New Blogroll: Crafty!

May 2, 2012
{Image from here}

As promised, I have a new list of ten blogs in the blogroll on the right side over there.

This new set of blogs has a theme – they’re all crafty! Whether it’s hardcore DIY, like installing tile and cabinets, or decorating for a party, they’re all crafty in some way.

Check them out!

A Fabulous Fete – Sweet and cheerful party ideas and crafts. I liked these ideas for using kraft paper to decorate!

A Subtle Revelry – Victoria shares tons of ideas for decorating and styling – last week was barbecue week! But this cut-glass lantern is my latest favorite. She scooted all over her neighborhood to take the photos with pretty backdrops.

Bower Power – This blog will make you giggle. Katie is beyond honest, which is nearly always hilarious. I went looking for a great post to start you off with and got stuck on yesterday’s. A beautiful and chic office makeover with my favorite color on the walls.

Creature Comforts – Miss Ez from Creature Comforts writes a beautiful blog with beautiful craft tutorials. Try some DIY peonies or homemade label stamps.

Hank and Hunt – DIY Cinco de Mayo garland. Need I say more?!

Little Green Notebook – Jenny is a seemingly unending resource for decorative but functional projects for your home. Her framing tips are clever and inexpensive!

Lovely Indeed – Chelsea does a great job of taking trends and putting her own spin on them. Try the Sharpie paint-penned cups and the driftwood hanger.

Oh So Beautiful Paper – All things beautiful and papery, obviously, but there’s also a great series on different types of printing. My favorite? Block printing.

Wit and Whistle – I’ve had Amanda’s dip-dyed t-shirt on my list for a while now!

Young House Love – Most of the projects John and Sherry accomplish are way above my pay grade, but there are lots of little tutorials to work with that don’t require power tools! They’re masters of spray painting to spruce up any old thing.

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Snapshots from Italy: Venice

April 30, 2012

I was a little apprehensive about visiting  Venice, because we’d heard from several people that Venice isn’t their favorite place in Italy. But once we arrived, the apprehension melted away in the bright sunshine. Venice was one of the most stunningly unique places I have ever seen.

I expected Venice to be a little like Amsterdam, where the canals are lined with streets for cars – not so. On the island of Venice, there are no cars. Zero. There are alleyways and sidewalks for walking, but there are no streets. Everything is done by boat – deliveries, ambulance, moving house. All done by boats, big and small.

Since we only had about 24 hours in Venice, we did a lot of walking and soaking in the sights, but we didn’t try to squash in museums or churches. Venice is also quite small, so our wandering took us around most of the island. And because we avoided tourist spots, we got to wander around places that weren’t packed with visitors. Thank goodness!

The best advice we got was to use the waterbus – their version of the metro! – and avoid the pricey gondolas. We got our gondola fix by taking the little shuttle gondola across the Grand Canal. You pay the gondola man 50 cents and pile in with all the locals, and the gondola takes you across the canal. Since there are only a few bridges where you can cross the canal, these gondola shuttles save you from having to walk to the nearest bridge. And in our case, they saved us from paying 90 euro to get on the gondola experience!

Venice, like most European cities, can be quite expensive. So we kept costs down by finding delicious take-away sandwiches and eating them at the edge of the canal.

My sister snapped my photo while we were waiting for the waterbus to arrive. Can you tell I was loving that sunshine?!

Logistics: 

We flew on Ryanair to Venice-Treviso airport and took the 45 minute shuttle bus (€7 each way) to the city. The shuttle drops you at the main train station in Venice. It’s beyond convenient. They even sell you the shuttle tickets on the plane!

Once there, we got a 24 hour waterbus pass, which was about 16 euro each. It allowed us to get to and from our B&B as well as take in all the sights. You can ride it all around the city, and the pass works for any waterbus route.

We stayed in a wonderful B&B in Venice called B&B Ai Bariteri. It was exceptionally clean and comfortable, the host and housekeeper were both incredibly friendly, and it was in a great location – right near Grand Canal and the Rialto Bridge. We found it at the very last minute, and it cost us a fraction of what we thought we were going to have to pay – only €100 for two for the night. Our room was on the top floor – 5 flights up! I think that would have been tougher in the heat of the summer, but since it was April, we just counted it as our exercise!

B&B Ai Bariteri
Calle di Mezzo 4966
30124 S. Marco
Venezia

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Italy, According to my iPhone

April 25, 2012

Good morning! I’m back! Italy was amazing and I can’t wait to share lots of photos, info and tips with you. But while I settle back in and send my sister back to America today, I thought I’d leave you with Italy, according to my iPhone.

Venice:

We were so enthralled by Venice – which surprised us because a lot of people told us they weren’t so impressed. It probably helped that the weather was spectacular too!

Florence:

We found Florence a little overrun by tourists – much nicer in the early morning or evening so you could actually walk through the streets! But that Duomo. Man, he’s stunning.

Verona:

{This was our bill at dinner – calculated on a placemat and ripped out. It was a steal for the dinner we enjoyed!}

Lots more soon!

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Getting Ready for Visitors: Four Steps

April 18, 2012

I mentioned a few weeks ago that a professor from the college where Michael and I met is staying in our apartment while we’re in Maine this summer. I’m putting together a pack of information about our home and the surrounding area for him and his wife. And now I’m working on figuring out how to make space in our home so that he and his wife will be comfortable for the month.

Since our guests are staying for one month, here’s what we’re going to do to make space and get ready!

1. Make space for clothes

Clear out drawers and space in wardrobes by moving our clothes into bins and out to the shed or studio. I’m loving this part – it’s going to be such a great opportunity to weed out Michael’s multiplying cache of t-shirts!

2. Get rid of knick knacks

Box up the photos and knick knacks that sit on the dressers and bedside tables and store them in the studio.

3. Clean out the cupboards.

Are we the only ones with junk from years ago sitting in the back, taking up space? This is another great opportunity to clear out the junk. Oh, and a good opportunity to clean those cabinets!

4. Empty the fridge!

Michael jokes that it’s a family trait to collect condiments – my parents’ fridge is filled! I rarely eat jam, but I must have 5 different jars open in the fridge at any given time! And the same goes for most of the rest of the condiments – mustard, relish, barbecue sauce. We’ll use these visitors as a reason to pare down the stash! While we’re at it, we’ll probably empty out the freezer and defrost it as well! Who even knows what’s hiding in there!

Have you ever had someone stay in your house while you’re away? What are the things you do to get ready? I’d love your tips and advice!

Here’s a little more great advice I read last year on Apartment Therapy for planning a house swap. We’re not technically swapping (although we’ll be looking to do that next year!), but I figure the advice applies.

Image source

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Barely Recipe: White Chocolate Bark

April 17, 2012

This is what I would call a barely recipe. But it’s also delicious, fast and fun.

White chocolate bark with pistachios and dried cranberries. Yum.

Well, kind of voila. More like load it, put it in the fridge for a couple hours, crack it, and then voila! But you can work those steps out on your own – I have faith in ya!

Put it in a little box with some pretty gold paper and call it a day! This one’s travelling across the ocean to my brother. A perfect snack for college finals!

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Edinburgh, Take Two

April 11, 2012

While my parents were in town a couple weeks ago, we took a quick 48-hour trip to Edinburgh. Since they’ve been to Dublin several times now, we wanted them to get to see something a little different. And I loved Edinburgh so much when I went in January that I knew it would be the perfect little trip.

This is a fairly random collection of photos from our adventure. I thought I’d divide it into two parts. First, the sunny day. Edinburgh was a lot colder than Dublin, but luckily the sun was out for the morning and most of the afternoon. That sun was especially great because we walked at least ten miles around, across, and up and down the city!

{Michael decided it was a nice day for a stroll with a beer – completely legal in Edinburgh! So the boys had a beer walking down the street. Don’t they look thrilled! Ha!}

{Michael looking hilariously thug.}

And then it got cold and misty and windy. So I took wayyyy fewer photos.

And that is Edinburgh, numero dos! Equally enjoyable the second time around!

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An Easy Easter Basket Cake

March 27, 2012

My family never had a big celebration for Easter growing up, but it was always a good excuse to get together with our extended family for a springy meal. Since moving to Dublin, I’ve been trying to reenact that part each year. (Not always smoothly!)

But this year, Michael has to work in Limerick over Easter weekend, so the day will be a little different. Don’t get me going on how a country that barely separates church and state can allow a college basketball tournament on Easter Sunday. It’s such a bummer!

In any case, I thought I’d make my mom’s traditional Easter basket cake last weekend since we’ll be missing real Easter. It is the simplest and sweetest little cake to make if you’re the celebrating-Easter type.

Here’s what to do:

1. Make your favorite cake – choose your flavor and size. I made a 5-inch cake that was about 2.5 inches tall, but my mom always makes a regular 9-inch cake in two layers. (I used this recipe and it was yummy!)

2. Frost your cake with your favorite icing recipe. I usually use a barely buttercream icing (confectioner’s sugar, butter, milk and vanilla extract), but this time I used 7-minute icing and it was so marshmallow-y and shiny!

3. Create a little indentation in the top of the cake (my mom digs out a little cake from the top layer, but I just build up the icing a little at the sides since I happen to like extra icing) and fill it with green sprinkles or flaked coconut colored with green food coloring.

4. Make a little basket handle by scrunching up aluminum foil and wrapping ribbon around it. Curl it into a u-shape and insert it into the cake.

5. Fill the indentation in the cake with Easter candy and enjoy your sweet little cake!

And here’s how I managed to include spring-y M&M’s when you can’t find them in Ireland! The cake was delicious – the icing was like marshmallow fluff but not too sweet. It was perfect with a little vanilla ice cream!

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A Sweet Gift

March 27, 2012

Every week, I get emails from readers who are planning trips to Dublin. They’re often looking for suggestions for what to do, where to eat, where to stay. I also get a lot of questions about how to get the most out of a short trip to Dublin. It can be really hard to know which of the hundreds of amazing things should be at the top of your list when you come to visit.

I love getting these emails – and I try to respond to every one. It’s a fun little diversion for me to think of the best places to recommend and the best ways to enjoy my adopted city.

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a lovely reader named Dusty, who was trying to plan a visit with her husband and baby boy for a short trip to Dublin.

We exchanged a few emails and I made a bunch of suggestions (like this and this). Then Dusty kindly offered to bring me a little something American as a thank you for helping her narrow down their trip. It was the sweetest offer and I couldn’t help but take her up on it.

We met up and she presented me with the biggest bag of Easter M&M’s ever. I’m embarrassed to admit exactly how many I ate before I asked Michael to hide them from me until Easter. But it was so fun to chat with her and hear what she thought of Dublin – I love having discussions about the ways Ireland is different from America. Everyone has such different insights about this city. I just find it fascinating!

So this isn’t a post to explain that I expect sweets if I give you tips for enjoying Dublin. Although I probably wouldn’t refuse! This is a post to say thank you to sweet Dusty for bringing me a treat I always miss this time of year. And a post to say I’m always happy to put in my two cents if you’re planning a trip to Dublin and you’re not sure where to start!

I used these sweet treats in a project I’ll be sharing later today or tomorrow. It’s very cute!

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