This was pretty funny until she copped on that I was filming her. Had to put the camera down pretty quickly.
When Preeti was here we went to a bar called Porterhouse in Temple Bar. They had really delicious gluten-free beer called Daura by Estrella.
On another night Preeti and I got all dolled up and went to the Eircom Spiders awards, which is a big event I had to go to for work, held at the Convention Center in Dublin (see picture of cylindrical building below).
We were snapping pics with the augmented reality app that went along with the event. Check out the picture of the Golden Spider above.
Last month, I also went on a business trip to London, to an event called the Social Gaming Summit. The event was actually in the Chelsea Football Club, which would be cool for some people, however I actually hate soccer aka: football.
Needless to say the event didn't have anything to do with the sport, so I didn't mind. See a picture of me below at our company booth. At the last minute, the organizers actually invited me to speak on a panel called "Measuring the Health of Your Virtual Economy," which was nerve-wracking but exciting.
In other news, my old pup Sophie kicked the bucket. It was really sad because we had her for 14 years, and she was a really good dog in general. Sophie was a Carin Terrier, like Toto from the Wizard of Oz.
I found the Judy Garland pic after I took the other one with Sophie, I swear. In her last few weeks she got very tired and slow, but I got one last picture of her out in the front yard, keeping the watch. A classic Sophie moment.
Below is a picture of Peadar and his dog, Brandy. They say people can look like their dogs, and I think in this case it might be true. Divas.
With less than 2 weeks till Christmas, it's amazing to think that I have lived in Dublin almost 7 months now. This is a picture of Peadar and I last year on Christmas, at the Launch holiday party in the Q Room at 565 W Quincy. We had no idea that a year later, I would be working and living in Dublin with him.
This is a picture of our 1st Christmas tree together in Ireland, at our apartment. There were a few arguments over how big of a tree we could get, but in the end we decided on this one. Look's great, don't you think? I brought over a few keepsake ornaments from back home in Chicago, to keep the connection. My Grandma Keating gives every grand-kid an ornament every year since we were born. It's a great tradition, and now I have loads of memories from my childhood on my tree. Try to find Clara, from the Nutcracker, hanging towards the top. The best ornament she ever got though was for my little brother Greg, and it was a SportsCenter ornament. Click here to see a picture of it, although a picture doesn't do it justice, since it also plays the theme song as well.
My blog wouldn't be my blog if I didn't post some funny pics of Peadar on here for general entertainment. I brought back a bunch of winter clothes from Chicago my last trip, and as we were unpacking them, Peadar started modeling them.
I guess he was born to be a model though, he's been doing it ever since he was little. Check out that little gem of a picture I unearthed. Pad's in the middle below! (With brother Brian on his left, and sister Olive on his right).
On Saturday, I participated in a charity "Polar Plunge" for Special Olympics Ireland. I only found out about on Thursday at swim practice, but I signed up to be a volunteer for them awhile ago and wanted to participate. Between Pad and I we were able to raise about 500 Euro in one day! I think it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit when I jumped in the water... and who knows how cold the actual water temp was!
Check out the video here:
Afterwards I had my towels, slippers and robe ready to lash on.
Then I changed into even warmer gear. We had brought a hot water bottle, which I stuffed into my sweatshirt pocket for added warmth. That, and an Irish coffee afterwards sorted me right out!
Later on Saturday, I was doing some serious Christmas shopping around Malahide, and couldn't carry everything. So I just wheeled the cart from my last store up straight into the apartment. Genius, right?
On Sunday, Catherine and Louise Whyte hosted a baby shower for Olive, Peadar's sister, who is due on New Year's Eve. A "Mum to Be Afternoon Tea" it was called, so cute! Except the funny thing was that we couldn't bring gifts for the baby, only for Olive, because in Ireland people are superstitious and consider it bad luck to buy anything before the baby is born, in case something happens. I mean absolutely nothing. They don't buy diapers, assemble the crib, accept baby clothes as gifts, or anything like that. I find it to be the kind of crazy, considering after the kid arrives who would want to be running around having to get all that stuff?! The father has to, I guess! The Irish obviously wouldn't be down for the show "Pregnant in Heels". Catherine and Louise put together a gorgeous day, complete with games and treats, and they totally surprised Olive.
Picture above: Olive in the moment of surprise.
This Monday, Peadar, Catherine, Brenden & Hagen (cousins) and Hagen's girlfriend Lisa and I all went to the theater. And by theater, I mean we went to go see Trailer Park Boys live show at the Olympia. Catherine and Lisa had never seen the TV series before though, and I don't think they were too impressed with the live show. It was pretty crude, but I thought it was funny.
Before the show we ate dinner at the Millstone, which had an extensive GF menu and had the Duara GF beer.
This Friday, I am going on my first pheasant hunt with Eddie (Peadar's Dad, see picture above. Yes, that really is a pheasant emblem on his sweater). I can't wait. I even bought an outfit so I look like Kate Middleton when I go, which I will put pictures up of next week so you can see.
The other day after work a colleague of mine asked if we wanted to go for a "few cheeky ones" referring to going out for a drink or two. I thought that was the best Irish phrase I have heard so far.
Lots of X's and O's,
Amanda
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