Failte!

I'm excited to share my adventures with all of you! I want your first taste of my life in Ireland to be this poem that I wrote very late one night when I was a Junior in College. Its meaning seems eerily prophetic now. More than anything, I've created this blog to make the actualization of this life-long dream of mine visible to those I love: my friends who are my foundation, my endlessly supportive family, my mentors and co-workers who inspire me, and my former students who have given me enough satisfaction and fulfillment to last two lifetimes... Have the courage to believe that your wildest dreams can come true.

Is fhearr fheuchainn na bhith san duil, (It is better to try than to hope)

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Mourn (A Seaside Peak in Southern Ireland)

The dark, earthen sod saturates her fair feet,
but briefly since she frolics fast in knee high
blades of greenest grass that blow dizzily in the Celtic-sea air.

Her wool skirt, stiffened by ware of evenings past
is splashed by cresting waves that break
against a beach blacker than her hair.
Those once stiffer fibers were loosed by nights upon nights
of hanging perfectly on his line before being wildly blown dry
by the crisp Hibernian salt air.

The pair sits to rest a while instead of dodging
breakers or skipping paler stones.

"Indian summer's here," he says softly,
but all of summer here feels like the edge
of autumn to her, even though she grins in agreement
as she dangles her pale, soft feet off Achilles' peak,
where Erin's vermillion-gold sky meets
an ocean that is grey with years.

She sleeps with her eyes closed tight most nights.
He asks her if she believes in Tier-Nan-Og,
and she asks him if he believes in anything eternal.
Outside the tide is rising, or it's receding—
She never can tell but for the strengthened smell of
salty freshness strained through his light, lace curtains.
She thinks to herself that he is like trying to hold the sea 
and she imagines the water running between her fingers--
clenched so tight.

And so, the night calls her out of her sleeping,
like daytime chides her into dreaming.
She slips her white fingers through the holes of an old loose scarf
that affords her more company than warmth
on these newborn autumn evenings. She is off-- 
Night clouds reflect emerald from land to sea,
And the tara that she never eyes from long hours of
staring too far into star blanketed skies,
feels cool against the thickening pads of her pallid feet.

Elisabeth Lewis (2005)

19 November 2011

Dublin Dresses Up for Winter--and so do I!

The Mission: Find me a Winter Coat
The Seekers: Me and Candace
The Problems: A) I hate shopping & B) I am very easily distracted by sparkley things. Or furry things. Or black leather. oops.
The Vision: Double Breasted, gold detail, and ....remember this video?

                            

So, I can't afford this $800 Missoni coat that Adele is sporting, but I'm going for this look. Dramatic, sophisticated, crooning around Paris for lost love and looking perfectly pulled together while doing it. Let me show you the Top 3 contenders!

#3 This is a lovely and extremely fitted (which you know I like) classic black coat from Zara. It is double breasted with an inside (AWKWARD) zipper and narrow cut that hugs the hips. 129 Euro.
#2 Also a Zara classic black, this one has a BIG collar and gold zipper pockets. Also double-breasted, also 129 Euro. It's a bit longer with an A-line cut.

And the winner...#1 This is from some place called New Look or something? It's a very dark royal blue, almost navy, with Gold buttons. You can see the shoulders are poofy, and the skirt is flared. This coat is SO sweet, I squealed when I put it on. My smile [and the 45 Euro price] made the decision clear. I giggled the whole way home after Candace and I saw Twilight: Breaking Dawn on O'Connell Street.



Crazy Grafton Street


Dublin during the holiday season is simply gorgeous. I can't gush about it enough. The Christmas trees everywhere, the lights, the music, the shop windows, the perfectly crisp weather. It's pretty impossible not to be giddy with joy for the season here, as you can see!
Candace in the ILC Mall off O'Connell Street. MADNESS!!
Baile Atha Cliath = Irish Gaelic for Dublin

Happy Holiday season everyone! Go drink some hot chocolate and listen to Christmas Carols on 99.6 :) I'll be there in 22 days!

I'll leave you with this great song from Breaking Dawn...Sleeping at Last
<3, e
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