Woo hoo I am an ambassador!

My Guinness Gathering card arrived in the post today. 

 

I am very exited! 

Free entry for me to the Guinness storehouse/factory/tour and 10% discount for my guests.

 

I am going to plan a trip to the Guinness factory soon - keep an eye out for a future blog :-)

 

That's Amore - Malahide village, Dublin

Last night we went out to eat with friends in That's Amore in Malahide.

 

That's Amore is a small "no frills" family friendly kind of restaurant which suited us down to the ground to have a quick bite with friends and catch up with them since we last saw them.

 

I was very impressed with the food I must say!

 

To start I had prawns in garlic & tomato sauce.  The sauce was incredible.  I dipped the bread in it but there was still a lot left over and I was almost tempted to ask for a spoon to drink it!!

 



A good stonebaked pizza with toppings of cherry tomatoes and parmesan cheese. 

I do love parmesan cheese!

The only criticism of the pizza/topping was it was a little dry.  I think more sauce would have improved it a lot.  The pizza bread however was very nice - good flavour and texture.

 

With the above we had 2 bottles of red wine between four us.

 

I would have kind of liked to have  dessert after the above - particularly as I found the pizza a little dry.  But it was our friends treat and they were using a voucher for starters, main & wine so I decided not to order anything else - probably for the best anyway - bikini time in June!!!!

 

We then moved to Gibney's in Malahide for a few more sociables.  We got the dart back into Connolly and our train home - an hour in total - which wasn't the best, but wasn't the worst either.

 

An enjoyable night all round.

Hello to all my new followers

Hello all who have arrived from my sister's blog.  I am looking forward to reading all your blogs!

I hope you like reading my blog and if you have any specific questions about anything I post please do not hesitate to leave a comment and I will get back to you.

Have a great weekend!
Amy

More beautiful wedding gowns....just because :-)

I have blogged before about a fab wedding dress shop that I pass on my way to work every morning.  They change their display fairly regularly and one of their dresses again caught my eye.

 

Again it has a vintage 1950's feel.  It very much reminds me of Kate Middleton's wedding dress.  But I think the belt on the dress makes it a bit funkier and a bit "cooler"

This dress was also in display.  It's very very nice but for my liking is just a little too classic and "safe".  But if you are looking for a beautiful classic dress this could be it.

Here is a link to the store.



Snow Holiday/Chamonix France - Trip Report

In addition to this post which is a full (or as full as I can manage) Trip Report, please check out my addtional posts about Chamonix:

Review of our Chalet

Post/photographs of town of Chamonix

 

 

Our snow holiday started in Dublin Airport.  Our flight was at about 8am so it was not too early of wakeup call. 

 

As usual Dad dropped us to the airport - fair play he is great for the airport runs.  

He stayed over in our house the night before which we meant we all just got up the next morning and headed straight for the airport.

 

We arrived at the airport at about 5.25am.

I look a bit pale (tired!) in this photo.

 

Amy Ghost Face.

Snow report


Snow was phenomenal for the whole week.  Lots and lots of incredible fluffy snow.  The first few days visibility was not the best.  In fact on the first day or two you could barely see a few feet in front of you at some points.  This meant you had to go careful (slow) and stop a good few times....otherwise you could end up going over the mountain....eek!

But overall a phenomenal week of boarding.  We went to a new location practically everyday. 
My favourite slopes were at Les Grande Montets.
Some mornings I took a break and caught up with our group later that day - it's a holiday afterall ;-)
 



Apres Ski report

Oh god I am getting old!!!!  I am sorry to report that for me the Apres Ski becomes less and less important year on year.  I do LOVE those first few drinks straight after the last run and the excitement of discussing the day, but after that drinking late into the night doesn't have the appeal it used to have for me.

 

In my opinion for the best Apres Ski you need to go to Soll in Austria - which is where we went the first year and had the absolute craic!

 

The next year we were in Zell am See and the Apres Ski was depressingly dead - difficult to find bars to even have those important immediate last run/apre ski drinks.

 

Chamonix definitely has a lively Apre Ski atmosphere. 

Be warned, this is France so it is expensive.  Particularly for me as a vodka drinker - poor me ;-(  So I won't lie to you I did engage in a "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Naggin" exercise.

 

See pics below of some Apre Ski. 

It was all great craic but I was glad I chose to go home early(ish) on occasions.  And my head was glad the next day.

 

For me, this year some of the best times were spent chilling in our chalet.  We bought beer in the supermarket - if Apre Ski is very expensive, supermarket beer is ridiculously cheap - and had good conversations and great laughs!

On two of the nights Chef Larry and Sue-Chef (geddit!) cooked and it really nice!  Fair play to them because it was with what limited French versions of our our food items they could find and also in a very small kitchen.  Plus we were a big group.

Thanks Sue & Larry ;-)

 

 

Doesn't it all look very rustic and gallic :-)

 

 

Finally finally, I tried macaroons.  Meh I was not overwhelmed.

Don't get me wrong - very nice - but I don't get the obsession/fascination people have with then.

Nice and fluffy and chewy and creamy.  But possibly not sweet enough for me.

 

All in all, a fantastic holiday with fantastic people in a fantastic location.

I am looking forward to next year already.

Chamonix in France

 

We are just back from a week's snowboarding in Chamonix, France - the French Alps.

 

It is a beautiful town.

 

In a lot of ways it reminded me of Paris. 

The two photos below feel quite mid nineteenth century to me.

 

 

 

 

But what I also liked about Chamonix was the mid-twentieth century vibe/architecture.

I really like this hotel/building!

 

Incredible landscape:

 

This was the view from our bedroom window. It was a pretty good view to wake up to every day!

Adventure Base / Chalet Slider

Oyr snow trip gang had a fantastic stay in Chamonix in a great chalet.

We booked a chalet with Adventure Base - who by the way I cannot recommend enough.

Here is the picture of our Chalet:


Chalet Slider's front door. 

With a big load of wood all for us!

Chalet Slider is a 4 bed/2 bathroom chalet for 8-10 people (2 people can sleep on a pullout and a couch).  We were 7 people so we were very comfortable in the 4 bedrooms and the large living areas.

 

It had a very nice alpine feel to it with lots of wood as you can see!  I particularly liked the wooden table and cute chairs. 

And I very much liked the big fireplace!


All mod cons were included in the house e.g ipod docking station for playing music & charging.
For me it is absolutely essential I have internet connection on holidays (sad I know) so the full wi-fi was most appreciated. 
Last year the apartment we stayed in in Austria did not have wi-fi and I recall I left a comment in the Guest Book that they should consider getting it in for the guests.

The chalet also had some kind of receiver/saorview box which meant it had English TV - Ch4, E4, UTV, BBC etc.  That was a nice little bonus.

More lovely wood up on the landing of the upstairs - the chalet has two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms off the living room.

 

I don't have any photos of the kitchen.  It was small but pefectly adequate.  Kitchen is not really a priority when you got a mountain outside your front door!!

And here is the view from the chalet.  Lots and lots of beautiful snow.  What a lovely view.

 

Oh and finally a special mention goes to the staff of Adventure Base. Have I mentioned Charlie???!  When we arrived to the chalet we were greeted by Charlie who helped carry our bags in - he carried my snowboard and two suitcases all in one go, what a gent! :-)

He showed us around the chalet gave us info about the chalet and the area. 

And THEN he offered to hang around to drive us to the Intersport to collect our gear and he then dropped us up to the slopes - this meant that we got a bonus half day boarding in so that was brilliant.  Thanks Charlie :-)

 

Mark was of great assistance to us also - later during the week he drove us all the supermarket which saved us a taxi fee. 

Be warned Taxis are EXORBITANTLY expensive in Chamonix - avoid at all costs.

He was also very supportive to us and helpful at the end of holiday when we were having a little issue with our airport transfer.  Thanks Mark :-)

 

Vive la France!

I am off to France tomorrow! 

To Chamonix for a week's snowboarding. 

8 of us sharing a chalet - full wifi so expect some blogs!

Photos for posterity

I have previously posted links to articles online about a Pro-Choice rally Katie & I attended. 

 

Two articles used a photo of Katie & I.  I have saved and posted the photos below for posterity.

 

 

In the market for a wedding dress?

Yowsah! 

I pass a lovely Bridal Wear shop on my way home from work everyday.  The other day they had a dress in the window so striking I had to take a photograph of it and blog about it.

 

The photographs below do not actually capture it right at all.

 

I have a huge affinity for 1950's/vintage style dresses.  Always have, always will! 

 

I like to think my own wedding dress was a little vintage in style - even thought it was bought in Debenhams for about a €100!

 



 

 

Even my bridesmaids had a vintagey feel I think - a glamourous Las Vegas vibe!

 

So if you are in the market for a wedding dress I'd suggest checking out Anabel Rose just off Merrion Square in Dublin.  

 

 

Like Guinness?? Like FREE Guinness?!

In 2013 Ireland is hosting a year long celebration called The Gathering 2013.  It's basically a year of festivals and gatherings celebrating people of Irish heritage.  If you have Irish blood in you come visit Ireland in 2013!  Or if you can't make it in 2013 come the year after...or the year after...we Irish are welcoming any time!

So there are loads of events on throughout the year.  A good place to find out about things is on The Gathering's facebook page - click here to go to page.  Also a good link is the official Gathering website which is

I follow The Gathering on facebook.  I like keeping up with the events, plus they also have had some great competitions for people outside Ireland to win flights/vacations to Ireland etc.  Every now and again something really catches my eye and this Guinness promo is one of those things.

Basically Guinness are offering the first 50,000 people to email the chance to be a "Gathering Ambassador" or as I prefer to say a "Guinness Ambassador"!!!!!!  You get a card giving you free entry to the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin which normally costs €14.85, plus 10% discount for your guests.  The storehouse is a fantastic tour! I've been a few times and I really reccommend it.  Plus you get a free pint of Guinness at the end of the tour - served in the the Gravity Bar which has 360 degree views of Dublin.  So all in all this Ambassador card is a good deal as far as I am concerned!

Have you ever been to Ireland?  Do you plan on coming visiting us some day?!