Blow by blow account

What a weekend! On Friday night I made a mad dash out of the office at 4:40 to have my hair blow dried for our long awaited Christmas party. I was enormously rushed as the party kicked off at 19h00, but of course being in Ireland meant that I could safely arrive at 19h30, which I did. It was physically impossible to get everything done and make it on time, I have never rushed home and got dressed so quickly in my life…the total commute time (both ways) already ate up an hour.
ANYWAY…the party was fabulous, the food delicious – I was rather worried that the beef fillet would be overcooked and dry but it was served medium rare with a great peppercorn sauce, chive mashed potatoes, snap peas and carrots. The starter was a duck terrine with Chinese five spice but I am not a fan of either of those ingredients so it would be unfair to comment! Dessert was a real treat – a selection of baby lemon curd tartlet, a coffee chocolate biscuit topped with mascarpone, chocolate brownie and vanilla bean ice cream on a wafer…YUM.
The live band played brilliant music and the moves on the dance floor were impressive. At 01h30 things wrapped up and we all descended upon a club called Cocoon to make the most of our night out.
On Saturday it was FREEZING…the coldest day I remember in Dublin so far….and we went into town with Don and Maura and braved the chill for as long as we could, Don and Maura went to check out the Book of Kells and Kirstin and I headed for the warmth of a coffee shop and some nourishment. Jess was wondering around the shops with a group of her school friends. We finally got back on the luas and headed back towards home, eternally grateful to Malcolm who fetched us from the luas station saving us from the long very cold walk home! Malcolm had not been able to join us in town as he was playing a game of hockey, not very pleasant with the weather conditions but he persevered and enjoyed his hot shower afterwards!
I made a lasagne for dinner and we got out the 30 Seconds and Maura and I did the women proud and managed to beat the guys TWICE….the second round was without dice as they guys felt that we had been rather lucky with our throws…mmmmmm. Last laugh and all that…..
On Sunday we braved another icy Dublin day and wondered around Merrion Square admiring the art before jumping in the car and heading for the airport and another goodbye. Howards Way and their all day breakfast beckoned, so Malcolm and I stopped in there for our fix of egg and bacon without the messy kitchen to worry about afterwards! I rounded off the day with a bit of shopping, i am trying to find a jacket I like that can withstand the cold weather we are experiencing...still no luck. I am way too fussy...the buttons are too big, too many or too small, the belt buckle is ugly, too big or too small and the coat is the wrong fabric or dry clean only....sigh. Finally something I do know how to buy...groceries and then home for the evening and best of all my BED...