Thank Goodness for Guinness

Me, after our free pint :)

The day after our night out in Dublin we visited the Guinness Storehouse! The exhibit is really well designed...

Water

Barley

(Yeast rounds out the list of ingredients in Guinness)

Sara got this lovely shot of the wall

The remains of my free pint.  

When we got up to The Gravity Bar, one of my new favorite songs was playing, "Coming up Easy" by Paolo Nutini. Bliss...

View from The Gravity Bar

On our way to the Storehouse, we passed the oldest pub in Dublin, The Brazen Head, est. 1198!  So on the way back we stopped in for some dinner and a pint.  Sara ingeniously used the photo she had taken to see if they served food (zooming in on her camera to read the signs out front) as we made our way from a quick rest in Phoenix Park. She should be a detective!

I had Irish stew and we chatted with a hilarious Scottish man and his family at the next table.  We were talking and laughing with them so much the hostess combined our bills because she thought we were together!

Good times.

XO

*Thank You to Sara for the use of a few photos (Hops, Brazen Head, "Poetry in a Pint," and ME!)

Saturday Night Out in Dublin

 Scotland/Ireland Scarf

Scotland was in town for rugby and had just won the game when we left our hotel for The Abbey Theatre.  So we joined the flood of joyous, kilted men along O'Connell street. Us on our way to the concert, them to the Temple Bar area for celebrations.

We joined in later.  I do recall making eye contact with a handsome Scottish man at McDonalds earlier in the evening (I was afraid we'd be late for the concert, so I asked that we unhealthily eat some quick fries there). I had an idea that it would be hilarious to travel to different countries and only eat at McDonalds...or Burger King...and then blog about it. But I digress.

In high spirits after The Waterboys show, we made our way to the Temple Bar area and found a bar where the whole crowd was singing along to "We are the Champions." Scotland was in the house. The jukebox then segued into "Eye of the Tiger!" Excellent.  After a Guinness, my fringe dress decided to make advances when it snagged on a very attractive man's pants.  I'm still not sure what it caught on but no matter! I was forced to reach over and stop him, lest he rip my dress.  He seemed rather confused, but not unhappy, as I reeled him in to unhook myself. He responded (in a lovely Scottish voice) "I thought you were grabbing onto me!"  :)  Hee Hee. Maybe my dress had the right idea!

After singing along to some truly awesome 1980s power ballads...we were off to another bar. There we met three Irish fellows...and one of them spilled my Guinness. Shame! But he bought me another and we spent time talking with his two friends. I don't think I've laughed that hard in a long time.  My favorite moment was when I was offered 50 Euros to knock the beer-spiller out cold. I laughingly said, "But I have no upper body Strength!" and the response was, "But you have a bar stool and the element of surprise!"  Priceless.

The evening ended on an anti-climactic note when the beer-spiller got kicked out of another bar...but we had all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

"All the single ladies, put your hands up!!!"

 The blurriness in no way reflects Sara's state...or mine :)

Long Weekend in Ireland

Behind the "Delta" Sign

I am posting this, the first of my Ireland blogs, on a creative dreams update day because it goes along with this week's assignment quite nicely.

Last week's was to figure out what our dreams were in need of...and mine were to get the heck out of Dodge...so THANK GOODNESS I had my Ireland weekend planned.  Amazingly good timing.

This week we are charged with taking a look at our commitments and asked the following questions:

• are you committed to living your dreams?
• can you see a way of becoming even more committed to living your dreams?
• do you have any commitments that are draining you? 

I'm delighted to say yes to the first and as for the second...I feel I'm doing all I can right now. Third...well there are a lot of things draining me, but I've been shifting things around in my life to simplify and re-establish my priorities. 

The most important thing I've discovered is that I'm fully committed to myself. The Dublin trip helped to refresh my goals and remind me why I love going out to that part of the world so much. I love that everything seems so much closer, after our quick visit. The Guinness tasted so much better at the source!

I gratefully left on Thursday, March 18th to go to Dublin for a Waterboys concert and a weekend away from it all. I spent a wonderfully quiet day packing, doing yoga and thinking about the journey ahead.  It still didn't seem real! Everything felt very right though.  Early in the day my friend and fellow concert-goer, Christina, sent a message that Scotland was going to be playing Ireland in rugby that weekend. Dublin would be full of men in kilts.  What better sign could I have asked for?  :D

To add to the adventure, I took the bus out to the airport!  Normally I get a car but I wanted to save money and take the bus. The stop is literally around the corner from my apartment so it seemed right.

I ended up getting on the wrong bus.

But my inner voice kept saying, "All is well..." and the correct bus was right behind.

Result?  I got to the airport an hour earlier than I had to. No worries...time was good because I had to walk from the bus stop to the correct terminal. I felt very accomplished in the end.  Walking up to the Delta terminal was like approaching a scene from The Jetsons :) and when I walked inside it was total chaos;  people milling about like lost cattle.  I managed to check myself in and drop my bags...totally calm despite the confusion and a madman yelling and screaming over something. Ah, New York...

After I made it through the security check point, I found a little market cafe that sold gourmet sandwiches and beer! So I settled in with some yummy roast beef and a blackberry Sam Adams. All the while texting with my travelling companion, Sara, who was in line behind Jim Gaffigan!  All good signs.

I had been slightly worried about delays since JFK had closed it's main runway for renovations a few weeks before...but after a tipsy call to my Mom (thanks Sam Adams!) our flight boarded on time and we were 3rd on the runway for take-off under a beautiful "Cheshire Cat" Grinning Moon!

It felt like we were there in no time!  I had barely slept but got a short little revitalizing nap on the runway in Dublin.  Our flight got in an hour early and there was no available gate...so I put on my chakra cleansing meditation and we were moving the second it ended.

We took a taxi to our hotel and discovered that check-in wasn't until 3:00!  So we deliriously left our bags and headed into town for breakfast before having a surreal walk around (which included a marching band dressed as Leprechauns playing "Eye of the Tiger").

Full Irish Breakfast

Dublin Castle

A Gorgeous Iron Gate

I Was Obsessed With this Iron-Work

The Chester Beatty Library

Temple Bar Area

We managed quite well and then took a little disco nap before dinner and a Guinness (or two...)

In the end we stopped at a bar called "The Purty Kitchen" where there was a band playing covers and mash-ups.  They caught my attention with The Waterboys' "Fisherman's Blues"  (appropriate) and then made us smile when combining "I'm Yours" and "Paparazzi" acoustically.  Genius.

This trip was full of balance and quiet reassurance that I'm making the right choices and that I am committed to change.

XO

Good Friday

I finally made it down to the Union Square Farmer's Market on Friday...and bought my Rosemary plant! I also bought a little, but hearty, Lemon Balm plant...bliss.

I met up with my friend Krissy during this errand and we had a lovely lunch, Al Fresco, at The Coffee Shop. This happens to be the restaurant/bar where my Sister and her Husband met about 17 years and two beautiful sons ago. :)

I enjoyed beef and chipotle tamales, and a black cherry mojito. Sigh.



You can see my lovely new friend, Rosie, peaking out from the side there...LOL


Later, that same day...

I purchased a plane ticket for Scotland! Yes. It's officially official...I'm returning in October...

Then, after work, I went to St. Andrew's for an impromptu celebratory Beer...and Pizza, Scotch Eggs, Mini Butterscotch Ice Cream Sandwiches (on shortbread!), Cajun Fries....and then more Beer...with my friend, Sara.



It turned into one of those magical friend nights that starts out as a quick lark...and then before you know it you've been laughing and swapping ideas, laughs...and alcohol induced personal stories for hours. I got home at around 2:30am.

I love nights like that...

The Blurriness of the above photo is in direct correlation to how I was seeing at the moment...LOL... YAY WEE HEAVY! (Bellhaven, "Wee Heavy" Ale).

XO

Re-Connecting With The Earth

I had very high hopes of coming into the city early today and visiting the Union Square Farmer's Market so I could buy a Rosemary plant, but that was not to be (I overslept). No touch of nature today, other than my walk through the neighborhood to get to the subway. Tomorrow is another day, or rather Friday (which is the next time the Farmer's market will be on).

This past Easter weekend, however, I returned to my hometown in CT and took the opportunity to spend some time in nature.

Flowers were poking their way through the soil, birds chirping...it was lovely.


Good Friday, I sat in the living room and knit with a beautiful view of the woods (it was a bit too chilly and wet to go outside).

*Scottish Rowan Tweed*

Sunday we had an egg hunt for my nephews. They ran around the yard in search of the colorful, treasure-filled eggs, practically knocking each other down in their excitement :)



Monday, I spread out a blanket and bundled up a bit...took my book outside and lay down to read. I dosed a bit while the Spring air caressed my face and the birds sang...all the while the earth's heart beating in time with my own.




It was marvelous.
X

Lunch with the Ladies...and Gentlemen...

I just got back from a wonderful day out with my friends Krissy and Sara. We went to the Highline Ballroom to see a wonderfully quirky group called "Conspiracy of Beards." They are a 30 Man a cappella choir that sings Leonard Cohen songs. There was a huge Bromance happening on that stage and I loved it! I've had "Chelsea Hotel" stuck in my head all day.

It was a wonderful afternoon. I got supremely silly while drinking a wee glass of Guinness (Sara and I declared that we aren't going to use the word "small" anymore). I was completely obsessed with the fact that my glass was, in reality, plastic and shorter than the Guinness can. It just seemed wrong. In fact, all the glasses were plastic except for the martini style...why do you suppose that is? And why am even wondering? No, I'm not drunk right now...just cheerfully spent after a wonderful day out with the girls.


I ate mini kobe burgers with potato straws and the house ketchup...delicious!


Everyone should have a silly day out now and then...and Spring is the perfect time to indulge a bit. There were new buds on the trees and lots of cute little dogs being walked...then we went clothes shopping. Spring has sprung.


XOXO

P.S. Krissy has blogged about the Beards...Here.