P.S. you can check out a live version of the song in a sweet video featuring the band and my beautiful daughter, Clara: Little Girls Live Video

For all of you still suffering in the aftermath of Sandy, my thoughts and prayers go out to you.  We made it back to our home outside Phlly today (after a whilrwind of planes, trains and automobiles) to find all is relatively well. But so many others are still in need. With your help, I believe we can make a difference while making music this Wednesday at the Tin Angel.

Philabundance, this area’s largest hunger relief organization, is facing a dry foods shortage in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.  If you could bring one canned or boxed food item to the Tin Angel concert Wednesday night, it would really help. We will collect and deliver all of your donations to this great orgnaization. I’ve included below a list of what they currently need most.

Thank you for spreading the word and making a difference.
Love……………………Meghan

 j

Wednesday we went all out tourist and bought tickets for the hop on, hop off bus (the big green bus, not the big red bus…a point of pride for our driver).  We hopped off at several spots including the park where the statues of Oscar Wilde lay lounging on the rocks.

We did almost the whole loop because our driver was very amusing and we wanted to hear all he had to say about his fair city of Dublin.  Not sure how much of it to believe…but he definitely made it fun. After an afternoon on the open top deck of the big green double-decker bus, we were tired and cold and ready for a meal (lunch? dinner? …breakfast?) and stopped into a bakery cafe along the North side of the Liffey near home.  There are times when only the most comforting food will do the trick.  We were chilled to the bone when we stepped into the warm and inviting “bake shop” and seafood chowder nearly lept off the menu for me.  It was served piping hot in a hollowed out loaf of Irish bread and it was the best meal I’ve had so far in Dublin.  Thank you Mom, for reminding me that seafood chowder is an Irish specialty. (I even took a picture – I never do that!)

Wednesday’s show was simply day two delayed – relaxed and uneven and a show to be grateful to have behind us.  But the audience seemed to love it again, so that will do for me.  After the show we didn’t even pretend we’d make it out to the festival bar. Instead, Danielle, Irene and I headed to “Little Italy” – the cluster of 5 or 6 Italian restaurants/wine bars right in our Millenium Walkway alley.  We had a lovely salad and brick oven pizza with no beef, lamb or potatoes involved. And we were happy.

After an actual full night’s sleep, we all awoke Thursday morning refreshed.  Only one thing to do when you finally awake in Dublin feeling chipper and ready to face the day…drink a Guinness!  So we headed for Connelly Street to catch the hop on/hop off bus once again. Destination: the Guinness Storehouse and it’s famously touristy tour.

As we passed Christ Church Cathedral, it was just too tempting and we all hopped off to explore.  Plans in Dublin.  Best laid and oh so important to make but…well, I can only liken them to one of my set lists.  So we stepped off the bus and steeped ourselves in history, spirit and beauty before imbibing in our first pint of the day.  Christ church really is special. Enough so that I was drawn to light a candle for our red-headed angel, Joey. A meaningful hop off.

Next stop: Guinness! Donetta and Shalema met Irene and me at the storehouse and we took the full tour.  The Chocolateworld of Dublin really – only thing missing is the singing cows.  But I didn’t mind. Such great stories and I actually understand now how they make the darn stuff.  And wonder of wonders, I came to Dublin with no real taste for beer, and I am leaving a Guinness lover! There are 7 floors of explanation and marketing at the Guinness Storehouse.  On floor 4 they teach you how to taste Guinness – what to look for, listen for (yes, listen!), feel, smell and taste…all good info and a great excuse to have a half pint before sitting down for the full pint that comes at the end of the tour.  We chose to enjoy our full pint on the 5th floor at the Guinness “Academy” where we learned to pull the perfect pint.  Sporting our Guinness mustaches and displaying our newly acquired certificates of Guinness pulling achievement, we were proud and content.

And in a moment of serendipity, one of Donetta’s grad school classmates (from UC Irvine)  showed up at our table.  A warm and unexpected reunion ensued, and plans were made for them to come see the show that night….

The show! Yes, we would be doing that in just a few hours so…pints in bellies, we headed up to the top floor of the Guinness Storehouse to take in the 360 view of Dublin before heading back to our hotel to prepare for another night walking in the shoes of the characters we have all grown to love so well. Day “what is it?” in Dublin ended once again with a flourish as we brought “Outlook” to life for a lively audience.  A great way to finish a day.

How she does it, nobody knows, but Irene our fearless tour guide got us all up and even out of the house at 8:30am after a night of post-post-show partying in the living room that involved fox trot lessons for all by Danielle, guitar strumming by yours truly, and probably louder and more raucus than we realized singing from all of us. I believe it was about 3am here when Donnetta called her Mama in South Carolina and had here take us to church in song over the iphone – she has a beautiful voice!  By the time our completely confused bodies were ready for bed, it was 4 am here.  So, you see now the miraculousness of an 8:30am departure!

But depart we did.  And with Latte and scone in hand, I followed my friends across the River Liffey to the tourism office to meet our shuttle to Newgrange and Nowth for what Irene promised would be a spiritual and renewing experience.  I would say woo-hoo, but that might just have killed me.  I was so very close to death warmed over already you see.  I joined everyone in our little red van and even made it back across the river on our journey to enlightenment.  But as we idled at a red light one block away from our hotel, I had an epiphany: This bus ride is NOT going to be fun right now, and I don’t HAVE to do this.  So, I hopped off and walked home, crawled back into bed and slept for 3 straight hours.  I awoke at 1pm, if not refreshed, at least breathing.  I dressed and took a stroll around the shops close by the hotel.  And although there was no spiritual element as far as I could tell, it was revitalizing enough.

When the gang returned they looked a bit weary but had tales of a beautiful journey to tell.  I was completely content to hear it all second hand. I wandered out to find food, because I finally felt ready for that.  I ran into Donnetta’s wife, Shalema at the front desk so we took this adventure together. We initially landed upon a place in the shopping mall that made paninis.  They made them but we could only have one  if we “took it away”, so I set down my tray and we resigned ourselves to finding a place on a bench in the nearby park to eat.  I ordered and was then informed that it would have to be a cold panini (is that even a panini by definition?) because the warming machine was turned off this time of day.  But if I would “stay in” to eat, I could go to the line in the back and order warm food.  But no paninis because back there where they panini machine was still turned on, they didn’t not have any panini bread.  I thought I might cry.  Or scream.  But instead Shalema and I walked on in search of a place where panini bread and panini warmer might possibly coexist.

We did find such a place and I ordered a lovely ham and cheddar panini that came with pesto and sundried tomato because that’s what it said on the menu and I was too tired at this point to argue.  My lunch-mate, Shalema, ordered a chicken something panini with coleslaw.  When she asked to have it without the coleslaw, she was told that would cost extra. In the end we both ate what the women behind the counter wanted us to eat.  I’ve come to believe that the Irish do not actually want to sell food to me.  Or perhaps they are just messing with me because it amuses them.

After this meal that could not be defined as breakfast, lunch or dinner – or as the sandwich I had intended to consume – we all gathered up our things and headed back to the James Joyce for our second show of the run.  Second shows are always challenging.  The adrenaline of opening night has dissipated and often leaves in it’s stead great crater’s of insecurity about various moments in the play.  I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but I think we were all preparing for the challenge…it is after all, why we are here.

Jen (our fabulous stage manager) called 15 minutes and we were all costumed, propped and mentally prepared to go.  Jen called 5 minutes from the house because she could – it was empty.  at “places”, it was still empty and the one person standing at the box office was willing to come back tomorrow, so we cancelled the show.  Easy as that.  And now we had a free night on Dublin town.

Strolling down Connelly Street, we passed the famous GPO (yes, Kevin, I will get you your picture…) and were lured into the almost equally famous Carroll’s Irish chachka shop (two words that seriously seem to clash, but I don’t know how else to define this sea of 4 leaf clovers and leprechauns.)  Then it was off for an “early” dinner.  We were turned away at a few places because apparently 9:30pm is not considered “early” or dinner time at all at many Irish establishments.  We came upon Fitzsimmons at the edge of Temple Bar and stumbled in for a pint and some beef and Guinness stew.  Another yummy meal.

Despite having no show, we were all a bit weary so we headed for the door.  But we were stopped by the strain of live music making it’s way over the din of the bar. We ended up dancing to acoustic versions of REM, Prince and even some Adele songs before finally packing it in and heading back over the Liffey for home.  Early (ish) to bed tonight so we can perhaps lay a plan…and follow it…tomorrow!

Despite the startling start, it was a lovely morning.  The sun was once again shining over Dublin town, and it was almost balmy out of the wind.  We strolled up through Temple Bar area to Grafton St and on to St. Stephen’s Green.  We stopped at the shopping center to use the toilet and were actually early enough to beat the money taker and avoid the 20 pence fee for peeing.  And then we were ready to run.  or “scoot” as Donnetta of South Carolina calls it.  The park is beautiful – lush and green with ponds and bridges and gazebos. And contrary to what I had expected, we were not the only folks in the park strolling with the intention to sweat.

Our run was a fine way to start the day, and was really all we did.  We finally sat down for that long-awaited cup of coffee at around noon, and that pause slid seamlessly into a brunch-like lunch (I ordered – and ate – the “vegetarian breakfast” which consisted of white toast, a small pile of sauted mushrooms, a grilled tomato, two fried eggs and a small ramiken of beans that looked like they came from a can.  Not something I’d repeat, but it did what it needed to do.) Over breakfast we finally did some “table work” on the play – a little out of the normal order, but effective all the same. When we finally got back to the apartment, it was time to prepare for opening night of the show.  Oh, right, we’re here to do a show…

And it really couldn’t have gone better!  The crowd was small, but so is the room, so we essentially played to a full house. Apparently an audience is exactly what we needed, because the thing really took off last night – relationships were solidified, the arc was apparent, and moments we’d worried about gelled.  What happened onstage however, quite belied what went off in our little “back stage” area! Onstage the show was a well-written romantic comedy -  we got most of the words out in the right order and the laughs came in all the right places.  Off-stage, under-rehearsed quick changes and complicated prop-tracking made for a real door-slamming farce: think “Noises Off” when they spin the stage around!  But, we managed to make it onto the stage with mostly the right props in hand, wearing close to the right costumes, and no one in the audience was any the wiser!

Opening night was, of course, followed by an opening night party.  We headed for Temple Bar to grab a bite at the somewhat touristy but really yummy The Quays.  Mutton, Lamb stew, and Guinness were well-represented at the table.  Then it was off through the pouring rain (yes, that Dublin rain did finally arrive) to the Arlington Hotel for many toasts with complimentary wine. Here’s to successful opening nights all around the festival!

Four Women. One bathroom.  Recipe for disaster? Possibly.  But if anyone can do it, this group of women can.  (check in for future posts to see if I’m proven correct!)  In any case, this adventure is made all the better by it’s cast of characters: Irene, Danielle and Donetta.

As in any cast, crew or family, we have all assumed our roles.  Quite quickly on this trip, it seems.  Irene has taken on the role of tour guide and personal planner… and no one cares to interfere – a very good sign!  Danielle, our resident former playboy bunny, has wordlessly agreed, it seems, to take on any anxiety about the play itself.  She will keep it top of mind so we can all just have a blast in Dublin and, oh, by the way, do that play we rehearsed all last month in NYC…. Donetta will simply (and seamlessly) keep us all safe.  She will also carry things.  And offer to get coffee when we are too bleary eyed to find the cafe.  And she is the only one who is able to use the antiquated keys int he several locks on our apartment door.

And that leaves me.  Free to blow across the cobblestones of Dublin’s streets in any direction the wind might move me.  It leaves me here, free to live it, share i,  and even miss the kids as I revel in the freedom of being anonymous in a foreign country where there is no language barrier and people love to watch theatre and listen to music.  I think I’m gonna like it here!

Irene, Donetta and Danielle strolling in Dublin