What We Got Up To This Month - August 2012

Sorry about the lack of posts this week I started a new job on Monday and it has taking me a few days to get used to my new routine! Any how here is what we got up to this month!

-The little bird that sings outside our bedroom every morning (he/she is gone now)

- Reading lots of good books

- Yummy fry up breakfast with my favorite mug!

- Guinness Tour!

- Getting pictures of our niece Molly!

- Night In

- Nights in with family

- Lovely breakfast cooked by the hubby!

- Playing Disney Trivia Pursuit on a rainy Sunday

- Jameson Tour!

- Dublin City Hall

- The Tall Ships in Dublin

- At The Tall Ships

- Day Out at The Tall Ships

- Eating fresh oysters

- Lots of Sunday Lunches!

 What did you get up to this month? Are you sad to see the summer over or are you looking forward to autumn? 

Battle of the Bulge - Week 9

Not a great week, only got to the gym twice. Haven't felt myself this week had a bit of a dodgy tummy all week. So lacked a lot of motivation!

Week 9

Monday: I went back to the gym today and it took Paul nagging at me to get me there! We walked 3.5km and when we finally got to the gym I done 20 mintues on the power-plate, 20 mintues using different weight machines, cycled 5km and done 500m on the rower. Dinner was stuffed chicken breast, peas and roast potatoes.

Tuesday: I walked 2.5km today, went to my parent-inlaws today had dinner there and it was a lovely stew.

Wednesday: My Mammy in law gave me new exericse machine to do at home. Pictures coming soon!! So I done a hour of this new machine and my rollier see pic above!! Both focse on the tummy area which is what I need!! Dinner was chicken salad.

Thursday: Today was my naughty day but I did walk 3.5km. I went to see the show Chicago with a few friends we had dinner out and a few cocktails. Good fun night out!

Friday: Walked 2.5km today & done 30 mintues exercise at home. Dinner was in my parents today and it was chicken & chips yummy! Had a few glasses of wine tonight with the hubby.

Saturday: Went to the gym today walked 3.5km, cycled 4km and done 20 mins on the power-plate. Dinner was pan fried sea bass with salad and potatoes.

Sunday: Went out to see the last of the tall ships in Dublin docks today with my Mam. Ate fish and chips drank rose and had a lovely day!

The Bad
- Didn't do much exercise this week
- Had two naughty days!
- I think I have hit a bit of a wall the past couple of weeks and my motivation is gone

The Good
+ The new exercise machine I got this week
+ I am still getting much fitter every week
+ Getting a lot of lovely fresh air!

This week again wasn't a great week I think I have hit a wall. My motivation is gone and I still don't seem to be losing much weight. Next week I start a new job and will be doing a lot more walking. Hopefully next week will be a better week!

The Libraries Have Become My Candy Store!

 "The libraries have become my candy store" - Juliana Kimball

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty - It's 1922 and Cora Carlisle is on her way to New York from Wichita Kansas, with her is a beautiful young woman with wisdom beyond her young years she is Louise Brooks. Long before Louise Brooks became the famous silent screen actress & siren, Cora chaperoned her for one month in New York while she attended dance school there. 

Louise Brooks doesn't feature much in this book as its more about Cora Carlisle's journey to find herself and where she came from. Cora was adopted at a young age, but she does know she was born in New York. She tries to trace her parents along with trying to keep her young charge in control. 

I did like this book I enjoyed the journey to New York and reading about Broadway, prohibition, silent movies, flapper girls, as well as the sights and sounds of New York at that time. However after New York this the book stalled for me, and its covered large blocks of time in a single page and seemed rushed. I would of liked more about Louise Brooks (who is on the cover) and less about Cora. Overall I liked this book but did not love it.

The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue - I have read a couple of Emma Donoghue book's (Room & Slammerkin) and find she can be a little hit or miss for me. This book is based on a true facts and a real court case that gripped England in 1864.
It focuses on married couple Helen & Henry Condrington and there friend Emily "Fido" Faithfull. Fido becomes close friends to the Condrington's. She keeps Helen company while Henry is away with work, but she also becomes close to Henry and enjoys meaningful conversations with him. She even at one stage moves in with the family. As the years pass Helen makes it clear to Fido that the Condrington marriage is in name only.  
Fido hasn't see the Condrington's in years and after bumping into Helen in London. She is soon entangled with Helen again and is unwittingly helping Helen carry on a affair with a solider. 
Henry finds out and sues for divorce, Helen fights back by convincing Fido that something unspeakable happened between her and Henry. Soon Fido is being used in court as weapon by both husband and wife. By drawing Fido into the divorce proceedings the reader gets an idea of what it must have been like to be an unmarried, working woman in Victorian times.
This book is nothing like Room at all and I found it was not as engrossing as Slammerskin. I wanted to love this book but instead I just liked it, for me it just took me too long to get into the book. However the last chapter was amazing and it was worth reading till the end.

The Help by Cathryn Stockett - I guess I'm behide the times but I finally read this book! I'm sure everyone knows the story by now but if you don't here it is in a nutshell! It's 1962  Mississippi and Skeeter is a 22 year old she has just graduated from college with a degree but her Mother will not be happy till she has settled down with a good man and married. Skeeter has come home to find her family maid the woman who raised her more than her own Mother gone and no-one will tell her where. 
The story jumps back and forth between three characters, all of them providing their version of life the dinner parties of the white people, family relationships, friendships, working relationships, poverty, violence, and fear. The views of different women of the 1960's, mothers, daughters, sisters, wife's, friends, employers.
I found this book engrossing and couldn't but it down I read it in a day and a half. I can't beleive that this was parts of America and the world less than 50 years ago! Its a deeply moving story yet parts of it had me laughing out loud! Its a book that will stay with you long after you read it.



Have you read this books? If so what did you think of them? Have you any books to recommend?

Love/Hate

More things I have been loving & having recently:

Hate

* That the nights are getting shorter - which sadly means one thing summer is almost over before it even began!

* Not getting any post other than bills, bills & bills. I hate bills!

 * Male Posers In the gym - I go to the gym to work out not to see men posing around the gym in tank tops & groaning!!

* Slow broadband connections- this has been annoying me all week snail pace broadband might be time to change broadband provider!

* Litter bugs - we have a lovely little park across from our apartment and the amount of litter in it is terrible. We actually saw a man empty a wheelbarrow worth of litter into the hedge in the park! That is just disgusting!

* That I stopped wearing my retainers after I got my braces off - now my teeth have gone a little crooked and had to fork out €100 for new retainers to keep my teeth straight. Thought me a lesson to look after my pearly whites!

Love

* My friends - I love them to bits esp Michelle who got me a ticket for the show Chicago and it was a fun night out!

* The Great British Bake Off - I know I'm a middle aged woman in a 20's body! But I am really enjoying this show to see all the different types of baking. It is quite funny too!

* The seasons changing - I am actually looking forward to autumn. I am a bit fed up of this none existing summer! Looking forward to winter boots, coats, hats, gloves!

* My Mammy & Mammy in law - Don't get me wrong love my Daddy & Daddy - in law too but I just love having two wonderful strong women in my life who I can turn to for anything.

* The One Show - Middle aged is calling for me! I really like this show with it's mix of history, wildlife, lifestyle and showbiz!

* My New Job - I got a new job and start on Monday. After been out of world for a while I am really looking forward to starting my new job!

What are you loving & hating?

Our Summer To Do List - Update

I thought that since summer is drawing to a close I would update our summer to do list our list can be found here

 - Go on a tour of Guinness Store House - we done this and it was great fun see pic above!

- Go to the beach at least once this summer! - nope this hasn't happened yet not sure its going to this summer!

- For me to finally learn how to swim - haven't totally learned yet but I'm getting there!

- Vist Dublin Castle - done this it was really beautiful

- Have a picnic - nope but I have this planned for this weekend

- Use our badminton set lots!! - we have used them but not lots!

- Go on the Viking Splash Tour - we done this and the fun we had great way to see Dublin

- Have a weekend away in the country - no not yet =(

- Have afternoon tea in a posh hotel! - this was yummy and I want to do it again soon!

- Vist Kilmainham Jail - we haven't done this yet.

- To see a Dublin match in Croke Park - hoping to do this soon

- Vist The National Gallery - this was great to see all the fabulous art in Dublin

- Go on a tour of The Jameson Whiskey Distillery - this was a great tour plus free whiskey at the end!

- Have dinner at Marco Pierre White's- hoping to do this soon!

- See Phantom of the Opera in Dublin - this was great and read my review

So we are a little more than have way through our summer to do list, cant wait to finish the list! Have you do a summer to do list? Have you finished it yet?

Battle of the Bulge - Week 8

After a week break my battle of the bulge plan is back and it hasn't been a great week!

Week 8:

Monday: Well after a week of not doing my battle of the bulge plan eating what I wanted when I wanted and no exercise I felt very squishy around the edges!! I walked over 5.5km today, dinner was chicken enchiladas yummy!!!

Tuesday: After walking the legs off myself yesterday I was so achy and stiff today =( A case of doing to much to soon me thinks! I only managed to do 30 minutes of exercise at home today! Dinner was steak, potatoes, leeks and sweetcorn.

Wednesday: Today I done four hours of house work (place hasn't been cleaned in over a week!) and 30 minutes of house work. Dinner was chicken & gnocchi.

Thursday: Today I done 30 minutes of exercise....no motivation at all today =/ Paul was working late tonight so dinner for me was just a ham salad. Oh and a huge bar of chocolate!

Friday: I walked 4.5km today after not doing much yesterday I thought I better get off my bum and start doing some exercise! Dinner was pork chops, peas and chips.

Saturday: We walked 3km today today was my naught day so dinner was chicken thai curry with chips. We went to a get together in my parents tonight so we polished off a couple of bottles of wine!

Sunday: No exercise was done today. Dinner was in my parents-in law's it was a lovely Sunday roast with all the trimmings plus a couple of glasses of red wine.

The Bad
-I didn't go to the gym at all this week =/
- Felt bolated and squishy all week
- Lack of motivation to do much this week

The Good
+ I did do a good bit of walking this week
+ Ate alot of fruit this week
+ Lost half a pound this week =)

It took a while to get back into exercising this week after not doing any last week, and when I did of course I over do it on Monday and then that set the tone for the rest of the week. Midway through the week I lost motivation and didn't want to do anything! So my goal for next week is to get back to the gym at least once next week and to go swimming.

What's In My Handbag....

I have seen a few of these posts, so I thought I would give it a go!
I am currently going between two handbags! The cream and orange one my Mam got me as a present when she was on holidays. I love it because it's big and I can fit a lot in it, also it gives me that summer feeling even when its raining. The other is from penny's (primark) and I love it because I have squash alot into it!

What I found in my handbag:
- The Chaperone (lastest book I'm reading) I more than likely always have the lastest book I'm reading in my handbag!
- My over sized purse!
- My tantruth sun accelerator for when I sometimes do tanning beds.
- Hand Sanitizer I'm a little ocd and carry this with me all the time!
- Small bottle of perfume
- Mints I always carry mints with me or chewing gum!
- Pocket size hair brush...just encase I have a bad hair day!
- Spare contact lenes need these all the time
- The Body Shop concealer Pencil love this life saver!
- Hair grip
- Pocket size mirror compact case this is so handy it was a present from my Mam
- Handbag holder love it I bought it in New York its so handy and it saves my bags from nasty sticky pub floors!
- Bousrjois rose blush...love this!
- Finally my house keys!!!

 This was fun to see that amount of stuff I carry around with me everyday!! Oh to be a man and just keep everything in pockets!! What's in your handbag?

The Glad Game

The Glad Game Things I am Glad for:

- That things finally seem to be looking up for me & fingers crossed a few nice things might be coming my way soon.

- So Glad that I have my hubby he is a messer but we have the same sense of humor & we laugh at things only we would get.

- That the little bird who sings to us every morning from the window is still here.

- Glad I have lovely friends can't wait to see them next week.

I love the glad game ever since I read Pollyanna when I was a child, and every night before bed Pollyanna tells her aunt was she is glad for. What are you glad for?

Tourists at Home In Dublin!

Last week Paul had a week of work, sadly we were not going on any lovely holidays this year so we decided to do some tourist stuff around our hometown of Dublin. Paul had done a few of the things before but I was ashamed to say I had never done anything touristy at all around Dublin. It's funny because when you go aboard on holidays the first thing you do is all the touristy things but you don't do it as much in your own home!
So off we went to do our little list of places, we where lucky the sun shone all week and we had a great few days in Dublin. I fell in love with Dublin again and saw my home town with new eyes. I learned all kinds of stuff I didn't know, like where Oscar Wilde was born, how Irish whiskey is made different that other whiskey, and how Dublin got it's name. I saw beautiful things, like the grand canal, the many beautiful pieces of art in the national gallery, pieces of history in the national museum and the view of Dublin from Guinness's. I tasted yummy things like afternoon tea, corned beef dinner in one of the lovely pubs in Dublin, fresh fish and chips, and a lovely fresh pint of Guinness.
We didn't even manage to get to see all the places on our list, so hopefully we will get to do them again soon. Here is a few pictures of our week as tourists in our hometown sweet Dublin.




Dublin's City Hall



Inside City Hall



Paul In City Hall



Dublin's O'Connell Street




Yummy Afternoon Tea

 

Sand Statues In Dublin Castle



Statues Made Of Sand at Dublin Castle

 


Dublin Castle





Me At Jameson Whiskey

 



Drinking free whiskey at Jameson

All The Places we went to



Paul & Me on the Viking Tour



Christchurch in Dublin

 

Grand Canal

 

Old Boats at Grand Canal

 



At Guinness



Learning all about Arthur Guinness

 



Paul being his messing self!





Me enjoing my Guinness!




The view from the top of Guinness

 

Amazing view from Guinness



We really enjoyed our week of being tourists and will be doing it again soon.