July, 2026
The specific day doesn’t really matter, does it? Instead, what matters is the consistency. Good cooking. Healthy (vaguely) meals, and positive memories. Time spent in the kitchen, enjoying the process (though maybe being stressed during that short point when everything needs to happen all at once), and having something delicious to share and show off when it’s all over?
Yeah… I like cooking.
Friday, 08-May-2026 through Wednesday, 13-May-2026
It’s been a bit since I’ve been out to New England – and what better reason to go back than to celebrate Mother’s Day? I’d been meaning to go back to visit my Mom and Grandma, and this was the perfect opportunity for not only a good family visit, but also for a bit of an escape from Ireland – a road trip, and catching up with friends…
It started in the dirt.
For years, when I lived in New England, I’d spend Mother’s Day arm deep in soil. I’d drive out to Medway, and I’d spend a day with my Mom caring for the garden – carving spreading lilies out, clearing space, or any other task that just felt a bit too big or annoying for her to tackle solo.
It’s been years since I’ve been able to do that. But now, with the tumult and chaos of Ireland in full swing, I found myself able to wrestle myself away from projects in Dublin, hop on a plane, and come out for some relaxation and good old manual labor.
I can’t quite express just how perfect it was.
I’ve missed gardening, so very much. I’ve missed digging in the dirt, I’ve missed growing things, and none of our houseplants have quite slacked that thirst. I adore the avocado trees, don’t get me wrong! But… they’re small and contained. They don’t quite give the same visceral, primal feel that wrenching infinitely-spreading plants from an outdoor garden gives.
…
Anyways. Yeah. We pulled some of those infinite lilies out, and repotted them for a garden club sale. We ate Chinese, had lovely breakfasts, and had a singularly lovely time.
The start of August, 2024
After making my way to Dublin, I set about getting used to town. Finding an apartment, adventures, climbing gyms and lifting weights… all of those revolve around good food. And hey – If I’m going to be settling into a city, I’ve got to know where the good food is, right?
And so, I started exploring.
I went with my Dad’s suggestion for finding the best restaurants in the North End, from when I first moved to Boston to start working on my Undergrad degree – “Wander around, follow your nose, and trust in what smells good.”
I wandered, I kept my senses open, and found quite a few good spots!
I’ll actually avoid listing them all out here, unlike the other cities I’ve wandered, simply because there were too many and I wasn’t keeping as tight a set of records as I was while on the Grand Adventure – but that’s fine. I’m settled down here, right? I don’t need to enumerate every little spot… I’ll be here for a while, and I can always find the good places again when I need.
