Dublinia

Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Have a look at some fabulous photographs :-) Support is needed! Your vote counts!

My sister's house is in the final/down to the last 5 for an Architizer award. It is an international/global architecture competition and they are up against houses in Norway, Japan and Germany!

Please can you give them a vote. There is a public choice award and a jury award. So while it is a long shot that they will win, wouldn't it be great to think that a small practice (ODKM Architects - facebook) in Ireland could win....so every vote counts!

Hover over "Ranelagh House" and click vote - you can vote via facebook or with gmail. I think the fb option is easier... Thanks in advance all!

So in my post title I promised you some fabulous photographs!

click HERE to view and vote!

Sunday, 2 March 2014

Irish homes featured in Ikea magazine

If you have been following my blog you may have seen that I was recently featured in the Ikea Live magazine. If you have not seen the feature yet then check out the article on the Ikea Live Magazine website.

You might also be interested in seeing another Irish house which was recently featured - I follow a lovely blog by Ashling from Cavan and her house was featured last year.

Ashling's house feature in the Ikea magazine is here.
And if you like her style in the magazine you will love her All things nice 4 life blog which as the name suggests contains all kinds of niceness!

Happy Sunday all!

Seafood starter

I had neighbours over for dinner last night which was really lovely.

For mains I made steak and chips with green beans and baton carrots. For starters I intended buying some party food from M&S and just throwing it in the oven.

But strangely enough they only do their party food at Christmas :-(

So I had to make my starter :-(

First I got all my glassware arranged. The mini glasses are actually schnaps glasses from Ikea. I have always wanted mini martini glasses but they are so expensive, so these are a great compromise.

In the middle of the tray I have two little mini kiln jars which I think are so cute! I filled these up with hummus from M&S.

The mini little tea spoons were given to me by a school friend - via facebook - I asked on fb did anyone know where I could buy mini spoons and she said she would post some to me (her husband is Turkish and they use these spoons with their tea/coffee which they serve in mini cups). Wasn't that nice of her! I love social media for things like this :-)

Mini Prawn Cocktail

Crackers & Peri Peri Hummus

Prawns & dip

Deconstructed Brown Bread & Salmon

(If you'd like step by step instructions to make the salmon click here)

So that was the starter! I wish I took a picture of the main because I had it laid out much nicer then the way I normally serve steak and chips - I had the chips laid out criss cross 3 on top of 3 etc. Plus the beans and carrots were stacked nicely as well.

My neighbour Dee brought dessert. Homemade from scratch!

A pecan and redcurrant bakewell. FABULOUS!

We also nibbled on some 60% dark chocolate which tasted very nice with the wine.

It was a lovely evening. And bonus my head is okay this morning.

Monday, 24 February 2014

Hello Ikea readers!!!

Greetings to all who have arrived at my blog via the Ikea online magazine!

I'd be delighted it you'd stick around and have a read of my blog and leave me some comments :-) Even better I'd love if you would add me and follow my blog! If you leave a comment below with your blog details I'll be sure to follow you back!

So as I said, please stick around and have a little nose around. For your convenience I have listed some of my personal favourite blog posts from the last year or two that might be of interest to you!

Anything below sound interesting to you? Just click on the link!

1. A very cool little DIY project that I completed last year - an upcycled drinks cabinet/home bar

2. This is my twin sister's (Enid) blog:
The blog charts a massive project to regenerate her and her husband's derelict Victorian house in Dublin, Ireland. It's a really interesting record of the project from start to finish. Enjoy!

3. A blog I wrote when I was in India in 2006

5. Ladies - a lifehack or "tip" that will save you time and change your life :-)

6. A funny/cool story about my dad's first motorbike (bought back in the 1970's when he was 22)

7. New York city - review of a Broadway play and photos of the cast afterwards (Charlotte from Sex and the City!!!)

9. A cocktail recipe - and full instructions - I swear you will thank me forever if you learn how to make this for yourself!

10. The original designs for what formed the basis of what you saw in Ikea online

Sunday, 23 February 2014

Breakfast recommendations - Dublin

Okay so here are two of my top recommendations for breakfast in Dublin.

If you want a fantastically flavoured greasy humongous breakfast then get yourself into Hobarts in Ranelagh. See top left and bottom right pics above.

They do good coffee too!

But if you want a fantastically flavoured full of feelgood type of breakfast you need to try out the Fumbally Cafe. They don't have a huge menu but my god what they have on it is great.

They do good coffee too!

But be warned, they don't open on Sunday's :-(

Thursday, 20 February 2014

Exciting news! 25th of February - watch this space!!!!!!

Ikea! Exciting news!

I think by now you all know how obsessed I am with Ikea :-)

I love going to the Dublin store and pottering around and of course I looooove their furniture. As regular followers of this blog know, I did a recent refurb of my house and used a lot of Ikea!

So I am very excited to tell you all that I am going to be in the Ikea online magazine!!! A little mini-feature with a photograph of myself and Harry the cat and some of my refurbed rooms. It is due out on the 25th of February and of course I shall be sure to post a link for you all once published.

Watch this space!!

Edit.
And here it is!
http://www.ikeafamilylivemagazine.com/ie/en/article/36611

^^^
Click on the link above and you can see me, my house and my big fat cat Harry!