Island Swim - 12.5 miles around Key West

On Friday the 13th, I left Dublin to travel to Key West.  Given the date I should have expected my travel plans to not work out quite as expected.  

And so after missing my connection in Atlanta, getting rerouted to Miami and spending a night there (where I got 4 hours sleep in a crappy hotel) and after 33 hours of travel I landed at 8.30am and went straight to the beach to start the 12.5 mile swim around Key West at 9am!!!

We were in the 4 man relay event - our 4 team mates were made up of 2 sets of twins.  Myself and my twin and our younger twin sisters also.

This is my twin sister Amy swimming through the main KW shipping channel!

We finished in a very decent 6.5 hours!  What an achievement!

The day after the race we couldn't move our arms above our shoulders but as a friend of my sister said: 
"Pain is temporary, pride lasts forever"

Jazz Brunch at The Gibson Hotel

This morning I had a very special brunch with my twin sister and our oldest and best friend Alice.  We had made an arrangement to meet at 12pm in The Gibson Hotel for their Jazz Brunch.

To start, we were presented with an amuse bouche of fruit smoothie and a little fruit and custard tart.  Very cute to look at and very tasty indeed!

Alice and I, ordered the Eggs Royal which were poached eggs over homemade English muffin with salmon topped with Hollandaise sauce.  They were very good and I really enjoyed them.  Alice gave her dish a thumbs up too.

Amy chose the full Irish.  This fry included Sausage, egg, black & white pudding with rashers and a tomato.

We had a wonderful morning.  We chatted and had a good catch up of all our news and washed down our food with a little vodka (Enid & Amy) and tea and coffee.  Such a lovely way to while away a Sunday!

And if you are wondering why it was called a Jazz Brunch, it's because there was live jazz being played which really adds to the atmosphere at this brunch.  For a city centre location I like this hotel and think it would make a great venue for a hip city wedding. 

I should also add that we caught a glimpse of the Dublin Football team and the manager of the Dublin Team walked by us - The Gibson Hotel is the sleeping partner of the Dublin Senior Team.  What a great partnership!  Later that day Dublin went on to beat Laois - probably down to the fact that the team had a great night's sleep in The Gibson Hotel the night before!!


We asked the barman to take a photo of us which would have been perfect except that I had to go and ruin it by looking like I was in a mug shot!!

John Ford Ireland Symposium

Last night we went to the opening night of the John Ford Ireland symposium.  In attendance was John Wayne's daughter Marissa.  Ms. Wayne spoke first and told of the relationship between Ford and Wayne.  After Wayne's daughter finished speaking, Dan Ford the grandson of John Ford said a few words.

And then the screening of "Stage Coach" began - this film is possibly the film that launched the career of John Ford and John Wayne.

I am not a fan of Western movies but I did enjoy watching this film.  I was also intrigued by the fact that the sheriff rode beside the driver with his shot gun to look out for Indians.  As he got on the coach he said "I'll ride shotgun".  I guess this is where "calling shotgun" comes from!!  Interesting!

The event took place in the main screen of the Savoy Cinema.  We have not been in this theatre for years and both of us remarked how well it looked and that it had a very opulent feel to it (I wish I had taken pictures of the chandeliers in the lobby.

My sister had won tickets for this event on Facebook but had another engagement so she could not attend.  We were delighted to attend in her place.  Thanks Amy!

Terenure Market- Bend in the Barrow Soap

On Sunday we visited the Terenure Market.  Prior to visiting I saw on their Facebook page that there was going to be a stall selling homemade soap.  I love homemade soap, I think that it has a way more long lasting intense smell than shop bought.

I bought a "shower bar" from Bend in the Barrow.  The flavour I chose was Morning Mint which is fresh, invigorating and coconut oil flavour.  I can't wait to use it!

Feet preparation for holidays!

I've blogged about these great Purederm foot masks before. You leave them on your feet for about an hour and then rinse off.  In a few days to a week the hard skin falls off your feet and leaves your feet baby soft.

I'm heading to Key West in about 10 days so I'm getting my feet prepped for that!

After slipping my feet in to the booties I pop on my slippers over them and relax for an hour.  Super easy and gets great results!

Taoiseach Enda Kenny Dances To 'Happy' by Pharrell Williams - ORIGINAL

This gave me such a laugh!

It's the leader of Ireland, Taoiseach Enda Kenny dancing to Pharrell Williams song "Happy" in Bloom at the Phoenix Park over the weekend.  

What do you think?! Is this the type of thing that your President or Prime Minister gets up to?

Avoid The Thief

Got back on my bike today after pushing it up to the local shop to get air pumped up in the front tyre.  Both tyres needed air - I was able to pump up the back one but couldn't do the front.  I think I may have had an air lock and needed a stronger pump.


The guy in the shop said it went up no bother.  I had left it with him for an hour.  I don't think he was going to charge me for air but I needed a new lock (especially after watching the above video) so I bought one from him.  He also pointed out that my bike was good (I was like really???) and that it  had a nice frame that could be desired by thieves.  He also admired my coffee holder (that I got in Key West, Florida) - I told him I used it for something stronger than coffee!!  ;-)


Bike theft is prevalent in Dublin.  It's not even the good bikes that are targeted - unfortunately there are people who just do it for the sheer devilment or just to get home (so the bike shop owner told me!).  Friends of ours had their bikes stolen from their garden so they bolted a U lock in to their garden and lock their bikes to that. We have our bikes chained to the fence in the front of our garden but we live down a cul de sac so it is unlikely that thieves will make their way down our road.  If they were discovered stealing the bikes the only place to run would be the way they entered and I don't think they would like that!