More Fun with the A-B-Zs (that's A-B-Zed's in case you were wondering...)

Hello All...

Here are a few more gems from my ever growing book of Irishisms...

Much of a Muchness: Rolls off the tongue doesn't it...Americish translation: it doesn't matter either way or there's really no difference between them... The old Irish lady equivalent of, "Six of one, half a dozen of another..."

My heads hangin' off me: Oh but there are so many ways to really describe that hangover. Usage: After drinking free cosmos all night on Monday at a schmoozy design thing my head was absolutely hanging off me the next day when I had to get up and go to work...haha. (a true story even ;))

I wouldn't kick her/him out of bed for eating crisps: You can probably tell what this one means...That lady/lad is so aesthetically pleasing that I am willing to live with a world of scratchy bits in my bed...Come hither and eat crisps why dont'cha?!

It works a treat: First heard by me on Irish radio...as in, "It's my wedding day tomorrow and I have a giant spot on my chin what ever should I do...?" Answer: teatree oil works a treat. And like magic...poof the spot was gone.

Cop on / Catch yerself on: Similar to "Wind yer neck in," (see previous post.) Statement: "I am such a rockstar of such grandiose porportions..." Response: "Catch yourself on mate." Americish translation: Get over yourself, wake up and smell the coffee or my personal favorite, "Bitch please."

I'm so hungry I could eat the arse out of a hot buttered donkey...Does this really need any explanation????

Well, back to work, it's nearly 2pm and not a wee-un washed...fecks sake, like.

High Heels and Headaches

I think I am becoming a shopaholic...Have spent the last two weekends trolling from shop to shop. Have two fancy functions coming up and needed to get a dress (and of course then I needed shoes, a handbag, a jumper etc...) Had to find something fit for a wedding and a black tie gala for work. It's amazing how you can go into a shop looking for formal wear and come out with 2 pairs of cordoroy trousers and a belt...(I can't be the only one who does that!) I have apparently become a sucker for marketing...haha. One thing is for sure, Dublin shopping is Divine (much better than Belfast.) Let's just hope I can pay the rent this month ;) Still haven't found that perfect handbag for the black tie occasion...guess there is more consumer joy in my future.

On other fronts, work has been ridiculously busy which normally I would be happy about. Better to be busy than bored... but I am finding myself extremely blocked on the creative front. The last couple of websites I've worked on have been hours of work looking for the concept with little to nothing to show for it. So frustrating. I think it's partially that I get stressed out knowing that there's a lot to do and wanting to bang it out and partially that designing for web is relatively new to me and I just don't have the quick fixes in my head. Either way, I'm ready to pull my hair out lately. Think I have a more volatile relationship with Design than with anything else in my love. Love it and hate it and everything in between. Guess I really need my upcoming vacation...10 days now! Yahoooooo!

Wish me luck walking in the ridiculously glam high-heeled shoes I just bought. Will have to take it easy on the Whiskey front or will spend the wedding this weekend on me arse...haha.

July is October

Happy Halloween All,

Strangely Halloween here bears a striking resemblance to the 4th of July... This is the weekend of fireworks...people have been setting them off all weekend. It's kind of cozy, sitting in my warm house while it's rainy and dark and the fireworks give the impression of a thunder storm out there. The laws pertaining to fireworks must be really different here cuz these are the real thing, put away your bottle rockets. I've been watching explosions outside that more closely resemble the displays on the esplanade than a back yard barbecue. Very pretty (but it is amazing that nothing gets burned down!)

Other than the firworks, it's been a quiet halloween although I got a couple of my neighbor's kids trick or treating and did manage to carve myself a jack-o-lantern yesterday. I guess the days of turnip carving may be coming to an end! Imported pumpkins have appeared in the supermarkets here in the last few years (although they come with instructions for how to make a, "lantern"!) Even though I'm halfway across the world, it still smells like Halloween here and the night has that cold, dark quality to tells you that winter is on its way (although here the dark is much more pronounced than the cold.) When I woke up this morning, I couldn't tell whether it was 4am or 11am...it's just that dark. I could definitely hibernate.

night,night.

To all the Wankers who keep Posting Adverts disguised as blog comments

Lloyd Dobbler said it best:

"I've thought about this quite a bit sir and I would have to say considering what's waiting out there for me, I don't want to sell anything, buy anything or process anything. I dont want to sell anything bought or processed or buy anything sold or processed or repair anything sold, bought or processed. I dont want to do that..."

Or how 'bout just, "Feck off, I ain't buying." Less eloquent but gets the point across just as well... Take yer biz elsewhere.

Cuttin' edge in Carlingford

Carlingford Disco
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Ye olde Town Diso...haha

fashionistas in da house (and I was there too...)

Hi All,

I apologize for my blog neglect over the past two weeks. It's been crazy busy. Was running the spoiltchild by meself (the company I work for is Spoiltchild Design in case some of you are wondering of which spoiltchild I speak...) and have started my Italian class and continued on with my yoga class.... but things seem to be quieting down now, work is back to normal and I'm awol from yoga tonight as all this hot/cold/sunny/rainy/windy/still weather seems to have given me a cold (what a surprise huh?)

Last weekend I went up to Carlingford again sans Tommy for a ladies weekend with Helen and her friends. Was a little nervous before hand about being thrown into a captive situation with a lot of strangers but Helen's friends were all very sweet. I met up with the lot of them on Saturday in Newry (land of shopping and a canal and not too much else) and wandered around the shops with them and then back to Helen's house for a take-out chinese and some cocktails (whiskey for me). It's funny being around a group of people who have been friends for years and years. It gave me the first inkling of what it must be a like to be a newbie around my group of frenz... the Belfast ladies all know eachother so well and have so much history that they can just dive into stories with no context or recall funny/awkward/fabulous/horrible moments in the past together. Telling stories that everyone already knows but want to hear anyway seems to be a universal trait...those stories that start with remember when....? At the same time, Helen and co. are also very different from me and come from a really different world which was interesting for me to witness. Catholicism and it's resulting social guidelines play a much bigger part in their lives than anything I've ever experienced. Things seem to be done more, "by the book," here. A much more conservative and structured ethos exists around dating...sleeping in the same bed with yer mate unless you're married is a fairly big no-no particularly under your parents roof (It is done regularly of course, but is on the DL). Virginity still matters even if only in theory. The wedding rituals abound...bended knee, engagement parties, hen parties, big weddings etc... Made it a bit awkward to explain my wedding situation. The, "let's see the rock conversation," or "how did he ask you," conversations just don't apply. Gender roles also seem to apply a bit more than I'm used to as well. Cuz Damn, these ladies look good. Helen is an absolute fashion wonderwoman and her friends were equally well put together...perfect make-up for breakfast, diesel jeans, pointed toe boots, higlighted hair, celebrity gab-mags, Mariah Carey. Girls are just well, more girls around here. I'm not sure where I fit in that equasion being one who likes make-up and clothes and certainly harbors a generous amount of feminine vanity but who generally just can't be arsed to make that much of an effort. It's easy to forget how much people's lifestyles really do vary when I'm home in the people's republic of Cambridge with my friends and our joined histories and memories. Like being a social anthropologist in a way...haha.

We went out to the "Disco," in Carlingford which Helen warned us beforehand was way more kitsch than cool. It was in the small hotel in Carlingford and kind of reminded me of a wedding reception venue in 1985...absolutely hilarious...farmer boys and dinky disco lights and old skool poppy-dance music..."another night, another dream but always you..." Was good fun really. Helen's friend Rita straightened my hair with these super expensive (and effective) hair straighteners (if you don't mind the smell of your own hair burning...haha) Was actually quite fun to have bone straight hair to toss around for the evening...even if I didn't have the pointy toes to match.

The next day was spent just chilling out, talking and eating potato bread and eggs and tidying the house. Had a nice chat with Helen about growing up in Belfast and friends and how all of these people I've been meeting fit together and the like. Was nice. Overall it was good to get out of the house and to be around other people...specially after my two weeks of enforced solitude.

Am off to drink tea and lie on the couch and otherwise nurse my sore throat and runny nose...mmmmm...

Better late than Never

The Real Pub Grub
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

More Pics from Sligo and Donegal for your viewing pleasure...

Friends of the Friendless

Hola mi Amigos,

Well, Tommy boy is off in Barcelona, the lucky bastard, so I am once again, left to my own devices. Most of the people I would normally hang out with here are also away from Dublin this weekend so it looks like I'm going to have a very clean house and a well used DVD player. In some ways, I'm looking forward to the down time but I'm sure by Saturday afternoon, I'll be asking the mail man to go for a pint... :) Maybe I can go into the local Spar and see what time the cashiers get off...haha. Coincidentally, I'm alone in the office this week as well as Alan is on his holidays. I may actually forget how to interact with other humans by the time I meet any again... I'll have to start grunting and pantomiming to commmunicate...

On other fronts, I started my Italian class this week and I think it's going to be really good. There are three students including myself, an Englishwoman, a woman from Cork and me. Our teacher is a young Italian woman from Naples who seems really nice and lives in my neighborhood (which means I have someone to commute home with post-class.) Yoga is also going well. I'm enjoying getting the stretching in. Really helps after a week of sitting in front of the computer. My neighbor is good company and it's been nice to get to know her (although the other people in the class don't really talk to us.) Dubs are notoriously cliquey though, so whaddya expect. My yoga teacher is way weeds and seeds. She's a homeopath and accupunctarist and is always giving us health and lifestyle advice and telling anecdotes about this, that and the other thing. Good stuff and a good thing I have these classes to go to or I might actually become a hermit. Hello, anyone out there?????

Weather has been beautiful the last couple days. I'm hoping it will hold so I can take myself down to the farmers market on Saturday and get some treats... maybe some Oysters and Guinness if I can work up the courage to sit at one of the tables by myself. I really am shockingly shy when on my own. Have visions of just heading out to my local for a pint and see if maybe the bartender will talk to me...haha...but am probably too introverted for such things. we'll see.

Hope you're all well.

Dido
official member, friends of friendless local chapter

So Much for National Health Care

After nearly eight months of living here, I have finally had to delve into the mysterious world of Irish healthcare. After 2 weeks of that yeasty feeling, 3 seemingly ineffective OTC treatments and a whole ocean of plain yoghurt, I gave up and made an appointment at the local clinic. After sitting in a typical office waiting room full of people with the most wet, phlegm ridden coughs I've ever heard, I went in to see the Doc. He was a youngish and nice guy but strangely, he didn't examine me, just took my word for it that I've got a yeasty... huh...wonder what he would do if I requested a months worth of oxycontin... He was very nice and did take his time talking to me and doing a few doctorly things like taking my blood pressure and doing that fun p.h. test on a little jar of pee...mmmm. Twenty minutes later though, the fun was over and I was off to the counter to pay for my visit (which is when the true heart attack set in.) €45 yoyos for my little jaunt to the clinic and another €30 for the prescription... Jaysus, Mary and Joseph that's a fat chunk of change for a trip to the MD. It's enough to make me want to drink Echinacea by the gallon and bathe in anti-bacterial soap. Rip-off Dublin rears its ugly head once again...

There Really are rainbows.

The end of the Road
Originally uploaded by di_juice. Just had to stop and get a picture of this... 'bout two seconds after I took the pic, the rainbow disappeared.

Fresh Meat?

Fresh Meat?
Originally uploaded by di_juice. One of many photos taken during our trip to Donegal...this one was a bright morning in scenic Killybegs... ;) Fresh Meat anyone?

Chicken wit' me head cut off

Hi All,

As you can probably tell by my lack of postings, it's been a busy two weeks. Had some more lovely American visitors (Miss Ilana and Sir Rich.) We did a ridiculous amount of everything during the week that they were here. Went to see a play in a tiny theatre down an alley in Dublin (as part of Dublin Fringe.) It was kind of a Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Jacques meets Broadway type venture with the three characters being: Kitty, Miss Pussy and Queenie (and yes, he was a queen.) Good stuff. The next night, our very cultured selves went to an Art opening in Temple bar showcasing a Korean Master Woodblock printer (with lots of free wine...yahooo) and Tom purchased his first piece of art (don't ask how much it cost, best not to think about it.) An Indian feast and several glasses of wine later (at the Odeon) and my hangover was guaranteed.

The next day we headed up to Co. Sligo and Donegal which were stunningly beautiful...rocky coastlines, steep cliffs, sky-blue water and miles and miles of orange-tinged coutryside. Will post pics soon. We spent the weekend eating seafood, drinking, hiking, shopping for crafty-type things, exploring castles and driving around the scariest, narrowest, windiest roads ever in our Volkswagon Polo. Ate the most tremendous oysters at a whole in the wall in a tiny town. I am becoming an oyster addict... I have yet to have a bad oyster in this country... one of the benefits of living on an island, I suppose. Love those slimy little feckers... it's a pure salt high. yum. The weather was pure Irish with intermittent rain (meaning it comes on like a train wreck, pours for five minutes and then moves on and becomes sunny (ish) again. Great weather for rainbows of which we saw many and waterfalls (of which we saw one.) Everytime I think I've seen the most beautiful parts of the country, I find some new loveliness to explore. If only it was a bit warmer in these parts, it would be brilliant... a nation of beaches and mountains.

This week has been absolutely mad. The yeast-beast is back to haunting me which puts me in bad form and work has been very busy. Not to mention, the cold I've been avoiding and a debacle regarding an Italian class that I'm taking (not worth going into details.) Despite all this, I went to a comedy club event last night. (Should have stayed in and gone to sleep early but we got the tickets weeks ago.) It was actually really good craic (as they say). Six Irish comedians and one extremely funny MC and it was all televised for RTE. Almost ended up being part of the show when the MC asked if there were any Americans in the audience and all the people we were with started pointing in my direction as I was apparently the only American in the place. Luckily he moved on quickly when I hid under the table...haha (just kidding.) I was able to cop on to most of the Irish humor but there were definitely a few times when I had to turn to Tom for an explanation of exactly why a joke was supposed to be funny. Huh?

Looking forward to a weekend of rest. Strangely, I'm going to watch the Red sox game on Friday night (as Brice and Michelle have sky sports and get all the baseball and every other sport imaginable.) Will have to bust out my Red sox cap and represent.

The Devil came to Belfast

IMG_6585
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

The Life of a Party

Late nights this weekend (as is the way when crossing the border.) Welcome to Northern Ireland where I get no sleep :) Went to Armagh city on Friday night for a surprise 50th birthday party... There was a huge crowd including Gaelic footballers (mmmmmm), aged politicians, hot grannys, college students -everyone whose ever partaken of the hospitality of our (very generous and very drunk) host. I also saw the largest beerbellys of my life at said shindig. Bellys that you could carry on a tray. Long term effects of drinking the black stuff?! Attempted to set dance (well was coaxed onto the dance floor kicking and screaming ;) ) which was good fun but anyone watching would have thought that I actually have two left feet... I am quite the image of grace and coordination at these things... Think I was meant to dance only in large crowds where no choreography need apply...haha.

Saturday, we headed to Belfast and went to a wedding After-Do. Think this is a peculiarly Irish phenomenon. You have the typical reception, dinner, toasts, cake etc... and then you open the event up to (from what I can tell) everyone you've ever known ;) to keep the party going... Good stuff. Off go the children and the grannies (except for our friend's ninety-five year old granny who had more energy than me!) We were there to see Kerry and John - another half-Irish, half-American duo living in the states which was really great. Sometimes forget how much I miss the company of women.

After the after-do, we crossed town to a, "fancy dress," party. Now, when I hear fancy dress, I think, cocktail dress and tuxedo so was somewhat surprised when Gee (the host) answered the door wearing a full-on Elvis costume... Party was typical Belfast with the ever-present set o' decks. No northy party is complete without the scratch...wikky, wikky, wikky. Martina (who we recently visited in London) was playing hip-hop and soul records in a spandex red devil suit and there was food and beer in every corner. The theme was gods and goddesses and other costume highlights included: Gavin (a male) dressed as a domestic goddess, medusa herself, Ozzie Osborne (rock god?) Eve (naked suit with fig leaf - funnier after the woman wearing it took it off and a skinny guy put it on and started dancing) a spied (translation = white trash) with four arms (not sure why the four arms but they looked cool) and Monkey Magic (some sort of European cartoon character.) I took a ton of pics which will appear soon on the blog. I know you will all be waiting with baited breath...

Today, it's back to the grind although Ilana and Rich arrive tomorrow so it should be a good week. Take care.

Eat Your Heart Out...

Or rip it out of your chest and modern dance with it...which is just what I witnessed last night at a performance that was part of the Dublin Fringe Festival. After that introduction, you are probably thinking, good god, what a horrible thing to witness but it was actually pretty cool. The performance was called, "Knots," and consisted of 6 dancers - three brides and three grooms exploring marriage and ltr's and gender interactions and the like. The dancers were amazing, dialogue was good and it actually had a great, ironic sense of humor about it...It would have to to be able to pull off the histrionics of literally ripping your heart out. And I'm not usually a huge fan of modern dance. Good stuff. I'm going to try and see a few more bits of theatre or visual art before the fringe is over. If anyone's interested in seeing what's on, check out: http://www.fringefest.com Will keep ya posted.

Moooooooooo

Moo
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Click on the pic to see Connemara where the cows run free and the sheep are fearless.

No Rest for the Guilty

Was out last night with Tommy, a couple of the Belfast Boyos, Leon and a couple of his Dub friends bouncing around from pub to club. It was our second night out in a row so I was on the water (one hangover a week is more than enough for me) but it still ended up being a pretty late night. Sometime round closing, Leon's Dub friend copped on to my American accent and decided to bring up American politics...and I thought to myself, Here we go again... An hour later, having been talked at about Americans and oil and Iraq and 9/11 and all the rest of it by an extremely drunk lad with a serious Dublin accent and a penchant for close talking, I have to say that I started to lose my patience. Yes, I do have multiple problems with American foreign policy, with American domestic policy, with the arrogant way in which we go about bullying the UN and indeed the rest of the world with our ass-backward neo-con ideology but ultimately when having these conversations (as I do frequently) I have to ask, "What the feck do you want me to do about it??" I didn't vote for that clown George W. I don't drive an SUV. I write to my senators regularly. I take public transport. I'm not a born-again and I certainly don't think I have all the answers or should tell other people how to run their countries fer fuks sake. I am as outraged as the next person over the dangerous incompetence of the Bush administration and No, I don't drink oil for breakfast and wash it down with a few Iraqi children for lunch... So the next European who goes on a diatribe about evil America is not getting an apology from me (especially when they happen to be a Drunk Dub trying to tell me what Americans are all about when they've been to New York city once for 5 days.) I don't think so, mate.

Glendalough

Glendalough - Upper Lake
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Where the Faeries live...

Glendalough - Waterfall!
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Took a drive in our new motor down south into Co. Wicklow which is probably one of the most beautiful counties in Ireland - a mixture of sandy beaches and lush mountainscapes. It is also home to Glendalough (where most of these photos were taken) which is a National Park and Historical site. We walked through a sixth century Monastic city full of mossy stone walls and headstones in the shape of celtic crosses (and quite a Phallic looking tower whose purpose I'm not sure of.) Very cool. There are also a bunch of different trails to hike through the mountains (which is where this waterfall shot was taken.) The best part is this giant misty gorge with lone "Six Feet Under" type trees silhouetted at the top. The water is super shiny and clean like mountain water can be (before it becomes polluted...) The whole place has a very Pacific Northwest vibe. I find that when I leave the city, the landscapes are often reminding me of Northern New England and Oregon all rolled into one. I absolutely love it.

After a somewhat crap week, I was so, so, psyched to be treking around the woods and rolling up my jeans to wade around in the mountain water. For a city girl, I really do feel most relaxed and happy when I'm surrounded by trees and/or water (lakes, ponds, ocean...I'm not picky.)

The last few weeks have actually been really beautiful weather wise but strangely the days are the spitting image of late September, early October days in Boston: The sky is vivdly blue and there's a bit of a chill in the air but it's still fairly warm. There's a particular smell in the air, slightly damp but crisp and the sun is starting to lower so that the light and shadow on everything is magnified giving color a brilliance that it doesn't normally have. I saw an enormous rainbow over the ocean last week during one of these Fall type days (as it always rains a little bit here even if the rain is falling through seemingly sunny skies.) It was really something. Put me in a good mood just to see it. Fall in New England is actually my favorite time of the year and days like this make me so nostalgic for apple picking and pumpkin carving and walks through the woods kicking leaves around while wearing the sweaters that have been in the closet all summer.

I have to say that it is really strange to have had weather like this in August, as in New England it is essentially the last hurrah of a dying season - the beauty of trees and plants and sun that are about to hibernate or die as the winter arrives. I have to wonder if that means that winter is going to be a very dark time here as the sun must be very, very, low in the sky come December... Well, time will tell...

On other notes, have started working from home one day a week which is fabulous. Cutting the three hours of commuting time from my day is really something and while I've only done it once, I felt like it was actually easier to stay focused and be productive at home than at work as I'm in my own comfortable and quiet little environment and can take little breaks to water my plants or make toast or pop in a CD or what have you. Very nice. After working from home last Tuesday, I actually had the energy to go up to the Clontarf Promenade and go (drum roll please...) jogging. Usually, I can only muster the energy to lie in front of the TV (or read the New Yorker or some scary Bridal magazine) by the time I get home and make/clean dinner which is really kind of depressing even if the TV here is pretty good compared to home. Have never before found my self watching any amount of TV every day. Have really been trying to limit it - watching too much makes me feel like I am a spectator in my own life, watching other people instead of being out there having my own experiences. Creepy. And I want to throw things when I see the same annoying adverts over and over again.

Thank god for the weekends and my trips to various lovelinesses. Last night had a great dinner with Michelle and Bryce. Good pizza and wine and homemade brownies with icecream and good conversation and the like. Friday went out to the Pub with Dominick and Helen but both nights, we were home before midnight - think I must be getting old. Didn't we used to go out around midnight?! Well, I'm off to go put on my grandma pants...where did I leave my teeth?!

Love to you all.

Don't Click the Pic...

Lissanoure Castle
Originally uploaded by di_juice.

Unless you happen to have an enduring interest in wedding venues or a long standing love of estates and hotels in Northern Ireland. ;) Six venues in one day and here are the photos to prove it. If you do look at the pics - notice how dramatically the weather changes in one day. It is really something. We visited: Lissanoure Castle (Co. Antrim), Malone House (South Belfast), Clandeboye Estate (Bangor, Co, Antrim), Crawfordsburn Inn (Co. Down), Galgorm Manor (Co. Antrim) and The Culloden Hotel (Holywood, that's pronounced Hollywood but with one l for extra badness... or goodness...or something, Co. Antrim)

Thank god for our new hoopty or there's no way we could have covered so much ground in one day. It was actually kind of fun to check out all these different spaces and towns and the like. My faves from this trip were Malone House and Lissanoure Castle where I had to stand on Tom's shoulders to see into the courtyard as it was locked up and no one was around. It would probably have been comical to see for anyone other than Tom who had my feet in his face...haha.

As is the way in Northern Ireland, the residents of any given place make it very obvious, "whose side they're on." Tom almost turned around on our way to Galgorm Manor as the nearby towns were absolutely plastered with union jacks, northern ireland red and white flags, scottish flags and any other flag or bunting you can think of in to suggest to you that you are in loyalist country. Don't even think about being Irish in these parts. Galgorm Manor is rumored to be giving kick-backs to the LVF (Loyalist Paramilitary) and after our visit, I wouldn't be surprised if it's true. Tom was getting all hot under the collar just being there so I suppose it won't be the best venue... Good thing it wasn't that nice cuz I suppose it wouldn't be ideal to fund a bunch a gangsters who beat up the local icecream man if he doesn't kick back some cookies...

Crawfordsburn Inn was quite Proddy-doddy as well but in a very posh type way although there was an Orange Hall decorated with Union Jacks across the street which meant that Tom needed to be dragged inside to even look at the place ;). Very pretty in an English Countryside way except for the actual banquet hall itself which looked like it jumped out of Pretty in Pink circa 1985...eek. Notice also, the pic of bride and bridesmaids with full on tan-in-a-can action happening...haha.

The Clandeboye Estate has gorgeous stonework and were having some sort of BBC classical concert happening when we were there (Lolo would have approved.) Pretty courtyard and a bell tower full of doves. Unfortunately, the main hall looks wicked medieval with lots of dead, white guys hanging on the walls - but still kind of cool - dead guys and all. Nice Big windows and cool wicker-type chairs.

Lissanoure is a farm and a castle so there were lots of cows and sheep and a pond and a little stone bridge going over a stream and a pond with geese and such. We peeked in the windows to see the inside which is fairly nice with Yellow walls although U shaped and a bit small. They have a big, icky, function hall behind it if you want to have an event with more than 100 peeps but yuk, it reminded me of summer camp on a rainy day.

Malone house was pretty cool too but doesn't hold as many peeps as the Belfast Castle - only 110-120 at the most. Lots of light and high ceilings. Pretty surrounding countryside but no ocean nearby.

Anyway, you get the idea. Promise the blog won't become the journal of Bridezilla but thought a few people (or maybe just my mom ;)) would like to take a look.

And just in case you didn't notice on your own (if you're color blind or over 80 years old) don't forget to check out the shockingly bad taste in carpets that are ubiquitous here... impossible to get away from - bright red with blue flowers, bright blue, bright yellow...and lest you think this is just for function halls - these textile delights can be found in numerous private homes... Amazing.

Love to you all.