Yes for Equality!

 I called in to the pop up Equality Store in the St Stephen's Green Shopping Centre which is selling items to fundraise for a Yes vote in the upcoming marriage referendum on May 22nd.

I bought a bunch of badges and also some car stickers 

("Tá" is the Irish word for Yes) 

I stuck car stickers on both the Smart Car and also my IQ.

I plan on sharing my badges with friends and family who are in support of equality for all!

The pop up shop is staffed by volunteers and will be open for the duration of the campaign selling t-shirts, tote bags, badges and other Yes equality goods with all proceeds going to the yes campaign.  The shop is also a centre point for people seeking information on the Marriage Referendum.

If you want to donate to the campaign you can do so here.

L'Occitane Foot Cream

I really like this Dry Skin Foot Cream from L'Occitane.  It smells great and is really rich.  It is absorbed in to the skin very quickly and makes your feet feel so good!

The Rose Hand Cream is very good too and it smells amazing!!

I was introduced to L'Occitane by my twin sister and I have to say that it very quickly became one of my favourite stores!  Amy and I visited L'Occitane on Thursday evening and we wanted to go back today.

This morning I called to Amy's house where she made me a lovely breakfast and I helped her sort through her clothes as she was doing a big clear out.  We then set off for the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre to go to L'Occitane.  However, it was lashing rain here and the traffic was so bad around the centre that we had to turn around. It was so bad!  I just then went home without having looked in any shops :-( 

While We're Young

What a film!!

We went to see this on Sunday evening and thought it was incredible.

There is so much going on in this film and there are so many messages.  It's ironic, clever and fun.  It's about hipsters, young people, old people, having a baby, not having a baby, life, family, ambition.........I could go on.

With it's deadpan humour and great soundtrack this is a must see film that will make you think about your life and changes you can make.....if you want.

......Then on Tuesday evening we went to the cinema (to see the new Avengers movie), calling in to a packed Rathmines Starbucks beforehand.  I remarked to my husband - Look at us being all "While we're young" hanging out having coffee on a Tuesday evening!

Have you seen it yet?!  Go see it!!!

Good Deal on Coconut Oil

I bought this Coconut Oil in Tesco today - only €1.99!  It's normally way more expensive than that - what a bargain.  I bought my younger sister some too as I was calling to see her.

This one is 100% pure coconut oil.

Per 100ml it has 99.5g fat and 0g of Carb.

I use coconut oil for cooking with and also for Oil Pulling.

Bye Bye iPhone

After a small bit of deliberation I decided to change my phone.

There were two issues I had to give consideration to.  

The first was whether I wanted to commit to a monthly package for phone connection and which plan to go with.  The second issue was whether I would get an iPhone (which I've had for the past while) or change phone to an android.

Having been "pay as you go" for a number of years, but having been constantly spending more month on month, I decided to go with a monthly plan.

The plan I chose offered a free HTC phone or else I could pay an extra €240 for an iPhone 5S.

I chose to go with the HTC as I have been coming around to the idea of getting away from an iPhone for a few different reasons.  One reason is that the battery on the iPhone is brutal - seemingly it is far superior on the HTC.  The other reason I want to change from the iPhone is that I a, sick of iTunes on all the password malarkey that you have to deal with.  I want a less hassle free option.

I've been messing around on the HTC for two hours or so and I have to say that I am finding it quite user friendly.

Watch this space and I will report further the more that I use it.

Beef Dripping & Bone Broth

I'm currently on a 30 day zero carb diet.  In order to increase my fat intake (to give me energy) I wanted to fry my meat and eggs in beef dripping.  Years ago, beef dripping was commonly sold in most butchers in Ireland - I remember having bread fried in beef dripping as a child.  

Boy was it hard to find now!

I eventually found beef dripping in the local butcher.  So happy!  

It really adds so much flavour to my food.

I also made some "Bone Broth" from a chicken carcass.  When it is cold it is gloopy and gelatinous but when it is heated it is a clearish liquid like a consume.  It has a slight chicken flavour but pretty much tastes of nothing.

Here it is warmed up.  I find it warm and comforting and not unpleasant to drink!

And my sister living in Oman swears that it combats cellulite!!!

Work Commute

Here's a few pictures of parts of my commute to work everyday.  I tend to get stopped at lights at this part of Mespil Road near the junction of Baggot Street every day.

This building with the roof off, on Mespil Road, was formerly "The Flower Box" which I had blogged about before.

This is a large apartment block being built on Percy Place - no wonder the house beside it is up for sale!!!

This is heading towards Drumcondra and then the city as I drive home from work.

My commute takes me from one side of the city to the other and then out to North County Dublin.