Five Tv Comedys

I've been watching recently...

 

 New Girl

I watched the first couple of episodes of New Girl when it first aired last year and I thought it was a bit lame. However after numerous people telling me it got better and was actually really good, I decided to give it another go. The second time around I fell in love. I know some people think Zooey can only play the kooky cutesy girl, but if it ain't broke, right? I personally love her and I liked her character Jess more and more with every episode I watched. Another big attraction to the show for me is my love Jake Johnson (who is excellent in Safety Not Guaranteed too). He is adorable. My brother in law and Donnacha are sick of Kate and I swooning every time he is on screen. I still don't get Winston though, people seem to love him but I don't think the writer's have given him much to work with. If you hate Zooey, you will not like this, but I'd recommend it for Nick's "I gave you cookie" speech alone. 

Workaholics

Workaholics was all over tumblr and I kept wondering what it was and then Donnacha asked if I wanted to watch it and we did and we never looked back. It really reminds me of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in that the guys in the show are all friends and write it together. Like New Girl, it's another grower and gets better and better. For those of you who haven't heard of it, the show revolves around three house-mates in their mid twenties who work in the same cubicle in a company where they do as little work as possible and drink all the time and act like they are 15. It's hysterical.

Nathan For You

Nathan For You is a show wherein Nathan Fielder tries to help businesses to become more successful by providing them with the most ridiculous ideas to improve the way they do things. All the businesses and people are completely real and Nathan is unbelievable at playing the straight man in the most unbelievable scenarios. I cannot stress how amazing Nathan Fielder is. You have to watch this show.

Kroll Show

Nick Kroll has been in so many amazing shows such as Reno 911, Parks and Recreation, The League, Community and The Life and Times of Tim and now has his own sketch show in which he plays lots of ridiculous and obnoxious characters. The scary thing is that some of the characters aren't that far from reality. It has some great guest stars too like Jenny Slate, John Mulaney and Jon Daly, three of the funniest people ever.

Bob's Burgers

Bob's Burger's is from Loren Bouchard, creator of another one of my favourite animated shows, Home Movies. Once again a show where I watched the first episode and wasn't crazy about it and so Donnacha watched it by himself but had it on a few times while I was in the room but not really watching it. Slowly I started laughing at bits and pieces I would hear in the background and then I started watching it too. It' so cute and funny and the characters are great and it has Jon Benjamin. Please be warned though, it will make you want a burger. 

What are your favourite comedy shows?

Emma x

*I could have included Arrested Development but I just finished watching it and need to digest it some more. Plus it kind of deserves it's own post, right?


Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Optical Express Laser Eye Surgery

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will know that I have previously discussed glasses and eye issues here. I consider myself very fortunate to have perfect vision, but some of my family members and my boyfriend are not as lucky. My mother just recently got a prescription for glasses after years of being in denial about her sight and squinting at everything. After months and months of pestering her to get an eye test, she finally made the appointment and got her prescription. I have to say I think her glasses look great on her but she always forgets to wear them and I still catch her squinting and chastise her for not wearing her glasses (it's funny how you take on the role of the parent sometimes).

I think it's hard for anyone who has has their eye sight deteriorate over the years to get used to constantly having to remember to put glasses in their bag just in case they might need to read something and for us women this is a lot harder as we tend to carry around a lot more than we need to in our bags so finding a glasses case can be hard when you're not wearing them (I only know this from trying to remember and find my sunglasses every day). It would be so much easier to not have to wear glasses at all.


I've asked my glasses wearing friends and family if they would ever consider having laser eye surgery and the consensus seemed to be that they would consider it if their sight got bad enough that it was really interfering with their quality of life. From what I have read and the people I know who have had it done, that seems to be the main reason for making the decision. I can't imagine what it's like to not be able to see properly and so the miracle of being able to fix that is something I know I would want to try. The people I know who have had Laser Eye Surgery  have all said that the procedure has changed their life for the better.


You can visit Optical Express if you want to learn more about having Laser Eye Surgery.

Would you ever consider Laser Eye Surgery? Have you had it done?

Emma x

Will You Put My Hands Away?

Over the weekend we had some glorious weather here in Dublin. We took full advantage and snapped some outfit photos on Saturday before going to my aunt and uncle's house to celebrate my little cousin's communion.

Dress, Bag and Bangle- Monsoon

Jacket- Penneys

Shoes and Sunglasses- Marks and Spencers

Ring- Zara Taylor

Earrings- Anthropologie (A gift from my lovely friend Ashley)

Nails- Revlon One Hot Coral

Lips- Revlon Fire and Ice

Saturday afternoon was spent talking, laughing, eating lovely food and drinking lovely wine in my aunt and uncle's back garden, it was such a nice day. Donnacha and I celebrated seven years together this past week by taking a little hotel break and going out for a gorgeous dinner. I also attended the Antiques Fair on Sunday as I won a voucher and complimentary tickets. I'm sure I'll be wearing the items I got with the voucher in a future outfit post. We've had a very happy, busy yet relaxing week and even managed to fit in some of the new episodes of Arrested Development before getting up at the crack of dawn today for a long day in work. Last weekend we had the pleasure of meeting our friend Ashley's parents who were here on  trip with some students from Nashville. They were so kind and took us out to dinner, then Donnacha showed them around Skerries on Wednesday. It made me miss my American friends even more but also appreciate how lucky I am to have met them in the first place.

How was your weekend?

Emma x

*Post title comes from my most played song on my iPod, Hands Away by Interpol

Beauty and the Beach 2

Last month I entered the TravelSupermarket.com Worldwide Wardrobe Competition. I then read about their Beauty and the Beach 2 competition and I immediately tried to come up with ideas for each category, Nails, Hair and Make Up.

I wanted to combine all three categories to create an overall look. The look that I came up with is something that I like to call "Modern Beach Pin-Up".

Make Up

When thinking of ideas, my main aim was to create a look using long lasting products that contain SPF so that the look can be worn during the day and quickly adjusted for a night out.

I started with Clarins Beauty Flash Balm as a primer, this is a step you don't necessarily need, but it's nice if you're just wearing the make up for a night out. If you need to during the day you could wear a primer to help your make up last longer depending on your skin type. I then used Double Wear Light foundation because it has SPF 10 so you could wear it during the day as it's a long wearing foundation and I know from experience that it is amazing for hot days. The SPF isn't too high so if you wear it at night you won't get flashback in photographs. I did my brows using a brow brush, some matte dark brown eyeshadow and clear mascara to hold them in place all day.

For eyes I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion in the colour Sin as it's a long lasting product that doesn't crease. You could wear it alone during the day with just some mascara if you wanted a low maintenance make up look for the beach. I added Sin and Virgin eyeshadows from the Naked palette and some waterproof eyeliner for a more glamorous evening look. I finished the eyes by curling my lashes and adding some Maybelline waterproof mascara.

I used a cream blush and some highlighter on the tops of the cheekbones  to give a nice subtle glow and define the face. I dusted some loose powder on my T-Zone to avoid my face looking shiny in photographs, but it's not necessary if you have drier skin.

For lips I used some red lip liner and a gorgeous Revlon lipstick on top, but because this is a fun holiday look, I added a pink gloss on top to give the lips a gorgeous high shine finish. This gloss also has SPF 15 so it's great to wear during the day as we often forget to protect our lips from the sun (well I know I do anyway).

Products Used:

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
Estée Lauder Double Wear Light in Intensity 1
Urban Decay Primer Potion in Sin
No7 Beautiful Eyebrow Pencil in Brown
Revlon Matte Eye-shadow in Rich Sable
Urban Decay Eye-shadows in Sin and Virgin
Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler
Natural Collection Lash Care Mascara in Clear
Essence Liquid Ink Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner
Maybelline The Falsies Volum' Express Waterproof Mascara
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair
Estée Lauder Cream Blush in Evening Rose
theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer Highlighting Powder
No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in Translucent
Rimmel Exaggerate Lip Liner in Red Diva
Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick in Cherry Blossom
BECCA Ultimate Colour Gloss in Flamingo Crush

Hair

When it came to hair I wanted a style that would be quick and easy to do. This whole style took me under thirty minutes and looks great the day after too.

Starting off with "beachy waves" or in my case my natural hair, I had already used an all in one treatment which included heat protectant.

I used a 25mm curling iron pulling the hair away from the face rather than towards or under, you can be as random or as particular as you want depending on the type of curls you desire. I was going for a more defined, retro Veronica Lake inspired curl so I used the curlers at the highest heat setting. This also helps the curls last longer. I then sprayed some hairspray on my brush and brushed out the curls to make them less like ringlets. This gives gorgeous soft sweeping curls and the hairspray on the brush helps them to stay nice and smooth and avoids frizz.

I parted my hair with a deep side parting and added some large flower clips to one side of my head. You could correspond the flower to your outfit or just wear the curls without any accessories. You can bring the small travel size hairspray out with you for touch ups too if you need to.

Products Used:

Uniqone All in One Hair Treatment
BaByliss Pro Curl 210 Hair Tongs
Hair Brush
Hair Grip
Umberto Giannini Beauty Secrets Travel Size Hairspray
Flower Hair Clips and Accessories

Nails

For nails I wanted to continue the retro theme so I gave myself a half moon manicure with a twist. After base coat I used a rose gold polish and then added the reinforcement rings and painted a second coat with a pinky red shades. The rose gold peaks through and is really eye catching in the sun. I also thought it was nice that the nails mirrored the colours I used in my make up look.

Products Used:

Sally Hansen Double Duty Base and Top Coat
Orly Rage
Essie Watermelon
Reinforcement Rings



What do you think of the looks I created? Is is something you would wear on holiday?

You can enter all three categories for the chance to win the overall prize of £1500 and there is a prize of £500 for each of the three categories individually. The competition is open until June 5th and you can find out exactly how to enter here. Please let me know if you decide to enter so I can see your looks! I had so much fun creating my entry.

Emma x

GlassesUSA

GlassesUSA.com got in touch with me recently and invited me to take a look at their site where they sell men and women's glasses, multifocal glasses and RX sunglasses. 

I don't actually wear glasses myself, although as you can see below I have done so in the past during my Film Style Inspiration series of posts. My boyfriend, mother, father and brother all wear glasses and judging from my family history, I will probably have to wear them eventually.  

I know from experience that having to wear eyeglasses can be quite expensive which is why I think more people are buying online and if I do have to wear glasses in the future I would definitely be one of those people. 

When you're buying a pair of online eyeglasses it can be hard to decide what will suit you because you can't try them on in person, but GlassesUSA.com make it really easy to choose the right pair by using their Virtual Mirror feature. 

 

You can search through the different types of glasses frames and "try on" the pairs that you like, comparing them with each other as you go. I tried out the Virtual Mirror and thought I'd share some of my favourite frames with you. I found that the Wayfarer, Cat Eye and larger frames suited me best. 

GlassesUSA.com have a huge selection of glasses including designer brands such as Armani, Tom Ford, Coach, Guess and Karl Lagerfeld to name but a few and they also ship worldwide.

You can keep up to date with all the news on the site by following them on Facebook and Twitter (@GlassesUSA). 

They have also given me some discount codes for you:

15% off + free shipping on your entire order
(orders over $50). Code: FS15
10% off any order of prescription glasses. Code: Blog10

Have you ever bought glasses online or would you ever try it?

Emma x

*This is a sponsored post.

300

For my 300th post I wanted to do something a bit different so I thought I would share with you some more childhood photos. 

North Beach, Skerries with my mam and my cousin Sean

Playing hair salon with my brother and friend

My Third Birthday

Kate, my mam, my cousin, my uncle and me in my Granny's back garden in Skerries

Playing in the pond in Ardgillan Castle

My aunt Liz and I

Zoo Babies

Skerries Head, I think this bench is still there, with Kate and Sean

Me, Sean and Kate (Can you tell we were the first three grandchildren?)

Kate and I at Versailles

One of our many picnics with Dad 

Me and my beautiful sister, so happy we're still best friends!

I hope you enjoyed this little glimpse into my childhood. I couldn't have had a better one!

Thank you for continuing to read, here's to the next 300!

Emma x