Another wedding, another awesome weekend

Afternoon! I had a heavy weekend with 2 very late nights and enough alcohol to sink a ship. I’m wrecked, but boy was it fun.

On Friday, two friends, Nic & Simon, got married in Co. Wicklow. Some of the girls were at the day do and I and a few others were heading to the evening do and sticking around for the second days events. I’d never been to a 2 day wedding until I came to Ireland, and it seems to be the norm here. So, word in your ear, if you’re invited to an Irish wedding, expect to make a weekend of it. The second day will generally be a BBQ or something and will a lot less formal, but they’re always worth sticking around for!

I’ve known Nic for a good few years now, we used to work for the same company, and got to know each other through work nights with mutual friends. She’s great craic and her and Simon are a perfect match. It’s always an honour to be invited to share someone’s wedding with them, and this one was no exception. 

The venue was a stunning house near Newtownmountkennedy (yes, really all one word and the name of a town!), called Trudder Lodge. It’s a fabulous house with some real character. The reception room was in a permanent marquee out the back, the bar was a small hatch on one side of the marquee and then the smoking area was in a lovely wooded bit round the other side. Very simple, but wonderfully set and organised. I drank, I danced, I caught up with people I’d not seen in a while and I met new people (love weddings for that!), and I got to bed at 5am.

The back of Trudder Lodge, BBQ in progress!

 Saturday consisted of a much needed fry for breakfast before heading back to the venue for the BBQ. This time we were on a different side of the house, with a big lawn overlooking the farmland. The sun was shining and it was lovely. The second day was bring your own alcohol so we commandeered a tub with some ice to put our stuff in, as everyone else had done. Everyone was a bit subdued at first and a bit worse for wear but we soon perked up with the help of the games (Giant Jenga, Kerplunk, Fussball, draughts, Connect 4), the alcohol, the dogs and some rolling down hills…what?! I’m 31 yes, but I’m still a big kid at heart, and anyway, it was Sinead’s idea. I’m totally faultless. Honest.

This is Branson, Simon & Nic's dog. He's awesome. But VERY persistant with his ball. Take it away from him and he will find anything else for you to throw, and I mean anything! He will also put the ball right in your crotch if you ignore him when he brings it back to you...! 

Give a group of lads a ball and just watch them go!

As the night drew in we retired inside, had a good old sing along with Con on the keyboard, drank some more, and reconnected with the people we’d met the day before. It’s times like these that you realise how small Dublin is. One of the lads at the wedding is the cousin of someone I used to work with, and knows 4 people I work with now.  I think bed beckoned at just before 4am on Sunday morning.
Needless to say Sunday was a washout, once we’d driven home I sat on the sofa and barely moved, retiring to bed rather early and sleeping for what felt like an eternity.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend, spent with some lovely people, celebrating the marriage of two lovely people, and meeting some new lovely people. It was just, well, bloody lovely!

As much as last weekend was wonderful, I am looking forward to doing very little this weekend. It’s my first weekend since 5^th July in which I’ve not had something planned, and I love that. Don’t get me wrong, I love my social life, of course I do. But when you’ve had 5 weekends constantly on the go, you relish a quiet weekend. But, I best not say that, my last quiet weekend didn’t work out quite as planned.

As is my norm my mid weeks are generally quiet, although tonight I’m going to see the debut show of a new Comedy Improv group, Bride of Spatula. I’ve planned to do something tonight for a few weeks now, but had a total panic this morning when I hadn’t actually organised anything to do (kind of crucial when doing things!). Help came in the wonderful form of http://www.dublineventguide.com/, and I found a good few options for tonight. I’d heard about this site before but had never had cause to put it to use. It’s great in that it’s organised by day, and contains stuff that you may not otherwise hear about. Like the gig I’m going to tonight, I knew nothing about them, but picked it as the thing to do, then googled them and found this great write up on Krank.ie. I’m now super excited about the gig. I love a bit of comedy me! I’ll report back, I promise.

I'm also super super super excited about Breaking Bad being back on my TV screen. If you've not seen it you haven't lived. I'm not joking. It. Is. Excellent. In my opinion it's one of the best things on TV since The Sopranos. The casting, character progression, writing, research, humour and overall concept are all just excellent. I got into it quite late and ended up watching Seasons 1-4 in very quick succession  Then Season 5 was announced as the last ever season and I cried a little inside. Episodes 1-8 aired last year, with the mid season break ending on a rather "Oh f!ck!" moment and a massively pivotal cliffhanger. I had to wait almost a full year for the second part of Season 5, but it returned this weekend. And it delivered. I have Jesse and Walt back in my life and I am one happy bunny. I will not be doing anything on a Monday for the next 7 weeks. 
Seriously, if you've not seen it, get your grubby mitts on it (Netflix has it). It's rather dark in its humour and it's far from nice and cuddly, but it's bloody brilliant. 

That’s my ramblings for the time being. Oh, I’m still in love with Absolute Radio, it makes my working day go so much quicker…although maybe not for my colleagues as I tend to sing to myself. Voice of an angel me. Really.

Till next time folks, take her handy.
Mwah!

xx