Away From it All

Over the weekend Hubs and I visited a lovely secluded hotel in Cork. It was just what we needed - a break from the hustle and bustle and a breath of fresh air.

Let Agreed

It's official! Hubs and I are movin' on up - out of our tiny one bed apartment and into a slightly bigger two bed (in the same neighborhood)! The lease was signed yesterday and we couldn't be happier to begin moving into our new place in just two short weeks. Pictures to come!

Lovely Dublin Weekend

Another lovely Dublin weekend out and about for hubs and I! We didn't do much but weekend flew by anyway. Saturday night we participated in a pub-quiz at the Waterloo to benefit a friend of Hubs going to India with Habitat for Humanity. With the help of Simon and Liz (and not much help from yours truly) we won first place! We proudly took home the bottle of [cheap] Brut champagne... yum!

Saturday was pretty low key. We strolled through the city stopping in a few shops, and even ran into good friends Larry and Beth! Ha! Small city :-) We took a pit stop for a bite to eat at one of Dubliner's top rated spots Lolly and Cooks. The sandwich was just okay, but the lemon cupcake after (I know - totally not on the diet plan!) was divine!!

Pausing to admire the pretty door/bird/plant

While walking back home I was drawn to the local flower man and these glorious sunflowers! Just €10... They are now sitting on the kitchen table. Lovely :-)

Sunday we decided to take a walk (turned out to be a very looong walk) to scope out prospective apartments. Our lease is up soon and we've been lurking on daft.ie so we were curious to see where our favorites were actually located. One of the places we liked was very near the Irish Sea, so we took a stroll down Sandymount Strand.

Sitting on the rocks by the Sea... Ahhhh...

By the time we got home it started to rain and we were famished, so we didn't feel one bit bad staying in the rest of the evening and watching a few episodes of the last season of the Sopranos courtesy of Larry and Beth!

Now that's how to have a very pleasant weekend and not spend more than €20.

A Weighty Issue

It's official. I have gained almost 10 lbs since we moved here last September. I am not a happy camper. Granted, I know I came here a little underweight, and this extra 10 pounds doesn't put me overweight by any means. But this is my blog and I'll complain if I want to! I knew I'd put on a few extra when my jeans started to get tight. Never a good sign. I need to face the facts. I have been eating way too much sugar, and not working out hard enough. Sooooo, time for action. No sugar for me for the next little while and time to amp up the exercise. This is my public statement, so if you see me pop a chocolate in my mouth you have permission smack me. Off to find something healthy for lunch now...

Hunger

Last night Hubs and I finally got around to watching Hunger, the film about Bobby Sands and the hunger strike in the 1980s in Nor'n Ireland. I have to say, I was a little afraid to watch it, because, it's one of those movies that you already know the ending and, well, it's depressing.

It was definitely depressing but incredibly well done. There is a scene in particular that I thought was amazing. It was where Bobby is talking to the priest about his decision to go on the strike. You can tell that the whole 15 minute scene was done in one take, with one camera. Really powerful stuff. I also found myself holding my breath because I could so easily imagine the stench of the prison cells... I definitely recommend the film. Go rent it. But I suggest not eating popcorn and chocolate during... you will feel bad.