Brother Hubbard Brunch

Having heard nothing but rave reviews about Brother Hubbard and the brunch there for some time now, I finally got the chance to sample the delights for myself.

Located on Capel Street, the outside doesn't look like much but fits perfectly for what it is trying to achieve. The inside is decked out in industrial hipster chic from the condiments to the thrifty looking furniture.

The food on the other hand is pure indulgence. I got the Croque Madame myself. While I knew it was a toastie with an egg on top I didn't know what to expect visually. A rustic sandwich chocked full of ham and smothered in a rich cheese is what I was given. It was luscious and gooey all at once. I could just about finish it, purely because I had no breakfast! I had a mimosa to wash it down. Who doesn't love a mimosa?!

Sean had Eggs Menemen. A Turkish style scrambled egg dish With peppers and olive oil. I didn't have any myself but I'm told it was delicious! He also had a Moroccan Iced-Tea to compliment it.

Simple food but expertly prepared. If you enjoy brunch or just eating out in general, I highly recommend it! Do be warned though, it can get quite busy around lunch time so calling in advance to book a table wouldn't be a bad idea to avoid waiting. The service is quick and friendly however at peak times, don't expect to be left alone to chat over an empty table while the queue of people mounts up.

Check out their site here - http://brotherhubbard.ie/

New Venture - Food Blogging

Happy New Year everybody! While I always say I'm going to do new segments on my blog, I always start one and never follow it through, this is evident with my 4 Play Friday which I only did once. I'm terrible I know. However I really want to stick with something and hopefully this is it.

From now on, I'm going to write about restaurants & establishments I've dined at. I know it's done to death but dining out is something I really really enjoy and love doing. My boyfriend and I love going to new places and try not go back to the same place more than once. I do have exceptions, such as Trocadero and Musashi. The food in both is to die for.  If I'm being honest it was my boyfriend who suggested writing about our dining experiences so thanks Sean!

Since we started going out in 2013 I've kept a list of all the places that we've eaten at, there are currently 34 places on the list. That's not too bad if I do say so myself. And I don't include McDonald's or any fast food joint on the list. I'm talking about proper dining establishment and cafés. It only includes places here in Dublin and not abroad which is something I do regret as we've been to some great restaurants in places such as; New York, Rome, Tel Aviv and Milan, but at the time it completely slipped my mind to keep records. From now on I'll include any place at home or overseas.

Anyway, this is my new venture and I am really looking forward to taking it up. It may be once a week, it may be once every two months, whenever we have the money to go out. I've put up the list of all the places we've gone to so far. If I can remember what we ate where I'll write about it (it's not likely) otherwise the fun starts now.

Emotional Stages When Applying For A Job

Applying for a job is no easy thing to do. Whether it be for a part-time position in your local deli or a full-time position with Goldman Sachs, the stages you go through are inevitably the same.

Big Up
You love yourself when initially applying for the job. Bigging yourself up to the best of your ability. Oh I won this award twice, I can do that with my eyes closed, I have this, these & those qualifications too. I have this in the bag. They have to hire me. Look at me, I'm amazing.

Nervousness
You then begin to get nervous as soon as you've clicked 'submit' or once you've handed in your CV. You're second-guessing your qualifications. Wondering if you answered all those questions with full gusto or if you've missed your chance. Should I have said I'm a good dancer? That is a legitimate qualification for a job in IT isn't it?!

Despair
That's it, I'm doomed. I lost it. Not a chance now. I am a mess. I knew I should have included that dancer qualification. WHY ME?! I HATE LIFE.

Logical Thinking
Well now hang on now, I mean, I actually am perfect for this job. I DO have the necessary experience required. The picture I attached is from my good side. Now that I think about this, there is a chance. Just as much of a chance as everyone else.

Pray
DEAR GOD I KNOW WE HAVEN'T SPOKE IN A WHILE BUT PLZ GIVE ME THIS JOB.

Apathetic
I actually don't care anymore. Whatever. Just applied for the job on the off chance, it wasn't all that important. I mean I don't even like the company. Going to go look for a job more suited to me.

And finally,

Ecstatic
I GOT THE JOB. I would like to thank my mother, father, boyfriend, dog, cat groomer, gardener, playschool teacher, window cleaner, bus driver & everyone else who has believed in me over the years. This one's for you.

Lost my iPhone. Lost a limb. #PrayForJohn

Well the inevitable has happened. I have lost my iPhone. #PrayForBieberJohn

After 14 months, many, many, MANY drunken nights out, ridiculously low jeans & general carelessness, I have lost it in a stupid fashion; I merely left it on the seat in a taxi. Christ above I am like a junkie going through heroin withdrawals.

After sprinting down my road to try & catch up with the the taxi I failed and was left running in the opposite direction to my humble abode. I grabbed my father's phone and rang the phone twice before it stopped ringing altogether. Now, I'm not sure if the taxi man turned it off OR if the battery died. I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and say the latter. I hopped onto Find My iPhone but as the phone is off it can't be located. That is such a flaw with the whole system. Surely Apple are aware most iPhones are turned off when lost/stolen so why can't they send out some signal? HELP US ALL PLZ APPLE!! I tried ringing it again for 30 minutes before calling it a night and going to bed crying tears of sorrow & despair. It really is a tough life when you are most upset about losing your phone rather than the wars in the world but alas, this is it.

Upon waking I was met with great news, MY IPHONE HAD BEEN RETURNED. No it had not, that's how it played out in my dream. I am still mourning my loss. #PrayForMe. I Googled all the nifty things you can do when one has lost their iPhone. So therefore I have enabled 'Lost Mode' & got that really annoying sound to play. When whoever has my phone turns it on they'll be met with a sweet message kindly asking them to return the phone & a contact number for which they can call me. They'll hopefully think I am some 23 year old woman & give the phone back hoping for sexual favours or a date or something. 21 year old gay here so close enough like. I'll also receive an email as soon as the phone is online so I am CREEPING on my mailbox let me tell you.

For now, Papa has lent me his phone which is as basic as having a contacts list and messaging. I suppose that's all you actually need in a phone though right? I will update you on my progress however I'm not holding out hope. If I don't hear anything by tomorrow I'll just erase the iPhone via Find My iPhone and try get another one some way. As my mother said, it takes no time to turn on a phone, see the message & call.

If you are reading this taxi man ( the chances of which being like 1000000/1 seeing as though I have about 5 views on this a day) this is for you:

He's Not A King. He's A Queen.

The dressing room is exactly as I had expected it to be. Wigs, make-up, dresses & glamorous photographs cover every inch of the room. I’m here to talk candidly with Bláthnaid McGee, a staple on the Irish drag scene.

Bláthnaid set off on her path to drag stardom at the age of 17, having set her sights on becoming Panti Bliss’ Performing Assistant. Panti had only opened her bar, aptly named ‘Pantibar’, and was searching for her right hand, emm…woman. After losing out on the top prize, the enigmatic Bláthnaid McGee was asked back to play giant Connect 4 with the audience, as it was hard not to fall in love with her bubbly personality. Ever evolving, she started performing and then DJing, eventually being noticed and being asked to perform in other venues. Now 5 years on, she’s an established performer, still here, “Still being a big, huge, Man-Woman of a Saturday night”.

Coming out can be hard enough, so coming out and then telling your parents you want to be a drag queen I can only imagine is 10 times more difficult. However Bláthnaid’s parents are beyond supportive. She tells me how her mother’s reaction was,” Oh I hope you don’t want to become a woman or anything!” which Bláthnaid immediately shot down saying that it was just a job and purely for money. It’s funny how parents always jump to that conclusion. As for her father, it was the typical fatherly, “Ok whatever you want son”.  It’s great that different generations can appreciate the art also. Bláthnaid’s mother is actually going in to see the show next week with a few of her own friends.

Asking how her day-to-day life differs from her drag life, the most accurate phrase was, “I’m more glamorous”. I’m told when as a man on the train, he looks “BLEH! With hair undone, tracksuit bottoms on and not a care in the world. Then later, “I’m going to be a big huge glamorous woman!”. I’m also told how personality wise, she is more outspoken. “I’m kind of more outspoken in drag. I can just kind of say whatever pops into my head. I suppose it’s just a different version of me. I’m louder & more out there. You can say whatever you want & you can get away with it. You’re dressed up like a woman and nobody cares”.

As I sit chatting away, watching the transformation from Ciaran to Bláthnaid, I can see the amount of time and effort that’s put into this and it’s no surprise to me when I’m told putting on make-up is her favourite part. “I LOVE doing my make-up. It’s so fun. Sometimes you’re not in the mood to come in and go to work but when you’re sitting there, doing your make up for about 2 hours you kind of get in the zone”. Ever the perfectionist, she tells me she wonders if people would notice if something went undone but that she couldn’t do it because she’d know and she’d care. A true sign that her work is important to her. She recounts a funny story to me about a show she did recently, “I was doing a show up in Belfast and I was wearing these peep toe shoes so I only painted the first three toenails and I kicked off my shoes during the song and there was a woman in the front like ‘OH MY GOD LOOK AT THAT!’, I was so annoyed I forgot about that. I was raging. Ooopsie”.

Walking around as man dressed up as a woman you would think you would get into some bad situations, however Bláthnaid hasn’t which I think is a great sign for the people of Ireland,“ I don’t think I’ve received any stigma, but you get abuse every now and again from straight boys In the street walking around in drag. But you just kind of give it back. Some people are like ‘Oh you’re a drag queen you dress up like a woman do you want to be a woman’ but I couldn’t be bothered with people like that.  Now if somebody says that I’m just like, ‘F off’. When I ask if she herself believes Ireland is accepting of drag culture she agrees. “I think so. Panti had her show in the Abbey there recently & then she went off on tour to Australia. Then the Wright Venue and the Gilbert & Wright bars, well they have Annie Balls. She works in all the different bars doing the bingo Monday to Friday. All the straight bars!  Yeah we’re all over the place these days”.

The difficulty with drag according to Bláthnaid is how small the scene is. “It’s a really small scene and there are only 4 or 5 bars up here so only so many jobs going. Only so many things you can do. So I suppose breaking out in the drag scene weekly would be a bit difficult. Learning words too. I can’t dance or anything so sometimes the spoken word thing is easier but it’s a lot more learning. It’s funny, it’s something different. It’s not just the same ‘oh look at him in a wig and dancing to a song’. You can be so easily replaced. Like because there’s so many of us out here you’ve got to keep it fresh, new and stuff like that.  Unless you buy your own bar, then you can do whatever you want!”.

My last question was where she saw herself in 10 years. “I don’t see myself here. I want to live in Edinburgh and I like the job that I’m doing at the moment so I want to work my way up there and move. I don’t know whether I’m going to do drag over there just kind of see what happens. I never planned on doing it for 5 years so I don’t know in 10 years if I’m still going to be doing it!”.

The last thing Bláthnaid said to me was probably the best way to sum her up, “I don’t really think of myself and Bláthnaid being different people. Just because I’m still the same person I’m just in a wig. I’m slightly more drunk and more glamorous than I would be”.

I think regardless of where she ends up, Bláthnaid will win everyone over with her charm and charismatic demeanour. I wish her all the luck in the world.

Schoolin' Life

As the clock struck 6 a.m on Monday the 19th of August Irish time, I once more waited on bated breath for the results that would determine my future.

This was the second time I had applied for the CAO, the Central Application's Office, which would determine which course I would go onto study in college. The first time I applied was when I sat my Leaving Certificate in 2010. Once the stress & dread of the Leaving Cert results had come & passed, the CAO offers were all that was on your mind. 

I had applied to do the Bachelor of Arts degree in National University of Maynooth (NUIM) that first time around. When I awoke to the offer I was delighted. The course was my first choice & I was delighted with myself. My father was ecstatic as I was the first member of his family to actually get into college.

Orientation week came & passed and I began to get into the swing of things. I loved college. Well, I loved the social aspect of college, the actual academics were the problem. Only one other girl from my secondary school had come into the college with me, so I had to make new friends & that I did. Friends who I call my best friends now 3 years later.

While I was meeting up with these new friends, heading to the Student's Union bar & participating in the typical college activities, I was unaware that, even though I was having fun with them, I wasn't furthering myself academically. I actually hated my course to put it bluntly.

I got through 1st year anyway, how I did is beyond me as I did zero work. Before I knew it, 2nd year was coming around knocking on the door. Straight off the bat I fell back into the swing of drinking with my college friends. I loved the social aspect of it all. I just love making friends and having a good time. Many of my friends lived on campus where as I lived at home, so it was a bit of freedom that I lapped up and also envied.

Needless to say the whole year continued in this routine & before I knew it the school year had finished & I had failed. Horrendously. The worst part of it all was that, being honest, I didn't care. I think that was a sign that I wasn't happy in my course. If I was disappointed with myself for failing, then surely that would have meant more. I wasn't thinking at the time at all and when the time came to re-register for college I decided to repeat 2nd year. I had a long talk with myself & realised that I actually had to start making something of myself, so I thought it was the best thing to do.

I re-registered, back into 2nd year I went, my college friends all now in final year. Was I jealous? Sure a little bit but I saw it as an opportunity to put my head in the books. That lasted for about two months max. I began to miss college completely. I would rarely go in & I handed up little to no course work. I had to get two buses to the campus and I just wasn't bothered anymore. I was a complete slacker, lying to my parents that college wasn't on these days or saying I was heading in when I would go to town with friends. To say my parents were less than impressed with me when they eventually found out is an understatement.

I don't know what happened but one day I just reassessed my life. Other events had recently happened so I was in a new, yet promising place. I woke up and copped on that what I was doing wasn't entertaining me and I had to sort myself out. I began thinking about what appeals to me. The BA course was one which my teachers & family members had recommended to me. I was 17 years old, an age which I still think is so young too decide what you want to do with the rest of your life, so I took on their advice. I agreed with them, it wasn't all their fault.

So, at 20 years old, when I began to reassess myself, I was thinking of what I wanted to do. I'm interested in; Entertainment, Writing, Celebs, World Affairs, General Knowledge & Babble. I just enjoy learning things about anything & everything & writing my opinions on them. I enjoy making people laugh & also educating others as well as being educated. Therefore I decided to pursue a course in Journalism and yesterday, I was offered a place in that exact course.

When I clicked onto my CAO account to view my offer I was beyond nervous, especially since I had wasted the past 10 months by completely dropping out of college, I was worried I had made the wrong decision. Not only had I wasted the past 10 months, I had also wasted the past 3 years. Seeing that offer for Journalism thrilled me so much. I can't wait to start in 3 weeks time. Sure, I'll be three years older than some of my fellow undergrads but I'm in a much better place in my life in every sense & now doing something I actually want to do, it can only go up from here.

For anyone out there who is unhappy in their current situation, whatever it may be, stop, think about it & do what YOU want to do, not what others want you to do.