Food Lust

I’ve spent the morning looking at hundreds of macaron recipes.
They look like tough little feckers to make, but I can’t afford to satisfy my cravings at Ladurée anymore ever.

Haven’t made desserts in a while so I may spend the next week warming up with simpler recipes like Panna Cotta.
I’m sure The Boy won’t complain about the sudden influx of pastries and pies as I practice!

Wonder if I’ll ever master my all-time favourites, Rose Macarons….

PS: I know of some job openings right now in Dublin for people who speak English and a second language!
It really is a great company to work for and if I was even remotely capable of speaking another language, I’d be all over it!
Mention in a comment here if you’re interested or email me if you’re worried about privacy (email on Contact page).

Let me tell you about the time I….fell on stage

Ah yes…yet another embarrassing moment in the life of one Miss Hermia.

You should all know  by now that during my three years at Dublin City University I was an obsessive active member of DCU Drama.
My first year was spent in the background of shows playing characters like the legendary Fiesty Villager 3 and That Random Member of the Salvation Army.
It wasn’t until Second Year that I was actually given a proper part with a name and everything!
The show was the annual Pantomime and that year we were doing Back to Neverland.
It’s probably the show I have the best memories of because basically it was the only show that I wasn’t stressed out over as all I had to do was fit into my costume and remember my lines.
Also it was a Hella Funny/Fun show to be a part of.
I do love the random whimsy of panto!

The other day I got a text from the ever-helpful Drama Bob (one of the masterminds behind NYMT…remember Spring Awakening from last year?) telling me that he’d had a chance to put together DVDs of  some of the old shows I’d been in (isn’t he lovely?).
Once I’d gotten them home, the first one I plonked into the DVD player was Back to Neverland.
Curling up on the couch with a cup of tea made by a highly amused The Boy, I began my running commentary:
“Oh God, the Intro Music!! I’d forgotten it was Back to the Future! And oh there’s the music for the Red Indians’ first dance (I played one of the Indian Girls….bimbo-style). OH LOOK, we’re coming out now….and we’re doing our spinning circle thing….and there I am….falling….and still being pulled around in the circle….”
Please see Exhibit A…

Typically, the one night I happen to fall is the night the show is being recorded.
You see there’s a scene later on in the show where the cast comes out with water guns and soaks the audience.
Right before the show that night, some of the lads decided to have a water fight.
On the stage.
And didn’t clean up afterwards.
So as I spun in that circle in my already slippy tights on an already slidey floor and hit a small puddle of water….well I didn’t stand a chance considering I find it difficult to stay upright in ideal conditions.
I think the fact that the people in the circle didn’t stop spinning made it look even more humiliating as the audience got to watch me being dragged along helplessly.

Every other show had gone off without a hitch on my part.
As Murphy’s Law would have it, this also happened to be the night that the Lentra Crew had travelled all the way across Dublin to see my in my first proper role.
They still won’t let me forget it happened.
The Boy (who was then Boy) didn’t come.
He was too cool for plays.
And we may have sorta hated each other then.

Anyway, that wasn’t the only thing that went wrong.
See Exhibit B…

Around the 4:40 mark you’ll see me get a packet of sweets stuck in my bra during our Really Obvious Product Placement gag.
Having the boobies of a ten-year-old, I had no cleavage to nestle them in and so had to jam them under the wee strap at the front of the contraption.
Where they refused to budge from that night.
The Lentra Crew were peeing themselves with laughter at this point.
I should point out that the Blue Indian’s sweets opened up inside her costume during the next show and she was pooping wine gums for the whole scene.

Thankfully I made it through the rest of the show without making a bigger arse of myself.
A miracle, you could call it!
And despite having to sit out the Benny Hill scene because of a twisted ankle caused by the fall, I made it out for the final song, which is still probably my favourite part of the show…

So there you have it.
Hermia’s Terribly Embarrassing Moments now come with video footage (cartoon and otherwise).
Oh and if you’re all reeeaaalllly good, Suzie Q will provide footage of THIS infamous performance very soon!

Some things I think you should all know…

1. Last night I had a dream that a non-famous Katy Perry was my roomie and she wanted to make some money by turning our spare bedroom into a B&B room.
On the first night, Robert Downey Jr stayed with us, as did his girlfriend (who looked rather like Jackie Lavin) and his PA (who was a random guy that works in my office). He got very drunk and kept trying to hit on me and Katy (obviously by subconscious is very full of itself), but I was having none of it.
On the second night, Warwick Davis from the movie Willow stayed with us. He was horribly depressed because he felt his career was a  joke. In the dream, Warwick says that he hit a low point after making Willow because he couldn’t get any work until he was cast in Jackass years later and while that gave him a boost, he now feels he’s sold out. This makes me think that my subconscious is racist in the “All black/Chinese/small people look the same” way, which is a little worrying as it’s PAINFULLY OBVIOUS that the actor in Willow and the guy in Jackass are COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PEOPLE!

2. I think all of you should be my Facebook friend, because I’m a little needy and need you all to prove your love. Also, I think it would be nice to get to know you all a bit better! I feel that in the end, you guys would be the winners, because I’m highly entertaining. You should also follow me on Twitter *hug*

3. Yesterday, I spent an hour of my working day staring down at a mob of students egging our Dept of Finance. Gardaí (Irish police) showed up, as did Garda dogs and horses. There was madness, with people rioting and Gardaí swinging batons and riot shields. I’ve never seen anything like it. If I hadn’t been so worried about the Garda animals, it would’ve been pretty frickin’ cool.

4. Season 6 of Grey’s Anatomy is AMAZING! Myself and The Boy only started watching the show around August and although we really liked it, Season 3 and 4 were a little blah, so we weren’t compelled to keep watching. Now we are. I’m just disappointed that I’ve already seen the Crazy Shooter episodes (which actually spurred me on to watch Grey’s) because it would’ve been an AMAZING way to end the season if I wasn’t expecting it.

5. Hector Ó hEochagáin needs to be killed. Seriously. It would be a public service. A good deed. A necessity, really. He is the most irritating, obnoxious and just generally awful person in the country, and now he’s been given a NATIONAL BREAKFAST SHOW on 2FM, which I have to listen to every day and it’s making me hate my job.
A sub-point here is that country people in Ireland NEED to stop referring to Dublin as “the big smoke”.

6. I will have a Blackberry by the end of this year.

7. There is no ‘7’. That’s all you need to know.

I lie back just driftin’ and play out these scenes …

Long-time readers of the blog might remember me raving about Spring Awakening, which I got to see back in January ’09 (*gasp* that makes me feel old…that was AGES ago!!) when I visited London with my old friend Lovely Disco.

A rock musical adaptation of a controversial 1891 German play of the same name, it is unfortunately one of the less famous musicals although it received a boost this year when Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff appeared on our screens in Glee, as they were both in the original line-up when it opened in America in 2006.

However, in my opinion, it’s easily as good as the likes of Rent.
Basically, it’s amazing!

So you can imagine how thrilled I am to announce that Spring Awakening will be running in The Helix, Dublin during September thanks to the National Youth Musical Theatre and director John Donnelly. I’m also proud to say it has a number of my old college friends working on and starring in the show!

I know these people and what they’re capable of: this is going to be top quality.

You have to see it!

I don’t think I can really explain just how AMAZING the musical itself is.
The story is fantastic -it’s touching, funny, heartbreaking and gasp-worthy.
The music is just mind-blowing and I never get sick of listening to it (check THIS out, if you will).
Even the set is worth a shout-out!!!!

And if you still feel you need persuading, in the words of cast member Shane Willoughby…
“What makes Spring Awakening such an important piece is how even after more than a
century, its themes, its sensitivites and its controversies remain the same. Such is the beauty
of the piece, it transcends time and while years pass and trends come and go, Spring
Awakening and its messages remain constant. It will always be relevant.”

Now go buy your tickets….

Elles passent en un instant comme fanent les roses

So I’m back!
Yay!
Unless you liked my wonderful guest bloggers more than me and are now terribly disappointed that I’ll be taking back over.
I wouldn’t blame you.
Those girls are awesome!

So Paris.
Paris was great.
And I fully intend to tell you guys allllllll about it.
But right now I have a far more pressing matter to discuss.
It’s pretty serious.
And life-changing.
And all-consuming.
And deep.

My hair.

Guys, I just got back from the hairdressers and my poor hair is ruined.
I thought I’d found a great hairdresser about a year ago and the first two times I went she cut my hair perfectly and instructed her mini-person to colour my hair naturally and nice.

And then the last time I went, her mini-person tore the head off me and gave me orange tiger stripes down my head.
And this time, she dyed my hair a dye-black even though I’ve specified A MILLION TIMES that black dye is always obviously a black dye and is too harsh for my colouring.
(I do have black hair, but it’s a natural soft black that dyes just can’t seem to get right).
And then she cut my hair too short.
And cut my fringe.
And looked annoyed when I tried to fix my fringe the way it’s supposed to be.
Which is a Thick Retro Bangs kinda look.
And I then realised she’d cut HALF my fringe and it’s now too short and thinned out.

It’s a disaster.

I am very, very upset.

The Boy received a tearful phonecall while in the airport a couple of hours ago.
(He’s off to the South of France for ten days with his family)
(I declined my invite. I hate the heat. Bleeeeeurgh.)
(Plus I also couldn’t get the time off work, so I couldn’t have gone if I wanted to.)
(I feel abandoned.)

So rant over, can you Dubliners/Dublin-goers recommend any decent hairdressers who can respect a retro-esque haircut and will listen to me?

Fantabulous Foto Friday

Weeeeeee it’s Friday and my weekend has begun!

AND if that isn’t great enough, myself and The Boy have just booked our tickets to Paris for the end of July!
Hurray!!!

I think I’ll celebrate with some macarons from Ladurée in Brown Thomas tomorrow!
I can’t get enough of the Rose macarons, but they must remain as treats pour moi, otherwise they won’t be special…

Currently Listening To… Lola -The Kinks

And I said what about Breakfast at Tiffany’s…

Or maybe more aptly titled:
The Rise Before The Fall

So yesterday was kinda great.

It didn’t seem like it was going to go that way as I ran, arms flailing and sweat dripping, for my Luas, only to have it drive off as I got within two seconds of it.

Bastard.
You just know he saw me, waited for me to get close and then took some serious sexual pleasure in closing those doors.

Anyway, I trudged into work 20mins late, realising that today was the day that they were doing stuff to the electricals in our centuries-old building, which would result in chaos as we would be missing hours of recordings.
The predicted hour blackout turned into two hours and 30mins.

Turned out the discourse was indeed sweet and I got to catch up on Vogue and Elle.

The final few hours of my working day were a bit mental, what with having to work and all that, but I was unaffected by the madness, knowing that I was going to spend a few preciously rare hours with the recently dubbed ‘vixen’, Miss Blau Von T.

Yes, my friends, the reincarnated harlot of the silent movie era had made her way to Dublin from Cork!

We spent glorious hours drinking chocolate bars made into milkshakes (thank you Evolution) and shopping in Urban Outfitters.
Turns out today was the beginning of their Summer sale and you can colour me bargained!
My wardrobe is beaming as I speak!
Eh, type.
You know what I mean.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get more wonderful, along came Whisty.
Twas like my birthday and Christmas in one hanging out with these girls.

You already heard me rave about Blau in previous posts and you’re about to endure some raves with the subject matter of Whisty.
She’s just a gem.
Bloody hilarious.
Painfully fashionable.
And I kinda want her hair.
I hear scalping is illegal now…. *sigh*

So we giggled and innuendoed and spilled some beans over giant burgers and cider at Gourmet Burger.
Frickin’ sweet.

Heading home on the bus, The Boy text to say he’d collect me from the stop, which is really very sweet considering we live about a 4mins walk from it and so there’s no need at all for him to raise his bum from the couch.

Exhilarated from my wonderful evening and heart-warmed by his gesture, I felt compelled to plant an enthusiastically passionate kiss on him upon our meeting.

Unfortunately, I was a little too enthusiastic and he, completely caught off guard by my attempted mouth rape, lost his balance, causing me to lose my balance….and then fall over in the middle of the street while he stood helplessly watching.

I have a scraped elbow and knee.
And a potentially broken toe.

So much for a romantic Hollywood-esque embrace!
*sigh*

😀

Over the Weekend

Lads and ladies, I’m in a bad way.

My fourth and final wisdom tooth is making its way into the line-up and is punishing me for the bucketful of wrongs that have apparently been done to it.

Talking, smiling, eating, breathing…it’s all too much for my pain threshold to take at the moment and the drug overdose isn’t helping as much as it should.

But, the show must go on, and blinding pain aside, it’s been a good weekend.

Myself and The Boy had a lovely Us Day yesterday, which included us trying out the Milkshake Bar in Dublin City Centre.

Toblerone Milkshake….pure heaven.

Fruit Pastilles Milkshake….surprisingly pleasing.

And then today, I had the privilege of meeting the award-winning White Rabbit, who was visiting my hometown to celebrate her birthday.
If you think she’s entertaining in blog-form, then you’ll be overwhelmed if you meet her in person!
She’s hilarious, and even I could appreciate that through the haze of painkillers and, well, pain.

Hope you all had a good weekend, and I’d appreciate some feedback on the new layout!

Also, the page links should all be in a staight line across the top of the new banner, but The Boy’s laptop is showing them in ascending lines beside the blog name instead, so let me know if the same thing is happening to you, because it looks fine on my computers!

A weekend update

——–Miraculously, I actually managed to save up some money this month (mainly thanks to the masterful money-hiding skills of The Boy) and will be able to go through with my Spring/Summer shopping spree next weekend!

I have my eyes on a few pieces already, so fingers crossed they manage to stay put for one more week!

Topshop and Urban Outfitters staff will be rubbing their hands together with glee when I walk in….

——–Last night I was privileged enough to go to Lady GaGa’s concert last night.

The show itself was great, and she’s so sweet and hilarious, but it was definitely not my best night.

We had standing tickets and started queuing from 3:30pm to get nearly the front to avoid being horribly hot and sweaty and crushed. The O2 staff were JERKS, and there was one woman on a power trip with her megaphone, who called us “Girls and Boys” in a patronising tone and started moving us around unnecessarily. She also took great pleasure in telling us that we wouldn’t get into the building until 7pm, instead of the original 6:30pm.

I should point out that it was FREEZING and as the venue is right beside the Docklands, we were also being terrorised by bitter sea breezes.

The queuing proved in vain as one of the girls I went with demanded we stand in front the platform brought out from the main stage because GaGa spends most of her time there so we’d see EVERYTHING!

She doesn’t spend most of her time there.

We didn’t see anything.

We also got stuck with a group of 16-year-old wenches who were bullying and pushing everyone around them, including a couple standing at the barrier in front of them who they were trying to force to move. Oh and I can’t forget the culchie behind me who wouldn’t stop WHINGING and because she was tired, she spent the concert leaning all her weight on me.

I was already sick with stomach and back pain from a stress-induced-ulcer-type-thing that had kicked in during the week and in the end, I had to leave my spot and spend the second half of her show in the back.

The positives: GaGa was great, as were the supporting acts Semi Precious Weapons and Alphabeat, and I was really happy when one of the evil wenches fainted…good times!

Word of warning: there is a lot of cursing and freaky imagery, so I wouldn’t recommend bringing any under-12s (we saw LOADS).

Also, the new O2 venue sucks! Bad layout, too hot (I’ve never seen so many fainters) and the majority of staff were jerky.

——–To end on a bright note, thank you so much to everyone who nominated A Chick Named Hermia for the Irish Blogger Awards. I’m really overwhelmed!

Charlotte is also delighted with her nomination!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

oxox

Some of you may be surprised…

…to find me blogging today.

“But Hermia, aren’t you supposed to be floating around Paris right now!?” they will exclaim, marvelling at my dedication, presuming that I’ve taken some time out of my Parisian Spree to hunt down a computer.

Well think again.

I am sitting at home.

On my own.

With my cats.

I have become THAT girl.

The explanation: I have been SO sick ALL Christmas.

Since pretty much THE moment my Christmas holidays started.

Flu since the night of the 23rd, which started to improve around Tuesday and then turned into a stomach flu the day before we were supposed to go to Paris.

About five hours before the flight, I had to give in and admit I was in NO state to fly and then possible ruin The Boy’s Family’s New Year.

He went without me.

Cos he’s a jerk.

Lol, not really ….I made him go ….so his mam wouldn’t kill me.

And then I spent last night in my parents house.

But had to leave today because the snow is icing over and I have to protect the kittens cos they’re all tiny and helpless and lacking thumbs to open food cabinets and I’m afraid of ice.

So here I am ….in Dublin ….alone ….with a huge supply of waffles and the piece of steak my mum gave me ….