kicking back in Kinsale

>NOTE< - click on the photos for bigger versions xX

Today we (me + the parents) made our way out to Kinsale a lovely little town renowned for it's food, apparently it's the Gourmet capital of Ireland and it is home to dozens of ridiculously good restaurants. It's also famous for it's picturesque streets filled with pretty little cafes, bistros and shops. We got there at about 10:30am and had a quick breakfast in a cute little cafe overlooking the bay before popping off to look at the beautiful Norman church and a little wander around the park. Dad had us all booked in for a lunch at the famous Blue Haven hotel restaurant, famous for it's fish dishes... but I had other plans! I ditched the rents, skipped the food and spent my lunchtime wandering around the streets of Kinsale searching for some cute little shops to spend my time (and money) in.

I really wasn't disappointed this time! As well as being home to dozens of gorgeous independent boutiques, Kinsale also has a super set of little galleries exhibiting and selling work from local artists.

These are some of the fabulous paintings I saw today in the various galleries I stopped to look at along my travels. I'm lucky that they were all so kind enough to let me grab a few snaps during my visits.

After a few little stationary shops and a whizz around the delicious Farmer's market I found this amazing little shop called 'Kismet' selling all sorts of gloriously ethical bits and pieces. The place was bursting with rainbow saris, intricately decorated pashminas and gorgeous beaded jewellery as well as loads of other fabulous things. The girl behind the counter was happy to let me take a photo just so I could show you how gorgeous it was in there!

I bought some lovely little bits including this adorable little blue Kokeshi doll (to add to my collection), a super duper handmade 'ugly doll' plush toy, the cute little bracelet with tiny 'idol' charms (I had one just like this but left it in London during my trip there last November) and the truly gorgeous hand painted wooden fan.

After that I wandered off down some of the other side streets and stumbled upon the wonderfully named vintage shop, 'hello again!' perched right on the corner of the street. It was closed for lunch when I first spotted it but I rushed back once it was open and had a lovely mooch about in there.

It was filled with some beautiful vintage dresses and outfits as well as lots of hats, shoes and charming little jewellery pieces. The store also had some delectable handbags on show including two gorgeously structured, ladylike ones that could have been plucked straight from the Louis Vuitton A/W 2010 show. They were so on trend it was almost unfair! There was also a gorgeous little woven box bag from the 1960's that I really fell for, but after my spending sprees of recent days, I just couldn't afford it :-(

The painting on the outside of the shop (and the ones decorating the walls inside) is by Colin Kerr, a graduate of RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design) as the lovely girl in the shop so kindly informed me. She had some of his prints and paintings for sale in the shop as well, I chose these two handmade, printed cards as I loved the designs so much. Well you know me and Owls, I can't get enough! But the girl print is my favourite, there's something so beautiful about it I just love it. Check out his awesome website HERE

it was such a great shop I could have spent all day in there just rooting through the racks of clothes and the cabinets overflowing with old bits of jewellery as well as some other stunning little accessories. I like a shop with a good playlist as well and I think hearing 'jaded' by Aerosmith as i'm examining a vintage handbag definitely counts as a successful day in my eyes, mostly because of it's name but still... good times! I got another compliment on my dress as well during my visit to the store so i'd like to say thank you for that as well (she got a business card so hopefully she'll see this at some point) and to compliment her on a really fabulous shop! If i'm ever back in Kinsale in the future I will definitely be stopping by for a visit ◕‿◕

if you're interested in more info about the shop check out it's Facebook Fan Page HERE

after all that shopping I was in dire need of some refreshment and found myself stood outside an incredible little ice cream parlour decorated in a totally gorgeous 50's style! It was called 'Sundays' and was chock full of rainbow ice cream flavours, rainbow straws, rainbow sprinkles, just rainbows of fabulous girly colour everywhere! I secured myself a little booth right next to the massive James Dean poster, and had a truly scrumptious 'Monroe Milkshake' made with strawberry and vanilla ice cream as well as a handful of fresh strawberries and raspberries. Did someone say heaven!

The cafe owner was lovely enough to let me take some photos of her amazing place so I grabbed a few snaps showing the cute booths, the pink polka-dot counter and checkerboard floor as well as the wall of vintage postcards and the amazing pin-up style sign on the door. I actually L-O-V-E-D the place! Check out the matching pink apron as well! I swear it's one of the cutest cafes i've ever been in. Just gorgeous.

Well dudes and dudettes, as I say every night, that's all for now...

I have absolutely NO idea where i'm off to tomorrow!

I know that Thursday will be spent in Cork city centre but tomorrow remains a mystery.

So I shall bid you adieu while I head off to take another look at all the goodies I bought today!

Ciao ◕‿◕ xX