Stormtrooper's Teddybear

This is one of the Stormtroopers who visited our store today and invaded us for the start of the Star Wars weekend. The two troopers interacted with our guests and really created a fun atmosphEAR for the whole day. Here he is with his best frenemy Chewy the teddy bear, clearly it's a love/hate relationship!

Paul had a great time photo-bombing cast and Guest photos and I have never seen him laugh so much as when he brought Eric to life as a Stormtrooper in the office with a single photo!

There were many Guests in store who had come from the Star Wars Invasion at the RDS and some kids who were dressed up as Yoda, Darth Vader and Princess Leia. They had fun being trained in our Jedi Academy event which we hosted four times during the day, and each time was absolutely brilliant. The cast who hosted them did so well, especially Laura G who had never done an event before, she completely owned it and the kids had a great time.

I enjoyed my shift a lot as I felt so proud of our team bringing the magic and the new range to life for our Guests, it was great being able to introduce Guests to our new products and also to be schooled by fans of the films on the best bits of the franchise.

The best part of my day, however, has to have been when I received a surprise visit from my Swedish friend Susanne and her partner Jonas. I haven't seen her in over 10 years!
We first met in London when her mother Ann-Christine visited with Susanne and my aunty Tricia took me down for a day to meet her. Tricia and Ann-Christine have been pen-friends since childhood and for a while Susanne and I wrote to each other but we have lost contact in recent years, although I still see her on Facebook.

I was so shocked and surprised to see them and I wish I had known they were coming to Dublin as we could have planned to meet for dinner or they could have stayed with us. My face must have been a picture because Susanne even asked if I remembered her when I looked so shocked!
They had been to Wicklow and the countryside for a few days and unfortunately Dublin was their last minute stop before flying home that night.
Despite this brief encounter we were all very encouraged by the hopes of seeing each other again and Susanne said we are more than welcome to visit and stay with them in Stockholm when they find a new apartment. I would love to try and arrange something for next summer as a mini break whilst we save for the wedding.

Today I am super grateful for unexpected, happy chance meetings and friendships that stand the test of time.