Asian Cuisine Night

Early this week my Mum surprised us with having a special dinner she had laid out. We love all the different cultures and the way they have dinner so it was a fun evening. My Mum had set out cushions on the floor for us to eat around the little coffee table in the sitting room, along with some Asian rice bowls and chopsticks (although we can't use them). She made up a delicious meal of egg noddles, courgettes, carrots and mushrooms in a Sweet and Sour sauce. Now obviously I'd like to take credit for this lovely meal but it was all down to my Mum. The great thing about the little rice bowls are the portion size, you feel like your eating loads when really its less then half a regular bowl. We had a great evening sitting round the table talking about our day and munching this delicious meal. I love themed dinners and having the family together around the table is a treasure.

This cheeky rascal was delighted he could reach this new way of eating and claimed one of the cushions.

I had my lovely noddley- goodness with some Quorn Mince, as I'm a veggie.

The Road Ahead

So my 'Gap Year' is coming to a close and yes I am most certainly a whoooole lot more confident and happy to move out and go to college, (obvs still have some jitters thou) now I'm really excited and looking forward to what the old future holds.Thinking back to how I was this time last year its insane how much of a difference a year can make. Yes I didn't go all out nuts on my Gap Year I stayed at home and did my volunteering but I have done more in this year then I could have ever imagined.
Volunteering in the ISPCA not only gave me amazing experiences with animals that I know for sure now I see myself working with in the future, it also gave me life-long friends, unreal opportunity's that I never thought I'd be offered (such as representing them on Live TV, completing a Dog Training course,  being picked to groom a famous models dog (oh yeah big time) and getting to foster some dogs) and it also allowed me to be somewhere where I was totally myself, surrounded by people who have the same interest as me, bringing my self confidence up to a whole new level. I almost can't put into words how that place and the people there have changed my life but its saying a lot for someone who this time last year was afraid to go into school, is now moving out and going to college.
Obviously being chosen as manager in the shop I also volunteer in was another big event I had no idea would happen, but I guess that's what a Gap Year is for, to get amazing experiences and to grow as the person who is always under your surface waiting to come out.
Right now all I'm focusing on is how happy I am in who I am, what I'm doing and where I am. I never thought I'd see the day where I'm 'looking forward' to going to college.. but it is here and I can't wait to share where my story is going to go from here.

BRITS Night: Live comments on the event

The BRITS always know how to make a big entrance and they certainly did that with Taylor Swift kicking off with Blank Space. Tay-swift was there in all her sass gloryness and proper slayed that arena. There's no way of listening to that song without jamming out to it.
Rita Ora and shock horror Orlando Bloom (who I didn't recognize) presented Best Male Solo Artiest and the winner was the one and only Ed Sheeran.. who doesn't need any introduction or even words at this stage hes just a ledge.


Royal Blood won Best Group.. and to be fair like most people I haven't heard of them

Sam Smith performed Lay me Down which was just naturally stunning as ever. I'm so proud to be in the generation where Sam Smith has started his road on the journey to become the legend he is.

Ant and Dec presented the Awards this evening, now I do love them lads but to be honest James Corden always made the show really entertaining and sure no one can forget that Adele moment back in 2012.

Thanks to Ant and Dec's brilliant bingo game Louis Hamilton and Elle Goulding were 'picked' to present Best International Female, and well it was all a bit awkward wasn't it but they cracked on with it and the winner was our Taylor Swift, I say our because I feel like shes a long distant cousin at this stage. Unbelievably this is Taylor's (see were on a first name basis) first Brit Award and she certainly does deserve it, if only for wearing heels that high when your already about 7 foot tall.

Now for their shinning moment Royal Blood performed and I think everyone was on the edge of their seat trying to hear if they did actually know this band. I'l admit their not my cup of tea but they were amazing.

Best British Female Artist had an amazing line up and everyone had their own amazing talent. The winner was the amazing Paloma Faith. I love everything about her, her style, her voice, her quirkiness and the fact that she burst into tears when her name was picked moved me so much, and with that lovely speech she truly did deserve it.

EDDDD EDDD.. okay calm I'm calm. Ed Sheeran performed next. How a fella can stand on a stage in an arena with a simple black t-shirt and jeans on and not a sound other then him being heard, explains the magic of Ed Sheeran in a nut shell. If this is what Ed is like as a guest at a show I can't imagine what his Tour performances will be like.

Half way through and were onto Global Success which was presented by the one and only Kim Kardashian. Now I have never seen this Coming with the Kardashians or whatever you call it so I don't know anything about her other than damm that girl can contour, however more importantly SAM SMITH, gooo boy, hes a natural talent and a genuine nice fella but I feel the limelight was taking way off him and put so much on to Kim as Ant and Dec took a selfie with her and had her introduce Kanye West to perform, which was not the best to be honest as most of it was muted as it was offensive and just shouting down the mic and repeating "all day" quite a lot.

Miss Cara Delevingue thank god rescued our ears from Kanye and presented International Male Artiest. I had to laugh as she called the walk up to the podium a runway. Mr Happy, Pharrell Williams won but wasn't there to pick it up so Cara hung on to that award like it was the queen of all eyebrow tints.

Take That performed next, which I still can't get over how odd it looks for there to only be three of them but I do still like them although I was gutted it wasn't These Days it was some new song that no one seemed to know.

Lisa Snowdon and Lionel Richie (yeah me neither) presented Best British Single and what a line up, but hands down the best winner "UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP UPTOWN FUNK YOU UP".. okay no don't get me started on that song or I will pull a muscle attempting to do the dance again. Go on Mark Ronson (who would have known he was British).

Gotta love god old John Bishop and he got to present Best International Group and I was truly rooting for 5 Seconds of Summer here so was gutted that Foo Fighters won. Again another group that I don't know so I will leave it at.. I honestly thought they were called Food Fighters.

Shut the front door.. Is that George Ezra I spot, yes yes it is. I have no words.. I love this man.
"give me one more reason why I should never make a change" (or probably completely different words because when you actually look at the lyrics for that song there a whole lot different then you ordinarily thought.. or is that just me).

Charli XCX (my girl crush atm) and Fearne Cotton look like proper Besties presenting Best British Breakthrough to Sam Smith, his second Brit of the night, and must I add he can style a blue suit that not many can.

At this stage of the awards I'm pretty sure Ant and Dec have had a few glasses as they got under a table with Fearne Cotton.. trust me not like your thinking. Award winning (now we can say that) Paloma Faith performed the breathtaking Only Love whilst passionate dancers did an incredible performance under a downpour of that 'showy rain' that some acts do.

Holy Maholy was my only reaction to Carly (don't know) and Jimmy Carr, WOWza that girl is tall. I do love Jimmy Carr but ouch the crowd is rough this evening not a giggle at his jokes (although I didn't get them either). One Direction won something I'm guessing was Best Band but I was too in shock at the reaction to Jimmy's jokes and then the weird- panning- over- the -crowd -like -they- were -looking- for- One- Direction that was going on to hear what it was.

Russel Crowe (who I now know as he was on This Morning the other day) presented Best British Album to no surprise..Ed Sheeran's X. This is just become a thing for Ed now, winning awards and that, yet he still gets up on stage and fangirls at other people "Russel Grant everybody, sick".

Closing up was the performance that apparently everyone is waiting for (not me, George was my highlight) Madonna...
DAM this is where blogging and trying to watch the awards gets you, I heard the bang and I look up and Madonna is down, I repeat Madonna is down.. Look out internet endless Vines of Madonna for the next three weeks.
It was another great awards night with amazing performances and well deserved winners.. heres to another year of great music.

Dress Desgining

As manger (yup will never get used to that) of the charity shop, a lot of the volunteers come to me with ideas and one this week was to do a float in the St Patrick's Day parade this year. So I've had my thinking cap on (along with the help of my mum) and I've come up with some ideas.
The shop is called The Paper Bag Princess so I thought we might as well go from there and have a princess in a dress made from paper bags maybe being followed by the volunteers in other outfits and dresses from the store. I love the idea of being creative and creating the dress so I hope to get to work on it straight away and will keep you updated. Here's some sketches of my design.

Side note: When a sketch has better hair then you.. fml

The Irish Get Up and Go Diary

Last year I was given the Irish Get Up and Go Diary 2014 for Christmas. I was a bit  like "its just a diary right".. wrong. It's hard to explain but this diary made a big impact on my life. I had had a very tough two years with panic attacks and anxiety (something I haven't talked about before but now feel comfortable to) and wasn't going out a lot.

This diary through having inspirational quotes each day and Goals for each month pushed me and made me realize that I need to live my life now to the fullest while I can and only good things will happen if I go out and get them. Having a list of Goals each month set a target for me and was something I wanted to achieve. It sounds strange but this diary made my year, it made be a better, stronger and most importantly happier person.





Now this year I was given the 2015 diary by my Mum again, and I'm excited to see where It'l get me by this time next year.

Craft Braclet

Being at home poorly for the last few days I've had a lot of time on my hands so I decided to rummage in the old crafting cupboard and came up with the idea of making my best friend a fabric flower bracelet. I have a good collection of fabric scraps and started by cutting out heart shaped petals on a red piece of fabric and sewed them together. I then decided to use a piece off a green sturdy bag to support the petals and then added beads for a finishing touch.

Afterwards I took a piece of fabric that had been taking off a dress once upon a time and used this as the band. Using my glue gun I secured the flower to the band and tied it nicely on my arm to show how I hope it to be tied on her. I'm quite happy with this.. to be honest I'm thinking about keeping it myself or making another one for myself but thats the great thing about collecting fabric scraps and being creative, everything you make will be unique and there won't be anything like it around.

My Grandmothers Wedding Dress

My Nanny passed away three years ago and today my Mum had to clean out her house. She found my Nan's wedding dress which I had never seen before. I'm a lover of all things vintage but this being my Nans means more than anything to me. I being the only girl in the family was given the dress and allowed to do what I want with it. My Nan was a size 6 on her wedding day so there is no way I can fit into it (with the zip done up) so my Mum suggested I make a top or dress out of it. I think it is so beautiful to have something so special and something that was a big part of my Nan's life so I want to keep it as the wedding dress for now until I decide something special for it or maybe one day incorporate it into my own wedding dress.

New Face Care Products

I should have known stepping into Penny's (Primark) I wasn't going to come out empty handed.
After seeing a lot of reviews on Garnier's Micellar Cleansing Water I wanted to give it a go but thought it would be way out of my budget, so boy was I shocked when I seen Penny's had it for only €4. This is brilliant for removing make up but I actually used it for a deep clean after I had my make up removed. I've never seen a product like this but it truly is a must for face care and also suits sensitive skin. Packed with minerals and vitamins that benefit your skin and also being liquid it hydrates as you clean. Highly recommend this one.











I was looking for a good exfoliater after the winter has been at work on my skin and Penny's have a brilliant range of products in the P.S Love range so I spotted this lush smelling Papaya and Vitamin E scrub. The scrub is brilliant at removing dead skin and cleaning pores but also the cream is quite moisturizing as your cleaning and leaves your skin unbelievably smooth and soft. Brilliant quality and what a bargain at €2.50

Lastly I picked up Garnier's Simply Essentials Soothing Vitamin-Enriched Toner (quite a name). A toner finishes of your skin cleaning routine nicely as it cleans deep, hydrates and soothes the skin after everything it has been exposed to during the day. This toner is an expert at soothing as it has water lily extract enriched in it which benefits sensitive skin too. Penny's never do let down do they, offering great beauty products at afordable prices like this one at only €3.

Since You've Been Gone

When I heard about Morgan Matson's Since You've been Gone I knew instantly I would love this book and was the perfect Summer read last Summer. The story is about two best friends, one goes away and leaves a to do list for the other to complete. The idea of the list is to make Emily (the main character) go outside her comfort zone and do things she's always been afraid to do. I liked the idea because I'm one to write up a good bucketlist but I am always putting them off saying I'l get round to it some day, but here the idea is to just go for it and live while your young.

Since my best friend moved away we have been writing constantly so I sent her this book along with a list of her own to complete. I loved the idea that it would get her to step out of her comfort zone and live her life to the fullest...also while having some fun. Since then we have been sending each other lists of things to experience and ridiculous things like 'pretend your a robot'. We send our lists in a little green pouch I had so we both know when we see it what to expect and also we add the quote from the book which Emily's friend sends to her, "when you have completed this list, come find me and tell me all about it". I truly love the idea of this story and it has brought me and my bestie even closer.

The dreaded pouch.. when you see this you never know the tasks you have to complete.

Friendship Survival Kit

After coming across this beautiful gift idea on Pinterest I knew I had to make it for my Best Friend and couldn't wait to see what she thought, as when I showed my mum... she cried. The idea is to have a jar/box of items that are the key to friendship but also have a touching meaning.

Candle: Because you light up my life

Paper Clip: For all the times you helped me hold things together 

Button: sew we will always be close friends

Chocolate Heart: because you are loved very much and even more with chocolate

Star: because you're a star to me

Tissue: for all the tears of laughter and sadness we have shared

Gum: for all the times you've stuck by me

Toothpick: you pick out the best in me

Smiley Face: for the fun times we have

Puzzle Piece: because your an important piece of my life

Sponge: to soak up all the memories we've shared

Marbles: to replace the ones I've helped you loose

You can be totally creative with this, as I have used a small make up sponge, a confetti star and a smiley face sticker as there smaller and easier to send, so let the creativity flow and let the important person in your life know how much you appreciate them.

My First Earrings

Okay so back when I was about nine I got my ear (yes one ear) pierced and well lets say the reason I got only one done was because I couldn't handle the pain. So years later I have been passed on my Great Grandmothers earrings and fell in love with them. I love anything vintage and bohemian (as you may know by now) and the thing that is most exciting about these is.. there clip on. Now I know what your thinking, plastic bejeweled clip on earrings for kids.. nope,these are proper glamorous beauties and I'm slightly in love. I've never accessorized my ears before but boy have I been missing out. I honestly love these and don't know how I've gotten through my life (all 19 years) without earrings. I've experimented a bit with clipping them on different parts of my ear, which is also a bonus of clip on earrings, you can move them around your ear without having to only keep them where your pierced. Now I'm an earring lover and can officially say "do my earrings go with this dress?"

Witch Within

I've always had an interest in witchcraft/Pagan beliefs. I don't know a lot about them but I have always found them magical and spiritual. Growing up with my Mum and her friend always being 'hippy dippy' as I call it and having a love for all things Bohemian I've found something that is personal because I don't have certain beliefs but I know I love everything to do with witchcraft. Being born on Halloween Night which is known as Samhain for the common Witch had always had me interested in the traditions of witches. Coming across a website called Raven and Crone   has opened my mind to a whole new world. My good old friend Pinterest has also shown me that this type of thing is what you make of it. It's very hard to explain but this is something I have a passion for and really am interested in. Reading books like the Night World series and the House Of Night series has had me loving  rituals and Wiccan beliefs from the moment I heard about them. Here are just some of the things that I have been drawn to.

Ribbon Spell - Write your intentions on ribbons and tie them to a tree. Letting them be released by the wind to the universe.



I really look forward to continuing finding my Witch Within and will share it here.  

Foster Puppy Marvin

This week was Marvin's, a 10 week old Rotti/Collie X, turn to come home with me for a few days. Him and his brothers and sisters were being brought up by a mum who has spent her life in a shed and never had human contact. That is where us, the volunteers and staff come in. We have each taken a puppy home to show them that no one will hurt them and that life is good if you give it a chance. Poor Marvin found his 'safe place' the moment he came in the house, a dark corner behind a press where no one could reach him. As we gave him time to adjust he slowly made his way out and had a peep around at his new abode. Luckily we have Bobby our dog member of the family to help Marvin fit in and Marvin loves nothing more then following him around, you can clearly see hes only comfortable when hes near another dog.
Now I had never really taken into account how hard fostering a puppy was going to be, think bringing a new baby home. Marvin stayed in his bed all night.. that is when he wasn't up every two hours on the dot playing,barking,howling,pooping,playing,eating,drinking (extremely loudly) and did I mention pooping. After one of the most sleepless nights I've had in a long time I brought Marvin and Bobby for the longest walk possible to try and tire them out. Oh this worked alright they slept for hours..during the day and not at night. We had a quiet enough day just trying to get Marvin used to being in a house with human contact.
Through the night though I knew Marvin wasn't a well little boy as he was up a lot and had an upset tummy. I rang the Veterinary Nurse up at the center and she seemed pleased that he wasn't seriously bad but did need something for his tummy.
But this is me we are talking about and of course everything went wrong at once. As I was getting Marvin ready to go back I had an accident and was pretty sure I broke my finger so we now had to get me to the hospital AND Marvin back home all before the center closed. Luckily it did work out as I was called to the hospital which isn't too far from the center. Marvin was taken back to his brothers and sisters to gets lot of rest and a full recovery.
I can most certainly say it has been one of the most dramatic weekends of my life, but I'm glad I got to spend time with Marvin and help him on his way to a better life.