Thursday 31 December 2009

265/365


Ringing in the new year with some nice American beer!

Wednesday 30 December 2009

264/365


His resemblance to my Pappy Furry is uncanny.

Tuesday 29 December 2009

263/365


The chandelier in the Throne Room of Dublin Castle.

Monday 28 December 2009

262/365


Wore my new Steelers hat today!

Sunday 27 December 2009

261/365


Christmas lights in Cork! Their tree is WAY better than Dublin's!

Saturday 26 December 2009

260/365

This one is a two-fer because I couldn't choose:


We shouldn't have bothered with the Dora gift for Lana and just bought her a play camera!



Dean eating his starter of mashed potatoes. Oh, Ireland!

Friday 25 December 2009

259/365


Merry Christmas!

Thursday 24 December 2009

258/365


The new puppy has been exiled during meal preparations.

Wednesday 23 December 2009

257/365


On the train to Cork!

Tuesday 22 December 2009

256/365


Opening Christmas presents! Check! Yummy lasagna in the oven! Check!

Monday 21 December 2009

255/365


We're going to dinner at some friend's tonight, so I picked up some wine and incredibly stinky cheese to bring along. I swear I've tried this brand, but I don't remember it being so stinky I could smell it from 10 ft away!

Sunday 20 December 2009

254/365



In this season of consumerism, I give you the symbol of the Irish economy - the shell of the Anglo-Irish Bank. This is what it looked like a year ago when the economy crashed and a year later there is still no money to finish it.

Saturday 19 December 2009

253/365


My first batch of Christmas cookies. They're not as nice as I would like, but I'm sure I'll manage to choke them down! Tomorrow I'll make oatmeal cinnamon chip cookies. Wes asked what they were for. Uh...Santa Claus of course! Men can be so dense sometimes! :)

Friday 18 December 2009

252/365


It snowed in Dublin today. We occasionally had flakes, but it was mostly the dry little balls that pelt you in the face.

Thursday 17 December 2009

251/365


I hauled these puppies down from the depot today in the hail/rain/and maybe even the odd flake of snow. I'm pretty sure with my red coat, white hat, dark gray pants, and sack of goodies slung over my shoulder that I looked like Santa Claus!

Wednesday 16 December 2009

250/365


Please note the placement of the sun in Dublin at 11:50am on December 15th. It's low and on its way down! Frankly, I'm just happy it made an appearance at all!

Tuesday 15 December 2009

249/365


Someone else is excited about the heat too! Normally she would be hibernating back on the bed at this point.

Monday 14 December 2009

248/365


We were watching Friends and Chandler challenged them to name all 50 states in 6 minutes. Wes was taking the piss out of how they were unable to do it and banging on about how he could do it and he's not even American. CHALLENGE!!! He managed to get 46 which is very impressive for a non-American (and frighteningly more than most Americans), but I still laughed at him because he said he could get all 50. He missed Colorado (which he only got because Tag told Ross he was from Colorado), and I had to give him Hawaii, Wisconsin, and Arkansas.

Sunday 13 December 2009

247/365


At the pub watching Liverpool. The pub was all decorated for Christmas and it was really nice. There was a child in there with some adults who were watching the match. I saw her go up to the bar, ask for something, and they gave her a Nintendo DS to play with while she was there. I thought that was the coolest thing! Hopefully she had a better game than Liverpool. :-(

Saturday 12 December 2009

Friday 11 December 2009

245/365


Sorry, but this is the lamest Christmas tree ever. I was on the LUAS one day and I heard this dad pointing out the special O'Connell Street Christmas tree to his son. The kid was like, where? Where? My sentiments exactly. It looks like a lawn ornament and as you can see, it's pretty much invisible during the day.

Thursday 10 December 2009

244/365


I saw this at the GPO when I was posting my Christmas cards and I thought was so cute! I even saw a little kid posting his letter!

Wednesday 9 December 2009

243/365


In Ireland you have to pay to even LOOK at Santa. He lives in a grotto and you pay to go in there and sit on his lap. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to then pay extra for photos. This makes me a little sad. This is Santa's house in Jervis. It's much nicer than his house in the Stephen's Green Shopping Centre.

Tuesday 8 December 2009

242/365


I almost forgot about these Christmas decorations! My cousin, Jess, made them for us along with gold and white snowflakes. I love the little stockings! Unfortunately we don't have a tree this year so I have no good place to display them. :(

Monday 7 December 2009

241/365


I helped my friend Lisa's son with his project on Ireland. As a thank you she sent me some pizza Combos and plain M&Ms (they taste different here). Woot!!!

Sunday 6 December 2009

240/365




Today is a two-fer! We had our Secret Santa party which had lots of delicious food and drink! One picture is Beth, Meg, and Aisling kicking back and enjoying themselves. The second one is my Secret Santa gift. THANKS LIZ!!!

Saturday 5 December 2009

239/365


Wes actually agreed to have pizza delivered! It's been suggested many times and tonight he finally said yes! Miracles DO happen!

Friday 4 December 2009

238/365


They're winging their way to the US as we speak! I hope they make it there okay - all of the gifts are wrapped and I just realized that I forgot to write something on the customs slip for the smaller one.

Thursday 3 December 2009

237/365


We put up our Christmas decorations today. TA DA!!! We actually have more than I realized. I knew we had the nativity scene as my aunt gave that to us as a wedding gift. The snowman gourd and the Santa balancing thingy were the surprises. We bought the gourd a year ago at a farm shop near my parent's in the US and we think the Santa was supposed to be a gift for my mom last year, but then we ended up getting her something else so we kept it for ourselves. The stockings and the stocking holders are new this year!

Wednesday 2 December 2009

236/365


The River Liffey is tidal so it's always going up and down. I was crossing the river today and noticed that it was higher than normal due to all of the rain we've been having in Ireland. We've been fortunate that we haven't been affected by any of the horrible flooding that they've had elsewhere in the country.

Tuesday 1 December 2009

235/365


I'm surprised I came home with anything. My decision-making skills were brutal today!

Monday 30 November 2009

234/365


Exciting times around here...I moved the dehumidifier from the bedroom into the living room because the mold is worse in there right now. We're pretty sure the landlord 'treated' the mold before we moved in by just painting over it. My new purpose in life is to track the mold growing in our flat, clean it, then make important decisions about the location of the dehumidifier. I'll need to add this to my CV as it's a very important job!

Sunday 29 November 2009

233/365


You know it's cold when Little Kitty lets me cover her with the blanket.

Saturday 28 November 2009

232/365

Our favorite tombstone in the pet cemetery at Powerscourt Estate. More photos from the day are here.

Friday 27 November 2009

231/365


This is on a door to a restaurant in Dublin. Yikes!

Thursday 26 November 2009

230/365


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Clearly we need to purchase a gravy boat.

Wednesday 25 November 2009

229/365


I hung up my fall decoration today. Behold....THE HAND TOWEL!

Tuesday 24 November 2009

228/365


Public sector workers were striking today in Ireland. Sorry, but striking due to the possibility of loss of a pay raise...during a recession...when the population is emigrating just to find employment...is really stupid. No one is getting any support from this unemployed person!

Oh, and apparently being on strike means you just stand around, holding a sign and talking to friends or texting on your phone. Some of the strikers did actually walk in a circle, but there is no chanting. Boo!

Monday 23 November 2009

227/365


On my quest for french fried onions, I took the wrong bus. To get where I needed to go I had to walk down this posh road with lots of gates and walls.

Sunday 22 November 2009

226/365


Ewww!!!! I need to clean the oven! Or at least the glass!

Saturday 21 November 2009

225/365


Grafton Street's Christmas decorations. While nice I think Henry Street wins by a landslide!

Friday 20 November 2009

224/365


The Christmas decorations are up on Henry Street and I LOVE them!!! The little white dots next to the wreath drop down like snow flakes.

Thursday 19 November 2009

223/365


I waited around all day for Wes' new hideous sneakers to arrive. They're some special running shoe, not meant to be a fashion statement.

Wednesday 18 November 2009

222/365


Thanksgiving preparations have begun!

Tuesday 17 November 2009

221/365


There's something afoot in Smiffy!!! Upon further inspection I discovered that they are setting up an ice rink for 'Dublin on Ice'. Interesting....

Monday 16 November 2009

220/365


I rarely cross the O'Connell Street Bridge, but I was on the bus the other day and spotted the cool lamp posts. I went back today to take a picture. There are even cooler ones in the middle of the bridge, but I wasn't able to get a good shot of them. Maybe another day!

Sunday 15 November 2009

219/365


Wes spotted this bit of nature when we were walking in D4. We don't get any nature in D7, so this was a nice surprise!

Saturday 14 November 2009

218/365


View from the bedroom:

Traffic? Check!
Posters? Check!
Weeds? Check!
Pile of puke next to the Heineken can? Check!

We love living here!