Showcasing My Scarf Stylin'

Look out Tyra Banks, I am about to become Ireland's Next Top Model!

OK, clearly I am just kidding, but I did have a fun evening last week pretending to be a model! Laura Eliason of Laura Eliason Designs gathered a group of creative and fashion forward bloggers here in Cork to style and model one of her fabulous hand-dyed scarves. To my great surprise she asked me to model! I may be a blogger, but fashion-forward is not exactly an adjective I use to describe myself. Don't get me wrong I adore fashion but a more casual lifestyle here in Ireland has left me feeling less than fashionable lately. 

The first step was stopping by Laura's studio to select a scarf to style.  I was overwhelmed by so many wonderful choices. Initially I was drawn to the silk scarves like these. I love the effortless gorgeous shapes they create with just a simple drape, and the feeling of soft silk on your skin is a bonus too!

However, keeping in mind Laura's request to showcase our personal style and utilize the scarf how we would in everyday life I opted for one of the lightweight 100% wool gauze scarves instead. They felt a bit more casual and cozy to me. Perfect for the blustery Irish weather!

Laura will be publishing individual posts about about each of the lovely ladies over the next few weeks on her blog. So if you want to see my big fashion debut you can check it out here! I would encourage you to take a look at all of the other talents who participated in the scarf styling photo shoot. Talk about fashion forward! I was totally blown away with the many creative ways there are to rock something as simple as a scarf and tailor it to such individual styles. Here is just a little sneak peak!

A huge thank you to Laura for allowing me to participate and share her talents with the blogesphere! Additionally, thank you for your kind words and encouragement of my own talents and aspirations! You have been a huge inspiration to me when it comes to my own artistic abilities.

FYI, only 26 more days until Christmas! Why not treat someone special to a beautiful and versatile handmade gift this year! Laura's scarves can be purchased here!

Back to Ireland, Back to Blogging!

Wow! I've been MIA from the world of blogging for a while now! I've been back in Ireland for five days and this is the first time I've sat down at the computer with the intention to write. Don't get me wrong I have been wanting to write and I have plenty of ideas running through my head, but somehow the transition has left me tired and apathetic about doing anything. Why is it that we often need a vacation from our vacations? A five-hour time difference should not be this difficult, but I think I simply mentally allowed it to get to me!

So pushing the mental exhaustion aside I thought I'd start back to blogging by sharing a few tidbits about my trip back to the good ol' US of A!

The reason for our trip was to celebrate the wedding of Adam's childhood friend Nick, and his beautiful bride Chelsea! This homegrown backyard love fest was picture perfect, complete with a vintage sofa to pause for a silly photo, to the lovebird themed cake, and the wedding party's crazy launch fully clothed into the pool!

So happy to help set the stage for the vintage love bird themed wedding by designing the invitations!

Adam and his mama acting a little goofy!

Sadly the wedding weekend fun came to an end, and Adam had to return to Ireland for work, but my USA holiday was just beginning. I headed further South to spend the next week in Naples, Florida with my parents. I managed to hit the links a few times, hang out with the family, watch the sunset, and cuddle with my doggy!

FORE!

Picnic at the beach with the family.

Beautiful sun set over the Gulf.

Oh how the time flies! Before I knew it, I was saying goodbye to my family and was on my way to Raleigh, North Carolina. Raleigh is where Adam and I spent our last seven years and it was great to be back! I managed to see and do almost everyone and everything on my list, but it still did not feel like I had enough time! Missed a chance to hang with the Glam Squad, eat a Snoopy's dog, only had a partial book club meet up, and no beer and wings with Kitty at the Draft House! Oh well, I guess that means I'll just have to go back again someday!

I did manage to spend lots of quality time with Jolly and baby Mason!

Drank lots of Two Buck Chuck with Susan and the girls,

and back porch drinking and pool chilling with my girl Anna!

Next stop Washington DC! Best friends from college Staci and Kim live in the DC Metro area and a trip back to the US wouldn't be complete without seeing them. I had another baby to meet who made his debut since I've been away. Shopping with Staci, catching up with Kim and her new life adjusting to motherhood, drinking my favorite Dogfish Head brews, a quick visit with Stelios & Andrea, and lazy pool days made for a wonderful end to my US visit.  

Kim's new bundle of Joy baby Cole and I bond over a beer!

Thank you to everyone who took me in, entertained me, and made the effort to make sure my first trip back to the USA was a success. I miss you all over again, but happy to know that someday I'll be back and we can do it all again!

Finally, I want to share with you all the goodies that made it back in my suitcase! Hooray for yummy snacks, ranch dressing, goldfish crackers, twizzlers, cornmeal, peanut butter treats, and spicy things!

Swing Dance-Floor Watching

Back in the US at the moment for a wedding and a visit with friends and family, but I thought would share this post about a fun night out in Cork right before I left.

I've been really lucky to meet some great girls in just the few weeks that I've been living in Ireland. They are all so creative and cool. Laura in particular exudes coolness.  She is a fashion designer, artist, and a member of The Rebel County Rollers, Cork's roller derby team!  I have to admit when she told me she plays roller derby I was skeptical.  She didn't look like a butch lesbian?  Maybe I had roller derby girls all wrong!  

Before you get too excited this post is not actually about roller derby, but if I ever make it to one of Laura's bouts (that's what they call a match in derby lingo) I'll be sure to cover the topic here on the C.C. (that's Croissant Craic)

This post only relates to roller derby in the fact that two weekends ago Laura invited all of us to join her in a Swing Dance Night fundraiser hosted by her roller derby team.  So really it is a post about swing dancing, or in my case swing dance-floor watching.  I am not much of a dancer, but I was dragged out on the floor twice by friends of Maire's who were just too cute to resist.  However the entire time I was attempting to cut-a-rug I was petrified that I looked like Elaine from Seinfeld!

Even though I spent most of the evening with an empty dance card (by choice!) I still had a blast.  These roller derby chicks certainly know how to throw a party.  I truly felt like I had been sent back in time to 1930.  The venue really felt like an authentic speak easy, the music was spot on, and everyone really seemed to take the theme to heart and dressed the part!  If you know Adam and I, we are suckers for a theme party! (too bad he couldn't be there) In the spirit of things I did my best to create an authentic 'do.  Not my best look, but it fit the theme I think!  Thank you Laura, Maire, Beata, and the Rebel County rollers for a great night!

Knit One, Purl One, Drink One

I can't believe it has taken me this long to write a post about this!  My first week here in Cork I was invited by my friend Evin to check out her Wednesday night knitting circle, affectionately named Stitch n' Bitch.  With the mention of the words knitting circle some of you may be envisioning little old grey haired ladies sitting around sipping tea and knitting tea cozies.  The only true part of that statement is someone in the group is actually knitting a tea cozy. 

Outside of that it is quite a different story.  First of all we meet in a Pub!  So obviously instead of tea, we drink beer. Often someone will bring a delicious treat to share, cupcakes seem to be a popular choice.  Oh yea and the ladies in this group are not old and grey.  They are young and fun, and amazingly talented knitters!  One of the girls in the group actually dyes her own beautiful yarn and has an amazing shop on Etsy called Hedgehog Fibres.  And when I say talented, I also mean fast!  Every week it seems someone is finishing up a jumper (sweater) or hat, starting a new one, and then I blink and that one seems to be finished as well!

So here we are about eleven weeks later and I feel confident in saying that  I am officially a member of Stitch n' Bitch.  One big problem with that... I am a terrible knitter.  It is actually really quite sad.  It's my own fault. The only time I actually pick up my needles is Wednesday night at the pub.  So I knit one, purl one, and then drink one.  Lots of fun, but not the best way to hone my craft.  The Irish girls in the group have an advantage because they were all taught to knit in primary school.  Amazingly enough children in primary school here in Ireland still learn how to knit today!  It seems crazy, but I guess most school children in the US learn to play the recorder, and that is just silly, not to mention annoying!  At least knitting is a more practical skill.

Don't get me wrong, I really do want to be a better knitter.  I have visions of making baby booties and hats for shower gifts; scarves, and jumpers to put under the Christmas tree for the family, and heck maybe even a tea cozy. I am drinking a lot more tea the more Irish I become! 

Familiar Faces in a Foreign Land!

How do you like the little painting I did over the weekend?

Just Kidding!  It's a Jackson Pollock painting. I was only in London for two days but visiting the Tate Modern Museum of Art was a high priority! In fact outside of shopping and drinking it is the only really sightseeing/touristy thing I did. I figure now that we are living so close; and with a possible move to the UK next year, I'll have plenty of opportunities to explore London. Besides, I traveled to London straight from my weekend in Cheltenham which was exhausting! Check out that trip here and here in case you missed it. 

I went to London because three of my friends from Raleigh came over on a short vacation.  At this point I was feeling a little homesick, so being with familiar friends was just what I needed. Simply hearing Hilary's southern drawl was like the big hug that I had been needing! Here are a few pictures of me and the girls on my too short visit to London.

Megan and Hilary in the back of one of the famous big black London cabs.

Enjoying a light lunch, and wine of course!

Outside of Punch and Judy a fun pub in Covent Garden.

Contemplating what this modern art means?

Megan loves Matisse!

Me outside the Tate Modern.

As I mentioned the only thing we did outside of visiting the Tate was eat, drink, and shop.  One of my favorite stops included all three!  

Harvey Nichols is a very posh department store in Knightsbridge.  We did a bit of shopping and also made our way to the rooftop cafe for tea and cocktails!  Look at my lovely afternoon tea tray!  So perfectly British!  Tiny crust-less tea sandwiches, gorgeous little pastries, and scones!

And since we were in the area, a stop at Harrods!  It is like a shopping pilgrimage for the true shop-a-holic!

Most of my shopping was of the window variety, but I did manage to pick up these cute flats!  

Very Chanel right?!  That's what I thought and then I actually saw these!  

Pretty darn similar right?  except for the embroidered C logo on the heel, oh yeah and the $500 price difference!

Speaking of flats, I'm obsessed!  Check out this cute pair I snagged yesterday at TK Maxx (Not a typo, it's TK Maxx here not TJ )  

Nothing to do with London I know, but I couldn't resist the urge to share.  They're just so cute!

Two days in London was all I had.  Hilary and Tracy stayed on a bit longer, and Megan came back to Ireland with me.  Stay tuned for our one night excursion to the Irish seaside!