What I Bought While in the United States
Confession time! I can’t remember the last time I’ve looked in someone’s medicine cabinet, but I’m sure I have. I love going for a walk at night and looking in someone’s window to see how they’ve decorated. I promise I’m not standing in their flower beds. It’s all legit slow-walking from the sidewalk, I swear! To equalize things, even though I will never be in 99.999% of your homes or flowerbeds, I thought you might like to know what I bought during my visit to the U.S. after living in Ireland for a year. It is juicy, scintillating stuff. Of that I can definitely not promise you. Here are the…
Happy List: #35
Hello, everyone! How the heck are you? Ready for Monday’s eclipse? Sadly, I’ll have to live that one vicariously through social media! We are not in the path for optimal viewing. We do live in an optimal area for traveling though! This week was all about Ireland. I detailed what to do (or not do) in Galway. I also basically insisted that you put the Cliffs of Moher on your Travel Bucket List (TBL). You do have a TBL, don’t you? Mine is still pretty long – there are a lot of cool places in the world! I’m having trouble prioritizing where I’d like to travel next. While I’m figuring…
Visiting Ireland: The Cliffs of Moher and Aran Islands (with kids)
I can’t believe we waited over a year to see Ireland’s #2 tourist spot, the Cliffs of Moher. The #1 tourist spot in Ireland, by the numbers, is the Guinness Storehouse. Tourists have their priorities! As much as we enjoyed the Guinness Storehouse, the Cliffs of Moher just might be my favorite spot in all of Ireland. So far. When visiting the Cliffs of Moher, most people will home base out of the city of Galway. I wrote about visiting Galway here. It’s not a big city, so you can hit all of the high points in a day, maybe a day and a half. That leaves plenty of time…
Visiting Ireland: Galway With kids
Over the past year we have spent long weekends here and there visiting different parts of Ireland. Every place we visit is new and exciting for our family – it’s a perk of moving to a new country! Our kids are 7 and 10 and they are definitely becoming seasoned travelers. Last weekend we finally made our way from Dublin over to the beautiful city of Galway. Galway has a population of approximately 80,000 people. It is also the home of National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway). Approximately 17,000 students attend university at NUI Galway each year. LOCATION Galway is located on the west coast of Ireland. The River…
Oh, The Stories We Will Tell
We have family visiting us in Ireland. Visiting us! In Ireland! How cool is that? Actually, it is literally cool here…62 Fahrenheit in August with a little rain every day just to keep the country’s emerald isle reputation SOLID. This week I watched my kids play on a 400-year-old tree with an 800-year-old castle in the background. This tree’s bottom branches had grown down low and were touching the ground, as if inviting each and every child in its vicinity to come play. (Apparently, this is a sign that the tree was in an area that had never been grazed by livestock.) I stood there and watched the kids for…
Happy List: #34
How is everyone? I know people who have spent this week either enduring extreme heat or extreme storms. August isn’t messing around! While over here in Ireland, I’m just wishing our weather would make up its mind! This week I shared what our first week back in Ireland looked like after a month-long visit to the U.S. I also shared another trash to treasure makeover. There have been a few things on the internetosphere this week that have peaked my interest. Read on! COTTAGE PLEASE! If I ever go missing, you can probably find me in one of these stinking cute cottages in Maine! There’s 16 of them! I’m dying…
Trash to Treasure Mirror
Pop quiz! Do you remember the trash I pulled out of our neighbor’s dumpster? Then I fast walked raced home with it like “there’s nothing to see here, nothing to see.” It still makes me feel weird. But I loved it! Still do! I turned that junky object into a 4th of July wreath, which I thought turned out pretty cool. I also laugh at my own jokes, so take all of that self assessment with a grain of salt! I mentioned this junky treasure might not stay a wreath. As the decorating fates would have it, I came up with a more practical use for it and I’m nothing if not…
Living in Ireland: Back After a Month in the U.S.
It’s flat out STRANGE to visit the United States after living in Ireland for a year. I tried to put my finger on why exactly. In part, I think it’s because I’ve changed. Evolved, shall we say? How could you not after moving to a foreign country? But when I went ‘home’ I realized how much HADN’T changed. There is something comforting in that though. I also realized that I’d gotten used to being slightly uncomfortable ALL. THE. TIME. while in Ireland. You can try to look and act local in the face of constant new experiences, but as soon as you open your mouth you see a flicker of…
Happy List: #33
Why, hello, again! We are back in Ireland – all settled in and prepping for our first guests to come visit us! It’s very exciting. This week I shared the soap dish I found in the creek. No, it did not come home with me because suitcase weight limits on airplanes are no joke. I also went on and on about why this bed frame was our best hidden storage purchase. Oh, and it holds our mattress up too. Here is what’s on my Happy List this week. DIY INDUSTRIAL LOFT BED Other than the fact that I have NO IDEA how I would get up into that bed, I…
Our Best Hidden Storage Purchase
Have I waxed poetically enough about how moving to Ireland meant downsizing? MAJOR downsizing? Get out your teeny, tiny violins. I’d say we got rid of 60% of Handy Husband’s our stuff. Start playing your sad tune now. The truth is, I don’t even miss Handy Husband’s most of that stuff. Even with all of that downsizing, I still knew storage would be a challenge. Think about all the stuff you store in your home – craft supplies, office supplies, Christmas ornaments, extra blankets, tools, all the shoes you can’t wear now that you have to walk everywhere, etc. My babies shoes! I can’t part with them. Yet. Homes in Ireland don’t…
