goin' up the country

My last few weeks on the Emerald Isle have had the most round house kickin'/ fist pumpin'/ air guitar playin' kinda effect on my heart.

My beautiful cousin and soul sister Finn came to visit for a long weekend. I'll be sharing a house with this amazing girl as well as some other pretty rad house-mates when I move to West London tomorrow (TOMORROW!).

We managed to squeeze in a full day of sightseeing, Irish coffees and pub time in my parent's home-town before packing up the car to head off to Kerry for a big old family knees up.

A 5 hour car journey, way too many travel sweets and one retail park pit stop later we were in beautiful Killarney in Kerry to visit my aunt and her family. It was a girly affair with 4 aunties and three girly cousins staying up way past the witching hour at the kitchen table drinking wine, taking photographs and swapping family anecdotes.

I treasured the opportunity to connect with my little cousin Zio as it's only the second chance I have had to meet her since she was adopted from Vietnam when she was a baby. Such a funny, smart and kind little human being, she just adored getting to know her grown up cousins and we took every opportunity to play with her and get to know her beautiful personality.

When she jumped on my bed one morning and said "Let's play 'Mamas and darlings', you can be the Mama and I'll be the darling" (a game she learned from a tv show apparently) I seriously thought my uterus would go off like a bomb. Sigh. 

As well as the (several) maternal ticks and twitches I also thanked my moon and stars for being blessed with such a huge close-knit family and I relished the chance to bond with some seriously cool female matriarchs. 

Killarney is a treat to visit and if you're ever considering a tour of Ireland it will tick every box~ I particularly fell in love with this time capsule tea room which we all loved so much we ate lunch in it two days on the trot. Smoked salmon and poached eggs and eggs benedict for the girl who wanted to run away with the china. Delicious.

My flight to London leaves at mid-day tomorrow so it'll be an early night for me tonight. I can't wait to check in with my first post from my new home. Thank you to all of you who have left such sweet words of luck and encouragement for me on my journey. Hugs and kisses are on the wind to you all x x x

Thank you so much for reading! Why not hitch your wagon to Stars in Jars?
>.<

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strawberry and deer skull

I visited the most perfect little tea room the other week with my Mom and aunt. Hidden down a little cobble-stone road in a village near my parent's house, it looked like something on the front of an old chocolate box.

We were served fresh from the oven scones and strawberries and whipped double-cream on mis-matched vintage china plates and drank a pot  several pots of tea from china teacups on big wood tables while the sun smiled and the bees hummed and I felt a little like we were in Hogsmeade from the Harry Potter books ^.^

I loved the eccentric decor (a deer skull here, a cast iron stove there) and the potted succulents, wild arugula and strawberries that were dotted around the outdoor seating. 

 It was the perfect place to kick back, soak up the lazy, dreamy summer sun and take too many spoons of whipped cream, because why not?

Now that you're here summer, how about staying awhile? Sure would appreciate it.

^.^

london trip// turning thirty

Turning Thirty was a breeze for this gal, of course it helped that she was spoiled with the company of some very special people ^.^

The rainy weather (and too long taken to gussy ourselves up) caused us to veto our planned Jack the Ripper walk. Instead we raised our umbrellas and headed east for a stroll in Brick Lane.

We wandered through cobbled streets, touched railed clothing in vintage shops and toasted my birthday over fresh mint teas.

Later in the evening we returned for a long awaited Indian curry~ oh how I've craved a good curry with coconut rice and almond pashwari naan!!

We closed the evening at a beautifully ramshackle hole- in-the-wall hookah bar surreptitiously recommended to us by the waiter in the curry house.

We blew apple and mint flavored smoke bubbles and listened to some great 90's R & B until the clock struck midnight.

Here's the birthday breakfast rustled up for me by my cousin that morning using the goose eggs and walnut bread we bought from Borough Market the previous day.

How thankful I am for beautiful family and friends to add a bit of sugar to my birthday cake!

x

the sunday slowdown

 Do you ever wish that Sunday mornings could just last forever?

Today's was the perfect, lazy, slow-wake-up kind of morning with cups of tea and bacon sandwiches and The Beach Boys and jumping in and out of bed till noon.

Later the sunshine (sunshine!) enticed me into the shower and out to the tracks to watch my buddy put me to shame by running 10k while I slouched on the stands, listening to Radiohead and messing around with photo apps on my phone.

She's a master deceiver, Madam Weather, especially when she is in transition and my fingers finally became numb enough by the wind chill for me to sneak off and hide out in a coffee shop with a book, a chocolate latte and the warmth of a sunny spot next to a window.

Because, really, what sunday is complete without a little coffee shop action?

the sunday slowdown

Is it almost Spring yet?

I have a hankering for flowering baby buds and warm window panes and

I'm tired of fending off colds that are coming for me left, front and back!

This morning I scooped up my book, pens and writing paper and escaped to the coziness of the coffee shop for a few hours of reading and writing therapy.

Works a charm on me every time.

My soul is craving some good outdoors time, but for now the snow and the frost have me running for cover every time I venture out of the apartment.

I have to remind myself the deeper we move in to February the closer we inch toward Spring and warm air and good changes.

When I think back to Spring last year, when I was home at my parents house in Ireland, taking long walks every day, spotting wild horses in the fields and taking photos of old churches, I realize now just how happy a time that was for me.

As much as there is a hermit in me (incidentally, The Hermit was one of the first cards I pulled at my Tarot reading) who loves the hibernation involved in Winter, there is another part of me that loves the freedom and call of the outdoors that Spring offers.

I hope that Old Man Winter is being sweet to you, he is a charming old wizard after all...but I am ready for a little bit of change ^^

season of giving, day 1

The perks of an anomalous vacation time:

claiming the best comfy-seat corner in the coffee shop

warming snow-cold hands around a hot paper cup

time to be still and alone with my thoughts

art journaling

playing incognito: taping free smile papers on to unassuming walls

finding one has been taken only half an hour later

another half hour, two more have been spirited away

smiling and wondering where my paper smile is now~ 

 inside a pocket or a wallet?

Is someone looking at it right now with a smile playing the corners of their lips?

How would you react to a free paper smile from a stranger?