Saturday 31 August 2013

Great class!

This morning I took a Bikram class with my twin sister.  It was incredible!  I felt so strong in certain positions.  Derek was taking the class and gave me some great tips for correcting my poses.  

I bought a pineapple coconut water from reception.  It was such a treat having it during my practice.  I joke that pineapple coconut water tastes like the cocktail "Sex on the beach"! 

Here I am before class 

And then after 90 mins (I've taken a few minutes to cool down so I am not a complete sweaty mess).


Drury Street is a kooky little studio with a great atmosphere - I love it!


How great is this view from the studio - it's the roof of George's Street Market.  To the bottom left of the photo you can also see the sign for Fade Street Social Restaurant.

And walking home we stopped off for good coffee in The Humble Bean on Camden Street.

Thursday 29 August 2013

Bikram - Drury Street

I signed up for a month of Bikram yoga in the Dublin City Centre location in Drury street this evening. It was my first time going to this studio and I thought it was good.  There were windows in the studio which was surprising but made for a nice view when I was in savasna. 

I didn't feel great during the class so nipped to the bathroom where I promptly sat on the bench as the room began to spin.  After a few mins I splashed cold water on my face and the back of my neck and then made my way back in to the hot room.  Phew!  I was sooo glad to get through the class without fainting (particularly after I had fainted the last time I was in Harold's Cross).  

It was an amazing class with such positive energy - I can't wait to go back!!



My sister then made me a healthy (somewhat!) dinner of quinoa and salmon.  Delish!

What a super energizing day....

Coffee & great service

Whether you like Starbucks coffee or not it is hard to disagree that here in Ireland, they have amazing staff.  It is the one place that you will always get a friendly greeting and service with a smile. Being a regular means my coffee order is remembered and I love being wished a good day as I head off to work after picking up my coffee.

You would think all of the above would happen automatically in all shops but it is quite incredible the bad service that can occur in Ireland.  Shop assistants talking to each other and ignoring you can be common (seems to mainly be a trait of Dunnes staff) or the cost of your purchases being grunted at you without so much as a "Please".  

There are many businesses in Ireland that could learn a thing or two from the staff of Starbucks (particularly the staff of the busy Blanchardstown Centre branch who are excellent).  


Service with a smile (along with a consistent product) breeds repeat customers which improves business.

Wake up and smell the coffee (geddit!) businesses of Ireland.  Look to the Starbucks model and avoid the Ryanair route!

Tuesday 27 August 2013

In search of a good doughnut!

Here in Ireland we have neither Krispy Kreme nor Dunkin Donuts.  This means that I am constantly on the search for a good doughnut.  

In my local Spar a Tim Horton coffee shop (which i believe is Canadian) has just opened. There are doughnuts to be had here but I have yet to taste them.

Last night on the way home from work I called in to Marks & Spencer's where I found a new selection of boxed doughnuts.  I bought 6 but didn't expect to be wowed by them.  

Well after tasting the chocolate one I was very impressed.  Great consistency, just greasy enough and great chocolate flavour.  It was a good doughnut.

They looked great too and a box of 6 would make a nice gift if you were calling to a friend for tea.


Ciaran brought the rest of the box in to his office for the lads to enjoy today.

Btw, please note the different spelling of doughnut here in Ireland.  I think in the USA it is spelled "donut"!

Monday 26 August 2013

Working weekend

Ciaran is heading off to Prague for the European Masters Squash Championships on Wednesday.  As he will be missing a few days in work for this event he needed to work over this weekend.  I said I would go along with him to the office and keep him company and help with paperwork.  He said he would buy me lunch because I was giving up my weekend.  A fair compromise, I think!

While he was working, I snapped a few pictures.



Here's ODKM's recently hung award plaque - a special mention in the Irish Architecture Awards for best Emerging Practise.


On Sunday, after completing an important piece of work Ciaran had a bit of fun sketching on the front window of the office.  He really enjoyed this and it was great to see him relax before we went home.


If you want to follow ODKM Architects on Facebook and see all of their great projects and work that they do, click here.  They'd love to have you as a follower!!

By the way for lunch, on Saturday, we went to the Lovely Food Co. in Terenure where we were looked after by Margaret and her team.  Delicious food in a wonderful setting.  Terenure has lots of great places to eat (including great Fixx Coffee from Nolan's) but the Lovely Food is quite possibly the best!



Sunday 25 August 2013

Smart Espresso

Bo Concept were having a large sale over the weekend so we went for a little browse.  Discounts were good on some of the end of line items, with 50-70%  off showroom display items.  I was glad to see that the side table that we bought 4 weeks ago was not discounted!

Bo Concept have aligned themselves with Smart and designed a range of homewares and furniture.  I had been admiring the Smart Expresso Cup set on my last visit and was happy to see that they were on sale with 15 euro off.  We don't drink much espresso so I considered whether they were a good thing to buy but then I decided that I could serve chocolate mousse in them for dessert so I did go ahead and buy them.  

Check out how cute they are!









And here is a pic of our Smart Car parked beside a big monster truck in Dublin City 

Friday 23 August 2013

Cone head

I was back in the vets this morning with Bones - the nurse was a Star Trek fan and she immediately commented on his name.  Bones is called after the Star Trek character Dr. Bones McCoy.

He has been licking his paws and made them quite irritated. We had put booties on his feet to stop him doing this but the vet recommended he wear a cone for the next 2 weeks.

We left the surgery with cream and antibiotics and a diagnosis of dermatitis.  If it doesn't clear up after treatment we may be in to a biopsy situation.

Bones was not a happy chappy in the cone.  After falling in to the car he proceeded to give me the stink eye.  

Hopefully by bathing his feet daily and medication his paws will be better soon.

Thursday 22 August 2013

European Squash Masters

Ciaran is traveling to the European Squash Masters in Prague next week.  

The draw has just been put up online.  He has found out that in the over 40's section he is seeded 5-8.  Quite incredible.  It looks like he is the highest seeded Irish player in the event.  Wow!  

Fingers crossed he does well.

Sunday 18 August 2013

The art of Jonathan Barry

Book illustrator Jonathan Barry was exhibiting in Powerscourt Shopping Centre today.

I attended an exhibition and talk given by him a few years ago in Blanchardstown Library.  I do admire his work and think it works very well as book covers.








The Table Restaurant

For the month of August The Table Restaurant in Portobello (a block away from Lock's Restaurant on the Canal) had a special offer of 30% off (excluding wine).  We had picked up a 30% off voucher in Coffee Society on Monday and immediately booked in for Saturday night.

We were celebrating our 12 yr wedding anniversary and as we were seated overlooking the canal I remarked how lovely the setting was for our special meal.

We settled in to our seats and ordered a bottle of Cote du Rhone.  For starter we decided to split a beef carpaccio but found out that the last one had just been sold as we ordered.  We ordered duck pâté with fig chutney to share to start instead of the beef.
The above is the bread service which had a selection of breads served with pesto, butter and olive oil & balsamic vinegar.

The duck liver pâté in the above pic was melt in the mouth deliciousness!

For main I chose the Rib Eye with pepper sauce while Ciaran had the pork.  Both were delicious.  My steak was huge so I gave half to Ciaran and he also had my chips.



For dessert we shared a chocolate pudding which was melt in the mouth - delicious!!


On the way home we saw some Dublin wildlife with two water rats (eeek!) running in to the canal as we walked along and a big fox blatantly strolling up our road as we turned in to the cul de sac.  

I enjoyed seeing the fox.  The rats, not so much!!

Speakeasy!

We visited a newly opened "Speakeasy" yesterday evening for an illicit cocktail before dinner. 

Speakeasy's originated during prohibition in the USA.  They were illegal liquor purveyors that only became known by word of mouth and of course were under constant threat of being raided by the police.

Today a speakeasy is a small bar that is not signposted or advertised.  Again knowledge of these secret bars are gained by word of mouth.  These bars are not mainstream and pride themselves on serving select well made cocktails with premium ingredients.

The speakeasy we visited is in Ranelagh above a particular restaurant (contact me directly for the name!).  To get to it we went up the back of the restaurant, through the staff area, out the fire door and up a small stairs.  We then entered a teeny dimly lit bar.  There are seats for about 20 max I'd say.  We sat at the bar which is US style in dark wood with a lip to the edge to prevent drinks falling off.

For drinks we chose a bourbon based "Old Fashioned" for Ciaran and a fresh tasting "Falling Water" for myself (we loved the Frank Lloyd Wright reference but perhaps this wasn't deliberate as it wasn't mentioned on the menu).

Our drinks were expertly made by the bar tender a lovely friendly lady who explained that many of the cocktails have been created by Paul (the proprietor, I presume) who has trained her to make them using the exact method every time. She said consistency was very important - I can't agree more!

We loved the atmosphere and the great tasting drinks.  We will be back!

Here's some pics of the bar and our drinks.







Saturday 17 August 2013

Rug me up!

It was all about Rugs this morning when we visited RugArt in Clonskeagh.  

We had borrowed a Jan Kath 'Maths' rug for a recent photo shoot in the house but of course as soon as it was taken away the place looked and felt so bare.  

We have decided that now is the time to begin looking for a rug for both the front and back room. Currently we have an old Habitat Rug in the back room that badly needs switching out. A rug will soften the look of the concrete floors as well as provide comfort under foot along with providing some sound insulation and hopefully lessen the echoes in the house.

RugArt have a great selection of rugs but we kept on being drawn back to the Jan Kath designs and in particular the amazing Maths rug.  We are having a think about it over the weekend as although stunning they are rather pricey.  


This rug is a work of art!

I found this rug interesting but would not choose it for my own house.

This is the Maths rug hanging on the wall. The colours are seriously vibrant.




Friday 16 August 2013

It's the little things....

Is there anything nicer than getting in to bed after it has been remade with clean sheets and covers??  Even better is doing it while wearing a fresh pair of pyjamas!

Other small pleasures in life include freshly baked bread with melting butter, a glass of warm milk when you cant sleep at night or best of all a shot a lemoncello after a tasty Italian meal.

What's your small pleasures in life?

In regard to Oprah

You have probably heard the story of how Oprah Winfrey was refused access to a bag by a shop assistant in Switzerland (she was there recently for Tina Turner's wedding, donchaknow!) who thought she wouldn't be able to afford it.  

Here's a hilarious letter sent in to the Daily Mail by a reader in regard to the Oprah incident

In relation to the above, I must point out for my American readers that a European size 12 & 14 is a US size 8 & 10!  I guess for a skinny minnie Italian that may have appeared fat (eeek) :-(  

Monday 12 August 2013

For a giggle....

I can't resist sharing this photo!

Did it make you laugh?

Dublin City Civic Offices

I needed to visit Dublin City Council offices in order to arrange parking permits for our cars.

The Civic Offices were highly controversial when built.  In the late 1970's plans were made to build on the historical site of Wood Quay.  There was huge public outcry but the plans went ahead.

Architect Sam Stephenson designed two huge bunker like buildings which were not liked by the general public.  I have to agree that they are not attractive from the outside.

However, I am currently in the building as I blog and internally I quite like it.  With a glass roofed atrium and internal foliage it has a very pleasing feel about it.

Do you like the look internally?




Here's the outside entrance.



Sunday 11 August 2013

Smarter than a smart

As regular readers know, I drive a Smart Car which I adore.  I was considering getting a new Smart until I came upon a Toyota IQ.  It's pretty much the same size as a Smart but it has two seats in the back (which is the boot space of the Smart). How clever!

The IQ has a 1 litre engine in comparison to the Smarts 599 cc engine.  It should get about 50mpg - awesome!

So anyway look what I picked up on Friday!


What do you think?!

Two teeny back seats - only comfortable for short journeys I would think (best for those with short legs!)


The other great thing is that I get to hold on to my beloved Smart! My husband got rid of his Mercedes and is driving the Smart instead. We live down a tiny cul de sac with limited parking so his large car was unsuitable (and very inefficient considering he only does a 2 mile round trip to work each day) - the Smart is a better option for him at the moment. Result!!!