Now that Catherine has pissed off to London we don't really get to see each other all that often. All attempts at ringing each other have failed miserably and our emails have been pretty lame,and along the lines of 'no news today, just working,
uggh I hate Dublin'. Things must change Catherine. I'm
proposing that we use this fairly neglected blog as a place to swap our news, yeah?
Diversion over, I went for brunch a couple weeks ago with
Cillian (actually he's written about this already and does a much better job than I will). We headed to Dolls on
Emorville road, just off South Circular. '
Hmm Dolls
that's a boutique right?', you're not wrong but the newer of the two Dolls boutiques also has a lovely cafe attached. 'South Circular Road
that's a bit out of way?', again you're not wrong, but when you're not wrong you're only sometimes right. The location is fairly brilliant, out of the way of
noisy town, filled with tourists, the residential setting makes the
busy cafe seem really relaxed.
Cillian likened it to Hackney, which is where you live Catherine,
that's great isn't it?
I very stupidly left my camera on in my bag so the battery was dead by the time I
remembered to take any pictures. You'll have to take my word for it that the
eggs Benedict looked lovely and was delicious.
Really oddly, a friend of mine once lived in Dolls. Obviously before it was a boutique, back in the days when it was a ridiculously dodgy student flat with a door that couldn't lock. Sitting in the cafe downstairs was pretty funny, when I remember a drunken night trying to boil water for tea on the hob when the nob fell off and the place filled with gas.
This place is first on the list for chats and coffee when you come back for a visit.
My Wild & Wolf 1970's replica phone from John Lewis.
One of my two tea sets. I don't use them enough but they look lovely. Bought at Chatsworth Road market.
I am a very enthusiastic Ikea customer. I love the home assembly and I love the Swedish meatballs.
My old lady arm chair. Neil haggled for that blanket and I hand sewed the little green cushions. I got the fabric at Our Patterned Hand on Broadway Market. Gorgeous shop, lovely staff.
This is a tea towel that some lovely friends of ours gave us. It was so nice I put it on the wall. From The Cake Cafe.
So here we are again, another Chanel nail varnish. This one is part of the summer collection of pop colours which include Riviera, a perfect summer pink, and Mistral, a candyfloss colour with a tiny bit of sparkle. I am new to high fashion beauty products. I only wear make up that you would find in your local supermarket and I still buy my shampoo in the pound shop. However, I have recently fallen victim to an excellent marketing strategy-limited availability. There is something about the exclusivity of these colours that gets me. It's not as if I couldn't get my hands on an identical version in Urban Outfitters or American Apparel (both shops do great selections of coloured varnish), but I don't want the imitation, I want the Chanel. I know this is a very common strategy for most high-end products, one of the building blocks of luxury brands is that they are exclusive, but I can only participate at this level. My dress might be from Penney's, but my nails are always Chanel.
Our lovely room
The breakfast room
