this life is a party

Started to write a post about ten times yesterday but every printer in Sweden suddenly decided to break down and I was crazy busy all day. Today Jonas is back and I can breathe again. 

 

Friday after work with Josef, David and Olle at No Name/Secret Bar, a cozy bar that looks like someones living room. They have a really nice beer garden as well but it's hard to get a seat there.

Went home after that to get ready. I was home for 50 minutes, took a shower, changed clothes, fixed my hair, painted my nails and put on make up and I still had to wait for Josef. Guys... After some drinks at Olle's we went to Lilly's Bordello where all the celebrities are supposed to hang out. Nothing special, would never pay €15 to get in there, fortunately we didn't have too. It was fun though!

Saturday, that going swimming thing? Didn't happen. I actually had my bikini on all day and was prepared to go, but sitting at Hard Rock Cafe, watching the rain outside, we decided swimming in Olle's indoor pool counts as well. Didn't get to that one either though, spent our day in CC shopping and drinking Irish Coffee and then we realised it was too late. 

 

Irish Coffee at some pub I can't spell the name of.

Then starting over again. Home, shower, drink's at Olle's, pre-party at Assan & Chris' place, mojitos at Fitzsimons, and dancing at the Globe.

 

 

 

oh so tired

Have only been home this weekend to sleep, shower and change clothes. Think I need a couple of days off from work to rest now, I'm even too tired to write about it.

I'll be back.

friday feeling

Dreamt weird stuff about mice and cockroaches in my apartment. Woke up and thought I saw something crawling on the wall above my head, threw myself out of the bed and turned on the lights. Of course, there was nothing there. Looked at the watch, saw it was 4.50, and got happy when I realised it's Saturday and I can sleep all day if I want! That feeling didn't stay for long though as I remembered it's actually Friday and my alarm would go off in 10 minutes.

But, at least it's my favourite day of the week. Plus, I got more salary from Malta then I expected and can pay my rent + afford an after work pint or two today, we get Friday cookies at work, the sun is shining and I've got a clean apartment.

Had a Thursday cleaning session yesterday, started by sorting my nail polish by colour, the important stuff first!

Then I refurbished the whole apartment for about the 10th time but had to put everything back again, I think there's a reason it's furbished the way it is... But I've made a few changes since I moved in and next week I'm gonna start painting, yay!

Wasn't gonna put pictures up before I've made it nice, but you'll get some anyway:

Weekend countdown: T minus 71 minutes.

weekend pics

So, last weekend. Melina came for a visit (yay!) so of course we had to celebrate both our birthdays on Saturday. Should have celebrated Tea as well, who turned 22 on Sunday, but unfortunately she was sick. Guess they'll be plenty of more opportunities to celebrate her though!

Josef and Ruth having a laugh at Messrs Maguires.

Melina and Mike.

Mike, Olle and Ruth.

On Sunday Josef, Olle, Melina and I took the Dart to Howth to look at the seals and climb mountains. Ok, maybe the cliffs in Howth doesn't count as mountains, but that's certainly what they feels like the day after.

Up, up, up.

Made it!

Once again, awesome weekend. This weekend we have plans on going to Bull Island for a swim in the Irish Sea. I guess it'll be freezing, but have to try it sometime!

middle of the week

Wednesday is almost over, which means it's weekend soon!

It's important to stay positive.


Cinema today after work with Josef and Olle, think it'll be 'Cowboys & Aliens'. How can movie with that title go wrong?

Exactly.

weekend and work

Had an awesome Friday night with Mike and Ruth. We made tacos, played Kasino and drank red wine, just 'lagom' after a long work week. Think we needed some wine after the news, that we all are fired. Great to hear when you haven't even finished your training and just signed a 12 month contract on your apartment. Ok, it isn't as bad as it sounds, it's just that HP are not gonna keep the Dispatch or CCR in Dublin but move us to the countries. Not gonna happen for another six months or so though so I don't worry, will just look for another job.

On Saturday I had brunch with Ruth at Mannings Bakery & Cafe right across the street (their wifi I'm using in my apartment btw, thank you very much), it's gonna be our second home. After that we went to Liberty Market to check out the latest Irish fashion but unfortunately we couldn't afford matching fake Adidas track suits, what a shame. Maybe after payday.

More about the weekend to come when I have pictures.

Did my live tests at work yesterday and got 100% on all of them so can start working (I'm so motivated...) as soon as I get a computer. Hopefully I'll have one by the end of today, it's getting a bit boring watching Jonas facebook.

Oh, and my apartment doesn't smell of hamburgers anymore. Happy.

all by myself

Yes, I got my own apartment. I'm not really sure how it feels yet, but I think it's a good feeling I have, I've wanted my own place for so long. It's a bit scary though, what if I'll hate living alone? Luckily I've got Ruth and Josef just around the corner, so I can always gatecrash their place if I feel lonely.

The apartment is a studio with a separate kitchen, on Thomas Street next to Lidl. It's above some very greasy hamburger 'restaurant' so my whole apartment smells of hamburgers/fried chicken/chips/kebab. It's not too bad in the living/bedroom but in the kitchen it's unbearable after a while. Have to start cooking more to cover the smell. I've already used half a can of air freshener in a couple of hour and it helps a bit. Hopefully I won't smell greasy hamburger at work.

Moved in today and have spent the whole evening cleaning, why is it impossible to get a clean apartment in this town? Below you can see what the freezer looked like after an hour of hammering (yes, there was no other option) on the ice that covered it. It was solid ice through almost the whole freezer and when I finally got in I found a small bottle of vodka and some very cold shot glasses (thank you, messy guy who lived here before).

I'll show you rest of the apartment when I've made it nice. The walls are dark red now but I wanna paint them white or something similar. Might take me a while to get to that though, there are a lot of walls here...

evening sky

Phoenix Park and view from Josef's and Ruth's balcony (can't get too many pictures of it...).

I don't really have a view from my apartment (yes, I got my very first own place), and it smells of hamburgers. But I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.

tuesday

Completely forgot to write about the awesome pancake-cake Ruth made for my birthday. Well, the day after at least. Thanks, Ruth! Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of it but you can see the yummie result here. Pankcake-cake is the ultimate cake brithday cake and it's become the standard here in Dublin.

After our little café/Internet session yesterday, Ruth and I took a walk to Phoenix Park. I was gonna show Ruth the deers that live there but we only saw two of them, far away. They're used to people and you can even feed them but I think they're a bit scary.

My trainer is on break now so I've stolen his computer, pretending to do something important. I actually did one case, that should count. Just hope I did it right...

weekend

Have been working on getting the comments working for the last hour but it just won't work. Don't understand why it should be so hard to add comments to a blog, shouldn't they be there from the start? Anyway, hopefully I'll get some help or else I'll just switch to another website, don't have patience for complicated blog functions.

Anywho. After the hairdresser and some shopping on Saturday, Ruth, Ida, Josef, Tea and I went for a late lunch/early dinner at Acapulco, a Mexican restaurant on George Street. They have really good lunch deals there, plus I got a very strong Margerita and a chocolate cake from Ruth, and a tequila from the staff because it was my birthday. Felt a bit early to start with the tequila at four in the afternoon, but hey, if it's free...

Went home after that, got ready and headed for Messrs Maguires. Had a really good time when we were there but then it was decided we were going to Café En Seine, no one could get in, we lost each other, I'd forgotten my phone at Messrs, the doorman at En Seine was a real ass and I lost my party mood.

Me: Can you just give me a reason why I can't come in? Come on, it's my birthday!

Doorman: I don't care if it's your f***king birthday, you're not getting in!

Rude.

All in all, it was a really nice birthday, thank you!

On Sunday Josef, Ida and I went back to Messrs to look for my phone, thankfully it was still there. Really have to stop losing things now. Went to Cineworld, invested in an Unlimited card and spent the rest of the day there. Saw Mr. Popper's Penguines (only because we had nothing to do until the other movie started, but have to admit it was kinda funny), Devil's Double (terrible but really really good) and The Guard (Irish comedy, funny!). Unlimited card might be the best thing ever invented, you pay 20 euro a month and can see how many movies you like.

Sitting at the Bald Barista now, using their Internet and looking for apartments. It's easier to find cheap studios now than before, but most of them are crazy small. Saw a picture of one where you had to sit in the bed to be able to reach the stove. Not for me. Gonna view one on Thomas Street tomorrow, hope it got a bed-free kitchen!

happy birthday to me

Haven't had that much access to Internet over the last week but I guess I can summarize Dublin by saying it still feels great to be back. I've been at new places, old places, made new friends and met old friends. My plan was to not spend and money and live of noodles this first month but the only thing I've eaten in the apartment is a yogurt. We've been to Cineworld (finally got to see Harry Potter), new bars, we've been eating out every day and spending money in Penneys, H&M and Topshop. Whoops.

I woke up 7 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep, listening for noises from the kitchen, people whispering and wrapping presents, finally bursting in to my bedroom singing Happy Birthday. Nah, not really. I pretty much sleep in the kitchen and I don't expect breakfast in bed anymore. Waited until 10, then went down to café Noto where they have free wifi. Treated my self to a smoothie, a chocolate croissant and a coffee, because I'm old now and I can decide for myself what I can have for breakfast.

Soon I'll go up to the apartment and drop of my computer, then Josef and I will go to city center to find something to wear for tonight. After that I'll get my hair cut and then it's time for party party!

So long!

saturday morning

Written a week ago, my first morning in Dublin, but had no Internet connection then.

Almost exactly four years later, and I'm back in the same place where it all started. Not just Dublin, but even the same apartment. I get this weird feeling, seeing the same view, being back here. Even the smell is the same and it really throws me back four years in time, when we first moved in here. It was all so new then, moving away from Uppsala, to another country where I'd never been before. Now it feels like home.

Linnea and I arrived at midnight last night, we'd bought a bottle of gin and a bottle of Captain on the airport and planned on getting the party started on the plane. But because we spent our time in the Tax Free we were the last ones on the plane and the stewardess just laughed at us when we asked if we could sit next to each other. So we slept instead and thought there'd be no party, after all the pubs in Dublin don't exactly operate on Paceville time.

But standing waiting for my bag, I got a text from Josef saying "We're going out!" and we were game again. Josef met us downstairs and carried my 22 kg (thanks Ryan for not charging me) bag up the five stairs I'd been dreading facing, we had a drink and steered our steps towards Temple Bar.

We started at the Mezz but they were out of beer on tap (very dissappointing for Dublin, but nothing could get us in a bad mood) so ended up in Purty Kitchen of all places. Linnea and I couldn't stop smiling and I couldn't stop talking about how great it felt to be back. After a few pints and maybe a shot of tequila we went to Czech Inn that is open until 4 (almost PV-time!) and Linnea almost got her kicked out twice. Good job!

Now everyone's sleeping but I can't, I'm way too excited to be back. I wanna go out, I wanna go to Pennyes and buy cheap shoes, I wanna have Irish breakfast and I wanna go hug the Spire.

Dublin, I'm back.