scam as well, though his bracelet seller charged him 10 euros. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was so infuriated (and embarrassed when Frank chided me). But what can you do in a situation like that? Walk away and not pay? Get stabbed on your Honeymoon in Paris??? Sheesh.
Story 4: My favorite meal was at this amazing Patisserie in a chic part of town, just down the street from the Louvre. Ironically, we followed some Americans in and, finding the price for lunch to be affordable, went in. The place was called Angelina, and it was gorgeous! From the lush decor and sunny windows to the fastidious waiters to the incredible desserts, it was a real highlight for me. Frank had a sandwich and I had an omelette with a green salad, and then – THEN! we dug into mind-blowing desserts. He had their calling card pastry, The Mont Blanc, which was a meringue filled with cream and topped with noodles of chocolate fondant. I don’t remember what mine was called, but it was a little lime cheesecake with strawberry cream, a white chocolate shell, and a strawberry, strawberry marshmallow dots and edible gold leaf on top! We also split a cup of their hot chocolate, which is basically melted chocolate in a cup with cream! (Anyone remember Starbucks’ Chantico? This is way better!)
Story 5: This one is a little funny and a little embarrassing! On our last morning in Paris, we caught the metro down to the islands so we could see Notre Dame Cathedral and the St-Germain des Pres area. However, we got off a stop too soon in the area of Les Halles (in the middle of an amazing shopping centre, I might add, that I did not have time to peruse!!!!). After walking around for a few minutes, I declared that we were looking at Notre Dame right in front of us. Frank disagreed. “The front doesn’t look right,” he said. I insisted I was right. “Look at the flying buttresses!” I said. “This is a gothic cathedral!” I said. “Why don’t you ever let me be right?” I said. Still, he disagreed. I got huffy. He told me if I was going to act like that, then I could just sit there by myself. So, together we went into the church which, as it turns out, was NOT NOTRE DAME. It was instead, the lovely and less-touristy Cathedral of Saint-Eustache (which did resemble Notre Dame, at least give me that much!). It was in the middle of being carefully restored and cleaned, but we both agreed, even after seeing the real Notre Dame Cathedral, that Saint-Eustache was even more impressive and beautiful. So my mistake was not all bad!!!
So now we are back to real life, and happily so. We enjoyed Paris and would love to go back… but it is nice to return to English speakers and frequent cups of tea!
For anyone interested, the Anderson University alumni magazine, Signatures, just published my most recent article!
Here is the link, if you’re interested:
http://www.anderson.edu/signatures/winter09/article.htmlMore to come soon… we just got back from Paris tonight and I can’t wait to tell you all about it…
People who know me best know that I like to… take my time.
I guess I inherited a certain blind sense of meandering from my father, and his father before him. I like to stop and smell the roses. I like to hear the entirety of a song before I turn off the stereo. I often find myself running late to wherever I need to be, charging out the door with my makeup in my purse and my jacket unbuttoned. I like to carry on a conversation when I eat or read a book while I sip my afternoon tea. It goes without saying, then, that I usually find myself drinking a cup of cold coffee at work or picking up a glass of warm beer at the pub.
This understandably drives some people nuts.
Yet, it’s equally strange and exasperating to me that I can’t slow the tick of time. I can’t stop my nephew and niece from growing up, I can’t make a great bottle of wine never be empty, I can’t extend a sunset, I can’t will hearts to beat that have reached their day to stop. Frank tends to live in the moment, while I am always cursing that I don’t have more time. That must be why we’re good for each other.
So here we are, less than three months from our wedding. There is so much to do, but still we must work and sleep and fill our time with all the not-so-fun necessities of life. I know the day will arrive before I realize it and be over before I can slow it. That’s how these things go. Standing off with that reality reminds me that I should enjoy the planning as much as the event, and not worry too much if it’s not perfect. As all brides who have gone before me will attest, even when you think you’re wedding is going to be “simple,” it takes on a life of its own and will carry you off with the tide if you’re not careful!
My parents and sister have booked flights to be here, and my friend who will stand up with me is working on her travel arrangements. My little brother and his fiancee will be here, too – I have not seen him in over three years while he’s been back and forth from Iraq and I have never met her. The family has booked a lovely little cottage outside the town, and I’m getting excited to fill it with special groceries, go pick them up at the airport and bring them back to what has become “my” Ireland. I’m likewise looking forward to finding out what other friends and family will be able to come from our small list of invitees and I can’t wait to see Bellingham Castle all dressed up for our day of celebration. I know – I KNOW – I can’t be late, can’t dawdle, can’t draw out this once-in-a-lifetime day. So I better enjoy the moments from now until then, each one in and of itself. But tell me, how on earth am I to begin?
Drat, my coffee has gone cold.
Hi friends,
Just wanted to let you know I will be writing more soon, and I definitely want to post pictures of our recent trip home to Montana! We made it back to Ireland after our grueling flights and we’re both back at work now, so it may be a few days before the full update. But we’re here! Keep reading!
And oh yeah – You won’t believe the size of Georgie!!! (we think she might be part German Shepherd!)
