Dia daoibh.

Saturday 17th December was the day. I was heading for Dublin to meet the girls. "The girls" being some other bloggers and vloggers. We had been arranging it for a while and I was so excited to go. On the day, not everyone was able to attend though, sickness and life in general had caught up with a lot of people! The previous day though, I myself felt crap. I was getting sick, I could feel it. As I posted on my FACEBOOK I dosed up on Uniflu, antihistamines, washed and sanitized my hands constantly, bought good tissues (yano, the proper more expensive brand with the balm on it!!) put the heating on, hopped in bed, watched tele and felt sorry for myself until I woke up the next morning, thank god feeling ok-ish!

Basically HERE'S what I decided to wear, but black jeggings, along with two pairs of socks, thick scarf and warm coat!

I travelled by train. Unfortunately I was alone as the other Cork girls Sinead and Treena were sick and couldn't make it and something also came up for Jen. It was ok though, at least I had met them before! I arrived in Heuston, a bit scared as usual, as I'm not used to Dublin. I wandered around for a little while and then met some of the other Cork girls. Sarah, Leslie and Milli off the bus. We then headed for  Salamanca Tapas Bar and Restaurant on Dame Street to meet up with everyone else. Here's what I got

Leslie's BLOG and YOU TUBE     Millie's BLOG and YOU TUBE     Nina's BLOG and YOU TUBE

Dia daoibh!

So, in case you don't know it; I'm a thinker. I think a lot about different things. I'm not necessarily a dreamer, I'm more of a realist and a bit of a worrier! I was in a mad huzzy (is that even a word!!) yesterday cleaning the house. I wanted it to be spic and span for Christmas in case we have any guests calling over. Now I don't mind cleaning, but when James (the boyfriend) came in the door that evening and said "I thought you'd have the kitchen done by now" and continued on into the sitting room to sit down and watch the match, it infuriated me, to say the least! About 10 minutes later when I was cleaning the kitchen, Cathal (my small man) decided to bustle in and say "Mom, I think you need to wash the floor, look at my feet!" and lifted up his leg to show me the soles of his feet (which were in fact a bit black looking!) Oh dear baby Jesus..... this re-boiled my blood. I slammed down the pan I was in the middle of washing and stomped up the stairs and threw myself on the bed like a stroppy teenager. I always do this. Well, not necessarily stomp around the place like a teenager, but when I need a time out for myself, my bed is the place I go to. I was wrecked tired from cleaning for hours and then, all those two fellas downstairs can do is complain about what I haven't done. TYPical :(

Source

So it took me a few minutes, but I realised...... oh grow up Laura, just get over yourself. Upon further reflection, their comments only sparked off what was bound to happen regardless. I had no breakfast that morning and was flying around the place for hours, sweating from running up and down the stairs, my arms were aching from scrubbing the bathroom.... you get the idea. I was tired from cleaning. It was my own fault because as per usual I had left everything until the last minute (kinda) and just stressed myself out.

Very original picture of David  'The Thinker'! Source

As I was in my world of thought, on comes James and Cathal with a bouquet of flowers. I had been in my world of thought in my room for about half an hour and didn't realise that they had left, went down town to the shop to buy me flowers. They both came over, hopped on the bed and they gave me the flowers and hugs. I felt a surge of relief and warmth come over me. Such a simple thing - a bunch of flowers completely changed how I was feeling.

Beautiful flowers from Marks and Spencer Source

After that lovely little encounter I continued on thinking! I started thinking about changes I need to make. I wanted to me more organised. That's what my New Years Resolution is going to be. I looked at the flowers and smiled. I wanted to share the same with others. Automatically flowers remind me of Valentines Day. Now I don't particularly "celebrate" Valentines as I'm one of those who agrees that love should be shared everyday, not just on one specific day; but at the same time, sometimes we need a little reminder, and flowers are a lovely way of showing and expressing your feelings for someone. It's strange because that evening I received an email about Valentines day! I know!! It's only December, but there you go! Others are obviously much more organised than little ole me! Here's the link to Marks & Spencer who have set up for people to be reminded when they set up their specially formed shop for Valentines, which will include flowers, chocolates and more gifts. I don't know what came over me or why these flowers affected me so much, but I'm a strong believer in "everything happens for a reason". So I have signed up for the the reminder in the hope that it will help me to become more organised in the New Year and share the feeling of love and happiness! Two birds, one stone! For sure, I will be sending flowers to my mother and close friends and hopefully they might get some sort of positive feeling, just like I did! It's the small things that can make a huge difference to someone's day.

Slán

Dia daoibh!

It's now 00:07 which means my INGLOT giveaway is officially closed. There were 198 valid entries and I have just used Random.org to chose the winner. Without further ado (oh god shut up) the winner of the fabuloso palette was number 17 who was:

Dia daoibh.

Today's post is going to be about my TIGI Pro Fat Curl Stick (otherwise know as a curling wand!).

 I bought this from Cloud10Beauty after I was ever-so lucky to win a €50 voucher from Beaut.ie a while ago. Instead of buying a few bits and pieces, I decided I wanted one good thing. I had just ombred my hair so decided to go for a curling wand as ombred hair tends to look best when curled. 

I wanted a large barreled one so  that I could create loose curls so I went for this baby priced at €47.95 ($100/€77 from the TIGI website!!! Yoyza!) You can also get a "skinny" version for tighter curls for about €43. 

Features:
- Unique tapered ceramic coated barrel
- 25 adjustable heat settings up to 195°C
- On/Off indication light
- Swivel base to avoid cable tangling
- Light-weight for perfect control
- Extraordinary Sharpness
- Produced in the finest high-quality, non-corrosive stainless material.


New to their website is THIS set which is the same wand  but included you get a serum with essential oils combined with thermal and environmental protectants which gives hold and control for defined curls; all for a cheaper price of €42.95!! Bargain!

This was my first time using a curling wand without a clamp. I found it really simple to use. The one negative I would have about this particular curling wand is that it doesn't come with a heat protectant glove. I think these should be included with all of these types of wands. In saying that though, I burnt my forehead worse than my fingers. You can see a little round burn on my forehead above!! Nothing major, will just take a little getting used to!

These as you can see are really loose curls at the ends of my hair. The beauty about this wand in particular though is that you can achieve smaller curls too by using the tip of the wand as it is smaller. The wand itself is easy to use. It came with instructions which of course I read..... *cough. As I said it has 25 heat setting so depending on how fine/thick your hair is you can alter it as needed. It has a simple red for heating and green for ready indicator.