Miss Courtney’s Tearooms

For our 5 year anniversary we went to Killarney for a much needed mini-break. While we were there we just had to visit Miss Courtney’s Tearooms since it came so highly recommended by not only my parents who had been there this time last year, but as well as RTE’s Nationwide.

This delightful tearoom was established in 1909 when Miss Margaret Courtney first launched her business and since then, it has been run by four generations, to present day owner Sandra Dunlea. The tearoom was revamped in 2008 giving it a lovely and light new lease of life.

A juicy selection of vintage mix-and-match tea sets and tea pots. Four shelves of delicate eye candy. I really don’t know what it is about vintage china, but I could look at it for hours. And more importantly, I like when it doesn’t match. 
Scrumptious baked temptations at the till.
Along with lapping up the yummy atmosphere, we enjoyed lovely fresh scones topped with jam and cream – to die for. My fiancé* had a pot of tea – I mean old school tea – with tea leaves. On the back of the menu was a detailed walk-through of how to read tea leaves. It reminded me so much of my grandmother.
*That’s right! No longer my boyfriend. I never remember to refer to him as my fiancé though. I regret to inform you my blog will be bombarded with wedding crap from now on. 

Alternative one night stand

Up until last week I had a rather generic, and dare I say boring bedside table. I decided to give it away via an amazing site – Freecycle – where you can post your unwanted items and others nearby can choose to scoop them up for free. I gave away said bedside table as well as an equally generic mini desk we had for years.
What prompted this was my increasing interest in alternative bedside tables. There are so many vintage-esque homemade and creative bedside combinations out there.

Old trunks and suitcases | I’ve always wanted an old trunk to keep all my blankets in. Out of these examples, I’m going more for the table-suitcase combo on the right. Lovely layers.

Bedside chair | I tried this look in our second bedroom, but our spare room is quite narrow and it doesn’t work. It just looks like I mashed a chair beside the bed. I still really like this look, and think it brings a more comforting and a welcoming feeling to a bedroom.

Old hat boxes | I have a couple kicking around my apartment already. A lovely floral TK Maxx hat box which holds my unusual swimsuit collection, and a super-cute Celia Birtwell travel case, that my boyfriend got me a couple of Christmas’ ago, which I actually use. I just need to collect more to make a suitable side table …

Storage crates | for more of a masculine touch to your bedroom; should too many mini pillows and flowers make it this far, your man can feel like he’s claimed part of the room back. Or at least that’s what I tell mine.
Image 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 {working on linkage} and 8.

A day made of glass

An interesting and exciting idea of the not-too-distant future from Corning. They’ve put their spin on an ideal future incorporating technology and glass.

I can’t help but think everyone will also have to walk around with a bottle of window cleaner since my OCD immediately thought of the overwhelming amount of finger prints on everything. Everywhere.