I hate it when...

I hate it when...you haven't checked your email in a while and you see you have a new message and you are all excited to hear from someone you know...and it's spam from a credit card company...or some internet mailing list you ended up on...I really hate that!

Party Weekend in Stockholm, Sweden

Ok, I have been a very bad blogger so I have decided to try and catch up on all the experiences and travel weekends I've had over the past few months so that I don't forget all the good memories.

After my last post I took a trip to Stockholm to visit my friend Marie for a long weekend. I landed in Stockholm on a Thursday night late and since I was very tired, Marie and I went back to her apartment in Solna and caught up since we hadn't seen each other in over 2 years. It was a really nice evening.

We awoke Friday and decided to spend the day doing one of my favorite activities... Shopping:) So we browsed the mall near her house for most of the day and came home that night full of shopping bags and decided to head to the clubs.

We started the evening at The Soap Bar, where we ran into some of Marie's old friends and had a few drinks there with them. After a few hours of partying there, we went to a club a few blocks away called Hell's Kitchen. We ended up with a group of new friends there who had a table with a huge magnum of champagne. We had a great party evening that turned into an afterparty that lasted well into the next afternoon.

On Saturday, after a quick nap, we had decided to take a cruise from Stockholm to Finland, supposedly a "party cruise". We decided to get massages when we got there and we were so tired after our all night party the night before that we ended up eating the cruise ship dinner and going back to the cabin where we slept all night. Swedish massages are THAT GOOD, lol. We missed all the club activities and spent the next morning having a buffet breakfast and shopping at the cruise's duty free.

We then took a mini walking tour of Stockholm for a few hours before it was time to head back to Marie's for an evening of cooked mushrooms (different than LA mushrooms - they're wild and dried) with toast and had a nice evening at the house before going to bed early to catch a very early flight the next morning back to Dublin and straight into work.

Unfortunately, my luggage didn't make the connecting flight so I had another travelling lesson learned... Never put your keys in your luggage. My luggage landed in Dublin at 11pm at night, much later than I did and I had no way to get into my apt after a very long party weekend. Gavin and Fran, my neighbors/co-workers were kind enough to let me stay at their house until my luggage arrived.

All in all, it was a great trip, I loved Stockholm and would definitely go back. I would love to go in the summer for mid-summer and spend some time in the rural areas of the country as well. Good times.

One Year In Dublin

It's a sleepy morning and I am drinking my first cup of coffee for the morning and thought I would write a little bit. Alot of people have been asking why I made my blog private...mostly I just decided that I didn't want the entire world wide web to have access to my private thoughts, pictures and life. I also realized that I was really sensoring my blog and I shouldn't have to do that so this was the better option. I hope you all continue to log in and read and enjoy it.

I went out with my friend from work Rena last night. It was a beautiful evening. The sun was out all day yesterday and so we headed into town right after work for dinner and a few drinks. We had a lot of fun hanging out in the outdoor beer gardens at Crawdaddy, made friends with a few of the guys of this really good Irish band that had played there last night and eventually called it an early night since she was heading south for a day of massage today after her triathalon last weekend.

I am finally finishing my medicine from being sick and I have to admit that it has put me a bit on edge. The medicine had steroids in it so you have to come off it slowly to allow your body time to adjust and I've noticed that I'm really cranky and irritable and even irrational for no reason. I hate feeling that way but today is the last day that I have to take it so hopefully it will even out soon. So I've been trying to stay low key to avoid any more dramatic situations because even though I know I have been way over-sensitive to everything, I can't tell what is from the medicine and what is from reality.

Yesterday marked the one year date from when I arrived in Ireland. I cannot believe that an entire year has gone by. Sometimes it feels like it has flown by. At other times, it feels like it has been forever - too long. I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I am glad that I came here and tried to shake things up in a bit. I have learned alot from the experience. I have tried to accomplish things while I was here, travel goals, long-term career goals, but I have to admit that I don't know if given the opportunity, I would do it again.

I am definitely an LA girl. I love sunshine and the beach and outdoor activities and the social and cultural variety that comes with living in such a big city. My friends and my family are all there as well so of course that makes a big difference too. I notice that my experiences are so different here even when I have only a few friends in town. It becomes an entirely different experience, than when I am in my daily routine which is primarily spent at work or alone. But given the choice right now, I would come home at first opportunity to be back in the City of Angels with the people I love most.

I think I will continue to travel for the rest of my life. I absolutely love visiting new places and seeing the culture of each environment be so different from place to place. I do think it is different to spend a few weeks on vacation than to actually relocate your life and it has been good for me to experience some of the challenges that come with completely changing your environment. But one of the biggest lessons learned is that I want to spend my life with my family and friends and have travel as something I can do on vacation, not spend long lengths of time away from them.

So the ultimate unanswered question becomes, will I survive another year in Dublin? And is it worth it? I ponder that thought daily and I don't have an answer yet. I take things in baby steps now. I am meeting a friend in Sweden at the end of this month. I will be hopefully heading to Italy for a weekend in October. My birthday weekend, I will probably go to London with one of the girls from work. The weekend after my birthday, I will come home for a week into Thanksgiving. I will also come home for Christmas into New Year's.

Most of you already know that when I return I will hopefully be starting my own recruitment firm. I work on the business plan weekly while I am here. That keeps me very busy and keeps me focused on the long-term reason that I moved here in the first place. I saw this as an opportunity to not only get outside of my "comfort zone" in LA where I was way too comfortable...ie. not growing or learning but also to financially put me in a position to take the next step career wise.

There are several reasons that this is important to me. First, I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for several successful companies, both large and start-up and I would like to take what I have learned over the years and actually create something that is as successful for me as it is for the people I work with and for. I want to do something different and better than the current standard of recruiting as it is something I am passionate about. I enjoy finding people good jobs that will further their lives and careers. At the same time, I would like to also benefit more of the rewards of that as well.

I also want to eventually be in a position that if I ever have a family of my own, I will be able to make them my priority but continue to contribute to the financial security of my family. Recruitment is ideal for that because I can do most of my work from home and still balance that with the other areas of my life. It is extremely important for me to be able to have that balance and hopefully not have to sacrifice the lifestyle I have become accustomed to. I have worked hard to get myself to this point and I would love to see it all come to fruition where I am doing work that actually helps others but also helps my own life as well.

So even though I don't have a family of my own now, the things I do now will ultimately affect in a positive way, the things that I can offer in the future. So for all of these reasons and more, it was important that I take this step and moved here a year ago because had I not, I may have continued to stay in my daily LA routine and not made the efforts required to take the next step. Being here has definitely put my focus on creating these things for my life so that my time here was not a waste and that when I return it will be to something better.

All that said, it is easy to get discouraged when you don't have your family and friend network close by to support and encourage you which is where I struggle most with being here. I find that I have more energy when I am around the constantly energizing people in my life. Most of these people are in LA and I crave that constantly while I am here. I am trying to make the most of it while I am here though and stay positive in what can sometimes be a very draining situation to be in.

OK, enough truths for now.

To be continued...

Trouble with pics.

I uploaded all the pics for the past few months today only to discover that Picasa is having issues with posting them on the blog and for some reason they are not visible. So rather than spend another 8 hours doing this again...I am going to wait a week or so and see if they resolve the issue. So frustrating!!! Crossing my fingers that it wasn't a total waste of a day.

Kindness from the Locals

I walked into the local hardware store this evening to pick up a transformer for my new Vonage phone, which is a fabulous new toy since now I have an LA based phone number that calls me at my house in Ireland and I can call LA without having to pay international rates. While I was there, I met three of the nicest people at the store, the owner (who has owned the store for 20 years), his assistant (a sweet Romanian girl) and one of the owner's friends. The four of us stood and chatted for almost 2 hours.

While chatting about electronics and such, I remembered that I have needed an electric coffee grinder for about a year now. I have at least 5 bags of coffee beans to be grinded and hadn't found an electric grinder since living here...and trust me, I have looked. Not only to my complete amazement did they have exactly one electric coffee ginder, but one of the older gentlemen I was chatting with, bought it for me as a gift for giving him great advice on gadgety things to buy (I introduced him to Vonage and suggested he buy an external hard drive and back up his computer). WOW, there really is still true kindness and generosity in the world! Happy Days!

And now I'm off to go brew some fresh coffee:)

A bit of craic!

So as I posted earlier, my car engine blew last weekend in the Ring of Kerry. I am officially in a holding pattern until next week to determine if it at all repairable as the one guy that I know who may be able to help it is "ON HOLIDAY". So this morning after literally running to the bus, I barely jumped on it in time to make it to work on time. I had "grand" plans to hit the gym this evening...foiled due to this breaking news:

14/8/2007 No DART services running south of Dun Laoighaire
There are no rail services operating south of Dun Laoghaire on the DART line due to a DART failure at Sandycove. Dublin Bus will honor tickets.

Of course I had already caught the shuttle to the DART in the POURING RAIN when I discovered this fabulous news. And there is no bus near the train station we were dropped at. So after waiting 30 more minutes in the POURING RAIN for the next shuttle to come back to the DART station, I was shuttled back at work just in time to run in the still pouring rain to catch the Dublin bus back home in rush hour backed-up traffic to arrive home two hours later. OH how I miss having a car and a 15 minute commute!!!

And in the middle of August here is the 5 weather forecast:
Tuesday RAIN 12 to 19 °C
Wednesday SHOWERS 10 to 17 °C
Thursday PARTLY SUNNY WITH SHOWERS 9 to 17 °C
Friday INTERMITTENT CLOUDS 9 to 17 °C
Saturday SHOWERS 10 to 18 °C

See a pattern here...the high for the week at 19* celsius translates to 64* fahrenheit. I have to find humour in all of this, it's become more amusing than annoying because it seems unbelievable to have more rain in the middle of summer than I typically see in a year:)

And finally, you know you are really WET when you have to change your jeans and your shoes when you get home, because the rain has crawled all the way up your pant leg to your knees. The one new thing I have learned since living here about why people wear their pants too high as if they are flooding....to avoid the floods:)

Happy DAYS!!!!!!!!

The Castle Tour of Ireland

Jude and Tara came to Europe for a three week tour of Sweden and Ireland. They first stopped in Dublin on a weeknight before heading to Copenhagen and then to Sweden for Vilda's Christening and a visit with Petra, Andreas and Hanna's family and friends. Since we only had one night before they continued to Sweden, we decided to head into Dublin City Centre and had a nice dinner at Peploes Wine Bistro which I would highly recommend for their ambience, selection of excellent cuisine and fabulous wine. After dinner, we walked around Dublin for a bit before heading back to Blackrock so they could taste a local pint of Guinness.

They returned to Dublin last Friday night and we decided to have a night of rest before beginning our tour around Ireland on Saturday morning. We started our castle tour by heading down to Kilkenny, where we had lunch followed by a tour of the Kilkenny Castle. We then did a bit of shoe shopping and headed back on the road to Waterford where we saw the Clock Tower, the Reginald's Tower and the Waterford Crystal Factory. The original plan was to also hit Wexford but I was told by several locals that it was too far for a one day trip so we skipped it. We then headed into Cork City for the night.

That night we had dinner at a local italian restaurant and stayed at the Imperial Hotel and walked around a bit in the rain. The next morning, the rain was a bit lighter so after an interesting breakfast experience at the hotel, we walked around a bit through the quays, Parliament Bridge, through the English Market which was unfortunately closed, and into the shopping district. We also got to see the Red Abbey and st. Mary's Dominican Church as we were searching for the car park where my car was hidden a few blocks from the hotel.

After finally finding the car, we hit the road and headed to The Blarney Castle where Jude and Tara kissed the Blarney Stone. Kissing the stone is said to bring the gift of magical eloquence or the "gift of gab". I declined as I have been told by several locals that the locals of Blarney actually pee on the stone. Yuck and no thank you...I already have the gift of gab and am eloquent enough without kissing it:) It was a beautiful castle to visit though.

We then headed toward the Ring of Kerry which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There are winding roads and exquisite views over the ocean and quaint villages. Unfortunately, just as we were heading out of the Ring and towards our next intended stop, which was dinner and a night's stay at Bunratty Castle, my car literally blew up. We were coming down a hill towards a cliff and as I went to make the turn, my car literally lost all power including steering and brakes. I am not quite sure how (divine intervention maybe) but I managed to turn the car as hard as I could to not head straight off the cliff while pulling on the hand brake to get the car to a stop. Thank God I had ordered AA (which is Ireland's version of AAA) the week before as it took an hour and a half to get a tow truck to come and get us and take us to the nearest city which was Killarney.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we never would have seen Killarney if my car had not died and it turned out to be one of our best evenings. Jude found the name of a hotel out of one of our travel books and I called and booked the room at the Killarney Park Hotel. This hotel had the best service I have ever encountered in my life. Not only did they give us their last room at a discounted rate because of how late we got there, but they helped with everything including finding us a rent-a-car the next morning. Killarney turned out to be my new favorite place in Ireland. We found a late dinner spot as we were all starving at this point and then found a cool spot playing fabulous live music called McSorley's. McSorley's also has a two story night club which we danced at after the live music ended at about 1am. It was a great night and of course not at all part of the plan.

I awoke the next morning at 8am to get the car situation sorted so we could get back on the road, we finally found a rent-a-car place at the Kerry Airport (with the help of the staff at the Killarney Park Hotel) and were back on the road by noon, a bit behind schedule. Now I was learning new skills as driving a car on the opposite side of the car on the opposite side of the road with a stick-shift around the roundabouts is quite a skill, I've decided.

We headed up the coast, through the town that hosts Kirby's, Jude's family name, to Bunratty Castle which I've visited before. Bunratty Castle also hosts the best apple pie I've had in years which we got to taste as the weather decided to take a turn for the worse and was downpouring. Finally, Jude and Tara were seeing the "real rain" of Ireland. We then high tailed it up the coast to Galway as I was supposed to catch the 6pm train that day from Galway to Dublin so that I could make it to work on Tuesday after the bank holiday weekend. We made it to Galway about 45 minutes too late though so we headed another hour up the coast to Jude and Tara's hotel for that evening at the Ashford Castle.

The Ashford Castle is unquestionably the most beautiful castle I have seen with an amazing golf course, although I didn't find the service there to be as nice as at the Killarney Park Hotel (Jude said the service was better the next day). We had a beautiful dinner and I did a tour of the castle as I wouldn't be there the next day to really explore it. I then woke the next morning at 5:30am, caught a cab to Galway, took a 3 hour train to Dublin and headed straight to work where I proudly arrived by 10:30am. Wow, what an adventure!

Jude and Tara continued to tour on Tuesday and saw the Cliffs of Moher, somehow got a flat tire in the rent-a-car(what was it with our bad luck with cars) and spent that night at the Drumoland Castle while I spent the evening getting some much needed sleep. They came back to Dublin on Wednesday night and toured the Hills of Tara and attempted unsuccessfully to tour Newgrange. They did see the Newgrange Museum but the actual tour of Newgrange had sold out by the time they got there. Apparently, you have to get there early or book through a tour due to it's popularity. So they returned to Dublin and we had our last night in Dublin at a great recommended restaurant Fire at The Mansion House. Tara was not feeling well at this point so we headed briefly into St. Stephen's Green, over to St. Patrick's Cathedral and then caught a taxi back to Blackrock and spent the rest of the evening packing for them to return to LA.

Other than my car exploding (I have since confirmed that the engine is blown and I will share that adventure in a later blog), it was a fabulous tour of Ireland. The castles were amazing, the memories will last a lifetime and it was so wonderful to have Jude and Tara visiting to share the experiences with. I was sad to see them go as it was so much fun to see so many things here that I may not have even attempted had they not been here. And we are already planning "The Comeback Tour" of Ireland to plan a trip back here to spend some quality time in the towns that we enjoyed the most. I already know I would like to spend more time in Kilkenny, Killarney and The Ring of Kerry.

Special Thanks: Thank you so much Jude for coming to visit, for all of your help and constant generousity with everything. I love you and will see you at the Barker Ranch for Thanksgiving dessert:) xoxo.

       

       

George Michael, Finally!

Last week before Tara and Jude arrived, I finally got to see George Michael in Concert. I attempted to see them in June but missed it as I was stuck in LA sick and ended up having to give the tickets away. So when he ended up cancelling the second day of that tour in relation to his pending drug charges when he was recently caught sleeping at the wheel in London, it was a blessing in disguise for me as I was able to buy tickets for the replacement show. Jo was an amazing trouper as I don't think she had the same love and passion for George that I did growing up but was open to the experience.

It was fabulous to see him in concert since I've followed his music since I was a child during his WHAM days and am an avid fan of turning up his Best Of George Michael CD while I clean the house on Saturday mornings. He played many of my favorite songs, including Freedom 90, FAITH (I bought the t-shirt, lol), Careless Whisper, and my new favorite Spinning the Wheel (I loved his live version). He also played a few of his new songs which I didn't even know and they were good as well.

I loved how he still dances like he did in the 80's, still looks suprisingly good in tight leather pants and still sounds amazing.

One thing I didn't know about George was his passionate political view points. So I was quite suprised when during his Freedom 90 song, a blow up doll emerged covering the stage of another George, George Bush, with the British Bulldog sucking his how shall we say "private parts". And then later on, another blow up doll emerged of a scary version of the statue of liberty with a plaque in her other hand that said "What is fuckin liberty". I had no clue he was using his concerts to boast his political viewpoints. Most interesting was that he didn't really receive a response from the crowd other than a slightly uncomfortable silence. OK then, back to the show.

I will say that the Irish had as great a love for George as I did and spent the entire time on their feet dancing, swaying and singing every word to every song, including a spontaneous outbreak of their own national anthem in between songs, so it was an exciting place to see the concert, one of my first in Dublin.

It was a great night and I am so glad that I finally got to see George...it only took 20 something years, buying 4 tickets, giving two away, and an hour and a half drive in traffic to the Point to finally see him perform live:)

Thanks JO for being a George fan for the night with me! I had a blast! Well worth the wait:)

       

The Beauty of Dublin and Kilkenny

I am still very behind on my travel posts. It is a beautiful rainy Saturday morning so I figured after my 12 hour sleep last night that I'd take a moment and catch up on my travels.

When I arrived back in Dublin, two of my favorite rock star friends from LA were already here for an Irish vacation. For those of you who don't know, I met George and Marisa separately at the Cat Club in Hollywood as I used to watch George's amazing band "JAY" perform there and Marisa and I became friends when she was cocktail waitressing there several years ago. She is also a beautiful actress/model and most importantly, one of my best friends...and of course, my favorite make-up artist:) George and Marisa later met and began dating and I love that we have all remained such close friends over the years. I also think it's funny how The Cat Club has brought so many people together.

It was so nice to come back to some of my LA peeps already in town. It was a godsend to have them in Dublin upon my return as I was feeling a bit nervous to return due to my recent health scare and as I entered the door of my apartment, they had already stocked my fridge with food from the local Superquinn and even put pretty yellow daisies in the window sill. What a wonderful way to come back to Dublin:)

So I pretty much threw down my suitcases, didn't even unpack and let the adventure began. We spent the first day in Dublin doing fun touristy things that I hadn't even seen yet. We visited the Guinness Storehouse where at the end of the tour, every guest gets a free pint of Guinness. What I didn't know was how beautiful the view was from the top of the factory. The glass windows of the top of the circular building show quite an impressive view over the city. We then took a walk down to the Christ Church Cathedral and decided not to enter when we realized they were actually charging an entry fee to enter the church which neither I or Marisa had ever heard of. We eventually headed back to the Dart and into Blackrock for a night of R&R as I was still jet lagged from the long trip from LA.

The next day we decided to take a road trip to the quaint town of Kilkenny where we roamed the streets sight seeing and taking in the beauty of the town. We had lunch in a pub, took a tour of the Kilkenny Castle and learned of the history of the Butler family who owned the castle until the early 1900's. We also saw a nice modern art exhibition in the basement and had fun taking pictures Charlie's Angel style in the shadow of the visual exhibition. We then strolled through High Street and took a tour of the St. Canice's Cathedral (we decided it was worth paying to see this one) where not only were the stained glass windows breathtaking, but you can climb a tower and see views of the entire city. George and I then hit a local Kilkenny pub for a pint of Smithwick's and a chat with the locals while Marisa headed to the Black Abbey. We met a hilarious man wearing a bright green cowboy hat who was performing that evening who did a solo performance for us before heading back to Dublin.

Marisa and George did a tour of the Ring of Kerry on Friday while I worked and then after much debate over what we should plan for the weekend (Galway, Dublin and the Roscommon Festival were all possibilities), we decided to do a walking tour of Dublin on Saturday. We started with lunch, and then signed up for a walking tour where we toured Trinity College, learned about the Vikings invasion of Dublin in the late 8th century, visited the City Hall (originally built as the Royal Exchange) and the Bank of Ireland which was the first parliament house in Europe and then headed into Temple Bar lined with cobblestone streets which hosts a variety of pubs, shops and my favorite, the Irish Film Institute.

After all of the cultural stimulation of the walking tour, we decided to find some art and music in the city so we headed to 4 Dame Lane where they were hosting a painting exhibit for a pint. We then pub crawled down Aungier Street to find live music and eventually landed at the Crawdaddy in the Tripod for live rock and roll music mixed with DJ rooms for dancing. It was an all nighter and so much fun:)

Sunday we chilled and headed to Dun Laighoire for a traditional Irish lunch in a pub and took the train to Dalkey for a bit of site seeing. We then headed back to Blackrock for dessert at Sheehan's. Their chocolate cake is amazing!

Unfortunately, George and Marisa had to return to LA on Monday morning and after a crazy adventure of flights, rented cars, etc. finally made it back to LA about 30 hours later. Another reason that I love the direct Aer Lingus 10 hour flight from Dublin to LA.

It was a fabulous week and I was so happy to have them in town when I arrived back in Dublin to continue the adventure.

       

       

Back in the Land of Liquid Sunshine:)

I have lately been a bad blogger, I will be the first to admit it. There are few reasons for this. One, blogging can be bullshit. I can write to my friends and family and keep them posted on the adventures of my travels, but the really juicy stuff will never be written on my blog because so many strangers have access to my blog and I would never publicly post this stuff for the public to read. Why? Because some things are better kept private. Two, I have journalled for most of my life, but the most intimate feelings and emotions that are tied with good journalling will never get full effect in a blog without exposing your innermost feelings...again I would not do this in a public forum unless it was something I was willing to share with everyone. Most things I am not willing to do this with. That said, it is fun to share the experience of travelling to a new country and the idiosyncricies that go with that in a forum that can be accessable to the public as well...as long as it is in edited version with tact and respect to not offend the people involved or expose situations which could be sensitive or harmful to those involved.

All that said, here is what has been going on with me. I am back in the land of the liquid sunshine, formally known as Dublin, Ireland. I say that because apparently this has been the worst weather seen here in 50 something odd years. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights when Noah built his ark...Ireland has seen more consecutive days of rain than that and this is supposed to be summer. Maybe the world is trying to tell us something and we are just not paying attention...hmmmm...there's a thought.

The liquid sunshine of Ireland has made people here very bitter. It is the worst case of SADS that I have ever in my life witnessed. Granted I lived a very LUCKY life to be raised in sunny California where SADS was something I read about in my college psych books but had no true concept of what that meant, but the reality is that SADS does exist, in states such as Washington and countries such as Canada, Ireland, etc. where people experience long lengths of darkness creating a lack of Vitamin D from the sun and has proven itself to be taking its toll on a good majority of the population here.

This has only had relevance in my life because of the extreme resentment received from a select few of those around me (to remain nameless) who have made it very apparent when I returned that they are very pissed off that I was in LA during this miserable weather, completely ignoring and dismissing the fact that I was extremely ill, could have died from the misdiagnoses I received while trying to get medical care here and required extensive medical treatment to diagnose and resolve my medical issues in LA, not to mention the extreme amounts of debt accumulated to get proper medical care. And the only thing I can really equate that to is that they are jealous that I was in LA where it was SUNNY and not in Dublin where it was RAINING. Seriously??? Are you kidding me? Who does that? I have found this behavior and attitude to be selfish, childish and honestly shows the lack of content in those people's character but all that said, the most interesting thing about being back in Ireland is that I really haven't cared.

It hasn't bothered me for one second that it has been raining here. It hasn't bothered me that there are some people who are ignorant here. It hasn't bothered me to not be in LA, which everyone knows I consider home. So the big news is that I am actually happy to be back. I am grateful to have found such a great doctor in LA who finally found out what was actually wrong and put me back on the path to recovery. I am grateful that they caught the infections and treated them before it was too late. I am grateful that I was able to do so with the support of my friends and family. I am grateful that there were people in my life who stepped up to the plate and truly helped me during the biggest time of need I have ever had. I am grateful that the people who were in my life who were not willing to step up to the plate when I needed them made themselves apparent as well and dismissed themselves.

My perspective has truly changed on so many things that it is amazing. I think that I was actually sick for much longer than it took to become hospitalized. I think that my body was fighting illness for at least 3 or 4 months before it got to the point that my immune system was no longer fighting back and the infection completely took over. I think that being sick for so long and fighting that infection really affected my mood, my behavior and my attitude in a negative way. I feel aweful that this had a detrimental effect on some of my relationships and that people had to be patient with me when I was feeling "off" and "irritable" and had no idea why. I am so grateful that I have enough good people in my life that they were willing to help me through and hold my hand through it when to be honest there were times that I was frankly miserable to be around.

I am still on medication to treat the infections. I still have days of intense pain. I try not to let it show, because I am sure that everyone is as SICK of hearing about it as I am sick of feeling it and sick of talking about it too. But I also have some days with little pain and because my health has improved so has my attitude and my perpective. I can no longer allow circumstances and events surrounding me to have such an effect on me as they once did because it actually effects me physically. I have no choice but to be less sensitive to others and to only allow people and situations in my life that are positive and encouraging. The negative energy that gossip and negative behavior can create can actually create ulcers or make them worse so I have no choice but to change the energy around me and in me if I want to heal and get better.

That said, because the medicines and the mandatory changes to my diet(no spicy food, no acidic food etc. etc.) have already started working, I am feeling more energized than I have been in months. Mentally at least. I am still sleeping alot, almost 12 hours a day, but I know that very soon, I will physically catch up with myself and be able to have longer days of productivity. For now, I am happy if I can make it to work for an entire day before crashing in the evening early. I am hoping by next week to have enough energy to make it back to the gym. I have a list of goals that I want to start crossing of the checklist one by one and have slowly started to work on those as well. And slowly but surely, the sun is actually coming out of hiding, even if does still have moments of liquid mixed in.

The Wedding!

So one of my best friend's finally gave up her single status and tied the knot last weekend. For someone who I know would have been equally happy getting married at the local city hall, it was the most amazingly detailed, fabulous wedding I have ever attended. The week of events started the previous weekend when 8 girls headed to Las Vegas for the bachelorette weekend and as we all know, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but the sharable highlights included suites at The Hotel at Mandalay Bay, a "Like a Virgin" themed night out(very big hit), the amazing views during dinner at MIX at the top of The Hotel, cabanas at the pool, an all night dance fest with VIP tables at Tryst and afterhours at Dre's, a bit of gambling, etc. etc.

The official wedding festivities started on Friday night with the rehearsal and over 100 family and friends were invited to a private party at Morton's in Beverly Hills for the rehearsal dinner. The wine was flowing, the food was fabulous and the desserts were mouth-watering delectable. After dinner, I headed to Venice to meet Alex, Rasmus, Mike and Andreas and hit James Beach and Viceroy for an unexpectadly very long night out.

The next morning, after virtually no sleep, I dragged myself to CJ at 9am for hair, raced to the hotel by noon for makeup by the always wonderful Marisa and her friend Diedre and around 3pm the entourage of help had arrived. There were more people in the room taking pictures and assisting with different tasks than I have ever seen or could have imagined. It was a bit overwhelming to see the crews of cameras and videographers, dressors, make-up artists, hair dressor, etc. etc. as we were putting the final touches of our dresses together and as Karen was dressed in her gown and preparing for her big day. We had an amazing suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The bathroom alone was bigger than my bedroom in Dublin. No detail was spared, there was even a fabulous girl who whenever you said, "I need or I forgot" seemed to be prepared with anything you could possibly need or imagine. Karen looked more amazing than I have ever seen her, and she is always beautiful but this was breathe-taking. All of the bridesmaids looked beautiful as well in the floor-lengthed cream dresses with black sash to floor and black strappy heels. The men were in tuxes with gorgeous silver silk ties and everyone looked fabulous as we were finally getting to see all of the extensive planning come together.

Pictures began around 3pm and we then had a break for a little bit in the hotel bar at which time we had a chance to touch up and rest and run into some of the fabulous celebrities of Hollywood including P Diddy staying in the suite opposite Karen's.

The official signing of the Katuba was around 6pm. There were appetizers and drinks included. Meanwhile, the guests were beginning to arrive for 7pm appetizers and drinks in a separate banquet room downstairs. The room was beginning to fill with approximately 400 guests and we were able to go down and mingle for a bit and see the amazing ball gowns of the women, the fabulous tuxes and suits of the men. Everyone was dressed beautifully.

Then came the official ceremony at around 8:30pm. We had to wait until sundown to begin as it was a jewish wedding. As we walked down the isle surrounded by hundreds of Matt and Karen's family and friends, I realized that since I'd been in our very fabulous 4 inch heels for about 6 hours by this point, my feet were becoming unbearably sore. By the time I got to the front, I realized my feet on the stone had officially decided to transition into the nausiating feeling of razerblades through the balls of my feet. I have never felt anything like this in my life and can usually handle myself well in heels of all sizes...but this was something different, so I took deep breaths, smiled and tried not to throw up or pass out as I was supposed to be standing for the bride not literally falling for her. I tried my hardest to concetrate while moving my feet to a small patch of grass to the right of my feet to releave some of the pressure, thinking, "Am I the only one who is feeling this?" The rabbi was a great speaker, they had a beautiful voiced singer and the ceremony lasted about 30 minutes, ending with the breaking of the glass...this is it, Karen and Matt were officially married. As I walked back down the isle with David, a groomsman, I was whispering slower, slower because I still felt like my feet were going to give out on me. It turned out that all of the bridesmaids were all feeling the same pain. Virginia, Laura and I literally collapsed into the cushy chairs in the outside of the reception area and stayed there with our feet up in the air for 30 minutes as the guests entered the reception.

As soon as we walked into the reception area and my shoes were replaced with very hidden flip-flops under our floor length dresses, my breathe was literally taken away as I was able to absorbe the details of the room and by the amazing arrangements of flowers throughout the room. No detail again had been spared. There was even floating roses in the center of the room surrounding the dance floor. It was like walking into a fairy tale. There was an ice-sculptured martini bar with Karen and Matt's initials engraved into it, where the bartender would pour the martini requested through the ice sculpture and into the glass. There was a cigar roller, a 5 course meal, an amazing band that was incredibly versatile and everyone seemed to be having an amazing time.

Matt and Karen had choreographed their first dance and I had no idea what to expect and had been teasing her about just looking into his eyes dreamily for the first dance and everything would be fine...so when they were introduced and walked onto the dance floor, I was amazed to see that they were actually looking like the fairy-tale couple floating on the dance floor, dancing and spinning around the room. It was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen.

The toasts were heartfelt and hilarious, the kindest, funniest and truest words were spoken about Karen and Matt's relationship. The dancing was so much fun and the band played a huge variety of great music. I even got the pleasure of swing dancing with one of Matt's guests.

It was an honour to be a part of. I can't even describe how happy I am that the two of them found each other and were able to have such a memorable day to celebrate their union to each other. I was truly proud to be a bridesmaid in their wedding as I adore them both so much. And nothing I write will ever be able to truly capture what an amazing day it really was.

But the party didn't stop there...there was a brunch the next morning at Matt's parents house. It was equally fabulous with a coffee bar, omelette bar, variety of meats and cheeses and fruits and breads, etc. etc. They have amazing rose gardens and an equally impressive herb garden. I really hope one day to have a fresh herb garden to pick out fresh herbs and vegetables for cooking so this really impressed me.

And now they are off on their honeymoon in Italy and France and I am kitty-sitting their very-devilish cat until I return to Dublin next week. It was truly a most fabulous occasion and I wish I could describe it with the justice it deserves but this will have to do.

       

       

Hospitals and Doctors and Tests... Oh MY!

It has been forever since my last post, mostly since I have spent the last 6 weeks in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices, being poked and prodded in ways better not to describe and most of the time haven't had a valid internet connection or the energy to sit down and post.

To make a very long story as short as possible, when I returned from Barcelona, I had incredible stomach pains and cramping and all the fun that goes with that. This lasted for about 10 days before on a random phone call to my aunt who is a doctor, I described to her my symptoms and she recommended I immediately go to the doctor. This scared me because I could hear the urgency in her voice, and I had summed it up at the time that I had caught a bug in Barcelona and would feel better in a few days. And I am not a big fan of going to the doctor in Dublin as I've heard several times over from other American's of the short-comings of the Irish healthcare system. So against my stubbornness I made the appointment for that afternoon.

Scary got scarier when I walk into my doctor, explain my symptoms and she immediately refers me to the hospital...of which I am arguing, can't I go tomorrow? To which she responds in a "do not stop, do not pass go, do not collect $200" way and insists that I go immediately. So I did, and the next thing I know they are admitting me into the hospital as I am basically freaking out. My family doesn't even know I am there, I can't get a hold of anyone in LA, they are trying to admit me for an emergency endoscopy (at this point I don't even know what that means) and they are attaching all kinds of IV's to me (have I mentioned I am claustrophobic when I can't move and am attached to IV drips). I end up there for 3 days before they release me saying I have had bleeding stomach ulcers which are now not bleeding (thank GOD) and to take some pill once a day, get rest because it must be stress-related and don't drink beer. Gee thanks.

So I book a flight to LA where I can at least rest in the comfort of my family and friends vs. being alone in Dublin to figure out why I am "stressed". The forgetfulness of the anesthesia causes me to have complete brain lapses and I get all the way to the airport only to realize I've forgotten the most important thing you need to get on an international flight...my passport. AAAGGGHHHH! My friend E races to my apt to retrieve it while I frantically try to switch the flight causing the intense pain in my stomach to increase dramatically which makes me think, maybe I am stressed and this is what is causing my pain. After much time and racing to the 2nd flight (I missed the first one), I caught a connecting flight from Dublin through London to Los Angeles. And as things would go, they lost my luggage for 3 days so I land in LA homeless with no clothes...are you kidding me?

A few days into the "R&R" trip home, the pain begins to worsen again and after many more visits to the doctor and then specialists and many many invasive tests, it turns out I had a very serious bacterial infection in my upper and lower stomach from something I ate or drank which basically eats your stomach out from the inside, causing my very misdiagnosed Dublin "stress ulcers". Unfortunately, the doctor also saw something else that was suspect and despite taking over 12 pills a day for 4 weeks to kill the bacteria, I am still having many of the same symptoms and pain in my lower stomach and so I am waiting for the final results of a capsule test and blood test to determine another similar but separate issue that I may be having. For those of you who don't know what a capsule test is, I swallowed a horse-pill sized camera, attached electrodes and a computer to my waist and had to keep it on for 8 hours while it took pictures of my stomach, which transmitted to the computer I had strapped on. I have also learned that I am allergic to the tape they use to attach electrodes so by the end of the day, my stomach was red and itchy and the claustrophobic feeling to get this device off of me was practically unbearable. I don't want to even think about what the results of these tests may mean so I'm going to wait until the doctor confirms it definitively before even discussing it.

In the meantime, I was scheduled to be in LA for Karen's bachelorette party and wedding which took place last weekend and I have to say it was the most amazing wedding I have and will ever see. The only difficulty was keeping my stomach bloating down enough to fit into the beautiful bridesmaid's dress she had picked out. The stomach problems caused me to lose 12 pds so this was easy to accomplish as long as I didn't drink alcohol or eat spicy food for the week before the wedding. Can I tell you how sucky it is to be celebrating your best friend's wedding and you can't eat or drink half of the things at celebrations.

Unfortunately, the tests are taking longer to get back than anticipated so I have had to extend my stay in LA for another week in order to get the final tests and treatment before returning to Dublin. I will write about Karen's wedding separately as it is definitely worthy of its own post.

So that is the health update for now. I'm praying that this will resolve itself quickly and without further major issues.

Noteworthy shout outs of MAJOR thanks go to:
-Jo for helping me with my apt, concert tickets, etc. etc. and for being generally amazing
-Rena for being my only daily visitor while I was in the hospital in Dublin
-E for getting me my passport and not driving my car to Belfast while I've been away
-Jude for patiently letting me take over the Barbie room at her place for 4 weeks unexpectedly...one day I will return the favor.
-Karen for letting me stay at her place while she honeymoons in Italy & France, for the most amazing wedding experience of a lifetime and for not telling me that her cat was going to hiss at me daily while she is gone.

Coachella, Bridal Shower, Barcelona

Today marks the day that linked a series of events that led me to Ireland. One year ago today, two of my friends were married in Vegas. It was a beautiful wedding at the Belagio Hotel in Las Vegas. It was also the day that triggered a series of events that led me here.

But enough about that, everyone's been asking me to post about Coachella and Barcelona so here is the rundown. My first day in LA was spent with Karen and the wedding party. We started with a dress fitting, hit CPK for happy hour and had a nice and much needed girly afternoon. My first night in town, was spent with the girls and family at Casa Vega of course. Had to get my dose of Mexican food in. The next day was a mini-run around day including haircut and seeing Jude before heading to Coachella.

Coachella was as amazing as it always is. We rented a 30 ft. RV and headed into Joshua Tree fit with everything including full DJ equipment with speakers (Even Steven DJing on the way) for our traveling entertainment for the first night. After much searching for a campground big enough to fit our RV, Rasmus and his co-pilot/best friend Vicke finally settled on a camping ground outside of the customary area and got the fire and fun going. Our fabulous chef, Captain Jack prepared an amazing meal while we created an honorary flag for the weekend. Rasmus and I woke up at the crack of dawn to take pictures and watch the sunrise and then we all headed into Coachella.

We saw amazing bands throughout the day and night including David Guetta, Digitalism, Felix da Housecat, Benny Benassi (Satisfaction was the theme of the weekend) and Bjork. Repeated the whole adventure again on Saturday including seeing MSTRKRFT, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tiesto and headed back into LA on Sunday...just barely in time for me to make it to Karen's bridal shower.
       

The shower was themed as a tea party. Everyone was dressed up and hats were a requirement. It turned out to be a wonderful afternoon, one of the best bridal showers I've ever been too and made me remember how much I really do miss home.

   

As I had suspected, the trip flew by faster than I could breathe and I was back on a plane to Dublin. Only a few days later it was back on a plane for the 3 day holiday weekend to Barcelona, Spain with Christine and Aaron. We arrived late on Friday night and immediately headed for the local tapas bar for a bit of wonderful Spanish food and wine.

Saturday we did the hop-on, hop-off tour of the city and saw some amazing sites. We landed on the coast and had a relaxing and enjoyable meal and then walked up a street called Los Rambalas with the feel of 3rd Street Promenade back towards our rented apartment. We took an afternoon siesta as is customary in Spain, awoke around 10pm and headed to The Cat Walk for an evening of dancing until about 5am. And may I remind you that they are not lying when they say the nightlife does not begin until after midnight...it's more like 2am that things get hopping.

       

Sunday we decided to explore the other half of the hop-on, hop-off tour which unfortunately for me was not as exciting as the first days tour, but we did get to see the Sagrada Familia which was quite an impressive structure. We then headed back towards the museums we had not stopped at the 1st day for an afternoon of walking and leisure. We had dinner at a lovely Italian restaurant and then wandered into a artsy underground bar which was hosting an acoustic evening for a night of traditional spanish entertainment.

Unfortunately, when we headed back to the hotel at 2am, we opened the door to find that the deadbolt was no longer locked, the lights were on and much of our electronic items were missing, including Aaron's laptop, 2 IPODs, a Nintento game system, my LA cell phone, my glasses and my sunglasses. In a shocked panic and after several phone calls on quickly dying cell phones, we were finally able to get a hold of the police to send a unit to our now tainted apartment. Unfortunately, when the owner had checked us in on the first night, he had also informed us that one of the keys was missing but assured us he thought the cleaners had it and would return it to us the next day. Unfortunately, that never happened and we were victims of circumstance.

We spent the entire next morning at the police station filing reports, had lunch at a cafe and headed back to the airport about 6 hours early as we were carrying our luggage at this point as it obviously could not be trusted to be left in the apartment with the "missing key".

I can't help but think that none of these adventures, the best or the worst of them, would have happened if not for the things that transpired at that beautiful wedding one year ago today. Those that know me, know the events and know I would choose not to repeat them in a public forum. In fact, I wish I could turn back time and erase most of that evening. But my plan instead is to spend the weekend at home, cuddled up, licking my wounds and getting some much needed rest until the new week begins on Monday.

p.s. I promise to post pictures of the trips soon.

I Finally Got Four Wheels!

On the day of my last post, Jo had sent me an email forwarded from one of the ladies in her kids club in Dublin. Car for sale for only 2,000 euro. I sent her an email that day, and two days later was the owner of a '97 Suburu Legacy...and the US Ex-Pat car legacy continues...they were here for 2 years as well and were moving back to Chicago. It's running great and I cannot even begin to describe the freedom of being able to drive around, even though it was strange to drive on the other side of the road at first. Matt, the previous owner, was nice enough to give me a few tricks to keep myself sorted. eg. Always make sure as the driver that you are the one in the middle of the road. Funny enough, one of my co-workers Oz tried to buy the same car only 30 minutes later. He said he felt like he had bursted at the bubble with getting it. So weird because I wasn't really looking for a car so it felt like fate when it all happened so smoothly and easily. Happy Days!

Happy Days!

I haven't written a bit so I thought I would sit still for a minute and give a quick catchup. Things have been going well here. The weather has been beautiful, it hasn't rained in three weeks until a little sprinkle last night and this afternoon and it's finally starting to warm up to the high 50's and mid 60's. I never thought that I would think that 50's and 60's was warm but my perspective has changed after a cold winter:)

I have had some really nice girly outings with Jo and Christine and last night I went into the city centre for the first time in a while with a co-worker and her flatmate and had a great time. We met some really nice people. I also got a massage today which was much needed and fabulous to have all the knots in my shoulders loosened up...although I have to admit I'm a little bit sore and probably will be for a day or two. I might buy a car here this week.

I'm heading to LA for Coachella this week...and then to Barcelona the following weekend. Really looking forward to both trips. I have to admit I've been a bit nervous about going home...I feel like the trip is going to fly by and I've been looking forward to it for so long that I can't believe it is finally here. I'm afraid I'm going to blink and miss it all, and it doesn't really feel like long enough to see everyone and take care of everything but I'll be back in June for Karen's wedding which will be wonderful and I'm really looking forward to that.

It amazes me how excitement and anticipation can build up and cause anxiety and tension as well...but I guess that's how you know you really care about something and I guess I've been more homesick than I admit or realize most of the time. I try typically to not worry about things that are out of my control but this feeling lately has been overwhelming so at this point I'm just trying to stay focused and live in the moment to really enjoy it. Thank God for my family and friends who have held my hand and walked me through these moments as I travel on this constantly changing and challenging journey. I truly cannot express my gratitude and appreciation enough.

BEST of LA - The Lists

When moving to another country, one of the things I forgot to consider is all the little things I know about LA and my familiar routine that end up being a big deal when I am in unfamiliar territory. Everything from best sushi restaurant to best hairdressor to where to go on a sunny day to relax. The weather has been getting better here inspiring me to venture back out into Dublin to explore and I realize that unlike when I am in LA, I have to start all over with trial and error to find everything and anything.

So I thought I'd make a list of all my favorite places in Los Angeles that made my daily life more pleasurable and enjoyable.

This list is by no means inclusive but just a small bit of things I loved in LA that I would love to find in Dublin.

Favorite sushi restaurant: Banzai Sushi in Calabasas

Favorite hair salon/haircut: Umberto's in Beverly Hills - Carl James is the BEST!

Favorite facials and waxing: Colour Image in Woodland Hills - Brenda...couldn't imagine trusting anyone else:)

Favorite Make-up Artist: Marisa @ Sax in Beverly Hills

Favorite Breakfast: The Country Deli in Chatsworth

Favorite Bean Dip & Margaritas: Los Toros in Chatsworth, Casa Vega in Studio City

Favorite Mexican Food: El Rancho in Sherman Oaks

Favorite Discount Clothes Retailer: Loehmann's at the Beverly Center, Nordstrom's Rack in Woodland Hills

Favorite Italian Food: Topanga Pizza Kitchen in Woodland Hills or The Pizza Cookery for their rolls and fountain rootbeer, yum. Domenico's Italian Kitchen in Pasadena

Favorite Rock 'n Roll bar: The Cat Club in West Hollywood

Favorite Coffee House: Starbucks in Westwood Village

Favorite Greek food: California Pita & Grill in Sherman Oaks

Favorite Manicure/Pedicure: Beautiful Forever Nails & Spa

Favorite Produce: Studio City Farmer's Market

Favorite Grocery Store: Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in Sherman Oaks

Favorite Church: Cornerstone in Simi Valley

Favorite Sunday Brunch: Paradise Cove in Malibu

Favorite Beach: Free ZUMA in Malibu

Favorite Wine Tasting: Santa Barbara Wineries

Favorite Massages: Burke Williams Day Spa

Favorite Steak House: Mastro's in Beverly Hills

Favorite Clubs & Bars for Dancing/Drinks: The Viceroy, The Spider Club, Privilege, LAX, this list goes on and on and changes constantly...as all of the club goers know.

Favorite Afterhours Dancing: Avalon

I would love to see everyone add their favorites and uncover some new or hidden places to venture to.

Happy Easter!

It's Easter Sunday and I'm in Dublin recovering from a nasty cold. I stayed home most of this week as it really knocked me out, couldn't get out of bed for 3 days this week. It was aweful. I am finally starting to feel better, thank goodness and am content to sit in the house watching TV and playing on the internet. Of course, I would rather be home with family celebrating the day, but soup and TV will have to do. I'm not feeling much up for a big event anyway.

I will be home in 2 1/2 weeks and I am really looking forward to being home for more reasons than I could list on a blog. It's going to be a very busy weekend... Coachella, Karen's bridal shower, seeing friends and family in between the planned events. It'll be 5 days of craziness and I am very excited to see everyone and breathe in some California sunshine. It's actually been getting warmer here, in the high 50's and sunny for the last week. Don't know how long it'll last but it's a nice change of pace from the continual cold and dark winter weather. It's just getting dark now and it's almost 9pm at night.

I watched "The Secret" on Friday night and it was interesting. It's about the theory of the law of attraction and basically says that we attract people and experiences based on our thought processes so if we have positive thoughts and energy, we will attract positive experiences, people and blessings and if we have negative thoughts and energy, we will attract negative experiences, people, etc. The power of the mind is powerful so to speak. It was an interesting motivational movie, worth watching. Put out there in the universe the things that we want, be specific and we will receive them, like the old saying, "Ask and you shall receive" or "Be careful what you wish for as you just might get it." I think it's useful in keeping one focused on positive energy and outlook and that life will transpire accordingly. Mostly, it reminded me of gratitude.

I have to say that there so many things in life that I have to be grateful for. I am grateful for the people that have supported me through this adventure. I am grateful for the opportunity to experience new cultures and countries. I am grateful to have a job that is rewarding doing something that I love. Mostly right now, I am grateful for the day I will get to return home and experience life with the people I love most.

Happy Easter! Love you all!

My Latest Obsessions!

In the spirit of a random Saturday evening where I should be getting ready to go watch the March Madness at a co-workers house but don't have the motivation to leave the house right now, I thought I'd write about my latest obsessions. Biggest obsession - THE GYM! Ever since I wrote my annual resolutions, I've been obsessed with getting my weekly dose of exercise in. I've been doing about 2 hours of working out, 3 times a week in addition to my usual walking around Dublin as my feet have become my primary means of transportation...besides the DART and the bus that is. But inevitably, I feel a million times better knowing that I have been getting my weekly doses of sweat in and I can feel my body getting stronger...to the point where I feel guilty if I even miss one workout. I don't know if this is because I'm in Ireland, where my weekly outside of work activities are significantly less than when I am in So. Cal but I've had a lot of fun hitting the gym after work, riding the bike, weight training, etc. I have yet to see any major results but hopefully soon, it will come.

My other major obsession has been reading novels. I used to read obsessively as a child, anything I could get my hands on, and lately I've noticed a significant increase in the amount of reading I've been doing...mostly easy reading but still I have been powering through books as if I was training for a read-a-thon. In the last six weeks, I've read Lipstick Jungle by Candace Bushnell, The Starter Wife by Gigi Levangie, Two Lipsticks and a Lover by Helena Frith Powell, The Undomestic Goddess and Shopaholic Abroad both by Sophie Kinsella. I've now moved on to "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" which Christine let me borrow and I have four more books waiting for me to read when I finish this one. There is nothing more relaxing than spending a day curled up with a good book and getting caught up in the story line. I really enjoyed the Starter Wife as it was based in LA and the descriptions of the places they were visiting were all familiar, reminding me of home. And of course I always recommend the Candace Bushnell books as she wrote "Sex and the City" and her books tend to have similar themes and characters throughout each of them.

Another obsession of course has been travelling around Europe. The best thing I've had at my finger tips since I've lived here is easy access to Europe where I get a chance to see and experience places I've never been. The summer is getting nearer and the closer it gets, the more excited my senses get...waiting and anticipating all of the places I will hopefully travel to and things I will do. I am excited to have visitors this summer and can't wait to have more exposure outside of Dublin. The weather was gorgeous today reminding me of how exciting it can be to wander around places I've never been when I am not so busy fighting the elements to do so. I'm hoping to do a short trip for Easter, LA at the end of April, Barcelona with Christine and Aaron in May, LA for Karen's wedding in June, France with Jude in July, Italy with my mom and brothers in August...and the list goes on and on and on...it is moments like these when I wish I had a time capsule to push me forward and get it started, but the excitement and anticipation is just as fun and well worth the wait.

Interestingly enough, there are things in LA that I have had to sacrifice in my journey that although would be nice, I haven't really missed. For one, I still don't have a TV that gets more than 4 channels but I never turn it on and still haven't ventured out to replace it which has maybe triggered my increase in exercise and reading, which is better for me anyway. I don't have a car here so I have lost the convenience of commuting quickly which at times can be frustrating, but I get more exercise each day from walking around and I notice I shop a lot less, only buying what I need or can carry instead of compulsively having shopping marathons. I've also saved alot of money from not having the added cost of another car payment, insurance, gas, repairs, etc. which has allowed me to spend that money to afford travelling around Europe. However, it would be nice to be able to jump in a car and travel around Ireland for the weekend. I can always rent a car to do that though and as the weather gets nicer, it will definitely be a consideration.

Another big difference that I noticed today as I was going through my closets was how different the clothes that I wear here versus what I would wear in LA. I found a box full of sandals that I wore regularly in LA that I hadn't even pulled out of the box until today, only to look at them, reminisce for a second and then put them back because they wouldn't be appropriate to wear in the constantly changing weather conditions of Ireland. I could maybe wear them in the summer, but I haven't touched them since I've been here although upon leaving LA, they felt like critical items to have. Same thing with my dresses...I love wearing dresses and still will wear them to go out at night, but very rarely put them on for work, because even though it may be sunny and clear when I wake up in the morning...sunny being in the 40's, by mid-afternoon it is inevitably pouring and I am miserably cold again and regretting my choice of attire. I find that I am living in layers, jeans, boots, t-shirts under sweaters, jackets, scarves, and anything warm. I don't leave the house without a coat with a hood or gloves in my purse because it can be bitterly cold at night or unexpectedly rainy, even when it gorgeous in the morning. But despite all the rain, I have given up on umbrellas. They are completely useless here. Most times when it rains, it is too windy to not have the umbrella flip inside out or it mists and I find it easier to put up my hood on my coat, then carry the umbrella with my usual two bags, one being my purse and the other being my gym bag. It just becomes too much stuff to carry and rarely keeps me dry anyway so I've deemed them useless. Plus I have to admit that after some of the wild wind we had this winter, I'm a bit afraid that I will get picked up off the ground Mary Poppins style if I had an umbrella. So I've given up on that.

Other things that have changed since I've been here...my eating habits. I've switched from coffee to tea. I find that the coffee here is often bitter and tasteless whereas the tea in Ireland is wonderful, warming and soothing in the cold weather. I also eat a lot more fresh food here. There is a significantly less amount of processed food here so food tends to perish quickly. So whereas in LA, I would grocery shop a few times a month at places like Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Costco, I have to pick up groceries here at least every few days and there is no point in buying more than you can eat in two or three days, because inevitably the food will spoil and I find my self throwing things away before I ever got a chance to eat it. Also the portions of food here are much more reasonable than a US portion of food. I find that most restaurants here wouldn't even have a "doggie bag" for left-overs because the serving size would be just that...a serving versus the customary three servings at a typical restaurant in LA such as the Cheesecake Factory where I've never been able to leave without left-overs.

ok, well someone just IM'ed and distracted me and I have things to do so that's enough for now.

Falling Down on London Bridges

Friday night, our company threw a party in City Centre to kick of St. Patrick's day and celebrate successes of the company. Ironically enough, our St. Paddy's Day party was at a Cuban style restaurant/bar called Floradita with a live band, cocktails, tapas and we had almost the entire thing to ourselves. They had amazing fruit fusion non-alcoholic cocktails which I was drinking along with Cosmopolitans.



It was a fun evening. Christine and I were two of the few dancers of the poker crew and the evening as a whole was a big success...very fun.



Saturday afternoon I boarded a plane to London. Even Steven & UK Craig met me at my cousin's house that evening, we went to dinner at a quaint italian cafe in Knightsbridge,



and then headed out to a music/images show. In the spirit of St. Paddy's Day, I bought them hats from Ireland and got a tattoo of a shamrock airbrushed on my arm.





After leaving the show, we wandered through the streets of London to a club "The End" where we danced until 5am when Steven had to head off to catch his 10am flight. My favorite DJs of the night at The End was Noze. They're French and have simple catchy lyrics with a fantastic beat line and did a live set.



I'm amazed that I made it through the night as I made the silly mistake of wearing a dress with wedges that had a 4 inch heel and my feet were throbbing by about 2am after all of the walking and dancing, but I did my best to keep up with dancing kings, UK & Even, especially considering Even was sucking it up for the night despite having a nasty flu type cough and was only feeling, according to him, around 82% although he looked 110% in the tradition of St. Paddy's Day.



Sunday I headed out around noon, shopped at Zara's for a bit and then wandered into Harrod's where I met a charming older man and woman, James and Veronica, at the lunch counter. We began eating lunch and chit chatting. James is from the UK and Veronica is from Northern Ireland and the three of us struck up a 4 hour conversation, during which James began buying us wine, I was sure the two of them were going to hit it off...and since all I ate was a salad with bacon and cheese in it and I'd only slept for a few hours, I was quickly and unknowingly beyond my limits of alcohol without even realizing it. Bobby called and I met him for another drink across the street at the Westbury Hotel and then I went to meet David (Steven's band mate) at the Old Queens Head where he was doing a solo acoustic act for the evening. Needless to say, I didn't make it out for very long... and headed back early to Bobby's to sleep off the wine.

So all and all it was a fabulous weekend minus the lack of food and the overdrinking on Sunday which is never a good mixture. But the dancing and seeing Even & UK was wonderful.

Next stop...possibly Barcelona for Easter and then LA for Coachella...the countdown is ON!!!!!

Special SHOUT OUT to my NANA who turned 80 today!!! Happy Birthday NANA!