The Lo Down - Our Marley Park Adventure

Hey Guys and Dolls,

The weather in Ireland at the moment has been amazing. I love a nice bit of sunshine like everybody else so of course I had to make the most of it so Daragh and I decided to take a trip to Marley Park last week. Himself had never been to Marley Park before so as Bilbo Baggins said in The Hobbit we're going on an adventure and that we did.

We went up to the park last Wednesday and we had a nice walk around and then we chilled out in the grass and listened to some music which was total bliss. I love Marley Park myself it's so nice to be in absolutely beautiful surroundings and Daragh really liked it too. We are definitely considering going to Longitude in July, I adore Mumford and Sons and they are playing on the Sunday so we're going to try get 2 tickets soon. We are going to Damien Dempsey in the Iveagh Gardens in July aswell so we are going to have to try and fit Longitude in aswell as it's usually really good craic, sure you can't really beat a festival style concert in a park. It sounds amazing and it will be my first time going aswell if we do manage to get tickets that is.

If you haven't taken a visit to Marley Park in a while definitely try to get there whilst the weather is so good, you won't regret it.

Laura<3

My lovely break in Spain!

Sorry for the lack of posts on here lately, I've seriously missed blogging but I seem to have so little time recently. I've just come back from a family holiday to Spain and I had such an amazing time. We stayed in Sabinillas which is a gorgeous seaside town and the weather couldn't of been better. I can't say I got a tan or anything but it was so nice to get away from the dull weather in Dublin and relax on the beach with the sun shining. In Ireland we never get the chance to wear shorts in September (unless you wear thick tights under them that is), I'm so glad I picked up a couple pairs of shorts from the Accessorize Sale. I went for a tribal print as I knew I was bringing a lot of plain band t shirts with me and it would make the full outfit a bit more holiday appropriate. I pretty much always wear tights (even with dresses) as I have a scar on my leg from a bad fall from when I was younger so I was a bit nervous about my milk bottle legs being on show. That was short lived and I didn't care too much once I realised how hot it was in Spain at the time. The weather was in the high twenties everyday which is a change to the weather we have in Ireland. It was the first family holiday I've been on since I was a teen, I was unsure if it was going to get the time of work but I was so glad I did in the end.

Casares

 Gibraltar

My week was spent chilling and sightseeing (you probably gathered that already) with my family. My highlight of my trip was going to Gibraltar, I've never seen anything like it. We had to walk across a airport runway to get in which you don't see everyday I guess. Everything was unbelievably cheap, that said I didn't buy much whilst I was there. I found a MAC counter and bought two of their new release paint pots that I was eyeing up online lately. My brother on the other hand did well and picked up Dr Dre Beat headphones for €150 which he was really chuffed with. I even spotted a couple of monkies which were super cute. I'm not going to lie I didn't get too close as I was a little scared of them, thank god for good camera lens.

Puerto de la Duquesa

Tarifa

 I didn't buy too much whilst I was in Spain which I was a pretty surprised with. I'm going to put up a little holiday haul soon to show you guys what I bought but it won't be huge trust me. I took a little break from Slimming World while I was on holiday and treated myself. We went out for family dinners every evening so it was hard to find stuff that I actually liked on the menu. I wouldn't say I scrapped my healthy eating routine completely as there was so many options on the menu, I had the yummiest Tuna salad at a beachside restaurant one of the days, it was so nice to munch away on my dinner while looking at the waves come in. There was a lovely pizzeria beside our apartment and they did the nicest bruschetta I've ever tasted. I don't eat bread anymore since I started Slimming World so getting one of them was a huge treat. I put up a couple of pictures on Instagram during the week, as us bloggers tend to do! You can check them out here, I'm really new to the whole Instagram thing and I didn't know what all the fuss was about but I love it!

I didn't do too much reading on my holiday like I thought I would. I've nearly finished The Devil Wears Prada which I'm loving. It was a great holiday read and I literally only have another 100 pages to go. Paddy actually bought me this and the sequel while we were in London in June so at least I don't have to rush out and buy that once I finish. While we're on that note Paddy and I are hopefully heading away on holidays in November to Paris. It's not set in stone yet but we've wanted to go for a while but we are both super busy with work. He's been interning for the past few months so it will be nice to get away somewhere. I've been to Paris before, it was actually one of the last family holidays I went on. I remember loving it, we stayed in one of the hotels in Disneyland and it couldn't of been better. I actually have a picture of my brother and I from that holiday in my room and it's crazy to see how different we look but I guess it was ten years ago now.

I went back to work on Monday and it's seriously like I never left. What is that about going on holidays? I'm already looking forward to planning my next holiday! I really enjoy doing these sort of posts as they are so nice to look back on and relive all the adventures through pictures. I really hope you guys enjoyed this post too.

Laura<3

A Family Day Out at Dublin Zoo

On Saturday I headed to the Zoo with my Mum, Dad and nephew. I haven't been in years, I'm pretty sure the last time I went was about four years ago. I love the Zoo and I used to go so much as a child. The whole place changes everytime I go, there always finding new ways to make it better. When I was younger I always got super excited seeing the elephants, my Mum told me I went as far as collecting tiny figurines.  The weather couldn't of been better on the day, dare I say I even got a bit of colour. Ryan really enjoyed his day, h's obsessed with animals, for the whole car ride there he kept saying which ones he really wanted to see. I had such an amazing time, I'm definitely not going to leave it so long before I go again. I thought I'd share some pictures with you that I took on the day. I think they look amazing if I do say so myself. My next post will be up in a couple of days and it will be my April Favourites, sorry it's a bit late coming!

Would you like to see more posts like this in the future showing what I get up to in Dublin?

Laura<3

23..

Today I celebrated my 23rd birthday! I had such an amazing day, the weather was fairly nice out which was a big change from the rain we've been getting by the bucketful lately. Thanks for all the lovely birthday messages you guys sent me on Twitter so nice to wake up to them. I got some really nice presents this year from my family, they were far to good to me! Paddy also got me a new camera that I'm completely in LOVE with. I can't wait to start using it, I'll probably have to read up on the manual first as I've never had such a fancy camera before. If you'd like to see a post on what I got for my birthday let me know in the comments.

I had a pretty relaxed day, Paddy and I headed out on the Dart to Dun Laoighre. We the nice weather and walked from Dun Laoighre to Killiney. It was a bit of a trek but I really enjoy this walk everytime I do it. Walking down the coast road is so nice, I love looking at all the scenery. I think we Irish can take them for granted sometimes. Saying that the horrible weather we've been having lately doesn't really help either. Throughout the walk I spotted lots of seats facing the sea, I would happily sit there and take in the view all day. On the way to Killiney Dart Station we walked by Bono's house so of course I got a snap of that, that being the big green gates outside. I forgot to take a photo the last time I did this walk so I didn't want to forget this time around. When I got the bus back home, I met up with my Mom  and went for dinner to Milanos which is kinda like Pizza Express in the UK. I think they're the same company but I'm not a 100% sure. After all the walking I did I was starving so this really hit the spot, so yummy! I didn't get to picture the food I got, let's just say it disappeared almost immediately.

I have such an amazing day, I can't believe another year has come and gone. I'm looking forward to seeing what life has in store for my 23rd year! If it's anything like the last it will definitely be a good one.

Laura<3