A giant conch shell!

This the giant conch shell that is featured in the movie "The Key West Picture Show".  The Key West High School is now where it calls home.

We had two lovely dinners over the past nights.  Two days ago we ate in the Flaming Buoy Fillet Co.  Totally delicious and the owner was so friendly and hospitable.

Last night we had the famous Sunday Fried Chicken in Sarabeth's.   We Will be dreaming about it for the next year.  We followed our meal by meeting friend for a drink in the famous hidden bar the Chart Room Bar. We had fun!

Goose is on the loose!

Check out this giant bottle of Grey Goose!  It's 1.75ml!!!

To combat a hangover I drink Coconut Water. Delish! ;-)

7 Fish

No we didn't eat 7 fish but we did visit 7 Fish for dinner yesterday.

It is peak season here in Key West and VERY busy so we were only able to reserve a table at 9.15pm.

Everything we ordered was great but in particular the brownie we enjoyed for dessert along with Baby's Coffee was amazing!

Love the sweet sausage

Check out this sweet bologna given to us by our friends from Lancaster, PA. 

It is the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. It's sweet and meaty!!!

What's not to like about it?!

Kicking back in the Keys....

Taking it very easy here in Key West. On our 2nd night we ate in Santiago's Bodega which was amazing.  It is a tapas restaurant.  Along with a half  bottle of malbec we ate lots amazing dishes including beef tenderloin topped with blue cheese, puff pastry stuffed with mushrooms, cherry glazed ribs, dates wrapped in bacon as well as the most amazing wedge salad.  I was stuffed and could only manage a taste of the rack of lamb that Ciaran ordered.  So yum!!!

Then on our next night after the historic house tour we wanted something lighter so we went for sushi in Origami.  Again so delicious and we had the best waitress who went through our order and scratched half of what we ordered because she said we ordered too much and we could order extra if it wasn't enough.  She was right!

Banana Cafe

On Christmas Day we joined our friends for a beautiful meal in Banana Cafe

The ambiance and setting was fabulous - we sat out on roof terrace.  The company was super and the food was gorgeous along with some nice wine.  I started with lobster ravioli which were amazing.  I then had the ribeye for main.  I didn't go for dessert as there was no key lime pie on a stick! ;-)

All in all a really brilliant evening and loved meeting up with our friends - Hello P&A if you are reading!

Highlight of the night was meeting Lady Gaga!!!!

It's a long long way to......

Wow what a trip!
Left our house at 5am to catch the coach to Dublin Airport.  Boarded our flight to Atlanta at 8.30am and then arrived there at about midday US time.  Caught our connection to Fort Lauderdale and then arrived near 5pm.  Picked up our rental car and were on the road by 6pm. 
The drive down the Florida Keys were tough, we were very tired.  We stopped off in Key Largo to pick up supplies and I think it was about 9pm (2am Irish time!) when we finally arrived in Key West.

We were in bed within 15 mins.  It's now just 6am and I am awake.  Jetlag is a killer but I will try go back and sleep a bit more.
Happy Christmas to all my readers!!!

Leaving on a jet plane

Just finishing up our packing for our Christmas trip to Key West, Florida.

I dropped our dog off to my parents and changed some euros into dollars earlier on so looks like we are all set to go!

Elf

Check out this elf that hangs at the top of my tree. I love him, he is so weird looking. He has a little ruler, scissors and hammer tucked in to his belt.

Ciaran is freaked out by him, he can't stand to look at him!

Winner, Winner - Turkey Dinner!!

Ciaran and I have a running joke every Christmas where I ask him is he going to win us a Turkey every time he heads off to any squash events in December.

Well guess what!  He won one this year.  

As he headed off to the "Turkey Blitz" I called out "Don't come home without a turkey".  Well for the first time in about 15 years he actually won a turkey!  

Of course as we go away for Christmas we have no need for a Turkey so I gave the voucher to my Mother - she was delighted, I think it nearly made her Christmas!  

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Basket Brigade

Today my sister and I are involved with "Basket Brigade" which aims to make up 120 hampers for needy people.  I collected items for the hampers from my colleagues in work and they were so generous.
The event is taking place in the Clarion hotel in Dublin City (they are probably letting us use the room for free or at a reduced cost).  

Doors of Ranelagh

Christmas wreaths on the street where I live!

Can you guess which is my door?!

Best eggs in Dublin!

We had breakfast in Fumbally Cafe this morning. I adore their eggs! The cafe itself can be a bit hit and miss in regards to service and it can be full of hipsters and posers from time to time - but the food really hits the spot!

Vampires need your blood! Irish Blood Bank

The Irish Blood Bank put out a call that they were short of blood.  Ciaran and I were off work today so we called in to donate.
My iron levels weren't right so Ciaran had to donate on his own.  I went to the refreshment lounge while he donated.
The blood bank is situated in the centre of Dublin City in the Lafayette Building.  Check out the view of the Spire and O'Connell Street!

It's worth giving blood to check out this awesome view!!!

Open House

We had our Open House on Saturday. We were so happy with how it turned out.  We got to meet a lot of our new neighbours and the ODKM Architects got to showcase our house to interested parties.

The contractor, kitchen designer and our lighting consultant also met with lots of perspective clients.

Have a look at the pictures of the event.

Christmas window display

Gorgeous window display in Terenure Office Supplies

Trim the tree!!

My tree is 

I love putting up the tree and looking at all the deorations that I have amassed over the years.

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A puppy can be just for Christmas!

My twin sister and I went to the opening of the Lost Weekend furniture store's exhibition "A puppy can be just for Christmas" at Darc Space.
We got to try out all of the chairs and also scored a nice glass of wine!! Result!
Both of us agreed that our favourite chair was the yellow "Chair One" by Konstantin Grcic.

Christmas decorations made from paper

Our Christmas tree in work is huge!!!

It was looking very bare so a few colleagues made some paper decorations for it. Have a look on  this blog to see how to make them.

They look great!!

Bread!

Lidl is now stocking these lovely Bavarian bread rolls along with muffins, pain au chocolat & cherry rock buns!

My twin sister's blog!

My twin sister blogs too!

For her take on Dublin life, hop on over here!

I love her blog!  She writes really well about very interesting topics and her pictures are also super too......

The Late Late Toy Show!!

The Late Late Toy Show is on tonight!!

If you are Irish, you'll know all about this.  If you are not Irish you may not be aware of this show.  RTE's Late Late Show is the longest running TV show in Irish TV history (and it is also the longsest running show in the World!!).  It has been presented by 4 presenters Gay Byrne, Pat Kenny, Gerry Ryan (presented 1 show when Pat Kenny's mother died) and is now presented by Ryan Tubridy.  It is broadcast every Friday night and includes interviews with celebrities and light discussions about current affairs along with performances by musicians.....you get the idea!

Every year on the last Friday in November, the Toy Show version of the Late Late Show is broadcast.  Have a look at the RTE website for the type of thing that will be on the toy show.  The other thing about the toy show is the Christmas Jumper that is worn by the host who normally wears a suit - there is always big speculation as to how hideous the jumper will be this year!

It is a tradition for Irish people to stay in and watch the show.  Children are allowed to stay up late for it and adults devise drinking games to make it a bit more watchable!!  My twin sister and I intend to get in to our PJ's, mix up some nice wintery cocktails and enjoy some nibblies while watching the show.  Can't wait!!

The show can be enjoyed Internationally for the Irish Abroad, RTE will be streaming it live here on the RTE Player 9.35pm, Irish time.

You know the Christmas Season has arrived once you've watched the Toy Show!

Will you be watching?!!

Marvel at the marvellous things!

The Marvel Room is back!

Every Christmas, The Marvel Room is opened in Brown Thomas.   The nicest gifts are chosen and put in to The Marvel Room.  It is such a nice experience to take a wander through the store and marvel at the marvels!

                               Marvels for him!                             Marvels for her!

Non-compliant puppy

Every year I photograph Bones for our Christmas card.  Over the years he has posed in various Christmas accessories.  This year, however, is different.  He has not been compliant at all!

First off I tried him with two little antlers.  No good, he shook his head until they flew off.

Then I bought a little mini clip on santa hat.  This had pretty much the same result as the antlers. 

Next up was a little Christmas jacket.  He just sulked in this one.

I had to enlist Ciaran to bribe Bones with some ham for the final outfit and we managed to get one usable picture.  I won't show the picture so that you can get a nice surprise if you receive a card in the post from me!!!

Here he is ignoring me and refusing to sit up! 

Pre-dinner canapes

Here's a few pics of some nibblies I prepared for my guests the other night.  They were so tasty!

I served a selection of cheese on my Grey Goose platter.  A blue, a creamy Lancashire along with some brie. I also got to use my star fish encrusted cheese spreader that I picked up in Key West (in the now gone Fast Buck Freddies) on my last visit.  

Even though I had already organised dessert, Ciaran  stopped off in The Butler's Pantry in Rathgar for an apple tart.  It's his favourite and it went down really well with all the guys! ;-)