My Highlights of 2014!

2014 has been one rollercoaster ride! It’s been a bit of a crappy year for me and my family to say the least but throughout the sadness and bad news, I have had some of the best times of my life this year! Below I want to share some of my favourite highlights of 2014 (in no particular order!)

Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

The Commonwealth Games took place in August in Glasgow. It has been on my bucket list for years to attend them and when the opportunity arose that I could go, I grabbed it with both hands (and grabbed my mother too!) and headed to Scotland.

My passport and plane ticket to Glasgow. Image belongs to me.

One of the main reasons I wanted to go was to see Tom Daley dive. Tom was diving in the Men’s Individual 10m Platform Diving competition on the 2nd of August and up until 9am that morning I hadn’t got a ticket, I was devastated, even though I did see him on the Thursday night when I went to see Jack Laugher dive in the 3m Men’s Springboard competition,  I wanted to see him dive. But luck was on my side and at 9:58am on the 2nd of August, I got the last ticket to see Tom Daley dive that evening in the Final and I saw him win Gold. I shook with happiness when I got the ticket!

With my ticket to see Tom Daley dive in the Final!

Tom with his Gold medal. Image belongs to me.

As I mentioned earlier on, I got to see one of my other favourite divers, Jack Laugher dive in the Men’s 3M Springboard Final on Thursday 31st of August and I witnessed him win Silver.  Luck was on my side again, as when I was at the Closing Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games, I got to met him. He ran over to me after I called his name so many times like I was Rose calling Jack in the titanic! I was extremley happy. My trip to Glasgow was a very successful one. A few more things off the bucket list 😉

Jack Laugher and I at the Closing Ceremony of the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Paris

One of my best friends lives in Lyon, France and she turned 21 this year and I wanted to surprise her with an unforgettable birthday present. So I secretly flew over to Lyon, even though she found out on that day I was arriving, and surprised her. But what she didn’t know was that I had got two standing tickets to see One Direction in Stade de France in Paris on the following Friday! So on the 19th of June, we carpooled to Paris, one of the longest but most beautiful and exciting road trips ever, and at midnight we arrived in Paris! We got up early the next morning and done a bit of site seeing before the concert! We saw the Arc de Triomphe and had breakfast in a cute cafe on the Champs Elysees.

Melo and me at the Arc de Triomphe.

After that, we took the Metro and went to the Eiffel Tower! It was such a beautiful day and the view was beautiful. Melo and I have this thing were we like to take cool photos in iconic places and what better place to do this than the Eiffel Tower!

Melo and me in front of the Eiffel Tower.

5 Seconds of Summer in London

On March 3rd, I got to see 5 Seconds of Summer in Shepherd’s Bush in London with my 5SOS buddy Giana and some other girls I became friends with through the boys!

WIth Giana, Deanna and Zoe at Sheperd’s Bush.

We queued from 9am that morning, it rained and was so cold. The things we do for those 4 Aussie babes!! The venue is a intimate venue with a capacity of 2,000 people. We were standing, hence why we were queuing so early. We ended up being front row and that was an amazing experience. Every time I see 5 Seconds of Summer live, they just get better and better. I’ve been to over 60 plus concerts and this was up there in my top ten concerts. It was one of those concerts where you just got lost in the moment, in the music. Being there with friends I had made through the boys was even better. Giana and I have this tradition and it’s #GettingDrunkAt5SOS and we have so much fun playing games in the queue! I find it amazing how some of my good friendships are formed because of bands! Looking forward to seeing Giana in London at 5SOS next June 😉

Turning 21

On the 3rd of November, I turned 21. 21 years old. What a milestone to hit. I had my dream 21st Birthday party on the 31st of October, in Great Gatsby style! It was one of the best nights of my life and I got to celebrate it with all my closest friends and family. I will never forget that night (even though I did drink a lot!) because I finally felt happy, within myself and in my life. At one part of the night, I stood alone with the bottle of champagne the pub gave me for my birthday on the dance floor and looked around and just smiled. I had never been more happier in my life.

Me before my 21st Birthday party.

Meeting Shane O’Donnell 

In 2013, Davy Fitz asked a certain 19 year old man to play in the All Ireland Hurling Final Replay and wanted him to do one thing and one thing only – score goals! That man certain done that! Shane O’Donnell scored 3-3 in the replay and Clare won the All Ireland! Shane O’Donnell became the Niall Horan of GAA that day! He became my favourite hurler that day too, purely because of his hurling skills.. Nothing to do with his looks at all! 😛

Shane O’Donnell and I in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.

3rd night of Where We Are Tour in Croke Park

I was privileged enough to go see One Direction on their Where We Are Tour in Croke Park 3 times. On the Sunday, I got a standing ticket and went with my friends Flozey and Susan (plus her sister Janet!). The two previous nights were incredible but the 3rd and final night was something special. I don’t exactly know why it was more special than the other two, but it was the best show of the weekend. I got some incredible photos of the boys and Harry even waved at me (The video is on my Instagram!).

One of my favourite photos of Niall that I took. Image belongs to me.

How big 5 Seconds Of Summer Became

2014 was the year of 5 Seconds of Summer. They were the breakthrough artist of the year and took the world by storm. With two number one singles, with ‘She Looks So Perfect’ and ‘Don’t Stop’ in the UK and USA, and their debut album reaching number one in the USA. The boys seem to be a huge success in Ireland also, with both ‘She Looks So Prefect’ and ‘Don’t Stop’ reaching number one here and ‘Amnesia’ and ‘Good Girls’ both charting in the top 20 singles and the album also debuting at number one. I’m incredibly proud of these boys and look forward to what 2015 has in store for them.

When I met the boys in 2013 in London.

Being front row at Cody Simpson and having Jackson Harris sing to me

On July 4th, I saw Cody Simpson in the Bord Gais Energy Theatre in Dublin. Thanks to my friends Sophie and Jade, I had a front row ticket to the show. For his support act, he had Jackson Harris, an American singer. One thing I certainly haven’t forgotten is Jackson singing to me. I barely knew of him before the show but by the end of his set, he truly won me over. When Jackson was singing his song Right Kind of Wrong, he spotted me singing along to the chorus and of course I got all shy and embarrassed, which made him come over to right in front of me, he knelt down, held eye contact with me and smiled while sang to me and even held my hand. I got so hot and bothered that my friends Jade and Sophie had to fan me down when he stopped singing to me. My favourite thing about Cody’s concert (apart from Jackson singing to me!) was that it was an acoustic concert.  I wrote a blog about the concert so check that out!

Cody Simpson on his acoustic tour in Dublin 2014. Image belongs to me.

Jackson Harris on Cody Simpson’s acoustic tour in Dublin 2014. Image belongs to me.

Seeing Demi Lovato live in concert (FINALLY!)

For my 21st Birthday my best friend Sarah Coghlan ( she has an INCREDIBLE blog too, check it out!!) surprised me with a ticket to Enrique Iglesias’s concert in the 3 Arena on the 23rd of November. More importantly, Demi Lovato was Enrique’s support act. When I opened my card from her and saw the ticket, I was next to tears. I was shaking. She was making one of my ultimate dreams come. To this day, I still can’t thank her enough. When Demi came on stage that night, my heart stopped. I shooking and cried from the minute she came on stage. Demi has been a huge idol to me since 2010 or thereabouts. When she sang Skyscraper and Nightingale, I cried the whole way through both songs. I looked like such an idiot but I didn’t care. Nobody, not even Sarah (although she knows how much I adore Demi) knew how much that moment meant to me. I was so extremely happy. Nothing. I mean NOTHING, could of ruined that moment. I was with one of my best friends, who bought me that ticket, seeing my ultimate idol live. I still can’t believe it. Hearing my favourite song Neon Lights live was incredible. I never felt more alive than I did at that moment.

Demi Lovato performing Neon Lights in the 3 Arena, Image belongs to celebmafia.com

Meeting 4/5 of the Janoskians after sneaking into the Four Season’s Hotel

Jade and I snuck into the Four Season’s Hotel. Like I don’t know how we done it but we did. Thank god we did. We met Skip in a bathroom towel (love heart eyes emoji) and spoke to Jai properly and got him to follow me on Twitter. But we did get kicked out after that. We still managed to meet James and Luke outside. My favourite was finally meeting Luke, god I love him! He gave me a kiss on the cheek! Beau wouldn’t come out to meet us though 😦

The bathrooms in the Four Seasons are so fancy, I had to take a selfie.

Daniel (Skip) and I in the Four Season’s Hotel. He is wearing a Bathroom Towel. And only that! Image belongs to me.

Jai and I in the Four Season’s Hotel. Image belongs to me.

James and I. Image belongs to me.

Luke and . Image belongs to me.

 

Elizabeth’s Sweet 16th

My darling Elizabeth turned 16 this year. Words don’t explain how much I love that girl. I can’t believe she is 16. I can’t imagine my life without her. She is such a beautiful, kind hearted, loving, special lady and I’m so proud to be her cousin. She makes be a better person, she makes me smile when I’m down and she gives me strength when I am weak. She is such a strong girl for everything she goes through and she never complains and is always with a smile! She has taught me to treasure the little things in life.

Elizabeth and I a her Sweet Sixteenth Birthday Party.

My Dad getting elected for the Central Council Delegate for Laois GAA County Board

On the 8th of December, my Dad got elected to be Central Council Delegate for Laois GAA and I couldn’t of been any prouder of him. My Dad had a very bad year in 2014 and this was the lift he needed. The spark that had been missing came back into my Dad. Once again he was the underdog and once again shocked everyone and beat off all competition. I don’t say it to him very often, but I am very proud of my Dad and all he has achieved. He works so hard and does so much for Laois GAA and it’s nice to see that people appreciate my father. So Dad, if Mam has told you about this or is showing you this, I told you you could do it. Once you believe in yourself, you can do anything. You know what you are talking about when it comes to GAA and you are the man for any GAA job in my eyes. Words don’t even describe how proud I am of you. I love you Daddy.

My Dad and me at the Laois GAA Awards 2014.

X Factor in November

As part of my 21st Birthday present, I got to go to Wembley to see the X Factor Studios and my favourite contestants. It is something I will never forget! I wrote a blog about it, if you want the full story! I got to meet Only The Young and 7/8 of Stereo Kicks. I also made a new friendship with Tania who has been incredible to me since.

7/8 of Stereo Kicks. Image belongs to me.

Only The Young and I. Image belongs to me.

Becoming even closer to Sarah, Aislin and Joe

Sarah, Joe and Aislin. I’d be lost without them. It is as simple as that. I love the 3 of them so much it hurts. They mean the world to me. 2014 has given me so many good memories with this trio. I could talk all day about them. But they know why they made my 2014. I Love you guys.

Joe and I.

Sarah and I.

Aislin and I.

2015, please have less sad and bad moments for my family and me. Please me full of happiness and memories to cherish.

My Favourite Album of 2014!

My dear friend Joe nominated me to do this blog (Check out his blog!), and even though I hate him for putting me through the agony of picking my favourite album of 2014, I think it is such a good idea! Well done Joe 😉

The reason why I said it was agony of picking my favourite album is because this year has been an incredible year for some musicians, producing some top quality albums.  2014 was the year for newcomers and these newcomers certainly put their stamp on the music world. Sam Smith, who was announced the winner of the Brits 2014 Critics’ Choice award for 2014, released his debut album ‘In The Lonely Hour’ in May this year. ‘Lay Me Down’ is my favourite track on his album. Ariana Grande’s second studio album ‘My Everything’ came out in August and established Ariana as a major force in the music industry. Without a doubt, ‘Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart’ is my favourite song , which was penned by One Direction’s Harry Styles. It’s been two years since Ella Henderson appeared on the UK X Factor and many critics had questioned if the two year gap would be a good decision for her career, but Ella proved them wrong with her debut album ‘Chapter One‘, with every song written or co-written by Ella herself. In the first week, her album went straight into number one, making Simon Cowell a very happy man! Remember her arena audition where she sang her own song that took everyone’s breath away? Well Ella recorded that beautiful song and put it on the album and ‘Missed’ is undeniably my favourite track of hers. The treasured artists of the music industry also made sure they were heard this year with their outstanding albums. Ed Sheeran released his highly anticipated second album ‘X’ in June, and to date, it has been the most streamed album on Spotify of 2014, with over 400 million streams. Apart from ‘Thinking Out Loud’, my favourite song is ‘Tenerife Sea’. One of my queens Jessie J dropped her third studio album ‘Sweet Talker’. The leading single of the album, ‘Bang Bang’, made Jessie world renowned and is her most successful single to date. The success of this hit single made her album a chart topping album. Although ‘Bang Bang’ is the tune that has me running to the dance floor, my stand out song on the album is ‘Sweet Talker’. Many would say that 2014 was the year of Taylor Swift and her fifth studio album, ‘1989‘. This album is her first official pop album, having been a country-pop crossover artist on her previous albums. The stats establish that Swift done right by making this album as it is the best selling album of 2014. I have two favourite songs from ‘1989‘, they are ‘Wildest Dreams’ and ‘Wonderland’.

One Direction’s fourth consecutive album ‘Four’ is an extremely close runner up to my favourite album of the year (I mean it, the only difference is like 0.01%). Personally, I believe ‘Four’ is their best album. Like many of the critics, I believe this album shows maturity (apart from ‘Act My Age’, but we ALL secretly love that tune!!) and growth for the band, with a more rockier sound. The boys wrote 9 of the songs on the album, and even got Ed Sheeran to pen another song for them. Cosmopolitan clearly agree with me as they have named it number eleven on the 20 Best Album’s for 2014 list! Once again, stats confirm that One Direction aren’t going to be disappearing any time soon, as the album went straight in at number one in over 100 countries!! The song that gets me feeling warm and fuzzy is ‘Night Changes’, it is such a beautiful song and shows off everyone’s vocals.

But my album of the year goes to the real breakthrough artists of the year, 5 Seconds of Summer! It was probably obvious I was going to chose them, I never shut up about them and have been promoting them for nearly 3 years to everyone! If you don’t already know, I adore these guys a crazy amount (I have travelled more times to see them live than any other band to date!). If you’ve been hiding under a rock and have no idea who they are or want to refresh your memory of who they are, check out my previous blog on them!

The Australian pop punk band (NOT A BOYBAND) released their self titled debut album  ‘5 Seconds of Summer’  in June and within one week of it’s release in America, it charted in the number one spot in the Billboard 200, selling over 260,000 copies. 5 Seconds of Summer proved they were to be taken seriously in the music industry and soon became one of the most sought after bands at all music award ceremonies such as the MTV Music Awards and the ARIA Awards, entitling them to perform in front of some of the mega stars in the music industry. But it was them touring with One Direction on their tours ‘Take Me Home’ in 2013 and ‘Where We Are’ in 2014 that gave the platform for the Aussies to make a name for themselves. They soon became pals with All Time Low’s Alex Gaskarth and co-wrote a few songs with him. ‘She Looks So Perfect‘ was the lead single of the album and no doubt was one of the songs of 2014! The boys wrote the majority of the songs on the album, all bar two in fact, with ‘Amnesia’ wrote by the Madden Brothers and their cover of The Romantic’s ‘What I Like About You’.  With songs like ‘Don’t Stop‘, ‘Good Girls‘, ‘18‘ and ‘End Up Here‘ proving their little cheeky personalities in their song writing and showing they are more All Time Low than One Direction. But these four pretty boys have an emotional side too, and this is evident in their tunes like ‘Long Way Home‘, ‘Beside You‘ and ‘Everything I Didn’t Say’. While writing this blog, I asked my mum what my favourite 5 Seconds of Summer song was (thinking it would make it easier for me) but she had them same answer as I first came up with and that is that I actually like them all and can’t choose a favourite. Although, after two consecutive listens to the album, I came to the conclusion that my top five favorite songs are ‘End Up Here’, ‘Good Girls’, ‘Long Way Home’, ‘Heartbreak Girl’ and ‘Beside You’ (Can I just say I absolutely love every 5 Seconds of Summer song on this album? Because I do!!)

Image from 5SOS-official.tumblr.com

If there is one thing I love more than lots of 5 Seconds of Summer songs, it’s hearing 5 Seconds of Summer live and they answered all my dreams in December this year when they released ‘LIVESOS’. This is their first live album and contains 14 songs, including ‘Disconnected‘, ‘Out of My Limit‘ and their cover of Green Day’s ‘American Idiot‘.

Image from http://www.5sos.com

So there you have it, my favourite album of 2014 belongs to 5 Seconds of Summer. In my eyes, 2014 belonged to those guys!

So, what was your favourite album of 2014? Comment below 🙂

My weekend at One Direction’s Where We Are Tour in Croke Park!

So one of the most highly anticipated weekends of the year for an Irish fangirl has been and gone and what a weekend it was! The biggest selling band in the world, One Direction, launched their biggest tour to date, the Where We Are Tour, with three sold out nights in Dublin’s Croker with the general capacity of 82,000 people, meaning over 240,000 people watching on over the three nights! I was one of the lucky few people that managed to go all 3 nights to Croke Park and I am so glad I did! Each night got better and better and for me personally, Sunday’s show was without a doubt the best night of the weekend! I managed to Live While I’m Young, I came away with some incredible Midnight Memories, I danced all night to some of The Best Song(s) Ever, I Happily enjoyed the Little Things One Direction joked about on stage all weekend and found out how Strong I am after surviving standing on Sunday by not getting killed by the younger, crazier fangirls! (Did you see what I done there  with the songs? I am a genius aren’t I?! Okay, Okay I know it was cringey but just giggle anyway!) One Direction performed a set list of 23 songs each night to the thousands of adoring fans who, despite the lashing rain, enjoyed every minute the 5 young lads were on stage.

Croke Park was a huge gig for Mullingar native, Niall Horan as 4 years ago, he auditioned for X Factor in Croke Park and hoped his dreams would all work out for him.

Niall’s Tweet 4 years ago.

I decided to grab a flag and remind Niall that his dream has all worked out and to show him I am so extremely proud of him.

My flag on Sunday Night.

From almost not making it through X Factor to selling out his home stadium 4 years later!

During Friday night’s show, Niall took a selfie with the 83,000 fans and posted it to Twitter a few hours later, showing his appreciation, still in disbelief that he was playing Ireland’s biggest stage!

Niall’s tweet after Friday’s show

 

Although the boys said it was Niall’s weekend, Croke Park was also a special moment for Harry, Liam, Louis and Zayn as it was and will be the biggest crowd the band have ever performed for. With this being a stadium tour, it meant a bigger stage and bigger production and the lads didn’t disappoint! The stage took up all of the Hill 16 and had a catwalk going down to the halfway point of the pitch. There was no shortage of pyrotechnics, with fireworks going off the minute the boy band phenomenon popped up on stage singing Midnight Memories. The stage itself had laser beam lights along the catwalk and projected laser into the stadium also. With many critics and non fans claiming One Direction to be a stereotypical boyband, they really aren’t! The entire show was chilled backed and not over rehearsed. The lads literally just messed around as if the were in a park on their own and not in front 82,000 plus people. They don’t need the choreographed dance moves or the ‘key changing stepping up from the stools’ like what Westlife done because that isn’t who One Direction are. Their fans know that One Direction can’t dance (well Liam can certainly move and Harry likes to think he can) so why would they make a fool of themselves learning ridiculous dance routines! Over all 3 nights, Niall and the lads mentioned how Irish fans ‘are the best fans in the world’ and with that, it must make me an unreal fan seeing as I went three times! 😛 (Okay, I like to think I am!)

The stage!

Liam and Harry were full of life on stage over the weekend and taking the Irish culture to heart. Liam declared his love for Superquinn sausages on Friday night and Harry begged the crowd to scream ‘2 bananas for a euro‘ on Saturday night. Harry also won the crowd over with his Irish accent, talking Irish and simply saying ‘What’s the craic Dublin?’ The lads showed they were having the craic by wowing the crowd with their Macarena skills, singing the Friends theme tune and explaining what flavour of crisps each member of the band was!

One Direction asked pals 5 Seconds of Summer (who are my faves, if you didn’t already know!) to be their opening act on this tour and let’s just say if Croke Park had a roof, 5SOS would have blown it off, that’s how good they were!  They sang 11 songs including She Looks So Perfect, Don’t Stop, Disconnected and a cover of Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream (which might I add is better than the original!).

My photo of 5 Seconds of Summer

Calum on Sunday night.

Luke on Sunday night.

Calum and Luke on Sunday night.

Michael on Sunday night.

Michael on Sunday night.

Michael and Ashton on Sunday night.

Below are some of my pictures from Sunday night when I was standing in the Pink Zone and luckily enough to be so close to the boys!

Me at the stage before the concert started!

         

Croke Park gave Niall Horan his own unique Westmeath jersey as a reminder that finally a Mullingar man made it to Croke Park! 😉

With Croker being such a success, I have no doubt that One Direction will be back their soon and I am already looking forward to it. Gwaaaan Nialler, proud of ya buddy 😉

Now, as my acing body is still recovering from all the dancing and standing and as my post concert depression kicks in, I pack away all the One Direction merchandise and Irish flags. It was a good weekend lads, see ye next time! 😉