CLOSED
WINNER KELLIE KEARNEY !!

I am super excited to be launching my very first ever product giveaway on the blog today!!

I am so grateful to you all for taking the time to connect with Strawberry Topics
 What better way to thank you than with a giveaway.

Competition is open to ROI and NI residents.
Go to my Facebook page strawberry topics
Like it and tag a friend.
Simple!

Closing date will be Tuesday 30th November 2015!

Can't wait to see who wins!

Louise x

Canon masterclass

  


















I took the opportunity to improve my blogging skills this weekend and attended the very first Blogger Conf hosted by EOF | Media. I went with a group of bloggers from ITB Blogger Society.

I love these conferences. There atmosphere is always electric. Bloggers, Youtubers and brands have a place to network and of course it is the place to make new friends!

I was so lucky to meet a number of influential people like Melanie Murphy, Riyadh from Spin 1038 and Glamforce Gail! I literally fan girled the shit out of them all.. I am not even ashamed... 

When I am going through the bad times I forget what I love about blogging. So when I surround myself with other like minded people I fall in love all over again.
The sense of community is amazing. For once in my life I feel like I belong (in a room of 500+ strangers- haha!). I come in to myself and it feels great to forget about the grief for a few hours!





I picked up so many tips today that I will use to put out decent content for you all. 

Anouska PB(Check out her instagram here) gave a talk about social media and photography. Her style is next level and it gave me so many ideas for future work!

Here's some pictures of the day! 

See you soon 

Louise xxx

The Marker Hotel

Melanie and me being besties

Dying over instagram

Leticia, Dee, Anouska, Kewe

Declare stand (Fav skincare!)

Hey guys!

I'm back for an update. It's been a few months and if you have been following me on social media then you know I have been minding the noggin and taking it easy.

This week a number of articles have appeared on The Journal.ie (see here) about grieving and bereavement.
I must admit it is hard reading other peoples' stories but it is a lovely and brave thing to be part of. Some of the pieces have been written by terminal disease sufferers and some pieces have been about what to say to someone who is grieving.

You all know at this point that I am in the midst of grieving for my husband Stephen who passed in January 2015.

It is almost comical at times how some people react when they hear this.
I am 27, I have the ability to put on a mask 99% of the time so I don't have to share my pain with the world so when someone new meets me (that's been happening a lot lately- more on that later) you can see the metaphorical jaw being picked up off the floor.

Us Irish are great for keeping things private and not discussing death in public. Cancer used to be a killer for everyone, the survival rates are improving all the time. Poor Stephen was one of the unlucky few,
I don't bring the subject up mostly for fear of what will be thrown back at me. Some people are insensitive and seem to keep at me until they see tears.. Others avoid me like the plague.
It hurts sometimes because I lost two people I thought were friends that way.
Sometimes a simple "how are you getting on"? question is all you need to say. If I say "I'm grand" I don't want to talk. If I start pouring out my worries then I want to talk!

On October 25th just passed, I celebrated my first wedding anniversary. I spent weeks worrying about how I was going to be. I didn't want to make a fuss. I wanted to just live in the moment and have some privacy so I didn't have to feel pressured.
I got locked with Gemma (well I got locked she slept) in a hotel in Loughrea, Galway.  We went to a spa and had a massage and went home the next day.

Grief is like a rollercoaster with lots of peaks and dips. You never know how you are going to feel. One minute I am grand the next I am sobbing. There are flashbacks that haunt me and nice memories that make me laugh,

I am a very spiritual person and believe that Stephen is around me. Meditation helps a lot as I am able to calm myself and being around positive energies helps too.

There is so much more that I could talk about here but a lady needs to keep some secrets hahaha who am I kidding I am a pure bloke! hahaha sorry I am cracking myself up here... ok... tumbleweed passes...

Quick round up of what else I've been up to before I let you back to your day...

- El Dieto stopped after marathon... Emotional eating has been put under control for now so I'm actually following your man Paul McKenna book - I can make you thin link here

This is not a diet, It is about changing the way you think about food. It not only works on your attitudes but also your self esteem and confidence.

I am liking so far!









- I was accepted into and am 8 weeks into college. I am studying Creative Digital Media in Institute of  technology, Blanchardstown. This is a 4 year honours degree course and a blogger/youtuber dream. It involves alot of project work, creating, film making, photography and web design. I am in my element. I am up to my eyes but the motivation to get back into blogging is there.
creativedigitalmedia.ie

- I am the founding member of a blogger society in college! Yay! More work for me but again anything to get the creative juices flowing again

- I'm a qualified Make up artist.. Again.. I went back to get my ITEC certificate over the summer..

- I am working part time again. It's a struggle with course load but I love the place so am working hard to keep the job.


If you made it this far, fair play to you. I will catch you in my next post!

Love  Louise xxxx

Hey everyone!

Hey everyone!

To celebrate the launch of The Great Wood Bar and Restaurant, Blanchardstown I was invited to a training day over the weekend to check out the place before it opened and have something to eat on Wetherspoons! This was to aid staff training but worked out also as an introduction to local businesses and to the local community!
Surprisingly JD Wetherspoons is not well known to a lot of people in Ireland so I will give some background information about the company before I jump in to the review! The Great Wood opens Tuesday 30th June, 2015.

A short history

JD Wetherspoons was founded in 1979 by owner Tim Martin. His first pub was opened in London and it has grown to over 900 pubs since then. The first Wetherspoons hotel opened in 1998. They also run Loyd's No 1 Bars in UK.
JD Wetherspoons offers a restaurant / Pub experience at cheaper prices. Pints start at £2 in UK. They are famous for having no music in any of their venues bar the Loyd's No 1 Bars. Also, the pub names hold significance to the area in which they are located.

JD Wetherspoons announced that they would open 30 pubs over 5 years in Ireland with their first pub 'The Three Tunne Tavern' opening in Blackrock, Co Dublin in July 2014. 'The Forty Foot' in Dun Laoighre, Co Dublin opened in December 2014. 'The Old Borough' in Swords, Co Dublin will open in July 2015 and 'The Linen Weaver' in Cork City has been confirmed to open this September 2015. The old Camden Hall Hostel was acquired by JD Wetherspoons late 2014 but no confirmed opening date has been announced.

The Great Wood

My Experience

First Impressions

Ordering, Eating, Drinking

Service

Conclusion

Hey everyone!




Before I start I am not the biggest fan of Fuschia. I like to give the benefit of the doubt with every brand so I did go into this as if I had never used any of their products before.
I was gifted the Fuschia Dramatise eye shadow palette at a recent event and as an eye shadow lover I was curious to see if it would work out.

I was surprised at how disappointed I was in the quality. Maybe it's because I have been using high end brands for the last few years. Surely that can't be an excuse though?. I want to explain my reasons as I feel bad giving negative feedback but I have to be honest so here it goes!
Single pans are €5.50 each and this palette is €25 for 7 shades VS other brands.
The shadows are highly pigmented but they are like chalk. When you sweep the brush across the pan a lot of product transfers onto the brush. (Check out the picture below). That normally wouldn't upset me but even after tapping the excess off the brush you are still left with fall out on the face after applying the shadow!
Every crumble means waste for me and for €25 a palette you wouldn't last long before hitting the bottom of the pan!




In conclusion, if they added some matte shades and did something with the formula to make the shadows less cakey then I would happily repurchase. Until then, this one is going into storage.

What do you think? Do you like Fuschia products? Or do you have any tips to help me get the most out of the palette?

Louise xxxx

Hey everyone!

As you all may know by now Gemma and I walked in the marathon on June 1st in loving memory of my husband Stephen but also to raise funds for St Francis Hospice, Blanchardstown. If you have read my last few posts you will know the story but for all you new friends have a read here to get up to date!

Once we decided to take part in the marathon Gemma and I realised we needed to improve our fitness levels drastically. We both joined our local gym and I took up the services of a Personal Trainer once a week. It was the best decision I could have made as the workout I was doing was more strength training and was not helping me improve my overall fitness levels. Ben the trainer put me on a 5 day workout plan that involved all over body workouts incorporating weights and something called Xfit. Burpees are not my friend... :(

The trainer also put together a nutrition plan for me. Not going to lie, I suck balls at the plan. Literally every day I do great until the evening rolls around and the boredom sinks in. I already know that stems from my emotional over eating. I am obviously grieving but I have been doing this for years, I over eat when I am stressed, bored, depressed so it is hard to break the habit. I went up to almost 17 stone at the time Stephen died. I stopped looking after myself and all my energy went into making my number one happy. Stephen loved his food. I ate said food with him...
I have lost about two stone though so far. I am currently floating around 14St 13lb mark. I have been so busy the last few weeks that I have fallen off the wagon though so I am trying to kick myself in the hole to start moving again,

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, back to the marathon. Over the course of the journey I focused on online donations and my job allowed me to hold a fundraising day for the hospice. Gemma contributed with cash donations and my Dad brought her card in to his job for sponsors. We are waiting on the last few bob to come in but we are sitting on €1500. Myself and Gemma are over the moon to be handing so much money to the hospice. They really deserve every cent they get!
Thank You to Sky Ireland, Securispeed, Dublin Business School and all you lovely generous people for your support!

We flew through the marathon in 2 hours. I was so glad we got the work in as I wasn't sore or aching after, just tired! Poor Gemma still has blisters from her runners and we got soaked through with torrential rain during the walk!
Over all it was an amazing experience. I would do it again in a heartbeat! Next year I want to be running!

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy! Go on now chicken haha

See you soon!


Love Louise xxx

Hey everyone!

Today I wanted to try something different and post a YouTube video! My editing skills are improving slowly and I am pretty happy with this project!

I recently got the hair chopped again in the L'oreal Academy. I went for the long bob (LOB) look that is so popular right now and I think it really suits my face shape.
Kim Kardashian is probably the most famous celebrity sporting her hair like this but also my favourite blogger Lily Pebbles has been wearing her hair like this forever. :)

@lilypebbles

@KimKardashianWest

Examples of LOB with bronde ombré

I will show you how to create a soft wave using GHD or any straightener really using a simple technique. Let me know what you think! I am really excited about hearing your feedback!

See you soon!

Louise xxx

Next stop made up for the disappointment as we stopped in Cushendun to visit the caves. On the way we took in some of the most breathtaking scenery you could imagine. It was pretty clear day so we could see the outline of Scotland! It is 12 miles away from Antrim coast. There's a bit of trivia for you! Anyway, Cushendun caves is the spot where Milessandra gave birth to the dark shadow in Season 2. It was amazing to instantly recognise the scene setting and imagine the actors at work!


The causeway itself was packed with tourists from around the world. The Giants Causeway is definitely worth a trip. It is fascinating to see the rock formation but it is one of those places that you would go to once and that would be your lot.!