Our Fabulous Day Out in Powerscourt!

I love Summertime in Ireland but one thing you can't rely on too much is the weather. I heard predictions of horrible rainy weather but that wasn't a problem today as it turned out to be a scorcher out. Seeing as it was so nice out, Paddy and I decided to take a bit of an adventure and headed to Powerscourt. We both hadn't been in years so we couldn't wait to go. Considering neither of us drive yet the best way for us to get to Powerscourt was on one the City Sight Seeing buses. If your ever in Dublin you won't miss them as they are bright red in colour and there pretty easy to spot from a mile away. The route to Powerscourt was great as it took you through Dublin and showed you different landmarks, even though Paddy and I are born and bred in Dublin we still find things like this really interesting as you can miss out on small little things like this when you live in a city all the time. The journey to Powerscourt took roughly 30/40mins which for me personally is time well spent as the views once you get there are breathtaking! On the driveway up to Powerscourt, we passed the Powerscourt Hotel Resort which is the most beautiful hotel I've ever seen! I'd love to stay there sometime but I'm guessing it would cost an arm and a leg.

Our tour guide was such a lovely lady and super friendly, we arrived in Powerscourt at 3.30pm and she let us wander around for two hours taking in all the sights. I put all my favourite pictures from the day up above as you can see we definitely had a beautiful day for it! My highlight from Powerscourt has to be hands down, the Japanese Gardens which you can see a bit of in the top picture! It was so nice and peaceful, I could of sat and sunbathed there forever! I also got to pull out my sunnies for the first that Paddy bought me, there pink and yellow what's not to love! There was actually a wedding taking place while we were there so there was alot of well dressed people walking around the gardens and lovely classical music playing. By far the weirdest thing I seen was the pet cemetery, soo creepy I couldn't deal!! It's hard to believe that Powerscourt used to be somebodies house and gardens, unreal if you ask me! I thoroughly love the place and I'll be heading back soon to check out the waterfall, apparently it's seperate to the bus tour so another day out to Powerscourt is certainly on the cards. If your looking for a place to go on a day out to if you ever visit Dublin, I'd definitely recommend hopping on one of the City Sight Seeing buses, Paddy and I are already looking into our next trip!

Did you get up to anything nice over the weekend so far??

Laura<3

New lovely launches from Gosh Cosmetics!

 Back in my secondary school days Gosh Cosmetics was always a brand that I was drawn in by. I must of had nearly all their lipglosses at one stage and I was forever dragging my Mum into every shop I seen their stand in. I was given the chance to try two new products from the brand so of course being a big fan already I was pretty excited.

First up of the new releases is their CC Cream Illuminating Foundation. Straight off the bat I'm in love with this stuff!! Working at 9am every morning means I want a makeup routine that's quick and easy, needless to say this CC Cream fits in perfectly. I apply this all over my skin with finished off with a light dusting of Soap & Glory's One Heck Of A Blot and Benefit's Hervana blush and I'm ready to take on the world! This CC cream just gives you a gorgeous natural health glow! Even though this CC cream is described as being light coverage, it still fades out all my skin imperfections. For someone like me who may not have been jumping on the CC cream band wagon initially, I'd definitely consider giving this one a shot. The shade I was sent to review was '03 Sand' which wouldn't be the perfect match for my skin but with a little bit tan this would be perfect for me. I can definitely see myself using this alot over the Summer as a replacement for my heavier foundations. It's nice and light which will be great under the harsh lights in work and of course on the beach on sunny days. At €13.99 I do believe this is money well spent as a little definitely goes a long way. I'm considering even going into McCabes myself and picking it up in a lighter shade on payday.

Next up we have the Gosh Prime n' Refresh Illuminating Eye Roll-On, another product that is a handy addition to anyones makeup bag. I some times tend to neglect eye creams in my everyday routine but now that I'm 24 I definitely think their a welcome addition. Not that I have loads of fine lines yet but it's better to start using them earlier then later. I love putting this under my eyes before I go to work if I'm feeling a bit on the sleepy side of things. It works perfectly beneath my under eye concealer and definitely makes me look a little fresher if that's even possible at 7am on a weekday morning. Even though this is quite a small tube I know I'll get a quite a while out of it. I wouldn't go as far as saying that I've seen it instantly tighten my under eye area but it definitely leaves them looking brighter which in turn makes me look wide awake and ready for the day ahead.

What are your favourites from Gosh Cosmetics?

Laura<3

Flora Women's Mini Marathon 2014

Yesterday I took part in my 2nd Flora Women's Mini Marathon, I was unsure if I was going to take part until the last minute as I lost a close family member early yesterday morning. Having trained hard for the big day I know deep down she would of wanted me to power through and do it. The weather was just right on the day, I was worried it was going to lash rain but that wasn't that wasn't the case.

The charity I supported for the second year running is Friends of St Luke's which raises much needed funds for St Luke's Hospice in Rathgar. It's not a well known charity so I love giving them my support every year. This year I was also a part of Team Herald which was really exciting. The Herald is a national paper here in Ireland and in early March they were looking for people to take part in the Marathon as a part of their team. I put myself forward and I was so surprised when they emailed me back saying that I was going to be there fast jogger. At first I didn't think I'd be able to fill those big boots but after training hard for the past few weeks I knew I could do it. I have to say a special thanks to both the mentors Louise Heraghty and Ruth Scott for their help and words of wisdom along the way. I also can't forget to thank both the Elvery's Power Team and the Flora Women's Mini Marathon office. I definitely enjoyed running the Marathon with The Herald, it was definitely a great experience that I will remember.

Last year I finished the Mini Marathon in 1hr 13mins and this year I finished in 1hr 4mins which I was delighted with I definitely had an angel looking down on me.The route of the Marathon changed slightly this year due to the Luas works in Stephen's Green and I found it almost a little tougher even though it's the same distance which was a little odd I guess. I always feel a huge sense of achievement when I complete a 10km cause it's no easy feat. I still get a little nervous everytime I start one. If you haven't taken part in the Flora Women's Mini Marathon before I'd definitely look into doing it next year as it is really good fun! I know a couple of other bloggers took part in it too so I hope they had an amazing day and raised plenty of money for their charity. Next up I hope to complete a half marathon, the Rock n' Roll Dublin Marathon looks like so much fun so who knows I might do that in August.

Have you ever taken part in a marathon? Is it something you'd like to do??

Laura<3