The week before last Caroline and I, and our super friend Breffni headed away for a girls night. We were only gone for 24 hours, but managed to cram a heck of a lot in!
It combined all of our favourite things: Antiques, vintage, great food, sublime drinks, stunning settings and quality girl time!
First stop, after a quick train journey from Dublin, was
The Store Yard in Portlaoise.
Our jaws literally hit the floor when we walked in. It really was our dream destination. 30,000 square foot of glorious vintage goodies, antiques, architectural salvage and curios. The staff were unbelievably friendly. Caroline and I could have quite happily moved in!
We spent a number of hours here and believe me, you'll need it, just to have a good look around, it really is vast.
We refuelled with a delicious lunch in Tynan's restaurant, housed within Store Yard. Their coffee cake was mind-blowing!
Then we picked up some beautiful vintage pieces for ourselves from the lovely Zoe at
Love & Co Vintage. We were so busy oogling her collection that we forgot to take any pictures of her space within Store Yard.
Caroline was so overwhelmed by how fabulous The Store Yard was that she hadn't to have a little quiet time!
Love & Co Vintage was filled with fabulous vintage clothing and accessories
After the spectacle of The Store Yard we made our way to
Roundwood House in Co. Laoise, a mere 20 minutes away.
The weather was glorious, so we sipped prosecco on the lawn in our vintage finery before enjoying a scrumptious meal.
Owners, Hannah and Paddy are wonderful hosts who gave us such a warm welcome.
If you want a laid back break it doesn't get more relaxing than this! I was surprised to hear that they even host hen parties as many big country houses don't do this.
It's a super spot for chilling with your besties over fine food and a bottle of wine. The total antithesis of the pub crawl and hen party paraphernalia. If I was a bride-to-be again I know which I'd prefer!!!
After an early night, brought on by food sleeps, we woke to the wondrous birdsong coming from our open sash windows. Unfortunately it was also lashing rain, but in our chilled state we didn't mind!
We checked out and headed on to our next destination:
This stunning restaurant is on the grounds of Burtown House and Gardens. If someone got into my brain and recreated all the things I love about dining and interiors they would've come up with something very similar to The Green Barn!
The high ceilings, expansive glass looking out onto the beautiful terrace, chic painted furniture and the odd piece of taxidermy... I could happily have stayed there all day!
The food is produced primarily with the organic produce from the kitchen garden on the grounds. I adored everything about this place and I hope to be back very soon.
Caroline took lots of pictures for posting but unfortunately after a phone blip they were deleted!
The images below are by the super talented owner, photographer,
James Fennell, who also gave us a super welcome!
We spent a fabulous 24 hours, visiting three places I'd never been to before. Utter perfection!!!
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