Care Package from Patti!

Thanks, Sis!  You rock!

This is AWESOME. 

Cozy new PJs, tasty trail mix, hot cocoa mix (I was running low, how did you know?!),

portable ice tea packets, and best of all - my sister's homemade biscotti and my nephew's homemade caramels!  So very fantastic!

Thank you, Andrew, for sharing your yummy caramels with me - they are my favorite!

Brothers

Every month or so, the IFI sends an email to members offering 2 free tickets to a film screening.  The tickets go fast, so you probably don't get tickets if you don't see the IFI email within 2 hours. 

I was studying on my laptop when the email popped up (just like with The Edge screening!), so I entered my details on their website, then immediately received an email back, confirming my 2 tickets.  Definitely an excellent way to celebrate the end of exams!

The film was Brothers.  (You've probably caught on by now that films are released a lot earlier in the U.S. than Ireland and other countries...).  Have any of you seen it?  I thought it was brilliant.  After the film ended, I wondered what my military friends back home thought of this portrayal.

Aside from being insanely attractive, Jake Gyllenhall gave a great performance.  Natalie Portman and Tobey Maguire also gave fine performances.

Have you seen Brothers?  Thoughts?

After the film, Juliette and I ate lunch upstairs at the IFI, then went to St. Stephen's Green to look at dresses for Trinity Ball, "The Biggest Party in Europe" - only 3 months away!

Exam Week: C'est fini!

Yippee!  I'm done!

Am I out partying?  Hell no.  I'm flippin exhausted.  Per usual, I hardly slept this week.  Last night I slept for one hour.  I know, I know.  I can just hear my mother now:  "Molly Kathleen, your brain needs food and rest."  Yeah, well, I also need to pass my exams.  Yes, I know the two don't exactly mix, but I couldn't have confidently sat the past 2 exams if I didn't study through all possible hours. 

Before the Monday exams were cancelled (see prior post), I would have originally been finished with exams yesterday, but the Globalisation Law exam was rescheduled for today.

Overall I feel pretty good about exams.  I think I kicked some serious derriere on the Product Liability exam, did pretty well on the Globalisation & The Law exam, and did so-so on the Private International Law exam.  I'm so happy PIL is over.  In studying for that exam, I hardly used my class notes and opted for using the book the lecturer suggested in the reading list.  Had I just read this little gem of a book instead of even going to class, I could have understood it all so much better.  Ugh.  For PIL exam, we were allowed to take in clean copies of the Rome II Regulation (law applicable to non-contractual obligations) as well as the Brussels I Regulation (jurisdiction, enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters), but I hardly touched them.  You either know it or you don't.

The nice thing about exams is that they were all just a few buildings away from me, in the beautiful GMB, in the same room where the debates take place.  I felt very scholarly with all of those huge paintings of former scholars staring down at me.

After the Globalisation exam ended at 11.30, I somehow agreed to go the The Pav with Juliette and Dave, another classmate.  After the freezing cold weather earlier this week, today is truly a gorgeous day.  We actually sat outside at the Pav with a pint for an hour or so, then went inside when 2 other friends arrived.  I switched to water, sat back on the sofa and relaxed with friends.  Now I'm back in the cozy dorm, ready for sleep.

Hooray for exams being over!  Now it's time for sleep.

Mom, I'm Studying and "Feeding My Brain"

This is exams week.  I've stocked up on healthy food to keep me going.  It also gave me a fine excuse to take a study break and leave the house to run to the market.


Check out my healthy exam meal options:

Porridge.  It's not just for Goldilocks anymore.

mix this with a bit of honey or Nutella - yum.

oh my yumminess. 

seriously, this is good grub, especially with fresh irish butter

these things always sparked my curiosity, so i decided to test them out.

pretty tasty, but they put you in food coma.  a bit heavy.

half of one toasted with honey is quite nice.

The tap water here:  not so appealing.

I've gone thru several of these puppies.

Some Irish food, not all, can be a bit bland.
These two can make the blandest meal appealing.

Tip:  try the TJ lemon pepper on hummus.  yum.

Tea and honey.  A nightly necessity.

And of course, what would study week be without...

ah yes, ramen noodles.  the sodium-filled staple of students everywhere.

I haven't hit this low yet, but I'm sure I will.  When I do, these will be waiting for me.  Just add a slice of cheese and it's a gourmet meal.

Holy Cold Weather, Batman.

Chilly.Willy.  I'm studying for exams in my room and I couldn't have on more layers if i tried.  If I did, I would surely look like the kid in A Christmas Story.

Look, I grew up in cold temps, I can hang.  But these past few days have made me question whether living in California for the past 10 years has turned me into a wimp.

Can anyone make one of these for me, please? 

I'd actually like two, if possible.  One in this lovely pink, one in dark grey, please. 

With extra warm and cuddly-soft cashmere.  Merci beaucoup.

In the interest of saving time, I'm again pasting an email I wrote to friends and family back home. 

Hello from exams week at Trinity!

Last week was the official start to exams (interestingly, many undergrad courses do not have exams in January, but rather they are tested in April/May on things they were taught during fall and spring term together...I would much prefer exams each semester, ugh - imagine the pressure they must be under in april...). I have my first exam TOMORROW in Private International Law. Eek. There is so much to know, it's scary. Then Product Liability is Thursday, Globalisation and the Law is Friday. I'll be done by 1130 GMT on Friday - yay!

anyway, thought i'd quickly share part of my "cold weather" experience and try to give you a smile and/or have something to be thankful for in your beautiful california weather!

It's cold here. not unbearable cold, but cold. it's 36F today, but the past few days have been under 20F. Yesterday I left my dorm building for the first time in 4 days, and that was solely to return library books and run right back. turn up your heater, you say? ah, well... if only it were that simple. these dorms aren't exactly ranking in the top category re: "modern heating" technologies, and the large window in front of my desk is a bit drafty. anyway, right now i'm sitting at my desk (where i've been since 7am) with the following to keep me warm:

• yoga pants
• 2 pairs socks
• tank top, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt. I thought this would be warm enough. No. I then put a sweater (aka a "jumper" as they say here) over that, along with:
• scarf
• . . . legs and toes keeping warm inside the sleeves of my ski jacket (!)
• blanket(s) - one covering legs, the other around my shoulders

are you laughing yet? my feet were freezing, so that's the best idea i could come up with. at the very least this should allow you to appreciate your warm weather, modern heating...and no studying. :)

Oh, almost forgot: our Globalisation exam was supposed to be yesterday...but they cancelled exams campus-wide due to 2 inches of snow and potential freezing rain. As a former Michigander, this was hilarious to me. to their defense, it was a tad slippery outside. I guess they rarely get snow here, so when it happens they aren't 100% prepared for it. Oh well, more time for me to study!

anyway, study break is over. Hope all is well in warm ca.

hugs,


molly 

The Edge is in the Building!

Yes, you read that correctly - The Edge from U2.  (Susie, Lexi, other U2 friends, if you're asking if the big "B" was there, the answer is sadly no.)

Wednesday afternoon I was sitting at my desk studying when an IFI email popped up, stating the following:

"The IFI is delighted to announce that The Edge will attend a special preview charity screening of Davis Guggenheim's film It Might Get Loud, along with other special guests, tomorrow evening. All proceeds go to Our Lady's Children's Hospital, Crumlin."

I quickly clicked the link, bought a ticket and emailed Jessica to see if she wanted to join me.  She emailed back right away and also booked her ticket!  Yay!  We were official ticket holders to see The Edge in person.

 

I had actually already seen this movie on an airplane recently - I really liked the movie and was excited to see it again with The Edge introducing it.

Susie and Lexi, I got to the IFI 45 min early just in case The Edge's "friend" was hanging around.  Sorry to report that he was not, although I did see photos of him and The Edge that were reportedly taken last night at the premiere.  It looked like they were on one of the side streets near the IFI - I'm sorry I missed him!

But just to prove that I was there, here are some (unfortunately very dark) photos of The Edge from last night's screening.  He introduced the film for a few minutes (he was quite funny) and then sat 5 rows in front of me to the right. 

 

I have a video of him as well, but I haven't taken time to learn how to attach it to my blog (rachel, help?), so for now you just get to imagine.

After the film, we had dinner in the IFI cafe.  Oddly enough (ha ha), The Edge was also dining in the IFI cafe, in the upstairs area.  As we weren't VIP, we weren't allowed up there.  I dined on some healthy fried mushrooms while eyeing the upstairs area, hoping he would walk back down the main stairwell next to our table when he left.  There must be a back stairwell, because when the upstairs emptied, he was nowhere to be seen.

I seriously felt ill after eating these grease bombs.

See what sacrifices I make in the name of Edge spotting?!

All good fun.  Now it's time to seriously buckle down with studying.  My first exam is on Monday!

More Snow in Dublin!

We have more snow! It was snowing like mad all morning, huge thick flakes of snow. Then about an hour ago we had a downpour of hail/freezing rain, now it stopped. The snow was so pretty, I had to take a photo of the walkway beneath my dorm window. I grew up with snow in Michigan, I realize it's not all that exciting...but still so pretty. Meanwhile, I'm staying warm inside, wrapped up in a blanket at my desk and studying Globalisation & The Law... exams next week!

Looking into courtyard below from my dorm. 

(the creche is on the right, bottom level... love kids, but yikes these little tikes can be loud sometimes.)

courtyard between my dorm buildings, health center at top.

Soho Restaurant, Dublin

Tonight I had dinner with Jessica at SoHo Restaurant on S.Great George's Street, just a few blocks from campus.  It was delicious!  I pass by this restaurant all the time, as it is next to the Dunne's market I usually go to. 

I ordered the celeraic and glazed beetroot soup, which was served nicely hot along with 2 pieces of warm-ish bread. I swear the bread had a slight anise flavor to it, but I forgot to ask. Good size bowl of soup for €6.50.  Jessica ordered the mussels starter but said they were a tad too salty. I think the mussels were around €9.  We split dessert, which was fantastic. A berry and cream layered dessert with a caramel-cookie-ish-crumbly mixture...yummm! €6.50 for dessert seemed a bit much, but it was enough for two to split so I guess it wasn't outrageous.

holy yumminess!

I would recommend this place if you're visiting Dublin.  Nice atmosphere, good food, average prices, right in city centre.

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year!  It's hard to believe it's January already.  2009 definitely had its fantastic ups and not-so-fun downs.  To say that the end of 2009 sucked would be an understatement.

In 2010, I'm determined to live life to its fullest because, well, it's just too damn short.  I have this wonderful opportunity that I'm living out here, and I need to start appreciating it more.  There is so much to do and see, so many places to experience.  I've set a goal of visiting one new country per month during the rest of my time here in Ireland.  (January might be the exception though, as I have a tiny obstacle called 'exams'.)  Traveling within Europe is so inexpensive, I'd be foolish not to take advantage of it while I'm here.  Anyone care to join me in random travels?  I'd like to see Prague, Madrid, anywhere in Scotland, England, Wales, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway or Sweden, Poland...so many choices over here for so little $$.  I've been to Italy and France before, but would love to go back and explore a new city in each...Venice?  Cinque Terre is definitely on the list.  Monaco?  Anyone have suggestions on places in Europe to visit?

30 Dec 2009
As far as New Years Eve goes, I went out with Jessica and we had a fantastic time.  We weren't sure where to go, so on NYE-Eve (30Dec), (after going to Ikea!) we went on a very impromptu pub crawl to check out venues for NYE!  We started out at 4 Dame Lane, then made our way to Fitzsimons, The Church, The SouthWilliam and ended the night at Dandelion.  Whew!  All in the name of research.  Aren't we dedicated?!

31 Dec 2009
Snow!  We began the night with 2 cocktails at The Shelbourne hotel bar, as we were in the mood for something shi-shi.  We then parked it upstairs at 4 Dame Lane for the rest of the evening, having a fun time watching trainwrecks transpire throughout the night.  We also spotted some interesting dance moves going on.  When we left the bar, the streets were full of snow!  It had snowed earlier in the night, but this was crazy!  Apparently it rarely snows here, so the icy sidewalks later that night (or i should say early morning) became an adult playground. intoxicated people + icy sidewalks = bad mix

Jessica and me on NYE

Happy New Year everyone!  How did you celebrate the new year?