Its a tradition of mine for the last years to do my New Year resolutions either on the 1st of Jan or on the 3rd of Jan (my birthday). I tend to keep them on the first page of my diary to remind me to stay focused and cross them with great satisfaction at the end of the year. Usually im doing very well with the big goals like get a good job or save money, but not so good with the little ones – get fit, eat healthy, spend more time with your friends etc.

So after thinking long and hard, these are a few of my 2012 resolutions:

1. Become more organized

 Have to find a good work – life balance, this is probably my biggest issue: when im at home i still think about work. Need to spend more time with my friends, no more rain checks for lunch dates, movies etc.. This girl is going to have a good time!

2. Be fit and healthy

So sugar its No.1 enemy, followed by carbs (found in 99% of my meals) and coffee. It got to the point where i have to change something to re-gain my energy and keep my mind clear.

Also want to start again on my workout DVD’s with Jillian, had such a good routine last year really want to get back on it.

3. Keep my stress levels under control.

I suffer with anxiety and im by nature a worrier. My anxiety gets so bad sometimes that i cant breath, have pains in my chest and an uncontrollable fear. Usually i get it at night time, nothing triggers my attacks i can very well be watching tv or having a shower. Im frankly sick of it.

4. Be grateful for what i have.

Sometimes i forget that i have a really blessed life, im spoiled and loved to the max by my fiance, have wonderful friends and thank goodness a good job that keeps me motivated. As silly as it sounds, im determined to count my blessings every night to remind my self there is light in my life.

5. Travel more.

Because of my dental bills from last year, i didn’t get to go everywhere we planned. Hopefully this year i’ll get to see more places.

6. Stop buying all the magazines under the sun. Read more.

Every month im buying every glossy magazine i can get hold off, fickle to it and then abandon it in my basket. Because the blogging world got so good and of course,my job in the beauty industry,  i find that glossy magazines don’t bring anything new to the table for me. Loads of adds, expensive clothes and sponsored posts, sometimes even wrong product information. No thank you.

Instead ill be re-directing my pennies to buy books for my kindle. The plan is to read a book per week or every two weeks.

7. Stop buying makeup.

Yes you heard me right. Must not buy any more makeup, perfume or cellulite creams (my weakness). Have tons, wasted money gathering dust on the shelfs or in drawers. Its such a waste, i get excited about the next best thing…it becomes some sort of a quest to have it and then when its mine, sometimes don’t even bother to open the wrapping.

And you know whats the funny thing, if you tell me a cream costs 100 euro i don’t even bat an eyelid, but if i see that price tag on a pair of shoes i think its too expensive. So i end up with loads of luxury toiletries and have nothing to wear in exchange.

                                                                                              only half of my lip glosses…

So from now on,  ill be shopping my stash. Every week/month ill rotate my perfumes and makeup and do my monthly favorites.

8. Blog more.

This goes without saying it’s been on the table since i started this blog (almost 3 years ago sigh!). Ill be investing this year in a new camera, so hopefully that will give me the kick i need.

Have a fabulous 2012 and don’t forget to stay positive!

Lots of love,

Hi girlies,

I’ve been interviewed (my…this sounds so posh!) by the lovely people from become.co.uk, for their  Shopaholic blog. You can read my answers here, under the editor’s pick:

http://shopaholic.become.co.uk/2011/06/editors-pick-unforgettable-blogs/

xxx

Probably i bored to death everybody on Twitter about my holiday in Barcelona, but i cant help it. I just get so excited about going away and holidays in general, that i have to shout to the world a million times a day.

I’ve taken a hundreds of photos of everything, so i will just share some of the highlights with you here.  We walked everywhere, visited the Sagrada Familia, spent every night on Las Ramblas, shopped till i dropped in Catalonia Square, went for a swim on Barcelonetta beach, went for a stroll in Park Guell and many, many more.

Sagrada Familia

Park Guell

At the aquarium in Port Maritim

Arc de Triomf

Barcelonetta Beach

Random gesture of happiness

All the photos posted were taken with the Iphone 4 and edited with the Instagram App. You can follow me if you wish on Istagram, i love to browse and see pretty pictures.

We stayed very near of the Sagrada Familia, in the Aranea Hotel. We cant recommend it enough, it was excellent!

If only the next 8 weeks will fly until the next holiday….

Although i had a February favorites post, i feel the need to give more love to the month that just passed. Its safe to say that i had a fantastic time, finally adjusted perfectly to the new work environment thanks to some very nice co-workers and started to discover bit by bit the wonders of Dublin.

Still have a huge list of activities to tick off (yes im a nerd ), but I’m taking my time…want to keep this holiday feeling as long as i can. Also have discovered City Deals and Living Social discount websites, how cool are they! Got a great deal on a laser whitening treatment at White Smile Clinic, only 89 euro down from 280. Have my appointment booked in two weeks, very excited to have it done.

For the first two weeks of Feb, the weather was mainly gloomy so not many snaps of the outdoors. Enjoy my highlights!

Spring finally arrived!!! St. Stephen Green Park

Cup of tea, anyone? At the Leprechaun Museum in Dublin.

Pretty notebooks from Arnotts, for my list making compulsion

Getting ready for summer! Cute sandals from H&M

Until i save up for my Mulberry Bag, this River Island satchel fills that void. For spring, it comes in blue suede too…must be mine!

Also had the most beautiful ice cream swirl in Jervis Shopping center, oh my god its just heaven! They mix vanilla and truffle HB ice cream with morello cherrys, kiwi, strawberry and flakes of white and dark chocolate…major drool.

Hope you guys had a great month as well, fingers crossed for a fabulous March!

Today it was a marvelous day, i might even venture to say that it was magical!

First i woke up at noon*, to a beautiful sunny day and a large mug of hot coffee. While i was watching E! News and browsing my favorite blogs, checking Beaut.ie Blather first as i daily do, I came across a mention of little old me on their reading list (see here)! Blimey!!

After jumping up and down in my sitting room, alerting my BF and upsetting the neighbors downstairs, i wrote a thank you comment on their page and of course in my hangover state, miss spelled ladies *hangs head in shame*. I’m such an eejit sometimes!

So if you read this, lovely Kirstie and Aphrodite, thank you so much for the mention along side with other brilliant bloggers. It really is an honour for me, that you even know about my blog and you read my rambles. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

But the magic didnt end here. While shopping for work clothes on Grafton St, i found 15 euro while crossing the street*! This never happens to me, ever! Must be my good karma hehe.

*before jugging me harshly i must add that i had guests last night. Drink might have been involved.

*felt a bit guilty about it though, i looked around for the poor sucker who lost the money but nowhere to be found. Maybe the fairies left me a tip.

Hello there, how are you lovely people? Embrace yourselves for a long one.

As I mentioned in a previous post (here), I have started 2011 in style: new job, new house, new city.  Three weeks ago, we packet our bags and left Sligo for an exciting new beginning in Dublin City. Frankly I found it quite traumatic, yes I was and still am excited of the change, but I really loved our little red brick house and the feeling of leaving all my close friends behind, sadness me.  What amazes me still, is that I found it easier to change countries four years ago, moving from Romania to Ireland, than moving from Sligo to Dublin. Life is funny sometimes.

We hunted for apartments for a couple of days, religiously checking daft.ie and making thousands of phone calls. I swear that some of the apartments must been photoshopped or something, because what seemed charming and new in the photo… was another moldy (literally) story in real life.  And don’t let me start on some of the letting agents, some of them were really cheeky on the phone… “Tell me miss are you working? Where? Oh aren’t you lucky to have a job. Can you afford the rent, it’s quite expensive you know?!”  No, I’m just going to pay deposit and first month in Monopoly money and then sell roses in front of the building and hope for the best.

Anyway, we found a lovely cozy apartment that I’m really happy with, very close to the Luas (or Lucas as Wendy calls it ) and only 15 min away from work. Awesome! Here are some pictures of my little home treasures:

 Our house and life motto. I got these pictures from Next, when they had their December Sale. They always cheer me up.

Unfortunately i had to leave behind my pots of flowers, due to the lack of space in the car. First thing that we bought when we moved in,were these new babies. They cheer up our bedroom and gives us fresh air, win win .

Absolutely obsessed with Yankee Candles and their accessories. My favorite so far are Lemon Lavender, Vanilla Lavender and Black Cherry.

All we needed was to set up the internet, TV, bins (!) and get all our deposits back from the old house. Easier said then done.

Cue another million calls to different providers, requesting our deposit money back and arranging installations. “Tomorrow we’ll post your check, you should have it in 5 days max”,said Calor(gas heating provider). Of course five days later, no sign of it, called again. “Oh, it hasn’t been posted yet, we will do it tomorrow” Arrrrrhhhhhhhhh!!! When they want my money for deposits, they want it NOW, but when refunding it I can wait, sure I’m made of money.

Sky in fairness was the easiest move, in two days had it up and running with no hassle, bless their cotton socks.

Eircom on the other hand, it has taken them three whole weeks to switch the button and give me my beloved internet, even if I had my phone line and everything already set up. Not impressed at all, they gave us three times definite dates and failed to provide each time. Don’t they know that I have to read my favorite blogs?

Also what’s the story with the bins in Dublin? 10 working days to deliver a bin??? What up with that? Where should I dump my rubbish? Ok, we recycled the cardboard, plastic and glass, but what about the rest of it? Felt like I was in my own edition of How clean it’s your house. Yes, I have been watching a lot of crappy TV.

Rant and stress over, I’m all set up and ready to start my job and hopefully, fingers crossed to start to blog more. Had mighty plans for this break like to start eating healthy, to exercise, bla bla you know…the usual. Instead, I’ve eat my body weight in M&S morello cherries pies and watched copious amounts of Mad Men and Come Dine With Me.

What have you been up to lately? Any moving house stories?

Well hello 2011!! Happy New Year everybody, hope you all had a great start to the year!

Lots of good things happened since i blogged last, got my dream job and I’m moving to Dublin in a few weeks!! I know, my entire life got a 180 turn, i still have to pinch myself haha.

I’m extremely excited and sad at the same time, i have been living in Sligo for almost 4 years, have so many friends and met lots of lovely people, it sadness me to just pack and go. On the other hand, love the buzz of Dublin, there are so many things to do and see…and the shops, dear god the shops! I’m sure i will end up broke every month.

On Monday we will be going up to see some apartments and hopefully we’ll find something nice, i can be very fussy when it comes to choosing a home…maybe because i love so much our current one. Plus having one of your best friends as next door neighbour, makes things even more difficult.

Beauty wise i have plenty of blog material, i have been using up some skincare items and have some makeup favorites too. Last week I’ve done a Body Shop haul as they have there December sale and picked up some really good bargains. Also have a product rant which I’m not sure if i should put it up or not…my policy is if i don’t like it, i don’t write about it, but I’ll see.

Oh, almost forgot to show you some pictures ive made over Christmas in Sligo. It was like a fairytale land with all the snow, loved it!

Hope 2011 will bring everybody good health, peace and happiness!