Key West BABY!

I have a lot to catch you all up on!

For the last 2 weeks I was on holiday in Key West with my (our) best friend and my twin sister.

Quite honestly it was a trip of a lifetime and exceeded our expectations (and we had been planning it for 3 years!)

Day 1 started with Yoga on the Beach which set the tone for the holiday - chilled out and laid back!

Here are a few pics from our trip in no particular order:

Eats in the Blue Macaw

 Morning Coffee from Cuban Coffee Queen

 My first taste of Key Lime Pie!!

 Sunning on the beach

 Reached the end of the US 1

 Bought the Citizen newspaper from the news box on the street

 Went fishing!

 Petted a dog- or did he pet me?!

 Hook and cook in Dantes

 Powerboat Parade down Duval Street

 Got beads at the parade then shopped in Coach

 Buffet Brunch in Margaritaville Resort (formerly the Westin)

 Bottomless Mimosa!

 Way South!

 There was some drinking done ;-)

 Did I mention we drove to Key West from Miami?

 One night we even dressed up and drank wine!

 We made lots of friends on Duval Street!

 We were amazed by the size of the Tarpon Fish

 We made it to First Flight (formerly Kelly's) Happy Hour after our drive down from Miami

Aside from all of the above we did loads more like Trivia nights, sunset on the Ingham and lots of biking around the island.  Fun times for sure!

A wonderful weekend of musicals and meetups!

Saturday night brought us to The Helix in DCU for "All or Nothing" the story of The Small Faces. 

I love a musical so I was delighted when Amy invited me along to this show.

I had never been to The Helix before and I was very pleasantly surprised. Even better was the trip over on the bus - we took the number 11 which went from the top of my road all the way over to Dublin City University.  Amy got on the same bus at Dawson Street.

Amy dressed for the occasion in a blue 1960's mod looking dress. While I went straight to the theatre from work so was not in a mod outfit.

The show was amazing with brilliant singing performances from all of the actors but in particular the actors who played Steve Marriot's mother and also the two actors who played young and old Steve.

I woke up humming "All of Nothing" which is always a good sign that I enjoyed a show!

Hopefully the show will return to Dublin because my mother was raging that she hadn't been invited as she was a big fan of The Small Faces in their day.

On Sunday it was breakfast with Amy & Alice in Doheny &Nesbitts to make plans for our upcoming trip to Key West Florida. Amy arrived at the pub to find it closed so she rang them and asked them  to open up for her as she was outside! The friendly barman asked if she was looking for breakfast and said he would open up and sort her out for a bite to eat. 

We have been having breakfast in Doheny's fairly regularly - it is a convenient spot and the breakfast hits the spot.  I enjoy their tasty omelettes which I got again today. 

Excitement sure is building for our upcoming holiday.  This time next week we will be on the way to Miami where we will pick up a car and then drive to Key West. Fun times ahead!

"Nostalgia's Not What it Was" by Pigsy

Ciaran's exhibition "Nostalgia's Not What it Was" ran from the 5th - 8th of Oct in Fumbally Exchange.  It was a big success with over 400 people visiting over the weekend.

The first piece was "No space for nostalgia" and it was based on this picture of Ciaran as a child with his two best childhood friends.

The photo seemed to spark something in many who visited and lots of his pieces evoked memories of childhood that were familiar to all.

It was great to have both the guys in the picture drop in for a look!

I'm feeling nostalgia just looking at them!!

Thursday Twin Dash

Bikes are an awesome accessory in Dublin City.

On Thursday night Amy and I were double booked with two events to go to. The only way we could make both without having to take taxis was to go by bike.

We met after work and had a quick burger before dropping in to Gallery X on South William Street to see Kemp's new exhibition Constant Change.

This is an incredible show of portraits. It is a must see.  It runs for a few weeks so do go see or check out The Kemp Gallery website.

LOVE this piece!

There's Amy and I with the main man, artist Steve Kemp.

This blue piece in the corner was so striking and eye catching.  I will go back in and visit when it is quieter to take a really good look. It was a busy opening with lots of people so it was hard to take in all the art.....as I said, I will be back.

Then it was on to the Grand Canal Theatre for the amazing film La La Land with a live orchestra. What an experience!  You know how much we love La La Land having seen it numerous times but with the live music it was taken to a new level.

It was a lovely night in Dublin for a cycle and both of these events were super shows. All in all another great night with my twin sister!

Nostalgia's Not What it Was - Pigsy

Following on from his well received debut show, artist Pigsy now presents a new body of work "Nostalgia's Not What It Was", opening on Thursday 5th October at 6pm in Fumbally Exchange, Dame Lane, Dublin 2.

Ciarán McCoy is Pigsy. As Ciarán McCoy​, he works as a partner in the renowned architectural practice ODKM Architects​ in Dublin City centre. As Pigsy, he releases himself from the disciplined nature of architecture to create free flowing expressionist art. 

Pigsy started to create from a young age by using chalks on both the playground and the blackboards at school  to pass the time between classes. He has added a multitude of painting media to his palette since then but still incorporates chalk use in most of his pieces as a nod to these formative methods.  

This body of work is all about moving forward as a person and deals with ​the evolution of childhood friendships, old haunts and activities from childhood and the difficulties experienced throughout schooling because of his dyslexia. 

“Nostalgia's Not What It Was"​, is an idea that I’ve been working on for a while" says Pigsy "I believe it's best to live in the moment and not give over too much space in our mind to useless non-positive thoughts that prevent us from seeing our true potential and this has been the inspiration behind the exhibition"

The exhibition is curated by KEMP, the man behind the urban and street art themed the KEMP Gallery and an artist in his own right. 

"I'm both excited and honoured to be working with Pigsy again" says KEMP. "I love the honesty in his painting. It's very accessible even though there's a depth and complexity to it, which is very rare. I'm looking forward to sharing these new pieces with the public" 

Drinks will be provided at this exhibition by Hope Beer, an independent craft brewery based in Howth Co. Dublin. 

The exhibition runs from the 5th to the 8th October 2017

Sailing Italy 2017

Just back from an amazing sailing trip around Elba Island.  

After a scare the night before - we were travelling, when Ryanair cancelled our outbound flight, we quickly rebooked with Aer Lingus and got on our way.

When we arrived in Rome we went straight to the Coliseum where I had booked a tour.  What an incredible sight.  We really enjoyed this tour.

And then it was on a 4 hour train ride switching at Cecina for Castiglioncello to meet the rest of the crew.

Here's a few pics from the trip for you to enjoy (in no particular order):

Busy days - eating, drinking and cycling about......and lots more!

Here's a catch up of what's be going on here in Ireland.

I have been glued to CNN watching Hurricane Irma. This guy in the goggles is my favourite presenter......well aside from the lovely Anderson Cooper.

Filmmaker Mike Andrews was filming Ciaran in our house for his documentary. You can see further photos by clicking here.

I stopped and took pics of this building on the Merrion Road. It houses Jacobs Engineering, it seems. It has the look of Sam Stephenson to it. If you know how the architect is, do comment below!


On Thursday we had a big blow out in Dillingers. Look at that amazing starter of crab and prawn, which was divine.  And their cocktails weren't bad either - nice and strong the way I like my drinks! :-)