HEAT WAVE!!

So since last THURSDAY, the weather has been awesome here. Its been between 22 - 25 degrees!

So we braaied on Thursday night at Jimmy and Fionnuala's. They have only just moved into their very own house, and don't have a braai, but we used dispoable camping ones.

Friday was my day off, so I tanned on the grass, eating salad and reading Game of Thrones.

I know I look really red in this pic, but I'm not, must be the camera, it probably was programmed to handle so much sun!

Saturday night was a pub quiz night in Belfast at Mark and Christina's. I was pub quiz master, and the quiz had 13 rounds with 10 questions in each round.

Of course we took advantage of the weather and tanned a bit, followed by a braai. And after some sour apple martini's, the quiz was ready to begin.

Christina had too many! lol (this is a pic of a pic by the way...)

dessert - choc mousse served in Belgian choc cups (I bought the cups) served with raspberries and mint. YUMMO!!

Karl, Orna & Enda were in a team, Mark and Chris in another and Harps and Barry were together. It was very competitive to say the least. The winners: Karl, Orna & Enda were given smarites as their prize (because they are smart!) lol. And the losers got suckers :)

We only went to bed at 2am. After Barry made us his AMAZING omlettes for breakfast, the girls headed off to do the UK Cancer Research Race for Life. After a lunch time picnic, we were ready to run the 5km - except for the fact that Sinead refused to run, so we walked it. It was hot, but beautiful. It took place in the grounds of the Parliament buildings, pretty steep uphill, but we walked it in 40mins.

the warm up

walking uphill!

we made it!

we even got medals

After the walk, we tanned again. And I am happy to announce that I am 2 shades darker (who would've thought!). And after our 5km walk, we rewarded ourselves with pizza and salad.

lettuce leaves from Christina's garden (first ones ever!)

We only got back to the Glens after 9pm last night. AND we overslept this morning. 8am!! We usually get up at 6:40am. It was much needed though.

Back in the office this morning, and SO don't want to be here! :( The sun is STILL shining and its STILL warm. gonna leave early methinks.

And guess what we are doing for supper tonight? You guessed it - BRAAI :)

Birthday weekend part II

So last Saturday night, my good friend Joanne, decided we were gonna celebrate my birthday in 3D style... dinner, drinks and dancing. We went to her home town of Ballycastle, about 30 mins from where we live. We went shopping on Thursday evening (instead of Zumba!) and bought very cheap, but very sexy dresses. I'm actually gutted that we didn't get a photo together in our new dresses. I did try a new hairdo though, like a side bun-thing...

We went to a place called the Central for the first part of the evening.

I had the MOST AMAZING chicken stack ever! Its roasted chicken on a bed of champ (an Irish version of mash), with fried onions on top and a creamy peppered sauce! YUM!!! Karl had a bacon and avo (?) burger, which was really well presented.

After dinner, Stevie Wonder's Happy Birthday started playing and this cake arrived on our table. It was really very sweet (nearly cried, but didn't!).

After dinner, we gate-crashed a wedding. The girl in the pink dress and her hubby were invited to the evening do at a friends wedding (in a nightclub!?) so we all went along for a few drinks. After a few long and uncomfortable stares from the wedding guests (probably wondering who on earth we were), we moved to the Glenshesk, more commonly known as "Sin City."

And thats all I remember (just kidding!) We were home and in bed by 2am :)

Gluten-free weekend

Mark called us on Friday evening wanting to know what we were doing for dinner. I didn't even realise that they were coming to us on Friday eve, and panicked to get their cake done in time. Luckily it was ready when they arrived. We basically spent Friday evening in front of the fire, watching tv. On Saturday morning, Moira taught Christina and I how to make the St Brigid's cross.

Barry and Harpinder only arrived at around 6pm last night and then we had to get ready for the dinner. The ladies had pre-dinner cocktails :)

We arrived at the restaurant just after 8pm, and did the whole family photo thing

The waiter took his own sweet time to show us the specials menu, so Barry got up to give us the low down!

The in-laws are going on a cruise for Moira's 60th in May. They bought a package, all inclusive except for lunches and drinks, so we all put some cash together as a gift.

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We headed off to Johnny Joe's for a few drinks and some music. The music wasn't that great, so Harps took things into her own hands...

Christina HATES photographs! She's always trying to block my shot of her. This one came out pretty well though

I think we got home shortly after midnight. I attempted to take off my boots and failed! I had on a pair of socks, a pair of tights AND a large pair of woolly fleece socks on and shoved my feet into my boots, not thinking about how to take them off later. This is Karl trying to take them off for me..

Then came the cake-cutting ceremony practice round (Mark & Chris are getting married this New Years Eve)

Christina seriously at 6 slices of this cake last night. Since she can't eat gluten, its not that often she gets to eat cake, so she had more than her fair share of cake last night (and this morning for breakfast!)

Mark does this funny thing (if you beg him enough!) that he saw in Lethal Weapon. White bread brown bread in a South African accent. It was soooo funny that I dropped the camera (oops!) in this clip.

We all ended up sleeping at the in-laws last night. And needless to say we all slept quite late this morning. The rest of the day was spent sitting around, chatting, reading newspapers and watching Modern Family episodes. That was until Christina decided it was time to bake some more gluten free stuff! Christina made traditional Irish soda bread, which is delicious with butter and jam, especially when its hot off the gridle. 

And I tried these marble mini muffins out, also gluten free.  

Karl's granny is with us for the afternoon, and my mom-in-law jumped at the opportunity for another family pic (I look really fat in this photo because I'm squatting in a very uncomfortable position, and my shoulders are hunched so it looks like I have no neck. Well, thats my excuse anyway, and I'm sticking to it!)

Everyone has left now, and we are still at the in-laws place (its nice and warm). Sunday evening pizza is a bit of a tradition in this house. So after our pizza, we will head up the road to our own wee house. I need to gather all my things for my first day at my new job in the BIG CITY :)