Ireland: Galway & Cliffs of Moher

So I think I've made you wait long enough for the post on Galway.
 Only about two and half hours  from Virginia, Galway is a fun vacation stop. Having such a large Irish family and spending my elementary school years singing lots of St. Patty's Day songs, Galway Bay was a must.  The center of town has streets full of various shops, the tourist traps (which is great for gifts ;) ) , lots of Celtic Jewelry shops and several Wool shops. Galway is along the bay ( hence the name Galway Bay ;) . Anywho it's quite a pretty area.

Fabulous coconut mango dessert!

 We stayed at the Galway Bay Hotel in Salthill, Galway, which was a bit hard to find but is really quite fancy and not a bad price. The restuarant there had very tasty food and a nice atmosphere.







Next to this hotel is a beautiful promenade that lines the shore. Great for a night time stroll.

Galway Bay

View from the Promanade

We had a very short stay in Galway and from there drove to the infamous Cliff of Moher. 

The cliffs were breath taking. Whenever you see rocky cliffs in movies and it looks too good to be true, well that's the Cliffs of Moher. The water was so blue, grass so green and just these giant cliffs.

I wish we had, had more time in Ireland. there is so much of it we didn't see. And I feel as though we didn't really get into the heart of Ireland. I've heard Northern Ireland is quite different and I've heard there are so many fabulous in the Southern part of the country. So hopefully one day we will make it back. But all in all I thought it was a lovely trip ;)

Ireland, Virginia

And I'm back! So we left off heading to Virginia, Ireland. We were fortunate enough to have a free two night stay at the  Park Hotel Virginia through our friend Matt, who did a summer culinary internship through Baltimore International College at the Park Hotel. The hotel it self was beautiful. A very peaceful place,

                                       

  We had a huge suite with a great view! 

Awesome view from room :)

Our comfy bed!

Separate sitting room! How cool is that?

The hotel has a pretty golf course and just beyond that a beautiful lake, with a resident swan. :)

Cool old dock house.

The hotel was wonderful and the food was delicious but that's pretty much all  there is in Virginia. It was a great relaxing stay and after two night we were ready for Galway :)

Ireland, Dublin Part 2!

While at the cathedral I stumbled upon an very, very old copy of Handel's Messiah from 1798. Having been a music geek all my life and having sung this in many a concert I was a bit excited :)

After my cousin's fabulous concert we had a bit of time to kill before meeting our friends Colleen and Erin, who just happen to all be in Dublin :).  As we walked through the streets of Dublin what do we stumble upon?.... The Leprechaun Museum! !!!!!!!! Okay so it sounds cool but overall I would give it a 5 out of 10 rating. The coolest part was the furniture room in which they had oversized furniture, to give you the feeling that you were a leprechaun.  

 Giant table!

We also very much enjoyed the picture place at the end of the tour haha.

From there, we met up with our Massachusetts friends ( Erin and Colleen) at The Auld Dubliner. It had such a great atmosphere. And fun live music. If the video had come out better I would share. But for now just imagine that guy with the Irish brogue strumming his guitar and his buddy playing the drums, singing Galway girl and you get the idea ;).
The crazy thing about Ireland at this time of year is how late it stays light. We had dinner reservation @ 9 and it was still very light out, so it only felt like it was 7. We had dinner at this fun place called Mongolian BBQ . We all loved it! Very much like Fire + Ice back in the States. You build your own plate of raw veggies and meat, then add whatever spices and sauce you want on it. Hand it to the chef and they grill it right in front of you. Soooo tasty!
While we were there, there happen to also be a a Rugby team from France, joining in on the feast. Most of them spoke very little English but decided that us American's must how to work this whole Mongolian BBQ thing. So a couple asked us what we put into our concoctions and we pointed to what we used. While others felt we needed their input and decided to start throwing random food into our bowls. In the end it all came out delicious.
Realizing we had about an hour and a half drive to our hotel and it was almost 11, Jon and I thought it best to head to the car. We said our goodbyes and heading toward the garage.
Funny thing was.....we couldn't remember where we parked the car! We are always so good about remembering landmarks and such but this time I think we were so hungry for breakfast that we totally forget to look when leaving. While wandering up and down the streets (30 minutes later) a large group of people come screaming and shouting out of a pub into the street and then this happened:

After listening for about 15 minutes, we sadly had to continue our search for the car. Finally after about 45 minutes we found our car!! We hopped in and heading to Virginia!

Ireland, Dublin Part 1

I've decided the best way to write about Ireland is to break it up. It being my "homeland" I feel the need to say many a thing about how awesome it is :)
*Before I start I wanted to share two thoughts if you are considering going to Ireland. One, you will need more than 4 days. I felt like we had just barely scratched the surfice. And two, Drive! Especially if you have a GPS. We decided not to take toll roads and saw so many beautiful little Irish towns.*

So we begin out Journey with Ryanair. Ryanair is great because it gives you the chance to fly to so0o many places for a small amount of money. Jon and I were about to get roundtrip tickets to Ireland for under 80 pounds total ( that's about $120) And at times they offer even cheaper flights.
What is the catch you ask?.. Well Ryanair charges quite a bit for a checked bag so just having a carryon is your best option. The catch with the carryon, Ryanair requires that your carryon be smaller then what most other airlines require See here . If it's too big they immediately make you check it.. and that it at least 50 pounds or $75. The other way they get you is with your boarding pass.  They will charge you to print it at the airport, so make sure to print it ahead of time!

So now that you know a little bit about Ryanair I will continue with  our story. We decided to take the early flight so that we would have some time in Dublin. Left the house around 5am, got the the airport just in time. Got in the boarding line only to find out I couldn't take my purse with me. Apparently their one bag limit included purses. So we then empty my huge purse into our two bags and were on our way!
We arrived in Dublin before nine which was great because that meant breakfast! We parked the car in a garage and went in search of food because we were starving! we found a cute place called Bewley's and it was pretty tasty.  One of the things I love about being over here is the street performers. They are almost always crazy talented artists who do it to share their love for art not to make money. And it just so happened that right outside of Bewleys was a very talented violinist :) .
So we enjoyed his music while we ate :).
After lunch is was time to find St. Patrick's Cathedral . Why you ask? Well my super talented cousin Erin and the fabulous Rhode Island College Chamber Choir were performing there! So as much as I wanted to go to Ireland, Erin was one of the main reasons we went when we did.

  

RIC did such a wonderful job. Here is a little snippet of my cousin performing in a quartet with the group :) she's the one all the way to the left.

Oh heck one more

What can I say? i have a very talented family and I like to brag about it :)  Great Job RIC.

Next up; Part 2- Leprechaun Museum ( I kid you not), delicious dinner and French Rugby men, lost car, and brass band flash mob ! 

The "Great" Malton Food Festival

So the Malton Food Festival was...not bad haha. Unfortunately it was far colder then we had planned, so I was freezing and that I think put a slight damper on things. There were many venders with treats but most of them has so many people around them you couldn't really get close enough to taste.  And if I am going to a food festival, I want to eat. They did have a few guest speakers and chefs but overall I think the best part of the day was lunch.... even if we did have to wait in line for 30 minutes to get it . 

 Hog roast with stuffing and applesauce. Yummy!!

 On the drive home we passed several fields growing rapeseed. It's just fields and fields of yellow. So pretty!

Jon enjoying lunch ;)
















All in all we had a nice time and saw what all it was about but I don't think we will be going back.

TABLE remodel!!!

Wow three entries in one day. Calli would be proud ;)
So we have been on the search for affordable practical outdoor furniture and have not had much success. So I decided I would makeover the table we put outside. Easy enough right?.... yeah not so much haha
So this table was one given to us about two years ago. It was a used kitchen table in decent condition. Well last year said table got put outside on our patio. Doesn't seem like a horribel idea until you remember that it rains almost everyday here. It is is forever damp. So this not so bad kitchen table went from white with light pine to black/brown with a hint of dark green...... a spot of white fuzz. Yeah ew. but I was determined to make this work!
I wasn't sure just what I was going to do with it but I wanted fun and bright! so we heading to B & G aka.. a micro Home depot with only half the stuff. And they proceeded to tell me they cannot mix exterior paint, so my only option was white.  Not really my thing. So after see the Avengers ( KICK ASS MOVIE BTW) we headed into a much larger  B & Q and they guy there tells me he can mix exterior paint into ANY color I want. Woohoo! I quickly scamper around the store find color swatches. The very helpful man mixes the paint and we are ready to go.
Since it rains here all the time here , I decided I had to do this project indoors. This meant.. our dining room. It's the only room big enough. So things got covered with trash bags and furniture got removed. We brought in the table and took it apart.

 Table top.. yep the black is mold.

The rather sad chairs.All the white paint had chipped and started to grow mold underneath.       Again I say....ew.








Immediately I washed everything down with pure bleach to kill the mold. * Note to self open windows next time!* 
The next step was sanding! Luckily we have this awesome electric sander so we were cooking with gas! So I started with the table top!

Luckily the mold came off. I then moved onto the chairs..... and they were a PAIN IN THE BUTT! They were taking forever and  I was getting nowhere. Not to mention the fact that the room was becoming a huge dust cloud. Oh and did I mention I didn't have a mask for my face, only a bandana covering my nose and mouth. Bad idea. Between the mess and the dust making me feel icky, I was quickly feeling defeated. So I sent out an SOS to my SOS group :)  Luckily Calli responded!


Calli is awesome. She is definitely a go-getter and I love that about her. So she showed up and brought her sander! And we tackled the rest of the furniture! Each chair took an hour and we were covered in dust! But 5 hours later we finished sanding!

Poor Calli, covered in sawdust but STILL smiling! :)










Next Step! Prime everything with the white undercoat. Could not find KILLZ anywhere here, so went with a weather undercoat.

Now the fun part! Color!! I decided to go with some dramatic but fun shades. Turns out this paint makes a HUGE mess. does not like to come out of paintbrushes.

 For the chairs I went with orange and yellow, the table blue and the legs and table runner stencils green :)


So Now I needed a stencil for table runner. I couldn't find anythng in any of the stores here. So after searching online I was able to find  Damask pattern I really liked. Printed it on regular 8x 11 paper and then cut it out with a straight razor. Took forever! But it worked. The stencil didn't come out terribly neat but for what I had to work with I am pleased with the over all results. Especially for my first time :)

And now the end results!

Brimham Rocks

So turns out there are many fabulous cool places to see within only a few minutes drive of Harrogate. Once of these cool places is Brimham Rocks. Okay yes I know what you're thinking rocks.. yeah that sounds really exciting...... But it was pretty cool.  We decided to join the National Trust a few months ago and with that you can get free admission to all National properties, so we got in  for free ( Bonus!) 
 Brimham Rocks is a collection of crazy rock formations. Plan and simple. Some of them I found to be kind of amazing, defying gravity really. Okay so maybe I'm being a bit dorky but they were cool to look at and you get a nice little walk in while your there. And the weather... well the weather was England, 20 minutes of scattered clouds and sunshine. 10 minutes of hail, 12 minutes of light sprinkles and then the sun came out as we left haha. Anywho here are some pics :) enjoy!

 Writer's Desk. Jon feels it's cooler to stand at it rather than sit ;)

 O0o0o look at me lifting this rock... Okay humor me and pretend to be impressed.

Dancing bear :)

LAMBS!!!!!!!!!! Sorry couldn't resist haha 

Easter!

Okay so remember when I said I am absolute horrid at updating blogs, well now you've seen it for yourself haha.
Easter was wonderful. While I was back in the States I stocked up on some traditional Easter essentials i.e. Reese's Eggs, Malted Milk Eggs, Cadbury mini eggs and a peep or two. We had two of Jon's college friends, Erin and Colleen, come and stay with us so I had to make sure I had enough for everyone.... or at least that's what I told myself when I packed about 5 maybe even 7 pounds of candy haha in my suitcase haha. We also had two of our fabulous Roxy and Chris come over for easter dinner. I of course cooked way too much but we enjoyed ourselves.

Oh I forgot to mention, whenever we have visitors, I make them pose in the frame :) Now doesn't that make you just want to hop right on over? :)

States Visit!

Whoa, look out world entry number 2!

It's been a while since my last entry so this may end of being two. Since last we spoke I traveled  to the States and back, had Easter, and signed up for an adult ed. class. So exciting!

Going home is home is always a whirlwind. I like to see everyone I can and catch up on things I miss while living in the UK, i.e.

Chick Fil a

ocean/bay

hot sunshine

TARGET!

Large washing machines

Mexican food

sushi

Coralie ( And  her mom of course!)

PTP (theater)

Family!!

Friends!!

Barstow ( where I use to work :) )

Okay I think that is most of the list. Hopefully I didn't forget anything or anyone. If I did please feel free to write a letter of complaint.

I lucked out on all flights going to and from the States and had no one sitting next to me. Not that I mind complete strangers falling asleep on my shoulder but it's nice to be able to stretch out and not have to ask everyone to move just so you can go potty, only to return seconds later because all are occupied.

I got to visit with my in-laws which was very nice. Had some very yummy sushi and mexican with them :) . and discovered that I really do NOT like sea urchin haha.  

Got to see a bunch of friends, unfortunately not everyone though. I was also able to spend some time with my good friend Barbara on her birthday. We danced to some awesome 80s tunes, at a bar in DC.

I was also able to stop by the theatre  Port Tobacco Theater during their auditions for Wizard of Oz. It was so cute to see the kids sing. And I got such a warm welcome from everyone. Made me really miss theater.

I also got to spend time with my favorite almost 1year old Miss Coralie. I love this girl! She's so freakin cute! And she just make the world seem like a better place haha.  Of course it was just as nice to see her awesome Mom as well. Lenae and I have only know each other for a few years but have been through a lot together. She is my sister from another mister... and mother haha. 

While I was home I got to go home again, only this time to Massachusetts. It's been a while since I've driven the truck. I always felt like a bit of a badass chick driving a big F-250 haha. I do not like, however, when I have to fill it with diesel. So expensive! But I got to go home and visit with my Momma. So it's all good.

While there we decided to have some mother-daughter time together :) . Mom tried some watercolor painting. I think she did great but she disagrees. My mom is super talented and she doesn't always see that.  While she did that I tried my hand at customizing a tshirt (something I saw on pintrest ) but my severe lack of sewing skills pretty much killed the shirt haha.

Also go to see my fabulous cousin Erin sing in her Junior recital. I knew she could sing but I was so impressed with her talent. Such a beautiful voice! Her she is in all her glory ;)

She did such a great job! And Uncle Johnny had made lots of delicious snacks for after show. I also got to see my Grandma, as well as some other family. It was really nice :) I have a super big family. And as the years pass, it seems geographically we spread further and further away from each. So whenever I get to see this I am grateful :) 

Since I was in town the weekend before Easter mom and I decided to dye some eggs and celebrate Gram's bday :)  . We went with a new technique for dying the eggs this year. I have yet to at the, age of 27 , to not dye eggs on Easter and I am very okay with that :).  This new method was once again a Pintrest find ;). You crack the eggs before dying so that the white of the egg has a tie dyed look to it once peeled. All in all for our first time they weren't too shabby :)

Sunday we had Gram over to celebrate her bday and have lots of yummy food. Mom, Gram and I also watched the Womens Uconn game. It was so intense! Gram got so into it haha.  She even yelled at the tv haha. Even though they lost it was a great game and fun to watch with them :).

Time flew as it always does. When it came time to fly back I had to rearrange a lot of stuff to not go over my weight limit haha. So I sacrificed some bath products so that I could take home some traditional American Easter candy haha. 

Even candy that is made by the same company with the same name, still tastes different. It's crazy haha.

Once I got back to England the jet lag kicked in haha. It's always harder adjusting here. But it's all good. okay if you are still reading thanks for sticking with me ;)

Soon to come ; Easter and Brinham Rocks!

Why Hello world!

So it was highly recommend that I start a blog. I have to be honest, I tend to procrastinate quite a bit and my grammar is pretty sad. So that combination has made me a bit apprehensive about doing this. But I'm going to give it a shot. ;) I should caution readers that I do like to use smiley faces quite often and am a fan of exclamation points . If either offend you, then it's best you stop reading now :p !!! 
    So here we are in Merry Ol' England. Who is we you ask? My husband, Jon , and I as well as a whole bunch of other awesome Americans and some pretty cool English folks :) I got here in November. And we're here  for about 2 more years ;) . My thought is to post about all the cool places we get to see over here ( Which maybe will encourage others to come visit, * wink, wink, poke, poke, nudge, nudge*). And also post some of the fun art projects I'm trying as well as recipes :). Woohoo! I can tell you are super excited for this blog already!
   Coming to England was a big adjustment for everyone. I however can't speak for everyone, only myself.  I found it hard coming over here, going from two jobs, theatre, the gym, a routine I was comfortable with, family and friends, to none of that. I had also had plans to start my Master's so that I could hopefully teach the the autistic& behavior students I love so much. I had a lot of trouble giving that up. 
But my husband was here and how many people get to say they lived in England? 
   After being here for a few months I'm really starting to understand why people don't want to leave. It's still hard not working. I love working with children, especially Special Education. But right now the school on post doesn't have any positions open. Therefore I had to find other ways to keep myself busy. Through that, I have found some really awesome people. A lot of which are in an awesome group called S.O.S. or Spouses on Sabbatical :) . 
   S.O.S. is a group of about 6 people right now. We meet once a week to work on  projects, to cook and to socialize. This group has been great because it has inspired me to be creative and try a lot of at home projects. I'm sure you will see many a picture of these projects :) 
  I also decided to take a math class. ( Even though I have have a BA I need five additional classes to start my masters , luckily I can take those undergrad classes here). I had a great teacher. And actually did pretty well in the class. Which is unusual for me because Math is not a strong subject for me haha. 
  I have started ti cook and bake a lot more which has been lots of fun. And I have started to see all the beautiful places in and around the town that we live in :). 
 I will be posting entries that will hopefully be far more interesting with pictures! Woohoo :) But I thought a little intro might be appropriate for the 1st one.  
So stay tuned for more from Across the Pond and Beyond!! )