June Favourites and Catch Up.

Hello Friends!

Oh my, what  a month June has been! 

So lets start at the start. I was off work for the first 2 weeks and had planned to do the utmost work for my blog during the second week after I did all the things I planned the first. My friends and I headed to Belfast for a couple days and it was a really good trip! I would highly recommend a visit to the city if you have never been and can't wait to go back. The food, the drink, the bars, the shopping, all fabulous with some fabulous company too, made it even better.  Aren't my friends beautiful!! ;)

I then went down to my dads for couple days, it's always great to catch up and see my younger siblings, their so cute!! My dad and my stepmam are amazing parents and it brings me right back to when I was a kid. I always idolised my dad and still do. Yeah ok, I'm a proper daddys girl, spoiled brat LOL but he's an amazing father and would do anything for his kids. I'm loving watching my dad and my younger brother (9) get all caught up in the world cup. Boys will be boys!! ha. 

Ella xx

Lee xx

Then onto my second week off. I trained hard, I had 3 sessions with my trainer and got in my own long distant walking too. And caught up with some friends during the week also. Then that weekend, I got a call on the Friday before fathers day to say my dad had been taking into hospital and off course you always think the worse. And I went straight down to him. But he is fine now and making a swift recovery so I got to see him just before fathers day which made him and me really happy. 

My mam organised a barbecue on Fathers day with my aunty, uncle and lil cousin, a nice little family get-together but from that morning I felt something coming on. By 6pm I felt rachet and exhausted! Now I am partial to an early night but even that's a bit early for me haha. So I went to have a 'lie down' which turned into me completely knocked out under the covers because I could not get the heat into me. I then woke at around 11 with a fever. And I thought, 'great', frickin viral infection got me! My stepdad and nephew had had it during the week. I got up the Monday my last day off and wanted to make the most of it, being back to the grind on Tuesday for work, So I went about my business which took A LOT of effort, again still a bit of a fever but life must go on. I met my friend for lunch but could barely eat because I felt my throat was beginning to cave too. The minute I got home I was back in bed as I was in work the next day. Got up on Tuesday at 5:30 AM (15 minutes earlier than usual) to give myself plenty of time to get ready for my first day back at work after holidays. I had my shower as per usual but I knew when I got out that work wasn't going to happen, I was done for and felt awful!! So I spent the day in bed. Up and at them on Wednesday went to work that took so much effort! And at this stage I now had my mam, friends and colleagues telling me you need to go the doctor! But me being me, my argument was 'I'm not paying 60 euro to see a doctor to be told this is a viral infection', as far as I know they have to run their course but I caved, I was off the Thursday as it was so I made an appointment. The doctor took one look at my throat and his reaction was priceless.  'Amy, how long have you been like this'! Basically, I had full blown severe streptococcal throat. And I would not wish it on my worse enemy. And I will tell you that I will never put myself through that again. Regardless of what I think it is, I will never try self-diagnose again. It knocked me for six and I was at least 2 weeks before I felt back to myself. 7 days of very strong antibiotics left me feeling sluggish and tired but thankfully they weren't long before kicking in and I feel much better.

It was also my nephews forth birthday on the 18th and my mam and sister throw his party at our house so a few drinks was had after a long shift at work on the following Sunday. Have you tried the Smirnoff frozen cocktails? Pretty good! And I know you shouldn't drink on antibiotics but I think I deserved them. Look at the amazing cake I got for him! He is the biggest spider man fan and was delighted when he saw his cake. It was delicious too ;)

So we are nearing the end of June just and my poor stepdad was taken into hospital. 8 days in total he was until he came home last Wednesday. ;( And I'll be honest I was worried sick. The house felt so empty. Missed his presence so much. So I fed all the animals- (chickens and the dog) LOL Felt very domesticated.

So the last weekend of June is Gay Pride! I won't touch on too much, what gay pride is all about here, I will at some time in the future, but its a big deal for the LBGT community. And unfortunately I was working! I was devo I couldn't go into the parade with my friends but that's life, it happens. However I get did to finish 2 hours early and I joined them that evening. It was the best night out I had in the longest time and it was just what I needed after a very hectic month, it capped June of on a very positive note. I got to catch up with old friends and never laughed so much, from what I can remember ;) ha. The one of me holding  the flag is from the year previous. I didn't get near the amount of photos I should of, too busy having fun!

So with everything gone on I didn't get to blog near as much as I wished to be honest. I would never have expected blogging to be so time consuming but it is, and I don't want to post anything half arsed! It means more to me than that, I want give every blog post my all.  And I love doing this. So onto my June favourites, I'll keep this short and sweet because I know I have rambled on for days here! 

Okay, so I have 5 favourites for you this month and the first is very special to me! 
  
1: Favourite Disney Princess

So this is my random favourite this month. We all love a bit of Disney and I think most girls have a favourite Disney princess. I love Cinderella and Belle but mine has to be Pocahontas. And the reason is extra special, a reason that I will dedicate an entire blog post too soon in the near future.
Did you know that Pocahontas is the only Disney princess with a tattoo?

2:Hair care

For the longest time, after I washed my hair, brushing it was like a form of torture! My hair gets so matted. And I tried every intensive conditioner under the sun, some better than others but ultimately they wouldn't help with the hair brushing process haha (I have long curly hair and it is a bitch LOL) But I gave this little gem a try and it will FOREVER be part of my hair care routine and it is the Mane'n'Tail detangler. You basically wash you hair as normal with your shampoo and conditioner and then spray this generously after towel drying. The first 2 times I used it I would say it helped, not as much as I expected but by the third time I discovered how much of I need. The hair brush runs through my hair like a hot knife through butter. I have used this everytime I washed my hair over the past month and a half, which is at least 3 times a week and Id say the bottle is still 3 quarters full! Plus on one occasion I ran out of conditioner (horrors of horrors) but that didn't matter because I just used a little bit extra. Its costs just under 8 euro and is worth every penny in Boots, a bargain in my book. Its a big 355ml bottle so there is a lot of mileage in it. My much younger sister has a mop of curly hair too so I bought her a bottle also. I know what she goes through having her hair brushed haha. Now, this leaves quite the residue on the floor! So I resided to standing on my mat when spraying it into my hair because you will go flying and hurt yourself if its left on the floor (little warning) :) Mane'n'tail was originally invented and formulated for horses as it suggests in the title!  

3:Trainers

Most of my friends now I love vans! I own too many pairs. I got these ones for Christmas and hadn't warn them until this month (was I subconsciously leaving them til the summer) But I love them, they make me happy haha they are just basic black with the white rim sole and white laces available in Office. PS I store them in there original boxes too. Obsessed much?...

 
4:Clothing

You have probably see this very light box padded jacket pop up in photos. I got this off boohoo.com and it goes with everything, very basic and very light so its perfect for summer evenings. 

5:Accessorie

I bought this black and white satchel in Pennys while I was in Belfast and I've been getting so many compliments on it. Now I know its one of those bags you'll either love or hate but I love it. I wear it across my body and it fits all my bits and bobs I carry around with me everyday. It cost me 12 pounds if I'm not mistaken and as far as the quality is concerned I would  say it definitely reflects in the price. I don't buy bags all the time but when I do I buy them in River Island, New Look or A Wear as there quality in bags is really good. But if I get the summer out of it its money well spent. I'll have a 'whats in my bag' blog post with this soon.

And there you have it, I know this is more of a catchup blog but I also wanted to mention a few things I loved during June. July will set out brand new challenges. I'm finishing up with my trainer, to say I'm dreading it is an understatement this will truly test my inner motivation. Going it alone scares me so I have to have a good think about my next move in terms of keeping active and getting fit. Plus something very super, my sister is due her baby girl any day now! I cannot wait to be an aunt all over again!!!!  

I hoped you enjoyed reading this and I'll be back very soon with another post. 

Much love, as always,

Amy xo