Super Suit

Bilbo is an all-around good kitty. He's handsome, smart, healthy, has lots of purrs to give, and of course he cuddles with me in the mornings. He doesn't pee where he's not supposed to, and only scratches on his scratching post; really, we lucked out. He's a great cat.

However, this poor little guy suffers from separation anxiety. Not in the way where he'll destroy your entire house while anxiously pacing the floor and pooping in your shoes but in a more self-destructive way. He licks. And licks, and licks, and licks... until there's no fur or skin left to lick - then he licks some more. It's terrible.

Thus was born the Super Suit.

Fashion is Hard.

For the past year or so, I have wanted to be more fashionable. If you could see me every day, you'd probably snort and roll your eyes...
What I call fashion (currently) is a pair of jeans and a t-shirt (sometimes not even my own). The worst part about it is not knowing how to improve it, exactly. What would look good on me? What would flatter me and be right for my age? I definitely don't want to be one of those 40-somethings running around dressed in clothes that look like they came from WetSeal and Delias. For that matter, I don't want to be a twenty-something who looks like I am trying to dress younger than I am. No Ugg boots for me.

Lately...

Sometimes it's good to take a wee break from the blogosphere. It helps me to take some time to reflect on my blog and to think about what's to come. I like to think of my blog as a bit of a journal, but when I'm away, I resort to the ole pen and paper. I have about 6 or 7 journals started, completed, and in between that I've used through the years, Plus one or two sitting around empty until I decide what to put into them... but that's a whole other story. Literally.

Here's what I've been doing lately.

Daydreaming. 

Things in our lives have been a bit crazy lately. We are trying to get all of our ducks in a row financially and since maths make my head spin - I resort to staring off into space.

Book Review

Why do I procrastinate so much? Now I have four book reviews for you. Wouldn't it just be easier to send them out into the world one at a time? Of course! But if you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that's not my style... ha!
If you have ad blocking software installed on your browser, you might need to pause it and reload this page to see the images. 
Without further ado, I give you:

 The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Book Review

I've never really been much of a reviewer of books. Reason being, I find myself lacking the ability to think fast enough to organise all my thoughts into a coherent paragraph in my head. I realized today that this feeling of inadequacy stems from having to give reports on books back in school, and read them aloud. I hated that. Fortunately for me (and probably you) I do not have to read my blog aloud very often...
Since I'm going through my own personal challenge/New Years Resolution to read 100 books in 2012 , and I've read some books that I have really, really enjoyed and thought it would be a shame not to share some of them with you. At this point in the game, I have read enough books to feel overwhelmed at the prospect of reviewing them all so I'll start with the ones I've read most recently (ie. over the weekend). Click on any of the images below to view them in Amazon. If you can't see the images, pause your adblocking program on your browser and reload the page.

First up, is Divergent by Veronica Roth.

 I picked up this book on a recommendation after finishing The Hunger Games trilogy and feeling that emptiness that comes when a good story ends...

Feel Good Moment

While lamenting about having to do laundry and not having any jeans to wear, I eyeballed my "clothes-I-will-be-able-to-wear-when-I-lose-weight" pile. Knowing that my jeans would come close but probably not button, I tried them on anyway... you know, just to see. To my utmost surprise and delight, they not only fit but do so comfortably! Who has two thumbs and is down a jeans size? THIS GIRL!!!

Tell me your feel good moment in a comment below!

A Weekend Getaway, Part 2

I realized that it's already March 30!! Better post this before we're completely out of the month the holiday actually falls in!

We were up and ready for the St. Patrick's Day parade in Ennis at 9:30am. We had to pack all our stuff together and be ready to check out, as our plans for the day unfortunately did not involve returning to our hotel room.
Once we left at about 10, we went straight to town and found parking, miraculously enough and were able to walk around Ennis a little before finding a place on the street to watch the parade. We arrived to the street a little early and were rewarded with the perfect spot! Hooray for us!
It was fun to see all the Paddy's Day spirit reflected in onlookers.

It was predicted to rain (as per Irish tradition), but just as we were waiting for the parade, the clouds broke and out came the blue skies and sun!
Just in time for the presentation of the flag...

A Weekend Getaway, Part 1

After weeks and weeks of being cooped up at home, and with a long weekend ahead of us, thanks to St. Patrick's day and a Bank Holiday, we decided to jump ship and head to Ennis, Co. Clare for a little retreat.

We left home on Thursday, and headed north. The drive was good, and we had some lovely weather along the way. Once we arrived in our hotel, The Woodstock Hotel, we got settled in and went to have a dip in their pool, soak away the day in their jacuzzi, and finally to turn to pudding in their sauna. An amazing way to end the day, and start our weekend!

The next morning it was raining, but we broke out our umbrella and went into town to walk around anyway. A little rain never hurt anyone.

We decided on breakfast at Cafe Aroma, mainly because we were just hungry and this was the first place we came to - but I have to say that I'm very glad we stumbled upon it.