I was done working Thursday evening, and we left Friday morning for our two-night stay in Waterford, Ireland. I was a little worried about it because I had two taxi drivers ask me why we were going to Waterford. While I wouldn't stay in Waterford again, it was nice to visit. On our way to Waterford, we stopped in Kilkenny to see the castle, which I think is one of the biggest castles in Ireland. I definitely could be wrong about that...don't quote me. We also saw a cathedral, and they both were beautiful. Kilkenny seemed like a great town, and it would have been nice to spend more time there. On our drive, we saw a lot of cattle, and everything is so green and beautiful. By the way, I told my husband to eat a lot of beef before we left because there wouldn't be any in Ireland. I was so wrong. Again. 

I've also been shooting my photos in manual. Does anyone else do this? I feel like I get better control over what I want them to look like...although I have a lot of over or underexposed pictures. It's good practice though! 

The streets were very narrow in downtown Kilkenny, and for people who aren't used to driving on the left side of the road...and the right side of the car...it was a little intimidating.

One of the cathedrals in Kilkenny. It was amazing. Very pretty inside and out. I love this stuff.  

This is the outer entrance into the Kilkenny castle. It was absolutely beautiful...although the inside was all Victorian. Not exactly our cup of tea since we were hoping for mideval. Oh well. It was still a great sight. Definitely not something you see in the States!

These are the grounds of the castle. This rose garden with the fountain was really pretty. I think that upkeep of the grounds is just as important to the caretakers as the inside of the castle.

This is the other side of the castle grounds. It's amazing how green everything is. I can't get over how beautiful Ireland is!

This is the full view of Kilkenny Castle. The cars on the right were part of a wedding party. I cannot imagine getting married here...the pictures must be outstanding! What an amazing backdrop. I love castles, so this stop in Kilkenny was pretty incredible for me. If you're going to Ireland, you definitely should make time for Kilkenny. It's a great city. Next up...our time in Waterford and the drive to Cork.   

Hello from Ireland! The hubs and I got to Ireland Sunday morning after a very long day of traveling. Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it, but I finally was adjusted by Tuesday morning. I'm here for an international meeting on movement disorders (Parkinson's disease mainly). The meeting is in Dublin, and today is the last day of sessions. We've been exploring Dublin all week, and tomorrow we leave and head south to see more of the country. Therefore, vacation starts tomorrow. Yay! Here's some sights from Dublin. It's a beautiful city, and I think you could spend months here and still not see it all. Sorry in advance because this post is long, but it's mostly pictures. I should have split it into two, but I was almost done with it before I realized. First, here's a picture of the sunrise on the plane. It was the most stunning sunrise I've ever seen. I'm not going to lie...I was mad that my husband woke me up for it until I saw it. How could you be mad about this?    

The hubs has drank a lot of Guinness (his name is Shamus so it's in his blood!), and it does taste better here. In fact, he says it tastes best at the Guinness factory.

I stopped at the Kilmainham Gaol (jail). I didn't have enough time to take the tour, but I walked through the museum. It's beautiful, and there's a lot of history here from the attempted rebellion/uprising against the British.

What I like to call the Guinness Bridge over the river Liffey.

This is one of the many cathedrals in Dublin. This is just a little guy...

This is by Trinity College, but I don't think that it's in Trinity College...it's hard to tell. Things all merge into each other here.

There are a lot of statues and monuments in Dublin. Most of them are beautiful and/or strange.

This is the main statue or monument in Dublin. It's called the sphere, and it very tall. That's about it. The Irish taxi driver was making fun of it.

This is the bridge that I have to go across every day to get to the convention center. It's pretty cool.

Here's me and the hubs at the top of the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse. Doesn't my hair look lovely? This is my I don't have time to do my hair before the meeting look. Oh well.

The hubs went on a tour yesterday while I was working, and he stopped at the Jameson brewery...or is it a distillery? Either way, this is a pretty cool chandelier. Wonder how it would look in our house in Colorado? Might be a little off.

He also went to the Brazen Head, which is the oldest pub in Ireland. Apparently Adam Sandler was there two days ago. Dang it! So close!!

Tomorrow we're off to Kilkenny and Waterford. By the way, make sure you have up to date information when you travel. I've had two taxi drivers ask why we're going to Waterford. I wanted to see the crystal factory, but they shut it down two years ago. Oh well! The hubs will be playing golf for the fourth time, and there's gotta be something to look at! Check back, and I'll keep you guys updated on this fun trip!

It's been about a month since we've planted the garden, and things are looking great. We've been getting lots of strawberries (Cooper, our lab, especially loves to stick his head in the strawberry barrel, jerk). We have tomatillo plants, green beans, lettuce, and radishes all coming up from seed. Most of the plants we bought are doing good, too. Here's how things are coming along:

We bought these fingerling potatoes from a plant. It's not looking so hot, but it's our first time trying potatoes. We'll see what happens. It really hasn't grown much in a month.

We bought these vidalia onions from a plant, too. I think they'll be ready to pull in another month. Lookin good.

The three tomato plants are growing like crazy, but we won't have any tomatoes for another month or two.

Here's the most exciting thing growing: jalapenos. The hubs started these inside months ago. They're small but growing bigger every day. I see salsa in my future!

The kale is also taking off. I see kale chips in my future as well!

Unfortunately, the watermelon have stalled. This is about the same size as they were a month ago. Bummer. I love watermelon.

All the herbs are doing really well, but the mint, which came back from last year, is growing like crazy. Clearly I am not drinking enough mojitos! Anyone want to come over and help me tackle this?

My husband's parents came out from Ohio to spend time with us over Memorial Day weekend. I am lucky in that I have great in-laws, and we have a good time together. My mother in-law and I went on a hike in the foothills, where we had this incredible view of the red rocks and downtown Denver.  

This is farther along in our hike. May/June is a wonderful time to come to Colorado as everything is really green and alive, and we have beautiful weather. 

We saw a lot of blooming cacti, a first for me.

On Sunday we drove over Guenella pass in the mountains. I made the hubs stop so I could take a picture of this gold creek. It was really beautiful. Let's count to see how many times I can say beautiful, shall we?  

This is at the top of Guenella pass, and the mountain on the right is Mt. Bierstadt. It's a 14er, which means that it's over 14,000 feet high. From the parking lot, where I was taking this picture, it's about a 3 mile hike to the top, and you gain over 2000 feet in elevation. I hiked it about 5 years ago, and then I got sick in the car on the ride home. In my friend's car. All over the door. So pleasant. I'm glad I can say I've hiked a 14er, but I don't think I'd do another one. My knee (and apparently my stomach) just can't handle it. Anyhoo....

This is another view from the top of Guenella pass. Beautiful! Are you still counting?

On the way down the pass, we stopped at Clear Lake. These are probably the only "waves" I'll see for awhile. The boys wanted to fish in the lake but since the lake is fed by mountain run-off, it was a balmy 35 degrees or so. And the hubs had a hole in his waders. Not to mention that it was about 45 degrees outside and windy. We didn't stay too long, and they didn't catch anything.  

Turns out, they didn't catch anything the whole weekend. At least they looked good! Smile boys!

Back in town, we went on a walk, and in the distance is Chatfield Resevoir. Lots of boating going on there. It was a beautiful weekend.

The rents.

All in all, it was a fun weekend, made even greater by the fact that I took an extra day off. Nothing beats spending time outside with your family! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

We finally planted our garden last week. In Colorado, you really have to wait until Mother's Day because anything could happen. It has been known to snow in June. The hubs is in charge of the garden, and I'm in charge of the herbs. This is our third year doing it, and we've learned a few things.

1. We can't grow corn. The growing season is too short here, and we don't get enough sun in our backyard.
2. We have a raised bed, and it's important that the soil is flush with the top of the bed. Otherwise you create shade. Shade is not good for growing veggies.
3. Green beans and green onions seem to take over our garden. We always plant more than we need.
4. It's best to start watermelon inside in January or February and then transplant them. We already have two watermelons that are the size of a small bouncy ball. This is better than we've had!
5. We buy tomato plants instead of starting from seed. We buy herbs from a plant instead of seed, too.

Here's what we planted this year: lots of basil (probably my favorite thing ever), parsley, and rosemary. The rosemary is from last year...I kept it inside all winter.  

New herbs this year include chives, sage, and thyme. There's a few celery seeds in the pot, but I'm really not holding out much hope for them.

This is our main bed, and we have three tomato plants in the back (Roma, cherry, and an heirloom), jalapeno plant on the right in front (the hubs started growing this from seed inside in January), and next to it is an orange bell pepper plant. The rest we have in seeds: butter lettuce, iceberg lettuce, kale, green onions, walla walla onions, and green beans. I think that's it...this bed gets water through some mini sprinkler heads. We also put up a small fence around this bed to keep the dogs out. Now if only that worked for the bugs!

In this barrel, we have vidalia onions, watermelon (started from seed inside), and French fingerling potatoes. We have no idea when or how to harvest the potatoes or onion. Tips? This barrel is on our drip line.

And last but not least is our barrel of strawberries. These come back every year, so it's pretty low maintenance. Every year we get a bigger, better crop, too. These get a drip line, too.   

Check out those bad boys. Last year we bought a plant, and our watermelon were the size of tennis balls. We're hoping for a basketball size this year!

Meet Trace. Hi, Trace. Trace was my first dog that was all mine. I got him from a breeder in Oklahoma...in what I now think was a puppy mill. Whoops. Trace was huge for a King Charles Spaniel (about 25 pounds when they're normally 10-15), and Trace had bad knees. I had to get them both replaced before he was a year and a half old. In fact, I was still paying those knees off when he died. Unexpectedly. One of the worst days of my life was when I walked in from outside and found him dead on the floor. Terrible. If this has ever happened to you, I feel your pain and anguish. Little Tracers wasn't even three when this happened. Thankfully, I had some great times with Trace, and I will never forget him.

This is not really one of those times, but it's a funny story. I had to take Trace for daily walks or he would go crazy. The dog had some incredible pent-up energy that he saved for when I got home and was exhausted. We were near the end of our walk, going down my street, and Trace stopped to do his business. You know how some dogs kick at the grass when they're done to try and bury it? I still don't understand this move because it's never buried, but Trace had a bad habit of not moving away before he started kicking. Usually I saw this coming and could drag him away, but I was giving him a little privacy and not paying attention. Do you know where this is going?

He kicked the poo onto my leg. Fresh poo. Bare leg. Warm poo. Onto. My. Leg. OMG doesn't even begin to describe it. I was disgusted and horrified and not very happy. Thankfully (or not depending on how you look at it), I was wearing capri pants, so I took a bag (I always carried these) and scraped it off my leg and cleaned up the rest of it. I was mad but the farther I walked, the less mad I became. In fact, about 5 houses down the street I started laughing. It was so gross but so funny. How many of you can say that your dog has kicked his own poo onto your bare leg? Not an experience I'd like to repeat mind you.

I ate some amazing food while I was in New Orleans. Here's some of the great things I ate, and sorry these pictures aren't so great. But I wasn't very focused on the pictures. I just snapped quick ones so I could get right down to it!

Cheddar Cheese Omelet Po Boy at Johnny's Po Boys. Don't let New Orleans fool you. A po boy is just a hoagie or a subway sandwich anywhere else. But I don't think I've been offered an omelet sandwich anywhere else before. This was good, and I think Johnny's Po Boys is famous for their sandwiches.

If you go to New Orleans, you have to eat here. They have amazing beignets (fried dough with plenty of powdered sugar) and cafe au lait (or great hot cocoa if you're not a coffee drinker). Everything about it is fabulous, but don't wear black. You'll get powdered sugar everywhere.

Shrimp po boy at Deanie's Seafood restaurant. They had great food and service.

These were fried artichoke hearts with parmesan and marinara. OMG. They were so good. I'll be recreating these bad boys at home for sure!

This cracked me up. The table next to ours at Deanie's ordered this huge platter of crawfish, and I had to take a picture. If you're reading this, thanks ladies!

We ate here the first night, and they had great food that I didn't take a picture of....I had chicken alfredo, and Linda had crab cakes, which she said were very good. I definitely recommend this place, and it's got great ambiance and character.

I got these French macaron cookies at the French market, and I carried them around with me all day. We have pistachio, chocolate, and vanilla. I loved the chocolate one the best with the pistachio coming in a surprising second. The only time I have had macarons is when I made them, so I'm glad to made them correctly.

The food was one of my favorite things about New Orleans. Of course, my favorite meal was at NOLA, Emeril's restaurant. The whole thing was incredible. There are so many different restaurants to try, and I can't wait to go back!

I'm in New Orleans for the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting, and a medical writer, Linda, joined me. We had some free time to explore the city, and it's so much fun. Here are some more sightseeing pictures.

We took the trolley down St. Charles Street. Beautiful houses on this street!

Bead trees! Do you think the trees showed somethin off to get those?? Yes, I know that was a very lame joke. Sorry.

Did you know that Tulane and Loyola are neighbors? They literally are right next to each other....I can only imagine the parties. Here's Tulane and ...

Here's Loyola. They're both really pretty schools, and there's a huge park and golf course across the street.

I heard rumors there's a zoo back here too, but I didn't see it.

Somebody has a sense of humor...

This was my view from my hotel room at the Marriott, and I cannot get over how huge the Mississippi river is. There is absolutely no way a barge could fit on a river in Colorado. We worry about our rafts getting popped on our rivers. This definitely was a sight to see.

Hello pretty. There were a lot of horse-drawn carriages on Decatur, just waiting to give tours through the French Quarter.

This is Bourbon Street on Friday evening. It was starting to get very lively. I really didn't experience this part of New Orleans, but next time I will. Those 3 for 1 drinks are calling my name....

I have to say that I was warned before going that New Orleans is a dirty city, and it smells, and there's crime, etc. I absolutely loved it, and I highly recommend going. Yes, there are a few parts that smell, but the French Quarter is tiny and there are no alleys. So they have a trash problem, and the people/restaurants put their trash in cans on the sidewalks. However, they have trash trucks going around all day collecting trash in cans. So you may pass by spots that smell like trash, but you keep walking. The streets were clean, and the people are very friendly. I never felt unsafe, and I can feel unsafe very quickly. You just have to be smart about where you are. I loved it here, and I can't wait to go back!  

Thankfully we got to eat in Emeril's restaurant last night, and it was the best meal I've ever had. In my life. The service was incredible, too. If you're in New Orleans, you definitely should eat here. It's a little pricey but so worth it! Be sure you make reservations though! These pictures aren't very good, but the presentation was beautiful!

We started off with stuffed chicken wings with homemade hoisin sauce. I'll be saying this a lot, but they were incredible. The sauce was fantastic, the skin was crispy, and the stuffing was so good. I think they were stuffed with andouille sausage and other great things. 

We also got wood oven roasted pocket bread with garlic oil, fresh basil, and parmesan. Fresh basil anything, and I'm in. Incredible. Soft and scrumptious!

Next we split a Caesar salad. Nothing too extroadinary about this one, but the croutons were great. Definitely house made.

And for the best thing I have ever put in my mouth, I ordered the apple cider braised pork shank with goat cheese polenta. O.M.G. The meat was falling off the bone, and there was a walnut rosemary gremolata that was to die for. It looked like I ordered a giant turkey leg, but it was incredible. I never liked polenta, but I did after that! I'm going to try to recreate this when I get home...not sure how successful I'll be though.

Here's what was left of the pork shank:

The other entree was shrimp and grits: sauteed gulf shrimp with cheddar grits, mushrooms, bacon, and a red chili-abita butter sauce. I tried a mushroom, and it was great. The sauce was wonderful.

We ended the meal with cinnamon bread pudding and a Mexican chocolate ice cream. I was stuffed by this point so I only had a few bites, but it was delicious. This was the best meal ever, and I highly recommend NOLA if you're in the French Quarter. You have to dine here....you will not regret it!

Here are a few pictures from my first day in New Orleans. I love this city. It's so lively and fun!

Jackson Park with St. Louis Cathedral in the backgound. Beautiful!

Classic New Orleans balcony.

Steamboat Natchez. they were placing a steam calliope concert. Really cool!

Love palm trees, and the Lousiana museum in the background.

Major General Andrew Jackson

These guys were playing some incredible music. It was a lot of fun! Love this city!!