My Boudoir

Alright, well as promised here are the heavily anticipated photos of my new room.


Before I could get completely settled in I had to purchase a few items from the local "Tesco," Ireland's version of Target Greatland. Granted no one is better at conveniently putting all of your household needs in one place like quite like my beloved Target, but Tesco does a pretty good job. On my list were hangers, push-pins, tacky for my posters, and new bedding! The "bedding pack" provided by the university sounded good in theory, but in reality proved about as effective in keeping me warm as a newspaper. The first 3 nights were pretty chilly, especially for an Arizona girl!


Another contributing factor to my personal Cold War is this radiator. We have one of these in Arizona only there we call it the Sun. Well, for something called a "radiator" this thing really is not "radiating" much heat. I had heard of these strange devices before from my parents, but never thought I would have to use the same heating device used in the dinosaur days! (Yes, that was a dig. Pun intended!)

Another dilemma was the furniture arrangement. Originally my bedside table was, well beside the bed! But this prohibited me from opening up my "closet," (I think this actually classifies more as a cupboard) because the bed was to close. While I temporarily solved my furniture situation, now my night stand isn't within reach of one of my only two outlets meaning that an extension chord is now topping off my list of purchases for next week's Tesco trip!


My fabulous Sex and the City Movie posters next to my not-so-fabulous hotel inspired curtains...


This is my favorite space in my room! I love desks in general and really like how this section came together, with Uma's help of course. ;-)


One of the things I was most sad to leave behind, second to my family and friends of course ;-), was my memory board. I have accumulated quite a lot of stuff over the years and picking my favorite photos and cards from it was pretty difficult. So I was very thankful when I found this bulletin board in my room!

Okay so I know I am a total nerd for posting a picture of my Kleenax box, but isn't this just the cutest box of tissues you have ever seen?

Finally, Ireland is just as beautiful as the books and movies make it out to be. The vivid greens are so hard to capture on film, but here is another one of my attempts...


This is the view from one spot on the University's campus. Sure it's no A-Mountain but it still is pretty. ;-) The river running though is the River Bann. As an English Literature Major I have read, analyzed, and interpreted this particular river many times so it really is a treat to finally meet it in person. Oh, and those tiny white specks way ba-a-a-ack in the far field are sheep. Sheep!!!

Cribs

Well for those of you that haven't heard I made it to Ireland safely! After 3 planes and one very expensive taxi ride I arrived at my new home for the next five months on a cold rainy night. Since I've arrived most everyone I've talked to has been asking about my apartment so I thought I would give you a tour - blogosphere style!

Even if the rest of my apartment had been as nicely decorated as a card board box --which it is not -- I'm pretty sure my heart would still be happy because of this bright red, cheery door. Doesn't it just sing out, "Happy people live in this apartment! Good day!"


On the first floor are my "house mates" bedrooms and our only bathroom. The bathroom is nice except for our shower, which I'm pretty sure was designed for fashion models or people with eating disorders...or both.


But enough about the bathroom...Let's go upstairs! Come on, follow me! (See how it's almost like a real tour?!)


Here is the kitchen (and my bedroom door)...


And to the right is the "family room" area...(Helen, one of my house mates is sitting on the couch)


My second favorite part of my apartment, besides the red door, is this window! It's hard to get a clear view because of the scenery but it is gorgeous!


A closer look...


I was standing at the window thinking about just how different the landscape here is from Arizona when I looked down to find this little fellow...


I have never been so excited to see a cactus in my whole life! So even though I'm in Northern Ireland I still have a little piece of home with me. I guess Helen found this little guy in one of the markets and thought it was "nice and lovely" as she put it.

My room is still a disaster right now because I haven't been able to get into Coleraine to buy hangers and other stuff I need so I won't post pictures of that just yet, but this is the view from my room...

So that's my apartment! It's really cute and I think I'll enjoy living here once I get used to the cold. Right now the apartment complex is trying to save money on heating so it comes on at random times during the day, which is cute. But I have discovered some survival tips like wearing 3 layers of pajamas and draping all my coats over my bed at night to try and stay warm! Oh well that's Ireland. And like they say here, "The weather is nice, except when its not, and it's always sunny, except when it rains."

Mall Mentality

As Beth lovingly put it, my life is very well “merchandised.” Anyone who has ever shopped with me will tell you I am THE ideal consumer. All rationality is lost when my sparkling little eyes spot a "sale" sign, shiny things also seem to have the same affect (ahem...Tiffany's...ahem). I partially blame the mall for this. I mean, really? Must ALL my favorite stores reside under the same roof?? Anyways...this mall mentality has allowed me to accumulate a lot of really cute clothes, shoes, and bags. I didn't realize just HOW many really cute clothes, shoes, and bags I had until I was faced with the task of packing them all into just 3 not-so-cute bags. Well, I'm sure you can imagine the predicament I was faced with when it came time to make wardrobe "cuts" (yes, pun intended) but I am going to help you out and give you a visual. THIS is what my room looked like just 3 short days ago...


And this is what my suitcase looked like when all of the above was packed in it...


If you're sitting at your computer saying, "Well I guess she had to make some more 'cuts.' I wonder which of her fabulous bags got left behind or which super-cute GAP argyle sweater was hung back up in the closet," then you my friend are mistaken! Libby, a.k.a. "packing extraordinaire," and myself managed to zip that bad boy up in less than four minutes. And for those of you hardcore doubters out there Beth, also a "packing extraordinaire," witnessed the event as well.


I get by with a LOT of help from my friends... ;-)

Going Away Soirée

The weekend before I left for Ireland I had a little good-bye party. It was so much fun being able to see everyone before I left. It was made even more special because the night's festivities included three of my most favorite things: movies, games, and Serrano's! First we met for dinner at Serrano's then we headed to the movies to see Bride Wars. Dinner was great, and as usual I left the restaurant feeling like I was about to birth a bean-dip baby. And the movie was great too, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway were awesome together! After the movie some of us headed back to the Fox's to play a very intense game of Cranium and Phase 10. Overall it was a pretty great evening!! Thanks to all the ladies who came, and especially to Libby for organizing it while I was busy cruising. ;-) Love you girls!!

Cruising Fun: Part Dos!

After our first day at port, the whole gang spent New Year's Eve playing one of my new favorite games, Phase 10, on our ship's upper deck. We stayed in the Puerto Vallarta Harbor until midnight to watch all of the amazing fireworks that went off on shore!

So long 2008....Hello 2009!!!

On New Year's Day we arrived in Mazatlan! I was especially excited for this port because Beth and I had planned to go parasailing, something I have always wanted to do! We took an open air taxi from the marina to the beach -- and people say I'm a crazy driver! I'm pretty sure we had been on the beach for about ten seconds before we found a group of locals offering parasailing rides to adventurous tourists!

The whole time I had the song "Come fly with me" stuck in my head.

Parasailing was so much fun!! It was definitely money well spent for 8 minutes worth of awesome views of an amazing city and Mazatlan's beautiful beaches.

After our beach fun, Mrs. Fox, Beth, and I ventured back into town for some amazing tacos and margaritas. The restaurant was so cute and even had live music!

So delicious!!
After lunch, Beth and I took another taxi to this amazing Cathedral. We couldn't go inside because they were holding New Year's Day Mass, but the view from the outside was still beautiful.

The next morning when I woke up I thought I was still dreaming! And who wouldn't?! We had arrived at our third and final port and this is the view I woke up to...
Cabo was by far my favorite port. I'll have to admit, yes it did feel a little like Scottsdale...but with an ocean, gorgeous views every where you look, AND the opportunity to do this...
Could I have been any more of a tourist?! The answer to that question is no, not so much. :-)

After dinking around in some little shops close to the marina the whole crew decided to take a glass boat tour! We got to see some amazing fish through the "window" at the bottom of the boat.
We also saw some very lazy but not-so-friendly seals...
...and this amazing arch!
After our little excursion we had some chips and salsa and yes, some more margaritas, at a local restaurant.
After we finished our "port part" of the cruise, it was hard for me to decide whether or not I enjoyed our "sea days" or port days more. Sea days we so relaxing and fun. We literally had a 3 million dollar luxury cruise liner to explore and play around on all day! Here are some more pics from our fun times on the ship...

Beth and Me on the second of our two "cruise elegant nights."
We were thrilled to have the "hot commodity" of our dinner table... the window seats!
Me having a "Rose" moment (minus Jack) while resisting the urge to re-enact a certain Titanic moment...and helping our captain's crew look out for icebergs of course.
Here we are on our first "cruise elegant" night. It was so much fun to see everyone dress up!
Here Beth and I are "sad" (even though it just looks like we had our lips injected with collagen)...
Fat lips or no fat lips...it was an awesome cruise and it was a little sad to see it come to an end! Thanks again Mr. Fox! You're the best!!

Cruising Fun!!

For the past ten months I've been living with my best friend Beth and her family. Beth and I have been friends since grade school and I really feel like I'm a part of their family, especially now that I have taken over half their basement. ;-) Well in October, Mr. Fox decided that he wanted to take the whole family (me too!) on a cruise. AH!!! Well, a few weeks later it was decided that we were going to be taking an eight-day seven-night cruise on the Mexican Riviera! So for the very end of 2008 and the very beginning of 2009 I split my time between a luxury cruise liner and beautiful Mexico...

We left for L.A. on the 27th and then left Long Beach Harbor the following day on the Carnival Pride...

We spent the first 2 days at sea before we made our first stop at Puerto Vallarta where some of us decided to take a tequila factory tour! Here are some pictures from our first stop...

Explaining how they use "agave" to make tequila...
Me smelling some very pungent stuff that will turn into tequila...or so I am told.
Beth and I drinking the tequila!!
Some more pictures from our second factory stop...

Yummy but VERY strong margaritas!! (Yes, those are clay pots we are drinking out of!)
Some delicious homemade tacos!! So GOOD!!!
Beth and I on the bus AFTER our tequila "tasting."
I guess we really like tequila. :-)

Stay tuned to see how the rest of our AMAZING cruise went in my next blog!!!