Life Makes Me Happy

I share so much of my life with so many wonderful people, I'm really lucky to have them all. And so in this post I want to share with all of you what makes me happy in life. For one being able to blog about all the things I like and getting to talk to others because of it give me excited butterflies just thinking about it! Its strangly calming being able to make photo collages or spending ages thinking hard about how to tell you all about a product. 

Instead of going left to right, I'm going down in rows as its easier to follow! 

Row one: Onion rings that are to die for, genuinely have never had nicer ones. (post here) / My new flower tattoo is my latest piece and I'm delighted to finally have it. (post here) / A sneaky snap of myself and Stephen, no doubt giving out to the poor guy. / Nivea factor 50+ from one of the first hot days of summer, I went to the beach with friends and it was great. / Catness stretched out  asleep in the sun.

Row two: The lovely Stephen who is too cute! / Dodie in a rare moment of staying still long enough to photograph / Some beautiful flowers my mom gave my gran.

Row three: The side street Skinflint is on (post here) / My handmade birthday scarf (post here) / Andrew and me at my birthday dinner / Thomas driving looking posh / One of my most proud blog photos of late, all in line. (post here) 

Row four: My friend Siofra and her amazing hair / Feeding our pigeons in the sunshine / Some of my besties who came to my sisters wedding (post here) / Catness in her normal spot, taking up the whole couch! / Van, me and Stephen in Bobos (post here)

Row five: Me being a bit mad. My friends chinos were a cool turquoise colour  / Lush face mask that I really liked (post here) / 21st birthday balloons that my mom got for me (love her for the effort she put in)  / Me and Ciaran on a fo cow couch at my birthday dinner / blackberries I took some photos of on a walk near my house.

Thank you for all your support and reading my blog. If your new, welcome! As always ladies and gents, have a fab day x

Have you entered my Halloween giveaway yet?

The Lush Event

This is a picture heavy post, sorry guys but it had to be done! Last night (yes, I am actually blogging the day after something, now sit back down and shh!) I attended a fancy VIP body pampering event in Lush on Henry St - I know, moment for fangirl #Idie needed. Anyone could go and it was all free too. I dragged my oh-so-good friend Steph along for the ride (shes not a product junkie like me, hence the dragging and sucking up!) And let me just tell you all with my hand over my heart, I knew the Lush staff were generally helpful nice people, but not until you spend an hour and a half in their shop like I did talking to them do you get the full force of just how amazing and genuinely great these peeps are!

The Lush shop on Henry St., Lush are against animal testing, a quote from The TImes

I started my evening by getting a yummy alcohol free cocktail and talking to some of the staff. But secretly it was the fun and charming barman (below) in what can only be described as the next big fashion piece, a wonderful Hawaiian shirt, making the cool looking cocktails that made me relax, so thank you! Also beside him was Garret, the stores managing director. You know the way people who are managers are nice to cutsomers but only because they have to be? Well, I could not get over how genuine and chatty this fellow was! He even obliged me by writing down his blogs name The Secret, giving both Steph and myself a goodie bag and if thats not enough he gave me a sample of Blousey shampoo that I've wanted to try forever. Go talk to him next time you pop into Lush, hes so fun!  

Garret and his lovely barman/boyfriend, the cocktails, some bath bombs, everyone having fun!

 The place had a fab atmosphere with people gossiping about the best bath bomb and others smearing magic goo onto their hands and even faces. I qued up to see the bubbly Maeve who was in deep conversation about how wonderful Lush make up is. She asked me to close my eyes while she spun the colour wheel and when I open my eyes to choose the first three colours that caught my eye. She wrote them down for me, below. Its something I would have never done if I was just popping in for a quick sniff of something so do ask about it next time your in their shop, its like getting your fortune told! Check out the to-die-for colours here, you'll be glad you did.

The colour wheel, all the different colours and bottles of make up, my three colours

Lush have reformulated their massage bars recently and they are really something to talk about. I got a mind melting hand and arm massage from Jess who was so informative and could really make a girl feel at ease! She told me all about how the new formulation has some air bubbles in it to make it lighter and easier to use and spread out once they are warm. Also a lot of the bars now have raw 100% fair trade cocoa butter in them. Oh goodness do I have a new Lush wish list to write up! I got to try Aqua Mirabilis body butter - I am not joking, I wanted to buy them all then and there, the Wiccy Magic Muscles massage bar - such a lovely warming effect on the muscles but I'm not sold on the cinnamon smell, and Hottie massage bar - which I was told by Jess is great for massaging all places, even bum cheeks! Oh and a fun fact she told me that I just have to share, the Therapy massage bar is great for stretch marks like ladies can get or if you are pregnant. The ridges on the top are there because 1 in 4 babies are born with an 'outie' belly button. Overly cute and serious attention to detail or what?! Take a look at it here.

I'll be back in soon to stock up on summer essentials. Make sure and like their facebook pages so you can keep an eye out for their next event if you didn't get to go this time. On another note, I took some quick snaps of places in Dublin on the walk to the bus, isn't the place a little magic at night? - Perhaps smelling of Lush things as we walked along in the cold made us see things a little more through rose tinted glasses, but Lush will do that to you! 

View of the Liffey, Clearys lit up, Eason's big clock

Friday Favourites #5

How is everyone today? Hope you had a quiet and peaceful week? I know I didn't! Ever get one of those crazy non-stop weeks? Umhumm, that was me! I am going to make some serious plans of action over the weekend and get all my Valentines Day posts up for you next week. Until then, here is some of the things I have been loving the past few days.

 Thing: Night Time Relaxing

I have had a stressful and go-go-go! week, so bed time is my wind down and relax time. A nice cup of tea, a hot water bottle and a book or magazine is just what the doctor ordered. I got my copy of the March Cosmo (British edition) which I have yet to even open. However I practically absorbed Kill Marsell's 'Take a chance on me'. I will (fingers crossed) have a review for you guys soon.

Site: Instagram

Now let me be totally honest, I was not a fan of the whole 'expand your blog' business with twitter (-which I am still afraid of) and the likes. But oh how could I have left it so long to make an Instagram account? I use it everyday and tend to put up a photo or two, just to show everyone whats popped into my life without having to blog or Facebook about it. Apart from that its amazing to share and see some true works of art (and a lot of glitter!) I would recommend making an account and becoming part of the community - its amazing. And of course you can follow me at http://instagram.com/bigblondegirl/ or just have a nose at my pictures.

Product: Collection (2000) Fix Me Up

I had been eyeing this 'long lasting make-up fixer' since the start of January wondering if it was worth almost €10 for a small bottle that had some very mixed reviews. But Boots are having a sale 3 for 2 at the moment and I had to have it as it was just over €6. I am glad I did because I am now in love with it. I will do a proper review once I have used it a little more and see if its just the honey moon phase I'm in with this product.

Music: Sandi Thom Wish I Was A Punk Rocker
All the way back in 2006 this song was released and this week for some unknown reason it popped into my head and has been there since! A nice bit of nostalgia for you all if you want to listen to it here . I clap along completely off beat to this day still, but wow its such a good song!

Product: Boots Camomile And Lemon Balm

For under €3 each I could not say no to the lovely summery smelling shampoo and conditioner as I badly needed one. - I had washed my hair with body wash that morning. Not sure if I should be ashamed or not? Its cheap and cheerful, not to mention smelling really lovely in the bottle and lasting all day in your hair. It also makes my hair soft and the condition is fine but not as good as something like my herbal essence hair mask. I will pick up the shampoo again, just to catch the smell of my summery hair!

Thing: A Notebook And Pen

I would have been a headless chicken this week if I didn't keep handy my trusty notebook and a pen. Meetings, shopping list, errands, recipes, blog posts... The list goes on. All I had to do was scribble things down as they came to me or if I needed to remember something, a quick root through my bag and chaos subsides. Yes, a permanent addition to any handbag. 

So my lovely guys and girls thats what has been occupying my week, keeping me happy. I also can not believe it is now the 1st of February! Finally some hints of Spring and perhaps if were lucky even Summer? Who knows! As always have a fab weekend and I will see you soon!