I created a new photo album in my gallery for all of the Killiney Bay pics featured in my recent video. The resolution is a bit better than youtube for viewing. You can check out the pics here.

P.S. Another tune is on its way shortly that I recorded tonight!

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One late afternoon, I hiked several miles from Dalkey to Killiney & documented the journey with my camera. Once I reached the beach, I sat & listened to the song Almost Lover (by A Fine Frenzy) on repeat as I sat staring at the Irish sea. Words can’t describe Killiney’s beauty, and pictures don’t do it justice. I decided the best way to share my experience with you was to re-create it with a video taking you along on my hike. The background music is my interpretation of Almost Lover arranged on my Clavinova. Hope you enjoy it & get some small understanding of the beauty of the place.

All the best,

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There are a number of fabulous hotels in Dublin’s city centre (The Clarence, The Merrion, & The Shelbourne to name a few). But for this trip, I decided to venture out & stay in a boutique hotel called The Fitzwilliam. Its location is perfect…right on St. Stephen’s Green (the main park in the city centre). It is also located right at the top of the primary shopping street, Grafton.

The Fitzwilliam’s lobby has eclectic decor & I love the purple & green color combo. In fact the purple theme went through the entire hotel. Even the doormen wear purple coats with tails & there are purple umbrellas hanging in each room! *LOL*

When I arrived in my room, I was greeted with this fresh plate of fruit & a box of chocolates.

Orchids were sitting on a table near a window overlooking the Green.

I decided to head outdoors with my camera & get some shots of the area. I started off on the Green. On any given day, you’ll see dozens of folks lounging around on the lawn, having a picnic during their lunch break, feeding the birds, or just sunbathing (on those rare days of Irish sunshine). There are several small ponds in the Green as well as a center section with fountains & manicured lawns:

I noticed several monuments built for famous men & women in Irish history. I was really taken with the female sculpture in this one. The monument was built for a man called James Clarence Mangan who was a famous poet from the 19th century. (Some of the greatest writers in the world have been Irish by the way – Yeats, Beckett, Shaw, Heaney, Joyce, Wilde, and the list goes on. Even Bram Stroker of Dracula fame was Irish. Weird, eh? ) According to the park directory, the woman in the middle of this monument represents Roisin Dubh, the last work of Willie Pearse.

Whenever you’re in an Irish garden, you’re bound to find gorgeous Irish roses. They almost look painted here:

Most of the street lamp posts in Dublin are decorated with flower baskets like this one. I love that… just makes you smile to be surrounded by flowers, ya know?

Grafton Street is a terrific place to go “people watch”. You can see all sorts of folks there since it is the main pedestrian shopping street in the city. There are always a number of street musicians performing, like this fabulous brass band. Have any of you seen the movie “Once” that won the Oscar this year for best song? In the film, the two main characters meet on Grafton street.

You can also find several vendors selling fresh flowers along the street. They were selling all kinds of varieties – from lilies to daisies to wildflowers. Just beautiful! If I had one of these on my street corner, I think I’d have fresh flowers in the house every day!

At the bottom of Grafton Street is Trinity College (the main college in Dublin). This is where the famous Book of Kells is housed. This beautiful monument sits in the center courtyard of the campus:

Eating out in Dublin can be a bit pricey (as can any European city with the dollar so weak right now), but there are still some great deals to be found. When I wasn’t in the mood for a big meal, I dropped into this lil’ restaurant. Not sure who came up with the name, but it’s a great place. It’s actually a fast food restaurant with a healthy twist. They sell stews in bread bowls, fresh lean meat & vegetarian wraps, & homemade smoothies. Really good stuff – the chicken pesto wrap was to die for!

That’s all for now – tune in for more pics from Killiney & London soon!

Hope you’re having a great week,

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I just LOVE the postage background & travel border stamps (not to mention their art flowers & buttons!) You can see more of this project as well as two other projects I designed on Hero’s blog here. Thanks for dropping by!

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You never realize how stuck you are in the everyday motion of things until you take some time to break away, contemplate, & unwind. I can’t say enough good things about the few days I spent there. And how often to you get to just be in nature, journal, and enjoy scenes like this?

All the women that I met (about 24 in all) were incredibly generous of themselves, sharing their stories, their talents, & their laughter. Such an openness is rare to find so soon after people meet for the first time. This may become an annual ritual!

Along with group discussions, there was a morning session of subtle Yoga with a wonderful local teacher (from the Asheville area), a oneness blessing (also known as Deeksha) by two blessing givers, a masseuse on site who worked wonders on everyone, and our own personal organic chef to cook delicious vegan meals all around. The greens from our salads were from the organic farm on the property. All of our water came from a stream on the property as well. We had a personal concert from Christine Sat night which was fabulous…I keep telling myself that one of these days, I’ll learn to play the guitar!

Christine hosts these retreats four times a year for any women who might be interested. Check out her webpage here for more details. In the meantime, here are some images from the weekend I thought I’d share to give you a taste of what it was like…

Me & my roomie Chris:

The Thurs Night Gang (won’t forget the convertible ride!):

Our retreat group:

The property was huge & there were dozens of beautiful places you could relax. There were waterfalls leading down to a zen pond & rock garden. We had our massages in the building overlooking the pond with all the windows & doors open so you could feel like you were right there in nature!

This image reminds me of some of the temples I visited in China last year

I loved the zen rock garden & how they were able to balance them so perfectly on top of each other.

We had a number of discussions in this Pavilion and were frequently serenaded by frogs that liked to hang out at the Pavilion doors.

Inside the Pavilion

View leaving the Pavilion

Miss everyone from the retreat & hope to keep in touch! DREAM BIG!

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In the meantime, I thought I’d share a lovely picture of dogwood flowers that my mom took during a recent trip to Alabama.

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Or one of these?

You gotta love the ‘do…

These examples are all from the Lego store in Downtown Disney. Can you imagine how much time it took to put these samples together? And how about this backdrop on the checkout counter?!

Here’s a close-up:

They also had this really cool modular section of the store with legos sorted by color. It had a great retro design feel. Wouldn’t this make perfect craft storage? Just imagine – bins built into the wall for each color of embellishment instead of legos? *LOL* I know…I’ve got a serious addiction.

Hope you’re having a great week,

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Last weekend, I took a long awaited trip to see my best friend Ruth who now lives in the Orlando area. It has been several years since I’ve had a chance to see her & her family and we had a blast hanging out at Animal Kingdom & Blizzard Beach.

We braved the Everest roller coaster…

We traveled through “Africa” on a safari & saw beautiful tigers in “Asia”…

Disney did an amazing job of making the surroundings realistic. I was particularly drawn to the Asian section & some of the sculptures reminded me of ones I’ve seen in Thailand & in China in recent years, like this one here:

We loved the Nemo musical… the puppetry was incredible, and the Lion King Festival was so much fun – the monkey tumblers on the trampoline had us totally amazed!

In the afternoon, Ruth had arranged for us to be a part of the parade! We climbed atop a float in Goofy’s brigade & went all the way through the park. I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much my cheeks hurt! *LOL* We were able to practice our princess waves too as we went through the park waving at the park-goers at the sides of the street. Here we are in our Mickey hats before the parade started.

And here are a couple of pics at downtown Disney with Annabella, Logan, & Ruth at the end of a hot & sweaty day (I think Nicholas was asleep & Eric was taking the pic).

Next stop Lego Mania…

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When I think of Rome, I am reminded of the incredible trip to Italy that my mom & I took together in the fall of 2004.  Not only were we able to see Rome, but we also spent time in Florence, Venice, Sorrento, Capri, & Pompeii.  It was a special adventure for us since my mom’s side of the family is Italian. 

My favorite memory from the trip, hands down, was our first gelato experience.  For those that may not know, gelato is a creamy, Italian version of ice cream that is to die for.  As we were traipsing through a side street of Florence on one of our first afternoons, we decided to pop into a gelato cafe.  When we walked in the door, the person behind the counter asked us to pick out our cones.  My mom pointed at what appeared to be a waffle cone.  Little did she know what she had just ordered.  About 30 seconds later, the man behind the counter handed her this:

No kidding – this gelato cone was as large as her head! *LOL*  I immediately started laughing so hard that I doubled-over to the ground & she lost it as well.  I somehow managed to grab my camera & take a few shots to capture the moment.  Here’s another pic from the side.   I mean really…this is ridiculous!!! 

Needless to say – we couldn’t finish it & our gelato cravings were seriously diminished for the rest of the trip.  

Italy was fabulous, though, and I can’t say enough good things about our tour company, Perillo Tours.  We stayed in beautiful 4 & 5-star hotels like an incredible converted monastery with ancient gothic arched windows.  We started off in Florence visiting some of the wonderful art museums there.  We took a day trip to Venice where we travelled in gondolas under the bridge of sighs, visited the famous Murano Glass Factory, and experienced the wonderful architecture of the city.  Here are a couple of my favorite shots:

Southern Italy is gorgeous…especially along the coast line.  We went through Naples to Sorrento & spent a day on the isle of Capri visiting the famous blue grotto, drinking or first Limoncellos, & having lunch in a small cafe overlooking the ocean.  After Capri, we went to Pompeii where we saw amazing preserved structures still standing from hundreds of years ago.

Then there was Rome.  I remember the Vatican & standing in the Sistine Chapel.  It was recently restored so the colors were all so vivid. Kind of surreal to be somewhere you’ve only seen in books!  There was a trip to the Trevi Fountain…

…and an amazing dinner in a privately-owned castle.  Of course, we also went to visit the Coliseum where gladiators used to battle to the death! 

How strange that in a modern city, there stands so many ancient pieces of architecture, and yet how thrilling that it is all preserved.  I used one of my snapshots of the Coliseum in the Hero Arts card below.  All supplies are HA & the instructions can be found on their website here. Thanks for dropping by!

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