House - Leeson Street

To start the Bank Holiday we went for a cocktail on Friday evening in the newly opened "House" on Leeson Street. 

Upon entering we were greeted in a friendly manner and assisted with being seated.  Many tables were reserved so we sat at the bar in the main area.  We then decided to move further in to the venue and sat at the bar in the marquee/greenhouse area out back.

We ordered cocktails that were not in menu. I had a Grey Goose Caipirosca and Ciaran had an Old Fashioned. The cocktail menu was not that appealing to me - too many of the cocktails were Gin based - but you can't beat the setting.

We hope to return for dinner sometime!

My cocktail was made with sugar syrup (barman's cheat, in my opinion) and ice cubes that were not crushed.  It was a passable version of a Caipirosca.  

Wreath making factory

I've quite the production line going of wreaths.

These are all for my mother.  She wants to give them to her friends.

Currently she is visiting my younger sister who lives in Oman.  My sister works as cabin crew for an airline.

On my mothers return from Oman in a week I will give her the wreaths.

The kitchen table is covered in Christmas baubles and Ciaran has nicknamed me "Elf"!

Sunday Independent Spread

Wow a lot of people read the Sunday Independent!!!

Our house was featured in a 2 page spread in the Life Magazine supplement in the Sunday Independent paper (Sindo).  All day yesterday we were receiving calls and texts from friends saying they saw us in the paper.

It was for a lifestyle feature called "My favourite room" edited by Mary O'Sullivan  with pictures by photographer Tony Gavin.

Christmas Bauble Wreath

So I upped the wreath making ante by buying a hot glue gun.

OMG!  This thing is incredible!  Hot glue guns are not that popular in Ireland (maybe because we don't have Martha Stewart!) but I have seen lots of mention of them on US blogs.  

I picked up my Hot Glue Gun in Evans Art Supplies just off Capel Street. 

It's so easy to use.  

Here's my most recent wreaths made with my Hot Glue Gun

I'll put a bow on this one to complete

This one is a big old hot mess - or a Hot Glue Gun mess!!

Dublin town

The beautifully ornate fully restored public conveninces in Chancery Park in Dublin City near Capel Street.  The clock at the top works!

We saw this Minitel Computer for sale for  25 euro in a secondhand shop.

Minitel (mainly in France) was one of the most successful precursors to the Internet.  Google "Minitel Computer" and read the wiki page - it's an interesting read!

Winter wreath making

Here is a few more wreaths that I have been working on.  This one was made with a sari (Indian lady's dress) brought all the way from India to Ireland by my mother.

A flowery effort to dress a door at Christmas time

And here is a partially started wreath....wonder what it will turn out like!

Starbucks Generation

I visited the new Starbucks in Rathmines.  It was about 10.30am and it was full of schoolgirls.  When I was in school we were not allowed out of the school building during school time.  There was no Starbucks in Ireland and even if there was, I wouldn't have known the difference between an Espresso and an Americano!  I didn't drink tea or coffee when in school and I had no interest in spending my time lolling around coffee shops!

Here are pics of this new Starbucks store.  

It's big and spacious but perhaps with too many hard surfaces.  This is probably done purposefully to discourage guests from sitting over a coffee all day in Starbucks.  Having been in many Starbucks around Dublin, I can't say that the decor in this one is to my taste or makes me comfortable enough to want to visit regularly.

There used to be a Starbucks in Ranelagh (which is next to Rathmines), maybe about 4 years ago.  It was closed down when the CEO did a worldwide cull of the less profitable shops.  This morning the Rathmines Starbucks is busy, I'd say it will be successful given it's location at the entrance to the Swan Centre and next to McDonalds.

A few doors away is Alan Hanna's bookshop one of the few true independents left in Dublin.  About a month ago it opened a coffee shop in the bookstore - it can't be happy to see Starbucks open so close.