33 Days : Hen Party

The trip to Ireland for my Hen party didn't start quite as planned.  After over two hours delayed at the airport, I was beginning to think the girls would have to go on without me. *sob sob* Thankfully Easyjet finally managed to get me to Belfast where Fiona collected me and we went to her house and had some amazing homemade peanut butter stack cake  - unbelievably tasty, and it wasn't long before I was fast asleep!

Saturday morning we were up early as I had my make-up trial with the wonderful Ashley Morhej before getting ready to meet some of the girls at the Ivory for lunch.  Lunch was lovely and we took the opportunity to start on the cocktails - it seemed only right.  Fiona & Jenny had put together some amazing gift bags for everyone with hen party bits and pieces including one of Fiona's pink sparkly cake pops, dare scratch cards, glow sticks, tube shots and some rosettes I'd made.  During #weddinghour on Twitter, I'd been introduced to Vintage Hen House and loved the idea of the girls and I wearing rosettes at the hen party but I didn't think their vintage patterns went with our SATC theme, so decided I'd make my own out of old copies of Elle and Vogue.  I was relatively impressed with my crafting skills and they just about stayed together all night! (I may do a tutorial post at some stage.)

After a yummuy lunch in the Ivory (with guest of honour Miss Kiki), a quick dash to the bus station and some of Jen's charm, we were on our way to Dublin to meet the others.  

After the Premier Inn, our first stop was Temple Bar Hotel for a cocktail class.  As some of the girls didn't know each other, the cocktail class was the perfect way to break the ice. 

 

I'm pretty sure I had a cocktail in each hand at all times - special mention to SJ for her awesome Strawberry Daiquiri!

Photo Credit: Nicky T

Photo Credit: Rachel B

Next was dinner, a large plate of pasta followed by chocolate fudge cake  - fuel for the dancing - before heading to the Wright Venue.

We had the New York room, complete with retro Smeg fridge, great view of the dance floor, and a pole... 

THANK YOU  Nicky, Sami-Jo, Rachael, Jen, Aislinn, Nadine, Rachel and Caoimhe for coming along and making it a memorable night!! (Thank you Caoimhe for my post-Hen-Party care package - I wouldn't have made it back in time for my dress fitting without it!)

And a massive MASSIVE thank you for Fiona & Jenny, my lovely bridesmaids and sisters-to-be, for organising a great party :) 

Amy
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42 Days : Paris Pre-wedding Moon #2

Paris Je t’aime! 

At the end of February Jim and I went to Paris.  This was my Christmas present to Jim as he'd never been before. We had the most fabulous time despite the chilly and rather grey weather. We were there over the anniversary of our engagement and that day we climbed la Tour Eiffel.

Pretty good view despite the clouds!

We were pleasantly surprised to find Paris had several vegan restaurants and so managed to try a different place every meal.  If you're vegan and visiting Paris we'd recommend Le Potager du Marais  (Jim had a lovely Seitan Bourguignon), Saveurs Végét’Halles (I had a yummy mushroom rosti).  One of my favourites was MOB Burger.  The burgers are made of mushrooms, tomatoes and rice, which are all finely chopped and smoked - It was really tasty!! They were all kind of expensive but I think that's just because Paris generally is pretty expensive.

There was also a great falafel take away near the Pompidou Centre which unfortunately we only discovered on our last day - great cheap on-the-go food and vegan!

As well as lots of eating and drinking we also trekked the length and breadth of Paris being tourists!

Pont de l'Archevêche

Notre Dame & a grumpy looking Jim

Sacré-Cœur

I was a bit disappointed when we arrived at the Moulin Rouge.  Baz Lurhman’s film had me ready for a spectacular building with lots of lights and colour, Nicole Kidman hanging from a trapeze in a corset and a giant elephant, and instead it was a pretty grimly painted red windmill on top of a building in a neighbourhood of sex shops. I am reliably informed that the shows at the Moulin Rouge are spectacular but a set of fairy lights wouldn't have gone a miss!!

We were pleasantly surprised to find that a few of the museums have free entry on the first Sunday of the month so we managed a trip to The Louvre and the Pompidou Centre (where we experienced some very bizarre live art about dance.) before grabbing a quick bite in a pure veggie Indian restaurant near the station, and boarding the Eurostar to head back to old Blighty.

 

Amy
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