A Slice of Dublin

As many of you know, I've been away in Dublin! I've never been to Ireland before and I had expectations of noisy, busy irish bars with bands, drinks, laughing and dancing. It's exactly what I got and I could NOT be happier with my break!
Here is just a few piccies from my trip with the boy.

me with my FIRST ever Guinness on the first day. In an Irish bar, watching Gaelic football, drinking Guiness, listening to an Irish band.

if you go to the Temple Bar in Dublin - GO HERE! We went every day, and this bar mixed with a particular band really made the trip for us.

The Temple Bar

View from a bridge.

In Guinness Storehouse. Just LOVE the effect on this. Not edited at all!

On an open top bus tour - looking very happy and a tad windswept!

A pretty church

Guinness distillery

Self explanatory...

EEK! SO SO CLOSE!

Decided to act like a little kid. Was quite high for mini me, so the boy laughed at me trying to get on and off

LOVE my big cats

Last night cocktails. An After Eight and a Baileys Maltesar Crunch

The Irish band that MADE the trip for us. And the band we danced to, on our own, in front of a full bar. I blame wine and sambuca. And the boy.

Dublin Castle

I would seriously recommend Dublin to anyone and everyone. There is so much to do there and something for everyone. I really didn't want to come home, was not ready to come back to reality! I was quite happy with my fuzzy drunken Dublin reality.
TAKE ME BACK!

Any Size: Stripes

We all know the myth behind stripes. Vertical stripes make you appear taller and slimmer, horizontal stripes make you look wider. I don't believe these myths in the slightest. I think it all depends on how you style it!

So take it away girls, show em how to style!

size 8: Jayne from Miss Jayne Becca
Jayne shows off her tiny frame in this cute and flattering stripy sundress. It's a casual look that she's teamed with wedges to give it a day to night feel. LOVE!

size 10: me!
You know me, I love my nautical stripes. If it's navy, i love it, if it's stripey, I love it. So the more the merrier! This dress is super flattering on my curvy shape!

Size 12: Gillian from Gillian Etc
I love this tunic dress on Gillian, it compliments her figure perfectly and it's slouchiness is perfect for anyone who isn't a size 0! The perfect stripey outfit.

Size 14: Bex from Futures
Proving the myth of horizontal stripes making you look big totally and utterly wrong! I love the combination of thin and wide stripes to give the illusion of an hour glass figure. Looks so good!

As always, my girls have done me proud! Showing you exactly how stripes, any stripes, can look amazing on all sizes!

To get involved with Any Size just give me a shout on twitter! I am in Dublin as we speak so you may not hear back for a couple days! A big thanks to the girlies above, without them this wouldn't exist!

How would you style your stripes?

Clinique Chubby Stick

Clinique Chubby Stick in Super Strawberry £16.00

O hello new lip colour. I've wanted to a chubby stick for ages. You know how much I love the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stain, and these are the original so!

I was not disappointed. The feel of these is so different to the balm stain. They feel more moisturised, and a bit more slick. The colour goes on so easily as well. The lovely Clinique lady told me that these contained honey to moisturize and you could also build as much colour as you wanted. You just need to build it up, or leave it as sheer as you like.

I chose Super Strawberry because I thought if I was going to spend £16 on a lip stick/balm thing, it should be a colour I'm going to wear a lot - i.e. my lips but better colour. It's quite a berry pink I feel, slightly darker to my usual nudey pinks but I love the colour. It just adds that extra pop!

It stays on for a couple of hours, and the feeling either longer which I love. Definitely a favourite of mine and I do want more - I'm just a bit dubious about the price. £16 is quite a lot of money when you can get something very similar from Revlon. I would say the main difference between the two is that Revlon's Balm Stains are more matte and they have a more 'solid' pigmentation. Where as the chubby sticks are a bit more sheer and have, what I want to call, a more natural pigmentation. If this makes sense at all!!

Have you tried chubby sticks? What colour do you recommend?

Onboard Outfit

 cardigan: F&F Tesco  |  vest: H&M  |  leggins: topshop  |  boots: H&M  |  necklace: lola rose  |  ring: accessorize  |  earrings: Sainsbury's  |  nails: essie bikini so teeny

As you read this I will probably be on a plane to Dublin! Eeek! This is my summer holiday, in September. So this is the sort of outfit I'll wear on the plane. This cardigan was an impulse buy when I forgot one for work, and I absolutely love it. It's so warm and comfy and it was cheap as chips as well!

I think this teamed with leggins and a plain top is perfect for the plane. it's such a comfy outfit, and where the cardigan is thick, it's easier to wear then stuff it in the case!

What do you think of my on board outfit?

Links of London Keepsake Charms

Links of London, Keepsakes Wishbone Charm £35*

We all know I love my Links. I wear my Links bracelet near on every day and I'm always looking for new charms for birthdays or christmas. I want my charms to have meaning behind them, which is why I'm so excited about Links of London's new Keepsakes collection. Each charm in the new collection has a little meaning behind it - which I love!
Links offered me the chance to choose a charm, and with basically restarting my career path at the moment I thought I could do with all the luck I could get - so I went for a lucky wishbone! It has "Make a Wish" written up one side of it (sorry, I couldn't get a fab picture of that, stupid camera) and I just love it. As you can see it's settled safely on my Links bracelet with my other charms!

I have popped my top 3 favourites from the Keepsakes collection below, I've based these on what I would personally get at the moment, which is anything to do with luck and also my birthday in November! I am a sucker for anything scorpio!
There are so many charms I love that you can use for mums to be, birthdays etc - there's a huge range to choose from! Just click here to have a look!

Shooting Star Charm £35  |  Lucky Horseshoe Charm £45  |  Zodiac Pebble Scorpio Charm £45

What charm would most suit your life at this moment in time?