Words From the Wise

It's hard to believe it was just over a year ago I was heading to Ireland. Ever since my adventure to the green land, my love for St. Patrick's Day has grown. So can we say we're surprised that I've made another holiday wreath? No ... I was really surprised at how difficult this one came to me. I was absolutely in love with my Valentine's wreath so I knew it was going to be hard to live up to. And I was right. I have had my St. Patrick fabric since the beginning of the year yet hadn't had any motivation to make this wreath. Total bummer. I still don't know that I am totally IN LOVE with this wreath..but it is growing on me. And of course, I did not save any of my wrappers so I can't tell you exactly what I bought. But I think that's the fun of it. You don't want your wreath to look exactly like mine. Make it your own. Have fun! Here are some close ups of my wreath. I think the closer I look at it, the more I like it. And I ho...

Half way through our baking madness! Oh Indiana weather, how art thou? I'll tell you. Sucky. Yep. It's absolutely disgusting outside. Last night we got slammed with the Icecapades. And who wants to travel in that mess? Not me...or my sister. So last night we decided to have It'sSnowingSleetingWeDon'tWantToGoOut Baking Madness 2013! So with our mad baking skills, and the help of Pinterest, we had an Irish themed baking night.   First up- Bailey's Irish Cream Cupcakes! It was all Hailey on this recipe. But I was the official taste tester. And I have to say they turned out pretty good! We couldn't taste the Bailey's too much after they had baked, so if you really want the flavor don't be afraid to add more! You can find the recipe here ! Of course, ours look pretty different than the pictures. We used an almond frosting and added a little bit of Irish Cream to it. Made the frosting pretty messy...but still yummy! Next- Honey Beer Bread. Mm...

Well friends, I've been a busy worker bee! I think I'm close to being done with my trip to Ireland. I have a ton more pictures, but decided to edit it down. Feel free to scroll down and see some of my work! Sorry for the blurry picture- you still get the idea! I was trying to make my trip not too green, but that started to make things tricky. And in comes all the green..whoops! I did want my pages for St. Patrick's Day to be green, I managed to make a few days before then green too. Green is my favorite color, so what can I say? It was really easy to find St. Pat's Day stickers. And it was really hard to find Ireland stickers. I did manage to score a sticker book of just shamrocks from JoAnn Fabrics for $1..Ashlyn for the win.

It's been 2 weeks since I've been back from my trip to Ireland. I haven't really had a lot of time to sit and think about my trip because ever since I stepped foot in Indianapolis, I felt like I never had the chance to sit and think. Today's the day. I finally have a day to myself and think about my trip. I want to go back. I do. I want to go back tomorrow. I'm not sure if I want to go back because my sister's still over there or if it's because I really enjoyed the trip. Or maybe it's both. I had a fantastic time. And I miss my sister. When we were leaving for the airport, it didn't hit me until my sister got off the bus that she wasn't coming back with us to the States. And if you know me, you know I am an emotional person so the tears started flowing. So I guess I learned these things: 1. Everyone must go abroad at least once in their life. It's true, the US has so much for us to see but I think going overseas at least onc...

Today we ventured out of Belfast and in to Dublin for St. Paddy’s Day! It was a very long day. Our train left Belfast at 6:50 am. Let’s just say I fell asleep as soon as I sat down on the train. So we’ll just move to…the arrival in Dublin’ yay! We seriously had no game plan. And a game plan is crucial with this bunch. After walking around, we decided to get a good “seat” for the parade. So 2 hour before the parade starts, we find our spot and stand. And wait. And get annoyed with people around us. Apparently the European thing to do is show up 30 minutes before the parade and shove your kids to the very front so they can see. Then they say “excuse me, can you move so the children can see?” this did not settle so well with the Americans. We had been standing there for 2 hours so we deserved our spot. And I don’t want kids kicking me, stepping on my feet, and smacking me in the face with their flag. It happened. And then I got the pleasure of having some short woman behind ...

I’m gonna make this post quick. Today was our last full day in Belfast (tomorrow we are heading to Dublin). We decided not to have much planned for the day. I thnk this is where it’s important to add in we started with a rainy day. The Bot We started our morning eating breakfast. Breakfast consisted of soda bread, potato bread, bacon, egg, sausage and baked beans. Yep. That’s a traditional breakfast here! We then head to St. George’s market for one last look and come up short. We venture over to city center to walk around and then head to the BBC building. This was our surprise from Hailey. We got to sit it on the taping of a small show. It was pretty interesting. After the show, we decide it’s time to head back for lunch (and yes it’s still raining). Hailey decided she wanted Chinese but mom and I wanted fish and chips. So we drop Hailey off and head the The Bot for fish and chips. Now first I must say that the name The Bot reminds me of The Dot and therefore Degrass...

Well I guess I knew the day would come when I wouldn’t have much exciting things to say about our day in Belfast. We met up with Jackie and her son Daniel (these are the people I talked about in my other blogs who are from America and live here now). They took us to Hillsborough. I guess this is where anyone of status (like the US President or the Queen) would come to stay if they were visiting N. Ireland. This little town was very quaint, green and quiet. It was cute. We just walked around the town and chatted about things. We stopped in to a cute little store and then in a bakery, where I ordered a shortbread biscuit. I don’t know why, but the shortbread biscuits here are soooooo yummy! Then we venture down the street in to another cute little store. Mom was having me look at some jewelry and I was saying things like “aw, how cute.” and “I love that!” and “how adorable?!” Then the cashier looks and me and says, “I could just sit and listen to your accent all day. I just...

I managed to sleep in this morning, after a night of tossing and turning. You see, it all started when my friend that is staying in my apartment while I'm away sent me a message and said her key wasn't working. Longggg story short, I emailed the complex to let her in my apartment so she could check on things. So I hadn't heard anything when I went to bed that night and all I could think about is why didn't the key work. And then I started worrying about when I got back. I got an email today saying they would let her in. She sent me a message that our friend was telling her the wrong apartment number this entire time...whew. sigh of relief...ok back to my day. So after the stressful night, I slept until 9:30. I took my time getting ready and then mom and I decided to walk around Queens University. We walked around the botanic garden (which was beautiful!!) and then ventured in to the library. You see, there is something very special in this library. One t...

I think I'm starting to adjust to the time a wee bit more. I'm still finding that lunch is the hardest. Dinner, however, is easy! Enough about jet lag and adjusting to time! On to about my day! (which I am sure you equally care about) Morning started out a little rough. Told mom to wake me up at 8:45...she comes in at 9:25. Now usually I wouldn't complain on catching a few more z's, but when you have to catch a bus at 10 and you have to shower and dry your thick, long hair it's nearly impossible to to get ready in that amount of time. So needless to say the hair wasn't as dry as I would have liked. We hopped on the bus and got to our double decker tour bus. We sat outside. Which was freezing. And my hair was wet, making it worse. The bus tour was pretty great though. We learned all about the history in Ireland,mass where the Titanic was built, and learned some interesting facts. Once the tour was over, we had about 2 hours to kill so I FINALLY g...

I am exhausted. Mom and I spent the day on a bus tour. And by spending a day, I mean from 9:30am to 7pm. It was pretty sweet though. The bus arrived at our flat and we hopped on. Right away I notice these 3 obnixious college girls from the States. I was already tired so they fueled the fire to my crankiness. We pick up a a few more groups: an elderly couple from Scotland, a quiet couple from England, a duo from Iowa and a family of 6 from Canada. (this is where I should add that the family of 6 had 4 children all under the age of 5...yeahhhh) Our tour guide /bus driver is a loud middle aged Scotsman. Now I'm gonna jot down some places we went with minor details and while they may not seem exciting on the blog, they were great to see in person! Let's keep in mind that we made a lot of stops...and with the exhaustion, hungry and terrible memory I have I can't remember every one. So we'll just hit the biggest stops Stop 1: Carrickfergus castle. It's a 1...

Well clearly you know I made it to Belfast safely. So we'll fast forward to our arrival! We get through the airport in a breeze, but we have to find the bus to take us to the city center. Sounds easy, right? Ha, you thought I was going to say "well it wasn't easy" but that's where you're wrong. It was easy! Mom and I hop on the bus and between my exhaustion and mad hunger, I manage to open my eyes and look out my window. Ok, ok. I know many people have talked about how green Ireland is...but you don't realize how green it is until you experience for yourself. I mean it's fresh, luscious green. (and for those that are wondering, we did see lots of sheep!)  Fast forward, we arrive at the city center. Next task, call Anne (the lady we're renting the flat from) and let her know we've arrived. Here's where our first adventure comes in: the pay phone. Let's just say after leaving half of a voicemail and finally reach Anne's...