There’s been a bit of a baby boom among our friends lately. I suppose that’s what your 30’s are about – lots and lots of babies! Two of our dearest friends, Andy and Naomi, had a beautiful little baby girl, whom they named Elsie Grey, and I was thrilled when they asked me to come by one morning to take a few photos of their new family.

I was only planning to share a few, but flipping through them, I couldn’t resist sharing at least a handful. These three are terribly photogenic and I love how the images came out so cosy and light and bright. Doesn’t everyone look remarkably well rested just three weeks after the arrival of baby Elsie?

It was such a special morning, watching my friends with their new addition to their family. Thanks, Nomes and Andy, for letting me capture your early days with teeny Elsie! Babies are quickly becoming my favorite subject to photograph – good thing there are lots to go around!

Happy Friday, friends! Did you have a nice week? How about a little life update full of random things? I had a productive week – after spending the whole weekend painting ugly brown trim white, everything seemed more cheerful in our living room. I started making lots of plans for finishing it up and we are getting closer!

Frittata (above) escapes the chicken coop every single day. She likes to check out the progress I’m making on the living room – and thwart the progress the daffodils are making in the garden. Can you believe it’s only mid-way through January and our daffodils are only a few weeks from blooming? It’s very strange, but also great. I am getting ready for spring, or at least longer days.

Michael and I went to see 12 Years a Slave this week and it was incredible. So heartbreakingly sad, but also really well done. If it doesn’t win all the Oscars, I’ll be bummed. You know what I thought was important about the film? (No spoilers, I promise.) Throughout the film, the action pauses and you’re waiting with baited breath for the next thing to happen. The action pauses long enough that you know it’s an intentional pause to make you think and identify and feel with the character. I think those pauses were really important. Have you seen it?

This afternoon, Michael and I are heading off to County Offaly for the night so I can do a review of a hotel out there. We’re excited to visit a brewery and take a mountain walk tomorrow!

And now, a few great links.

The sweetest video about how J. Crew chooses colors.

A sweet and inspirational wire DIY.

The new modelizers: beardizers. Ha!

Hilarious and thorough baby naming trends and fads.

Golden Globe dresses paired with food.

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

We have had wild weather this winter, which is not unlike the rest of the world, I suppose. Luckily, our weather has really just involved howling wind and lots of rain. I’m grateful that we’re avoiding polar temperatures and ice storms, but sheesh that wind is tough sometimes. It has made getting outdoors harder than usual. For days leading up to Christmas, the wind howled and roared. But on Christmas Day, it was perfectly calm, like the wind was taking the day off with the rest of the country!

My sister-in-law started a new family Christmas tradition last year – a dip in the ice cold ocean before dinner. We were in Maine last year, so we didn’t have a vote. Needless to say, we are very big wimps and managed to wriggle out of it this year! Michael decided to put himself in charge of hot whiskeys for everyone, and I manned the cameras. We aren’t the polar bear dip types, but we were there in spirit!

We made it to the beach at sunset (which was probably about 3:45pm) and the sky was filled with the most perfect muted colors – like an impressionist painting. 

Meanwhile, our motley crew was not at all like an impressionist painting. Michael’s littlest brother, Eric, decided he needed to jump into the ocean wearing a costume. 

And Michael and I managed to stay nice and dry and cosy! We’re hoping for lots more calm days for more beach strolling this winter – and we’ll be keeping all our clothes on, thank you very much!

You know what amazes me? The wealth of talent and fun you can find on the internet when you’re really not even looking for it. A few weeks ago, while I was having a browse through my Twitter feed, I stumbled upon this sweet illustrated guide to Dublin for Geeks by local illustrator Steve McCarthy on the Visit Dublin website. There are more, but these were my favorites: The Birdwatcher, the Trainspotter, and the Science Freak.
I’m a huge fan of the Botanic Gardens, but had no idea there were monthly birdwatching meetings from there. I love the Science Gallery, but I had no idea there was a model train shop on Hawkins Street. The things you learn when you’re not even looking!

And of course, it doesn’t hurt that the illustrations are downright adorable. Score one for delightful Dublin!

I know, this seems to be the birthday that just won’t end, huh? This is the last post, I promise. I wanted to share photos that the kind and talented Rincy took before and during the dinner party I put together for my 30th birthday back at the start of December. Michael’s basketball schedule got in the way of having the dinner on my actual birthday at the end of November, so we had kind of a pre-holiday season party instead. It was actually the perfect way to kick off the festive period – sharing a meal with some of my favorite people.

Rincy shared the photos on Decor8, an interiors blog that I’ve been a fan of for a long time. Rincy writes a monthly column over there about the joys of leading a simpler life. She asked me to share a little bit about the inspiration for the celebration, and I’ve included the full text of that below.

When I moved to Ireland just over five years ago, there were a lot of things that obviously necessitated adjustment: driving on the other side of the road, not being able to buy anything in bulk at the grocery store, those kinds of things. What didn’t take any time at all to adjust to was how the Irish celebrate the Christmas season. They gather, they linger, they spend time around a table or a fireplace. They chat and sing and time stands still for a few hours. 

Long before my 30th birthday, I knew exactly how I wanted to celebrate: a dinner party with as many of my close friends and family around one table, sharing a meal, laughing, chatting, lingering over glasses of wine and birthday cake. I wanted a little piece of that pause in time where no one has anywhere else to be but right there.

My dear husband knows me well and found exactly the right space to use: The Centre for Creative Practices in Dublin city centre. In the basement of a several hundred year old building, the space is home to an arts centre dedicated to connecting and promoting immigrant, experimental and emerging artists in Dublin. On the exposed stone walls hung their annual winter art show, and I was so proud that Dublin has a space dedicated to such incredible talent.

I asked a handful of friends whose work I have long admired to bring the space to life. We chose mint, white, copper and dark green for a wintry and fresh look. It was festive, but calming, with lots of space for conversation and fellowship.

Claire Ryan created incredible floral arrangements. Federico Riezzo, who runs my absolute favourite Dublin cafe, Coppa, cooked dishes that made us all feel at home. Kate Packwood baked a cake that blew everyone’s minds – toffee coated green grapes adorned the top and the crunch/squish texture when you bite into one is indescribable. And Ciara O’Halloran put it all together into the most perfect winter celebration. 

On the day of the dinner party I pulled my car over by the coast of Dublin Bay and trekked down to the water line. I pulled out a big old piece of driftwood and squeezed it into the back of the car. We suspended it above the table, and from it we hung the most beautiful geometric Christmas ornaments, sourced from another of my favorite Dublin shops, Article. The pièce de résistance, so to speak, for our little winter wonderland.

Candles placed throughout the room twinkled and sparkled. My friends and family came and sat, made themselves comfortable. We held hands around the table while my husband prayed grace over the meal. Then we ate, drank wine, shared stories and laughed. Time stopped for a few hours; there were no phones or work. We were right there, together, celebrating exactly the way I’ve learned to in my time in Dublin. Truly present, with nowhere else to be but right there.

I will be forever grateful to the people who helped make this evening so special. You can find all their talent right here:

And now, we can put that 30th birthday to bed! It was well and truly celebrated, and I’m excited for what this 30th year will bring.

During the lovely time of year after the holidays are over and before work starts back up again (Ireland, you have got the right idea on this one!), I’ve found myself mulling over what I hope the new year will bring. I know some people are very anti-New Year’s resolutions, but because I don’t worry if I don’t accomplish each one one hundred percent, I do really enjoy them. I usually manage to get about half of them accomplished, although it did take me two years of swearing off swearing before that really stuck. Well, mostly.

Last week, I cracked open my notebook and started jotting lots of ideas and plans, and I’ve been trying to narrow down a solid handful of resolutions. I have a pretty good list going, so in the spirit of accountability, here they are for all to see!

Resolutions 

1. Less screen time. This year, there were at least a few times where I could actually feel myself not listening because I was checking something on my phone. It’s a horrible feeling when you realize it’s happening. Less time on the screen – phone, computer or television – and more time engaged and listening. I want to be a really great listener, and those screens can get in the way. We’re re-instituting a no-technology night in our house and I can’t wait.

2. More paper. As in reading more books and more scripture, writing more letters and cards, and even reading more newspapers.

3. Take painting lessons. I have so many paints and pastels and brushes and pencils in my studio and they are currently not living up to their potential. I’m going to start by going to the Art for Everyone drop in classes at Trinity College in January as a jump start.

4.  Take piano lessons. I was never going to be Mozart, but I used to be quite good at playing the piano and I think I would enjoy it even more now. I just need a refresher course!

5. Weed out, back up and make family yearbooks from my 10,000 photographs on my computer. Or hire someone to do this. Is that possible? I have been avoiding doing this properly for years and it’s making my brain hurt to think about it even now. But it has to happen – I would be devastated if I ever lost some of those photographs.

Of course, there are many more ideas and plans and projects on the list. I have lots and lots of plans for finalizing our house makeover, so I thought I’d share a few of those as well.

House Makeover Plans 

1. Finish the front room, which I like to call our runway – where shoes and coats and bags and papers all get dropped. It’s a somewhat useless walk through entryway room that we’re making more useful! We’re about 85% finished, just need to iron out a few more storage issues.

2. Finish the living room. I’m hoping we’re about 60% there, and I’m hoping to have it finished by February. We still have to switch out the rug and the table and chairs, and add one big piece of artwork and some light fixtures. Aaaaaand maybe, possibly, paint the horrible fake wood trim white. Maybe I’ll try to sneak that in on a day Michael’s in work. But over all, we’re nearly there!

3. Landscape the back garden and paint the rest of the darn cement walls! As it turns out, painting cement is brutal. Michael warned me but I didn’t believe him until I tried it. It’s so messy and takes so much time and paint and arm strength. I haven’t come up with a bribe for Michael that will get me out of the icky job, but once the rest of the walls are painted, I want to cover them with mirrors and trellis’ and climbing plants.

4. Install a doorbell and a motion-sensored light at our front door. Yeah, some of the basics we haven’t bothered with in almost four years of living here!

5. Fix the darn floors. I thought I could let this one go with the help of some strategically placed rugs, but it’s getting much worse by the day. The fake wood laminate floors in our house are disintegrating into sawdust in a lot of places. It will be a giant and annoying job to move all our furniture out and replace the floors, but I think it might just have to be done. The upside? A different color than orange! Woohoo!

And just because I’m clearly a list person and this is the season for lists, here’s one last quick one. A few miscellaneous plans in place that are going to happen this year, by golly! 

1. Finish writing my Delightful Dublin e-guidebook. Oh, we are getting there, just slowly.

2. Start hosting advertisements on the sidebar.

3. Host two or three more lifestyle blogger meetups. We have some fabulous locations already sorted!

4. Learn Photoshop better, so things on the blog can get a little more pretty.

5. Add more videos to From China Village.

One last 2013 highlight post before I dive headfirst into 2014. I loved looking back on the projects I completed over the last year – there weren’t as many as I would have liked, but I did manage to knock out a few! I’m excited for the next few months to share lots of new DIY projects I’ve completed for our little house makeover  – including a quilt headboard, a sheepskin stool and a totally made over traditional Irish telephone seat!

But first, one last look at 2013’s projects.

I made this cork board seating plan for One Fab Day – and nearly lost a few fingers in the process. So many corks. But it looks cute – and they’re now using it in their new office!

A little Valentine’s Day DIY – map hearts with a bonus story about my Irish ancestry.

Super quickie DIY vases from jam jars for St. Patrick’s Day.

Another simple one – fabric wrapped wire words. This wonder is living in our made over bathroom now.

Easily one of my most pinned posts – banana pancakes with only four ingredients!

A slightly larger project – our made over hallway. I still love that half grey hallway every time I walk through it!

We clearly started with the smaller rooms first – here’s our made over bathroom, with a little hutch covered in flowery fabric.

Later in the year, an autumn foraged bouquet.

Sweet copper polka dot glasses for my 30th birthday dinner party (full photos on that next week!).

And finally, porcelain Christmas tree ornaments using a gold Sharpie marker!

Here’s to lots more making and crafting in 2014! Any favorite projects you’d like to share from the past year? I’d love to see!