Ramblings

Happy Tuesday!!  We had yet another snow day yesterday, so over this winter!!

I watched the Oscars Sunday night and I must admit I was a little underwhelmed with the gowns.  I had a few that I liked....

(and she is not even an actress)

but no one really blew me away.

I saw the Alexander McQueen beauty that Cate Blanchett wore in real life...

and it is an amazing work of art

I was so excited on Saturday to have 4 uninterrupted, all to myself hours with my son.  He is at the age where he is so busy with school, sports and friends that I feel like I never spend quality time with him anymore.  I told him from now on we have a date one Saturday every month. ( yep I am the nagging girlfriend)

I had a huge handful of vodka soaked gummy bears at our party Saturday night

which turned out to be a very bad idea come Sunday morning.

Tonight, for our big Mardi Gras dinner my son asked me to make lasagna.  Hands down, the best recipe comes from this cook book

I know, it is so embarrassing to even have this on my shelf.  The hubs gave this to me before we were even married, its a combo cookbook/retelling of story lines (trust me some were really stupid) but I only look at it for lasagna.


My son's school has "brother schools" all over the world so there are constantly exchange students coming and going throughout the year.  Some boys stay for the entire year and some stay for 2 weeks, anyway at the end of the month we will be hosting a boy from Ireland for 3 weeks.  My son is still in middle school so he cannot study abroad until high school, but I am going to force him to do that when he is old enough.  This will be great for him because he can get idea of what it will be like to live in someone else's home

The only thing that is making this winter bearable

We are one day closer to spring!!

Luck of the Irish

When we decided last September that we would travel to Europe in January, naturally Paris was top of the list.  However, I was feeling a little antsy because of the 8 times I have been to Europe it has been Paris only (with the one exception of a quick jaunt to London).  The entire country of Italy and the city of Barcelona are on top of my list, but I have to go in the summer so I can experience the amazing beaches.  The hubs has always wanted to go to Ireland, so we decided our trip would be Paris/Ireland.

After 5 days in Paris, it was off to Ireland...

2 things I realized quickly.

The first, Ireland was exactly how I imagined, quaint little villages nestled in between rolling hills...

the second, I really really liked Ireland.  Not necessarily the big city of Dublin but the countryside, specifically Galway, where we spent 3 days...

Ashford Castle could not have been more opposite Paris.  It was in the middle of nowhere, next to a village with a population of 100, and not one shop within a 20 mile radius...

In some ways it was just like Paris though...

I actually enjoyed the change of pace.  Paris was go go go from the moment we got up until the moment we went to sleep.  Ireland was so laid back.

We went on walks...

we took a boat ride on the surrounding lake...

view of our castle from the lake...

and what was the most amazing part of the trip, falconry...

Falconry, which is big in Galway, is the catching and releasing of falcons.  We went on a 2 hour walk guided by the birds.  If the falcons were stubborn and would not come back to you, we were loaded up with some treats to bribe them...

baby chicks and quails.


It was such an awesome experience, I did not want it to end.  Our last morning, Dr Beautiful and I went on a walk and decided we absolutely needed to come back here with our children, and soon!!

Luck of the Irish

The Ireland leg of our trip is a lot more chill and relaxing.  We have very busy days and nights in Paris so the general consensus was just to hang out (maybe in pubs) and relax.

I think the perfect spot to hang out is a castle.  We will be here for 2 days...

and while we are here, we will do a little falconing...

 apparently that is the thing to do in Ireland, catch a falcon on your arm!!

We will then head to Dublin, I am told Grafton Street is where we want to be

and from a recommendation from my friend Anne, dinner at Chez Max

Wanderlust

A couple Friday nights ago the hubby and I went out for a dinner to reconnect after a few busy weeks, and to plan our next vacation.  The hubs always likes to have a trip down in the books so he has something to look forward to, I think that is just a fine way to go through life!  We had decided that each of us was to plan 1 vacation then we would pick the winner.

The hubs picked here...

The Ritz Carlton at Half Moon Bay, CA.  Beautiful ocean front property, close to wineries, little coastal towns and the Red Wood Forest.  Always a perfect 65 degrees.

I picked here...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  Hot, sunny, beautiful and since our trip is planned for early January that is their summer.  Lots to do in Rio, go to the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, Christ the Redeemer statue, a friendly bull fight, and eating lots and lots of empadas.

Clearly we were not on the same page.  Dr Beautiful was thinking "a nice and relaxing long weekend" and I was thinking "go big and see the world for 10 days"  The hubs was also not completely sold on Brazil, he was wondering how in the world I came up with this location because in the 17 years he has known me I have never once mentioned anything or anywhere in South America.  Hello one of my favorite kid movies is Rio.



We came up with plan B....

Paris France, my favorite city, but the 8 times we have been to Europe have always been trips to Paris.  2 of the times we did spend a few days in London on our way home but our trips are always focused on Paris.    I tease my hubby say it would break my heart to be in Europe and not be in Paris BUT I also knew it was time to see what lies outside the City of Lights.

The night when we were planning our trip, the hubs alma mater and favorite football team, Notre Dame was playing in Ireland.  I don't know if it was the wine, or the excitement of seeing his beloved team play in Dublin but he threw out the idea of spending 5 days in Paris and 5 days in Ireland...

Brillant!  The best of both worlds, we will spend time in Paris and get an opportunity to see a new part of Europe...

To make our trip even better, I mentioned to my friend our plans and now she and her hubby are going too.   The hubs and I will plan the Paris part of the trip and our friends will plan the Ireland part.      This will be the first time to Paris for our friends so I want everything to be perfect, I have a few ideas of how we are going to spend our days and the list is endless of fabulous restaurants for the nights.  Of course we cannot leave out all the history, art and shopping the city has to offer.


Paris stole my heart when I was 18 and I never got it back!!