Apartment Anguish

A few posts back I mentioned I had a melt down and that our new apartment was the source of it.  I also promised to give more details.  So here it is.

While the Clarion Hotel was perfectly lovely, after three and a half weeks life in any hotel can start to lose its novelty.  Although I can’t really complain about having a maid every day.  That will never lose its novelty!  However maid or no maid, the pressure was on to find an apartment.  We were both desperately in need of a home cooked meal and a chance to get some laundry done.  In addition the pending arrival of our 13 boxes that we shipped from the US fueled our fire to make a decision.  We couldn’t very well receive a pallet of boxes in our hotel room! 

I spent about a week and a half and viewed at least a dozen apartments.  Nothing was really quite right and the situation was looking bleak.  That is until Adam and I went to view a top floor one bedroom.  This place was on the South side of the river, very modern, and very clean!  In addition it had a huge rooftop outdoor space.  I was totally sold and excited about the prospect of moving in.  And then we got the bad news.  Unlike the advertisement which stated that the apartment was available immediately, we were informed that the current tenant would not be out until April 1^st.  There was no way we were going to wait three more weeks to get into an apartment.  Even as I type this post it’s only March 30^th.  I can’t imagine still being in a hotel.

So if I’m not in the hotel where am I?  I’m in the second choice apartment… the distant second choice.  It couldn’t be more opposite than the first choice that didn’t work out.   It’s on the North side (up the hill, and apparently the "less desirable" side of the river) OLD (we’re talking 150+ years) and dirty!  Did I mention the pressure?!  Well, we signed the lease and there is no going back.

The first few nights I cried sobbed and sulked about making a stupid decision.  The dishwasher was broken, one of the heat registers wasn’t working properly,  there are scary cracks in the ceiling, bubbled paint on the grimy walls, the main hallway into the building is dark and kind of smelly, refuse collection is not included in the rent, and neither is parking, and the décor left little to be desired. With all that wrong why the hell did we sign on the dotted line?!  I was wondering the same thing, but now after almost 3 weeks and a lot of elbow grease (I’m quite certain the apartment had not been cleaned since the building was erected in the 1850’s) the reasons why are starting to show. 

If you can make it through the smelly hallway and into our front door, look past the cracks in the ceiling and the dingy red patterned carpet in the bedroom, you may just be able to see the charm. We have 15 foot ceilings, three huge south facing windows, a beautiful arched stained glass transom, two marble fireplaces, granite counter tops in our updated kitchen, crown molding, built in bookcases, and by European standards this a pretty big one bedroom apartment. 

So without further ado here are few pictures of move in day.  Please keep in mind these are the BEFORE pictures! I plan on putting my fancy design education to work, even if on a budget!  I am looking forward to showing off the changes I’ve made in the next several posts a la Young House Love style. So keep checking back!

Past water damage.  The leak is fixed, but the ceiling sadly has not :(

Cheltenham Part II

Our weekend in Cheltenham left me wishing I was 23 again.  It also made me sooo thankful that I am not!  In Part I I mentioned that crashing in a house and sharing a bathroom with 13 people made me feel like I was back in college.  I guess that’s the part that makes me glad I’m not.  The older I get the more I appreciate my personal space and the comfort of my own home.  This may be a clue as to why I’ve been spending so much time making my new temporary digs more livable by my standards.  

I digress, back to Cheltenham.  If I were 23 again I may have been able to hang out longer with the rest of the house guest who ranged in age from 23-26.  That’s right we were the old ones of this group.  Gasp!  We are in our 30’s!  I figure being in my 30’s gives me the right to go to bed at 2:00am and not feel badly about it.  So that’s just what I did.  The rest of the young whipper snappers stayed out until 5:00am!

Before I let my head hit the pillow I did manage to take in a bit of good craic.  There was of course drinking, but there was also dancing, singing, hair whipping back and forth a la Willow Smith, platinum chats, foam fingers, silly socks, and random high fives in the club.  There was even a little bit of shifting going on (but I’m not naming names, you know who you are!) 

Here are a few choice photos I managed to snap. 

Now for the big finish!  The moment you’ve all been waiting for!  The Adam Croissant Song.  I’m not sure if you will find this as funny as we did, but it was the big hit of the weekend as far as I’m concerned.

The trio of Barry Newman, Andy Dyer, and Ciaran Cotter, who call themselves Below the Noise, composed this little ditty in honor of Adam.  They seem to think Adam is pretty cool.  Boy does he have them snowed!  Also, in case you didn’t know this about my husband he actually does suffer from a mild form of narcolepsy.  Not really important, but it is mentioned in the song.  Also a warning that the last verse may not be suitable for small children.

The first verse is a little difficult to make out, so here are all the lyrics in case you want to follow along:

Adam Croissant is livin’ in Ireland

He’s working for the IDB (Irish Dairy Board)

He has got the narcolepsy

But that doesn’t bother me.

Chorus:

And they call him Adam Croissant

But we call him Adam Croissant

He’s living over here in Ireland

Where the hills are oh so steep.

But he’s got a major problem

He can’t help but fall asleep.

Chorus

He’s over here with his wife Kristin

She’s a real Mid-Western Chick

He brought her over to cook his dinner

All she does is suck his….

Chorus

The weekend for me ended with a lovely lunch and a stop in the park to take in the sunshine!

Shake it up!

Every fall I look forward to Starbucks offering up their pumpkin spiced latte.  It’s a seasonal beverage that only comes along once a year.  Maybe part of my love for this warm, sweet, spiced beverage is the fact that it is withheld from me 9 months out of the year.  The anticipation that builds all year long is enough to make me weak at the knees when I walk into Starbucks and the sign triumphantly announces the return of the best flavored latte I know!

Adam doesn’t drink coffee, so the pumpkin, caramel, mocha, vanilla latte thing does nothing for him.  But Adam does have a similar seasonal beverage vice.  The Shamrock Shake.

 

I know St. Patrick’s Day was last week, but I wanted to post this anyway because I promised the hubby I would!  We stopped in Mickey D’s last week and I believe Adam experienced a similar euphoria to one of my pumpkin latte episodes. 

Can you read the sign?  It says "Luckily not all the shakes were driven out of Ireland!"  Ha ha I love it!

Shamrock Shakes were back!

Just look at what a happy boy he is!

Until next year!

Cheltenham Part I

As promised, I want to share with you the Cheltenham experience! Cheltenham is a lovely city about 2 hours northwest of London.  It is renown for it's annual National Hunt Festival.  It features the famous Cheltenham Gold Cup, the tradition of which goes back to 1819. It is  four days of the best steeplechase and hurdle racing which attracts thousands of visitors from Ireland due to a strong line-up of Irish horses, trainers, and jockeys.  The 20 races offer in excess of £2 million in prize money.

Adam and I are not really big into gambling or horse races for that matter.  So why bother to go at all? We went for the experience and the fun of being with a great new group of friends. These people are Adam's co-workers in the graduate training program of the Irish Dairy Board, or The G-Unit as they like to call themselves!  


One of the girls, Claire, is currently living in Cheltenham working for Meadow Cheese which is a part of the IDB.  Because of her proximity to the racecourse she decided to invite a few friends in for the weekend.  A few friends in this instance means 13 people!  It was a bit like being back in college. The first morning I woke up and had to step over 3 people sleeping on the floor just to get to the bathroom!  Oh, Adam and I shared a twin bed in a room the size of most closets in the US.  Looking back a week later I'm almost laughing.  I'm such a princess, I just can't help it!  One saving grace was having Paraic make me a cup of tea in the morning and devouring his delicious homemade lemon cake!


Race day was quite fun, but very crowded!  We didn't make it for ladies day (the women go all out with their dresses and hats) but there were still plenty of ladies looking lovely.  We did our best to fit in.  Check us out!

Saw many other great hats and fascinators, here are a few I remembered to take a pictures of!

The ladies were not the only ones dressed to the nines.  Check out our cute counterparts!

Barry and Adam doing a little advertising for the IDB.

Our friend Ciaran was in the know and helped explain the betting process.  He was the big winner of the group.  Adam also placed a few bets and even won 50 pounds!  

Ciaran giving us betting tips!

Adam with his winning ticket!

 Other than the crowds and tired feet in high heels, we had beautiful weather, great friends, and a good time!  But the great time did not end when the last race was won.  We took the celebration back to Claire's for a few more drinks, dancing, and of course some singing!  


Stay tuned for Cheltenham Part II - "They Call Him Adam Croissant"

Back and Blogging!

I feel as if I have completely dropped the blogging ball!  I did mention in my last post that I may have to go dark for a few days until we got the internet situation in our new apartment squared away.  Well, consider it squared away!

Now for the catching up!  Where to begin?  I think I’ll give you a quick overview and then in subsequent posts you can read up on the details if you so chose! I promise you won’t want to miss the post about Cheltenham as it will include a video clip of a song written just for the Croissants!

 

Tuesday, March 15

Adam took off on his first business trip to England last Tuesday.  He spent two days touring dairy processing facilities and then met up with some of his co-workers (the G-unit or graduate trainees) in Cheltenham for a crazy weekend.

Thursday March 17

I woke early on St. Patrick’s Day, and instead of heading to an Irish pub I headed to the airport!  It seems so crazy that on our first Patrick’s Day in Ireland Adam and I would be leaving the country that inspired one of the greatest holidays I know!  In fact, did you know Adam and I met while drinking green beers on St. Patty’s Day?  Story for another day!

So I flew over to the “main land” and met up with Adam in Cheltenham.  This was the chosen destination for the weekend because one of the largest horse races of the year was on.  It is known as The Gold Cup. I guess in a way we really didn’t miss out on any of the St. Patty’s Day fun because as much as the Irish love drinking, they also love gambling.  Sorry for the blatant stereotype, but I would guess about half the attendees at the race were Irish.  Additionally of the 13 people we shared a house with 10 of them were Irish.

Here is a quick picture of us down by the track.

Saturday, March 19

I left Adam behind in Cheltenham and headed to London.  In London I met up with a few of my friends from Raleigh!  I’ve only been gone for a month and a half but it’s been long enough to have missed them.  We had a great two days running around London shopping and sightseeing, and catching up.  (London girls weekend post coming soon!)

Monday, March 21

I headed back to Cork, but I wasn’t alone.  My friend Megan accompanied me.  She is down in the record books as our first official visitor! I should have made her sign a guest book!  I couldn’t quite play the perfect host that I so desperately want to be, because our apartment is not quite where I want it to be.  (Again stay tuned for lots of apartment improvement post in the weeks to come!)

Tuesday, March 22

Megan and I decided to get out of town and see some of the beautiful Irish countryside I have heard so much about.  Destination:  Bantry, a tiny seaport town in West County Cork.  It was a very quiet getaway, but worth it simply for the overnight stay at the Bantry House.  Here’s a little teaser picture for you, until I can get to the post.

So that pretty much sums up my last week!  Busy!  

My First Meltdown

Dear blog readers (all 7 of you),
I just wanted you to know I haven't forgotten you. I have not lost interest in my blog writing just yet.  In fact I have loads of ideas for different posts. I was just in a bit of a funk the last few days and couldn't bring myself to sit and write. I'm feeling a lot better today, but I did have my first homesick kind of meltdown the other day! Actually I'm not so sure I was homesick as much as just frustrated and upset. Getting settled has been more difficult than either Adam or I anticipated. When we are both down in the dumps and frustrated neither one of us can really pick the other up, so things get even uglier!

Getting settled largely hinged upon us having an address other than the Clarion Hotel. So we made that a reality and signed a lease this week. It should have been exciting, but it quickly became the source of my meltdown. I promise to expand upon that later.

Armed with a new address we finally had together the proper paperwork that would allow us to walk into the bank and open an account, or so we thought. Adam had even come home early from work because the banks are only open from 10am until 4pm Monday through Friday! Yes, I did say 10 to 4, crazy right? Anyone with a normal 9 to 5 job has to take time out of their work day if they want to conduct bank business, because Saturday is not an option. So that's just what Adam did for a second time when we returned with the correct paperwork. Finally success!

Now with an address and a bank account we thought we could finally get a cell phone contract. Of course we could have purchased pay as you go cell phones the first day we arrived but we felt with the cost and the inconvenience it wasn't the best option for us. Wrong! We were declined for a cell phone plan because we have no Irish credit history! I was half expecting this because my friend Evin said the same thing happened to her when she first moved here. So we currently have one phone that we are using on a pay as you go basis. Adam hopes to appeal in writing and see if we can't work it out. We don't have six months to wait and build up credit. We are Americans and we need immediate gratification!

The other issue we are dealing with is parking. Like most cities parking can be hard to come by. There is no designated parking space with our apartment. Street parking is our only option, but in order to do that you need a parking permit issued by the city. In order to get that, you guessed it, more red tape. Not only must you have vehicle registration, proof of insurance, and an apartment rental agreement, but you also need two recent utility bills or financial statements addressed and sent to your address. So while we wait for a bill to arrive at our new address so we can apply for a parking permit I'm not sure where the car will go in the mean time. They are serious about clamping (boot on your car) and ticketing, so we're not gonna mess around!




Not our car, but this is what we hope to avoid!



Sorry to unload, and I apologize for the lack of fun photos. It may be a while before I get the blog up an running the way I want. We officially move into our new apartment tomorrow and we have no broadband access there. I'm not sure when I'll have interenet acess again! All a part of the settling in process I guess!  Thank goodness for free wi fi in many of the pubs and cafes. I'll do my best to check in again soon! Cheers!