Fun-doran

While BF was unpacking (and taking up all the good drawer space!), the girls and I headed up to Bundoran this past weekend for a girly weekend away. We rented what-turned-out-to -be a lovely apartment right by the beach and next to the Sea Session Festival. Even though I didn't know any of the musical acts, I didn't really care. We had the most fun weekend.

We spent it drinking, eating and enjoying the sun- seriously could not have asked for a better weekend. It was actually warm. Girls in bikini's on Irish beaches? That's unheard of!

Picnic on the beach


Bundoran Beaches


Walking through the village streets with our supplies


The girlies also surprised me with a cake-cutting, present-opening party. FUN!

Surprise!


Barvaria Tent


At the festival

June Baby!

Happy birthday to you sissy. (You almost stole my birthday. Good thing I made mom wait.) Miss you loads!

The Big 3-0!

It's the big day! Since I was away this weekend, I spent the first morning of my 30th year in my new house which is a present in and of itself.  AND... when I got home totally tired from weekend shenanigans, BF had cleaned and unpacked the whole house. (So well TRAINED!)

The girlies and I celebrated all weekend (and I'll post more about that later), and then BF and I are going to a Thai restaurant  in our new neighborhood.

It feels good to be old!

The KEYS!

We have the keys to our house!!!!! Even the key is adorable. Can't wait to move in late tomorrow night!

Closing

We have a kind of confirmed closing date!

The solicitor came back to us yesterday and said that we would most likely get the keys on Wednesday although it could be Thursday (What do we pay her for?!?). So I'm putting Thursday down as our official closing date. YEAH!

Although, it could not have come at a worse time. BF is in Paris today and tomorrow, and I'm in London on Thursday. I'll be back on Friday though but gone for the weekend so Friday is the only day we can actually move. I didn't want to take the day off to move, but I guess it will lessen the guilt when I'm off partying in the sun and surf over the weekend while BF sits at home amid cardboard boxes.

Street Performer Championship

After all the excitement of buying real furniture, BF and I decided to finally go out and enjoy the weekend sun. We headed over to Stephen's green for a picnic and an afternoon of people watching -seriously one of the best spots in town. When the sun comes out in Dublin, it is really one of the best cities to live in. EVERYONE comes out (and starts to turn bright red). The streets were packed with tourists and locals alike.

After finishing up our lunch, we moseyed over to Merrion Square which was hosting the Street Performance World Championship. I couldn't believe the crowd. We could barely make our way through to the park, but it was a great, festive atmosphere.

Some pics from the park

Funny signs

 My motto in life

Summer in Dublin

The cutest trash can I've ever seen

It was a 99 kind of day

ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

BF and I bought our new bedroom set today! After looking at a bunch of other sets and options, we decided to go with the first bedroom set we saw yesterday at Arnott's. We were lucky as they were having a major sale and so we bought the bed, mattress, two bedside tables, and two drawers (a tall one and a wide one).This is the first time either of us have invested in real (non-ikea) furniture. Woop! I can't wait to decorate!

BF testing out the mattress

Our bedroom set is from Willis and Gambier, a furniture brand started in the UK. I love the dark wood colour and the drawer knobs. Pictures are from the Willis and Gambier site.

One of our drawers.

  The bed and bedside table

Into the 'Burbs

Although we don't have a confirmed closing date yet, we know it's coming soon (hopefully this week!) so off we went to buy furniture for the house today. I've actually been quite concerned about getting stuff for our house because I've only been to the stores in the city and the selection is slim to none. I've done research online as well and nothing nice actually gets delivered to Dublin.

So based on the advice of a friend, we headed to the Blanchardstown Shopping Center

Um. aMAZING!!!!!!!!!!

It was like my favorite shopping mall back in America- with one main mall and several retail parks outside that had tons of great stores. There was a store called Home Store + More which is EXACTLY like Bed, Bath and Beyond. They even had a TWO story TK Maxx AND... an AUNTIE ANNE's....Imagine my excitement.

BF and I had two things on our shopping list which we considered essentially to start- a TV and a bed room set. (Sensible, right?). We actually saw a bedroom set that we loved at Arnott's downtown, but it was the first one I saw and so I didn't want to buy it right away which is why we headed to Blanchardstown. We did end up getting a (bigger then necessary) TV at Harvey Norman's.

BF and I have actually never gone clothes shopping together as that would probably cause some drama, but we're great home shopping partners. I didn't really care about the TV so didn't mind what he bought, and he wasn't really particular about the bed so I got to make that decision.

In the Harvey Norman's

It really exists!!!

Silly BF in the Lighting Store

Hetty and Henry- The Cutest Vacuum Cleaners Ever!

Rub-a Dub- Dub

 I was up early (4:30!) yesterday as I was headed to the airport for a one day trip to Bath ( See how I worked that into my title? The titles are getting ridiculous, non?) for work.

Although I was barely awake getting into the cab, this is the beautiful site along Sandymount Strand that greeted me.

So pretty!

Bath itself, eh... Because it was a client meeting, we didn't get to see the centre of Bath which is suppose to be gorgeous. It was an old Roman time and was popular as well during the Georgian period. It was nice to get a brief tour of the English countryside though, but it was even better that the meeting went well, and I was back home in Dublin before 6!

World Cup Mania

It's finally here! I'm so excited. Think of all the goals and sport montages coming up in the next month. The Dublin office is the EU headquarters so there are many, many nations working here (Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, etc). Because of this, there's a great spirit in the office today. To support its workers, the big G kicked it off in style.

We had a big celebration at lunch and the cafeteria was changed into a stadium. Instead of our normal food, we had food representative of the many countries involved - Nachos and Fajitas, Fish and Chips, Burger and Fries, Bratwurst and pretzels... you get the idea. It was really, really fun AND...there was a penalty shoot out competition in the cafeteria. I participated (yeah!), but didn't win (boo!).

The Food. YUMMY!

One hand supporting USA! One hand supporting the non-existent Irish team.

Action shot from the penalty shoot out

Cork Marathon Weekend

Aside from visiting BF's family last week, I was headed down to Cork for the Marathon relay with the girls as well. Before we started on our run, we had spa treatments first at the Imperial Hotel.Our hotel package included the treatments, 3 course dinners and breakfast, and we took full advantage of the relaxation before the marathon.

The Spa's Relaxation Room


I wasn't feeling well the night before the race, but I assumed it was just because I was nervous. (I hadn't been training that much. The furthest I had run was 6 miles the week before and my leg of the race was 10 miles). I woke up and my stomach was in knots. It didn't help when I looked out the window- POURING rain! EKKS! Off I went for our run. It was honestly the most TERRIBLE race I have ever run before in my life. TMI alert... there may have been some puking going on WHILE I was running! I did manage to run the whole thing and complete it. I have been wrecked all week from it, but at least it's over!

Relay change point- Probably the funniest facial expressions ever! 

Me and BF, our fearless supporter!

The Finish Line!

The Relay Team

Seriously country

This weekend, I headed down to BF's hometown of Kanturk. This was the first time we were seeing his fam since the engagement so there was a lot of celebration and excitement, but we did manage to go for a long walk into town .  Er... I kid you not when I say this place is country! To prove it, here are some photos I took:

My favorite part of the town? The MART, where you buy and sell cattle and sheep and pigs. CUTE!

There is a legitimate dairy farm in the town.

Finally, the very famous Irish potatoes (seen just outside a cute little restaurant)

Irish LifeBoats

Once a year, the factory gives me a day off to volunteer in the community. This past Friday, I volunteered with the Royal National Lifeboat Institute. Similar to the Coast Guard, the mission of this organisation is to help those in trouble on the seas. They run solely on donations and fund raising.

My job on Friday was to help them set up their stand for the Maritime festival, and it was so fun! The weather was glorious and my job was to place price tags on every single product they were selling at their stand. Filled with nautical teddy bears and shark erasers, it was like Christmas for me as I opened each new box to place price tags on each item.

The Lifeboat Stand


Trying on the Lifeboat kid's uniform


After spending the morning and afternoon with the pricing gun, we were able to walk around the Martime festival to soak up the atmosphere. I LOVE street food and luckily I was volunteering with two other gals that did as well. We walked around the festival sharing the delicious foods before heading back to work. Next time you see a lifeboat volunteer, don't forget to donate to this worthy cause!

Forever 21

Happy June! I can't believe it's June 1st already- only 27 more days until the big 3-0 for me. Regardless of my actual age, I kind of pretend I'm really only 21. I still get carded here so it's ok, right? Riiiiiiight...

But the big news of the day... Forever 21, a fab US store for cheap and trendy pieces, is opening up in Dublin!!!!!

When I use to go out in Boston, I would wear jeans and a cool, trendy top with heels, but the Irish girls work it over here. Since moving I've had to adjust my going out style to incorporate sky high trendy heels and hip dresses. It's been actually really fun to dress up so I'm excited because Forever 21 has cheap pieces that will work perfectly for Dublin. I wonder though if the prices will be as cheap as in the US. Doubtful.