Ground Espresso Bar - New Cafe in Next, Blanchardstown

On Friday I met two friends for coffee and cake.  Marguerite suggested we go to the new cafe in the Next Store in Blanchardstown.

The new cafe is called "Ground Espresso Bar" and I thought it was very good!  I had the most amazing Salted Caramel Brownie which they heated it slightly and served with cream (my only complaint was they charged 40c extra for the cream - seriously, why do so many places nickel and dime you like this?!)

Marguerite had a grilled cheese sandwich.

Yvonne got a chai tea along with a Rhubarb and White Chocolate scone which she said was very good.

I wish I had taken a photo of the cafe as it really was quite hip!

Valentine's Weekend

Fun day yesterday.  At 2pm, Amy and I went to see "Fifty Shades of Grey".  We had decided to go on Friday night so I had booked the tickets online as I was afraid it might book out quickly due to the hype of the film.

We both enjoyed the film (it's a typical big budget Hollywood film) and it certainly is a better film than book!!

Later on that evening we went to the play "A girl is a half-formed thing" which was also a book prior to being made in to a play.

This play was so intense and it was quite surreal to watch it after having seen the silliness of 50 Shades earlier on.

It was a one woman play and the actress, Aoife Duffin, who played all the characters was incredible.  I found it very poignant when she played her older brother who as he regressed her voice became babyish while he got sick and began to die.  Very moving.

This was an intense and gripping play that was extremely harrowing to watch in many parts but I thought it was excellent. Particular elements were very Irish and perhaps it may not translate well to an International stage or maybe, on the other hand, what I think are Irish stories are actually universal world wide family stories. 

Happy Valentine's Day!

My twin sister, and I, are meeting Kasey and Alex to go see a play tonight for an "Anti-Valentine's Day" event.

However, we could not let the day go completely unmarked so we got a little gift for the two girls - two L'Occitane hand creams in a cute tin! 

Blog Early, Blog Often

When I started blogging I was interested in getting more readers and hits on my blog.  

I googled different ways to do this and generally the view is that to get lots of blog hits you should

* Blog regularly

* Blog good content

* Get Guest Bloggers to write posts

* Link up with other bloggers

* Share blog content on Social Media

I try and do all of the above except for the Guest Bloggers (however I have got Guest Blogs for the blog I manage in my workplace).

I have noticed that if I do not blog regularly my stats take a serious nose dive.  I think this is due to Google and its algorithms whereby if you are not adding content they are not placing you at the top of searches.  

Therefore in my humble opinion it is essential to blog often.  A daily blog post tends to make sense.  I endeavor to do this, but as you can see, whether I succeed is quite another matter altogether!

Many of my blog readers have their own blogs with huge readerships.  

What are your tips for getting views or hits on your blog?

Dry Shampoo Reviews

Although my hair is very straight and generally easy to style it is also unfortunately very oily.  It needs to be washed every day and I often need to freshen it up with a dry shampoo (particularly when I have had it blow dried in the hairdresser).  I also think that Dry Shampoo adds volume to my hair, which I tend to need as my hair can be very flat.

I've tried out a few different Dry Shampoos and I have to say that I find Batiste (which has been made since the 1970's) to be the best.

However, I have tried other Dry Shampoos which are generally cheaper than Batiste.  Recently I used this Garnier Dry Shampoo.  It says on the can that it is Vanilla Milk flavour and is for mid to long hair.  I was disappointed though as I didn't find it effective and to be honest I didn't like how it made my hair feel.  On  positive note, however, I did like the scent of this product.

Boots used to make a really cheap basic brand that was completely rubbish so I wasn't too convinced that this new Boots brand (see below) would be any use.  I chose to buy the "Paradise Island" flavour (I love tropical smells) which is very nice and has hints of coconuts to it possibly.  

Wow was I surprised when I used it.  It smelt great, made my hair look and feel so good and was very reasonably priced too - I think it was actually the cheapest Dry Shampoo on the shelf!

Do you use Dry Shampoo - have you got any recommendations?

My final tip is that Dry Shampoo is great when styling freshly washed hair in an upstyle - if your hair is too shiny just spray a little dry shampoo in!

Ennio Morricone, 3 Arena - Dublin

Awhile back I wrote about getting tickets for Ennio Morricone who was due to play on December 12th.  Unfortunately, the concert was cancelled and then rescheduled for now.  It felt like forever for the new date to come but finally the day was upon us!

Ciaran had to travel to Limerick during the day and I was afraid he wouldn't be back in time.  I felt it would be too rushed and put too much pressure on him so I didn't book a restaurant but instead made arrangements to cook at home before the concert.

He got home from Limerick in plenty of time but went for asleep at 4.30pm and then I made dinner for about 5.30pm.

We got a taxi at about 6.30pm as I was afraid the traffic would be bad at the venue.  Traffic was fine because we had left so early - we were inside by before 7pm for the 8pm show.

I brought my Tommy Bahama flask with me because Ciaran tried to convince me that there would be no vodka for sale, only wine and beer.  We hadn't been to this venue since it was called the Point.  Of course it has had a major overhaul since then and has been through two name changes from the O2 to the 3 Arena.  

When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised by the venue.  It is superb and had full bars and a range of concession stands.  There was even a prosecco concession where you could get a glass of prosecco for €7.  I just bought a bottle of Ccoke Zero for my vodka.  During the interval, I had a drink from the bar.  I didn't want to get another vodka as they only had Absolut (bleugh) so I had a Malibu & Diet Coke (1980 called - they want their drink back!)

When we entered the seating area, Ciaran asked me to guess the capacity (he had already googled) - I said about 20,000 which wasn't a bad guess because it actually holds 23,000.

The show began just after 8pm with the choir walking on to stage (possibly about 70 singers) followed by the orchestra (by my count there was about 80 musicians).  Then the maestro himself walked on the the stage (very jauntily for an 86 year old) and with a quick bow the music began.  

Do you know Ennio Morricone?  I would imagine you are familiar with many of his pieces from films including "The Mission", "The Untouchables" and "Once upon a time in America" and of course "The Good the Bad and the Ugly".

All of the songs were amazing but I especially liked Come Maddelena and Abolisson.  My favourite, however, was Here's to you  which was sang as the first encore - the crescendo that it builds up to is sensational and to see it live was breath taking. 

I think that Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission holds a special place in many Irish people's hearts as it was used in an Aer Lingus ad (the National Airline) in the 1980's at a time of high emigration in Ireland......the music is very poignant.

Inherent Vice - Dazed & Confused

Last Sunday we went to see "Inherent Vice".  We intended going to the 1.30pm showing in Cineworld but Ciaran took the dog for a walk a short while before we were due to go.  By chance he met a friend in the village and they went for a cup of coffee together.

This meant that we only arrived at the cinema at 1.25pm.  The line for tickets was long and there were only 2 people servicing the queue.  I hate being late in to a film - I love playing "Guess the trailer game" (which I ALWAYS win, I should add!) so I checked what time the film was starting in the Savoy Cinema which was only a short walk away.

It was starting at 2.10pm so we left Cineworld and headed to the Savoy.  But guess what?!  They showed no trailers!!!!  I was not happy!  Then to add to that the film was not as good as we had thought it would be.  Let's just say the below pic from Gracia magazine pretty much sums it up!  And at one point I just about fell asleep except for the fact that Ciaran nudged me to wake up  :-(

Have you seen this film - what did you think of it?

In other items of note a friend posted a link on Facebook to these amazing looking pastries.  OMG!! Sticky buns with bacon!!!  

What do you think???