April Favourites 2015

It is very hard to believe it is May already. I honestly can’t keep up with how fast the year is flying by. In less than a month, I will no longer be on Co-Op with ILOVELIMERICK and I won’t be a Second Year student! 😮

I currently should be sleeping but I can’t sleep at the moment, I don’t want to say too much at the moment but my family received some bad/shocking news yesterday and I can’t get my head around it and now I can’t sleep. So instead of lying in bed looking at the ceiling, I said I’d be productive!

So even with April being a very busy month, (I know I promised to blog more but I just couldn’t find the time and when I did, I was just too exhausted!) I still had time to take note of what I was enjoying for the month, so here they are.

Music

So the first song I have been loving this month (and maybe a bit too much, I am singing it ALL the time!) is Sweater Weather by The Neighbourhood BUT it is not the original I love. It is a cover by Max Schneider and Alyson Stoner that I adore so much. Their vocals blended together are incredibly beautiful and I could listen to it on repeat all day (which I have!).

Another song I have been loving is my 8 Boys, Stereo Kicks and their Debut single Love Me So. Written by one of the lads, Tom Mann, it is not the usual upbeat pop music a boy band would release as their first single. But this song is a beautiful ballad, if you could call it that. Their vocals are shown off in this song and I think the boys are trying to prove a point, that they should be given a chance because they can sing and can sing very well. And they can write songs very well! Tom’s vocals at 2:32 kill me everytime! I am super proud of my 8 boys! (Especially Tom ❤ )

Fashion

So with Laois Rose, I got to dress up quite a lot. So on the night Laois Rose Briefing, I wore a dress from Born Boutique (€69) and silver sandals from Korkys (I think they were €50, they are about 3 years old). I adore this dress. It’s such a girly dress, I felt like a princess in it and since I have lost weight, it was very flattering on. One of my favourite things about this dress is that it has pockets. 

 

So I had to get photos taken with my sponsor for Laois Rose so we had a little photoshoot in the pub. I wore a new wine coloured Tulle skirt I got on Etsy, which was €34.71 and you can get it here with a black tank top from Pennys/Primark, black blazer from New Look, black heels from River Island and hat from Topshop. I am in love with Tulle skirts at the moment. 

My last outfit is a casual one I wore to The Vamps’ Concert in April. The top and jeans were both from New Look. My black converse are from Schuh.

Book

My favourite book for April is Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Having loved Fangirl, I was expecting great things from this book and it didn’t disappoint. Eleanor and Park is all about a high school romance, but not the typical type. Eleanor is the new girl in town, who has crazy red hair and the weird clothes, so she stands out, even though she never wanted to. Park is the smart but quiet Asian boy who hates the attention on himself. Eleanor and Park awkwardly sit together on the bus but never speak to each other, until Park notices Eleanor looking over his shoulder while he reads his comics. I don’t want to give too much away but this love story is extremely cute and I couldn’t put the book down once I started. The ending killed me though, I hated it! Summer Aurora from The Guardian agrees by saying: ‘The ending left me craving so much more of it. The last page left me confused and a complete wreck. Honestly, it hurt, and I was left hoping that there was an epilogue that had gotten secretly ripped out of my copy.’ If you love soppy, cute books, read this book.

Youtuber

So recently, I have been watching a lot more of Marcus Butler’s Vlogs and Main Channel videos. Marcus is from England and just like Alfie, vlogs every day and has a new main channel video every Friday. His fame has steadily rose since 2012 and currently, he has over 3 million subscribers on his main channel alone!!! (I have 2.. Even 100 subs would be the dream!) He is very attractive but sorry ladies, he has a girlfriend. He is dating Naomi Smart who is also a Youtuber/Blogger. Below are his recent Main Channel video and Vlog.

 

Beauty

I am crazy about any beauty products that contains coconut. I love the smell and the consistency. It just always makes me feel and smell good. The Treacle Moon range is one of my favourite ranges. The body scrub and body butter are simply divine.
Make Up

Contouring is a big thing at the moment. Instead of spending a ridiculous amount of money on those expensive contour kits, I bought Boujour Paris’s Bronzer and Highlighter. Not only does it work like the expensive ones but it also smells so good. I wear this every day and it lasts a long time.

       
Home Decor

(When did I get this fancy that I now blog about Home Decor? 😛 )

Anyway, there is nothing more relaxing that reading a book or even doing some work with a beautiful candle beside you. Lately, I have been loving a candle my Auntie Margaret gave me one day. The smell is Mulberry and Vanilla and it is gorgeous.
Food

So even though I have been super healthy since February, near the end of April, I relaxed a bit with the diet. My Mum came to visit me in college one evening and brought me out to Finnegan’s Restaurant, Limerick.  I was so hungry, I even ordered dessert (I never order dessert!) I had these DELICIOUS pancakes. I don’t think I have ever eaten pancakes as nice (apart from my mum’s!) (Oh and Sarah’s!). The food in Finnegan’s is beautiful. I recommend everyone to go there if they are near or in Limerick.

Lastly, I was reunited with some of my favourites in April. Union J were supporting The Vamps on their tour and I got to meet them again, after two years. They haven’t changed a bit, they are just as sweet and nice as they were back then, if not more.

 

See you in a month for my May Faves!

You Know You Love Me, XOXO,

SJ

Oh yeah, I am going to see Tyler Oakley tomorrow in Dublin! Super excited to see him. Also, I am going to attempt to film my first ever vlog. Wish me luck.

My Laois Rose 2015 experience

Since the age of 3 or 4, I have always dreamed of being a Laois Rose. This year, I got to fulfil the dream. On January 16th 2015, I met current Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh with my current co-op placement and after robbing her crown and chatting to her, she said ‘Sure why don’t you apply for the Rose of Tralee? You’d make a great Rose!’ So with encouragement from family, friends and Anne Marie in the Laois Rose Centre, I filled out the application and sure the rest is history now.

The whole Laois Rose experience kicked of on April 10th, with our Information night in the Heritage Hotel. I had NO idea what to expect that night and was a bag of nerves! As soon as I walked into the room, I was put at ease straight away, greeted by Bernadette with a warming smile!! When I sat down among the 17 other Roses, I became even more at ease when I saw a few familiar faces and sure you couldn’t stop us chatting then. Anne Marie and Bernadette briefed us about the two upcoming dates we had and by the time they were finished, I was more excited than I have ever been before! To get to know the other Roses even more, they had organised for us to go to a local pub for cocktails, a lovely relaxing way to mingle with everyone.

On the 18th of April, we had the Laois Rose Tour. This day was about seeing what Lovely Laois has to offer and ’embracing the cheese’ as Anne Marie said multiple times throughout the day! We also got our sashes for the first time and it all became very real then. We went to the Heritage Hotel Portlaoise, Laois Shopping Centre, The Store Yard Portlaoise, Abbeyleix Heritage Centre, Timahoe Round Tower, The Maldron Hotel and Roll ‘n’ Bowl. It was a fantastic day and a great laugh. All of us got to know each other more and we really didn’t want the day to end!

Selection day – The big day! I have never ever been as nervous as I was when I woke up on Friday morning. I was cool as a breeze all week, very excited for the whole thing and then reality hit! I had my first Rose interview at 10:55 am with the three judges. The minute I walked in the room, the nerves eased a little! The judges were so lovely, I can certainly see why they are all part of The Rose of Tralee. I spoke about how I suffer with anxiety and how I did lose my voice 3 years ago and they were so comforting and supportive towards me. That made me feel a lot better. My only regret in the whole experience is how nervous I was in that interview. I panicked a bit on some questions that I could easily talk for an hour about any other day of the week. Sure I was only getting into the interview when Anne Marie knocked on the door! It was off to get the hair done then! We were treated like princess all day really. We had our group interview at 3pm and that was so much more relaxing because I got to go in with 8 other Roses who are now my great friends! We all vibed off each other, it was like a casual gossip with the girls rather than a group interview! I think we impressed the judges so much that the asked us 5 questions instead of 4! As soon as that was over, it was rehearsal time! Before we knew it, Steve was in and telling us it was almost time to kick off the show! To the two beautiful Escorts, who put us at ease throughout the evening and helping us up and down the stage, a huge thank you to you. Brendan Hennessy, the MC, you got rid of my nerves all together! I was so comfortable with him on the stage that I could of stayed up for another 10 minutes chatting away to him!

  

To the 17 other Roses, you are the most friendliest, kind hearted and fabulous girls I know. I couldn’t of asked for better girls to go through this experience with. You made the experience so wonderful, I will truly never forget it. To Ailbhe, The Laois Rose for 2015, the biggest congratulations to you. You are the perfect ambassador for Laois in the Rose of Tralee, you have beauty, a kind heart and effortless grace. I look forward to seeing you on stage with Daithi at Regionals, you’ll have your Laois Rose family behind you all the way.

To my sponsor, Eamon A’Chnoic. You have been great. I can never thank you guys enough for allowing me represent your pub and our community. This whole experience has been incredible and without your support, I would have never been able to do it.

To all my family, friends and everyone who has sent me best wishes and supported me, thank you so much. I am deeply touched with all the support I received and it meant the world to me. I just hope I done everyone proud.

To Anne Marie, Bernadette, Sarah and Teresa, Thank you so much for everything, especially the words of encouragement when I was so nervous or anxious. The amount of work you guys done with us over the past three weeks is mind blowing, and you always graced with smiles and comforting hugs. You are very admirable women and I am blessed to have been in your company. To anyone who has ever considered going for Laois Rose, do not hesitate. Take the risk. It is totally worth it.

This whole experience has been amazing. It has help me grow as a woman and has definitely helped with my confidence. I am so proud to be associated with such a great organization.

I most definitely will go again, maybe when I’m a little older, wiser and more experienced. That is if the Laois Rose Centre will have me again! 😉