What’s that you say? It’s Friday?
Holy crap.

I honestly don’t know where this week has gone. ……Sunday to Tuesday was spent in Dublin with Matt to celebrate our fantastical 2nd Wedding Anniversary, after that it’s all a bit vague. So vague I thought today was Thursday… which it clearly isn’t…

Ho hum

Friday it is! Perfect day for a little in and out

Loving

Lipsy Dress

This is the frock I wore for our Anniversary dinner. I bought it in the Topshop sale for £30. Really flattering wee number if you hold any weight around your middle/ hips like moi.

Sorry about the flash but the hotel room had “mood lighting” and this was the only way I could get the colours to show up.

The Farm Restaurant, Dublin

“Affordable, tasty and home sourced” With as much of the produce as possible being organic and free range.
I didn’t quite know what to expect, especially as we were going on a Sunday night but it really was a treat. The interior is modern but homely, with a very feminine feel. Little sparkly lampshades and floral wall mirrors.

The food was gorgeous, my steak was melt in the mouth good. Matt had the lamb and was similarly impressed. The dishes were uncomplicated and clean though. No overly fancy “jus” or seasoning. Just good Irish fare at a reasonable enough price. We’ll be back.

Tesco Pumps (not the petrol kind…)

I’m not a massive fan of flats due to the negative impact they inflict on my joints, but when I see a pair as nice as these for £10 I can’t resist. One pair of foot pillows later and they are comfortable as well as cute.

Treating myself

Ah you’re a long time dead. If I want something I tend to write it down on a desktop sticky. If I still want it a month or so down the line, I usually purchase. It’s a good system.

I’ve deleted 5 MAC lipsticks off one already this week. Turned out I really didn’t want any of them that much

One thing I have wanted for about 3 months though are the David Smallcomb cuff bracelets that Lorraine sells on her website. I went for 3 small silver and 3 small gold fill, and people they ARE small. I have really slim wrists (about the only part of me that is) and they fit me just perfect. If you regularly have to get 3-4 links taken out of any watch you buy then the small is for you, if not order the large.

I totally <3 them. Brilliant buy!

Clogs

I love the clog trend. I had a pair when I was younger and they were the easiest things to wear. 2010 clogs, not so much. Sky scraper heels and open toed numbers are all very well but lifestyle wise they just wouldn’t suit me.

I needed practical & comfortable and the hubby delivered. He treated me to them in Clarks of all places. Reduced to 40 euro. They have hardly been off my feet. Perfect heel height, spongy lining and look trendy to boot. I’m a happy camper!

This also requires an honourable mention, Compeed Anti-blister Stick. I could feel my clogs rubbing slightly on the side of my foot. One swipe of this (it’s like hard vaseline) and the issue was gone.
No more rubbing because the surfaces can’t get purchase on each other. Best invention evaaaar! I got mine at Superdrug. It was a few quid.

Mumford & Sons

How are they not Irish? To me they’re like a modern day Saw Doctors (sorry… I still love them too) and the whole album is a winner, real hairs on the arms stand up greatness. Get it and LOVE it!

Reading

I just love to read, but bad eyesight and a vain refusal to wear my glasses meant that lately I hadn’t done much of it. I had to finally admit defeat when I was struggling to read my computer screen and munching tension headache tablets like smarties.
So I stick my glasses on and lo and behold it’s like someone turned the world into focus. I’m such a twat.

Reading is no longer a tired squinting affair and I’m no longer considering shares with Nurofen.
I’ve just finished Skinny Bitch. It’s very clear that the authors have their own agenda in regards to animal rights however accepting the contents at face value this was an enjoyable read. Certainly not life altering though.

Not loving:

Spider Season
It can fuck right off. Creepy eight legged freaks that like to hang out in our bedroom. Ugh. Major hate.

John James
If you don’t watch the UK Big Brother my apologies. If you do I’ll take a high five on that. He’s a major twat. Please put JJ and Josie in some kind of one way space destined rocket.

Indecisive weather
Be sunny. Or don’t. Just PLEASE don’t do the sun and rain thing. It’s not big or clever, just friggin impossible to dress appropriately for.

LONG Delivery Times
11 week lead time on a sofa?! What are you doing exactly? Making the thing from scratch?….. Oh you are. Well anyway when I order from somewhere as main stream and lets face it cheap as DFS I expect that they have multiples of the same sofa lying atop each other in some big NI warehouse.

They don’t. It like really truly actually comes from Italy. My worlds on its head here
Floor down on August 10th… sofa arriving Halloween… #fail

Milk Men
Or maybe it’s just my Milk Man. He likes to deliver practically our whole weeks supply on one day. Not only is storing that a headache BUT clearly we aint paying for freshness here. Plus when I try to cancel him he ignores the “No more Milk please, just the final bill, thanks” notelet and leaves a further 2 pints of milk. I’m losing the will.

I WAS trying to be polite about canceling his services. However now I’m thinking a “Please bugger off” note is the only way to go.

And just for cuteness, the one and only Tedster doing what he does best. Winky flashing on our bed!

Over and out xo

I had to “pop” into the city on Sunday afternoon to drop my eldest off at his latest geek club and so I took the opportunity to have a good mooch around Superdrug. When we lived in Bangor Superdrug was more handy to me than Boots but since I’ve been in Belfast (3 months… wowzers) I hadn’t set foot in one.

I was pleasantly reacquainted. Sure, Boots is fabulous, who doesn’t LOVE those advantage card points?! but Superdrug is quite exclusive in a way. I got my fix of Gosh Cosmetics, Bloom, MUA and Sue Moxley. Different is almost always good in my book.

My main focus was on the “Famous” by Sue Moxley range. I always wanted to like this range, after all what’s not to like about a range created by a real life Make-up Artist. However first impressions were poor. Every single time I went to a Superdrug her brand stand (oooh it rhymes) was clearly unloved and unreplenished. The tester make-up was a mess, everything was covered in dust and things that I did find of interest were inevitably broken or smushed (technical term…).

I think over the 18 months I’ve been aware of her brand I’ve bought one thing that wasn’t in a complete state, a fan brush and it was amazing so I hoped they’d get their act together.

It finally looks like they have done just that.

On Sunday I was pleased to find that her stand was clean, tidy and reinvented. My eye was immediately drawn to the solo shadows which were on 2 for £6. Some really dreamy metallic shades. Then I clocked the 4 pan palettes which were priced at £9 and since I was having trouble deciding which singles to opt for I went for the palettes instead.

This particular quad of brown tones is called Cafe Culture.

Under Flash

Under Natural Lighting

The back of the palette assures me that these can be applied dry as well as wet, depending on the impact you desire. Today I went for dry.

Face – Diorskin Nude Foundation + Topshop Bronzer
Lids – Sue Moxley Cafe Culture Palette
Lashes – L’Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black
Cheeks – NARS Deep Throat
Highlight – Mac Shimmer
Lips – Mac Modesty

Overall I love the result, all the shades work really well together and are comparable to a few main Mac shadows.. second left is a more subtle Satin Taupe for instance.

Bad points, well there are a few unfortunately…

• All 4 colours are high in the shimmer/ sheen stakes. I’d have thought that as they are apparently designed by an MA that the nude shade at least would have been matt. I had to take a touch of Mylar and blend that up towards my brow to avoid the drag queen look.

• Not all the shadows are of the same consistency, the second from right (a warm brown) is very bitty. It separates more than the others and can be quite messy, however it is a very pretty colour.

• The packaging. At the moment I have quite long/ strong nails (how and why is a mystery) but even I struggled to open the palette. It has a good groove to get your grip on but for some reason it’s still an absolute bitch to open.

So all that’s not so positive, however I have to say I’m still really glad that I bought this.

In fact I love the 3 brown shades so much that it’s a definite must have in my going away make-up bag this weekend (wedding anniversary… YAY!!). There is no denying that each colour compliments each other perfectly. The blendability is superb and nine hours later is still looks like this…

(OMG… look how much my foundation colour has oxidised)

Ok so there is definite wear but significant shape and colour remains so I am MORE than happy.

£9 well spent in my opinion

xo