Getting Holiday Ready!

I'm heading from Ireland to California in a few short weeks at the beginning of September.  At this point I'm trying to get bikini ready for my trip.

Here's my tips for looking your best on vacation.

Hair
I love how my hair looks when I am on holidays.  When I am by the beach the salt water gives my hair great body and it looks beachy and relaxed.  Currently I am overdue a hair cut and my highlights also need to be touched up.  
However, I am waiting until the week before I go away to get my hair done.  This means that it will look its best for my trip!

Skin
In order to get a good tan while away you need to have ultra moisturized skin. While in the shower I use a body scrub to remove any dead skin and I've been religiously using lotion and cream every day and after showering.  As an extra you could also use a tanning moisturizer which will give you a tan base......but I'm not too bothered about this.

 

Body
In order to get in to your best shape, it's best to start a good workout plan about 8-12 weeks before you go away. Unfortunately, I didn't give myself that length of time.  However, I am currently using a Fitness Blender Workout programme which seems to be working!  I would also recommend cutting carbs and eating clean in order to lose a few pounds.  Eating non processed food is an easy way to do this.

 



Feet
I will be exposing my feet on my holidays when I wear my nice holiday shoes so I need my feet to be in good shape.  I do find that once you have spent a day or two on the beach, your feet feel really good.  Walking in the sand massages off dead skin and bring your feet up really nicely.  Currently I have been using an awesome L'Occitane foot cream which is really moisturizing and smells so good.

Other than all of the above(!) I'm not doing anything else.

I'm currently using this Cidal soap.  It's cheap and cheerful, available in Boots, grapefruit flavoured and totally gorgeous!!!  You need to get some!  :-)


Do you have any tips to get bikini ready for vacationing?

The Bake Off is back!

The Great British Bake Off started back last Wednesday and I am loving it!

We are big fans of it in work, so the day after the first episode, I brought in cake for my colleague who was celebrating her birthday. I was going to buy Madeira Cake as that is the first cake they baked on Bake Off but instead chose this divine Belgian Chocolate Cake. It tasted so good!!

I'm also reading Mary Berry's autobiography.  Mary is one of the judges on Bake Off and she has had a very interesting life.

Already I have spotted a few strong contenders on the show and even knew who was going to be sent home on the first week (Hipster Guy with hat who was very much style over substance).  I look forward to the rest of the season and hope we get another few laughs like we did on the first night when some poor contestants mousse filling didn't set and her cake turned out a right mess.  Poor lady - the look on her face was so pitiful.  It all turned out ok for her as she wasn't sent home so she lives to bake again!!

Do you watch The Great British Bake Off?  

Love Lime!!!

I adore Lime!!  It's fresh and zingy and makes you feel super clean. I got this shower gel in Boots the other day.  Oh wow, it's amazing!!  In the morning time, it wakes you up and sets you up for the day.  After a workout, it is refreshing and relaxing.  You need to buy it if you like lime!!!

The reason I adore lime is that it brings me back to great times in Key West where I have holidayed over the past few years.  One of the things I love is to light my Vanilla Lime Yankee Candle and relax and think of the good times in Key West Florida. Bliss!

Fitness Blender's 5 Day Workout Challenge to Burn Fat & Build Lea...

Our trip to California has crept up on us - it's only 4 weeks away and we still needed to book hotels and car.


We set about completing all of this yesterday evening and we have now got our holiday plans finalized.


We will be visiting Monterey and Santa Cruz and then heading back to San Francisco for a squash tournament.


With only 4 weeks to go until when I will be lying on a beach in a bikini I decided I'd better start back working out again so have started doing Fitness Blender again.  Boy they are tough but I sure feel good after I have finished each workout!  





I have taken some photos of me currently so will do a before & after blog post in 4 weeks.

Arty Starbucks Staff

My sister and I spent a little time in Starbuck Rathmines today.  We both had our laptops with us so we chatted and browsed (the connection was really bad so I gave up after awhile).  

When I went up to the counter for my Double Espresso Machiatto (strong and tasty) I saw all of these amazing looking cups.  I asked the server if they were new and he told me that a staff member had done them!! Wow, amazing!  He told me that she also did the illustrations on the chalkboard.  I was impressed - what a talent!

What I've been up to!

Having recently watched "Love and Mercy" the film of the life of Brian Wilson, I borrowed Pet Sounds from the Library.  It's an awesome album that certainly transports you away from Ireland takes you to possibly California or some other location.

 I'm also reading "Practice to deceive" by Ann Rule who sadly passed away recently.  I enjoy reading her true crime stories and it is remarkable to think that while she was writing and researching these books she was actually a good friend of Ted Bundy and yet she never realized he was a mass murderer!!

It's a Bank Holiday here in Ireland.  Yesterday I suggested to Ciaran we go off hill walking or some other activity.  It was a lovely day today so we set off about midday to Tibradden in the Dublin Mountains.

 We really enjoyed the walk - look at how amazing the scenery is. From the top there was such a fantastic view of Dublin City.

 At the top we had cheese & ham sandwiches then made our way back down.  We had a great day out - It really is the simple things that can give such pleasure!

Supervalu Food Academy featuring Koo Kee Cookie Mix

In my local Supervalu there is special section called the Food Academy.  It has ranges of specialist foods from local suppliers.

There is pate, rashers, desserts, sauces and lots more for sale as part of this innovation.

I've bought this flavoured butter before.  Irish butter is the best and these are the perfect size for slicing up and using on your steak.

These Rocky Road biscuits look so good.

The owner of Koo Kee cookie mix was selling her product (and giving samples) so after chatting with her for a little while I decided to buy the Oatmeal & Chocolate mix.

Here's the cookies that I made from the mix.  They are gluten free and were rather tasty!