Lit Nit Wit: Twins

Saskia Sarginson The Twins was the book I chose randomly in the library this particular visit.

Isolte & Viola are twins (surprise surprise) who grew up with their troubled mother in the English countryside. The story is seen mostly through the eyes of an adult Isolte in the early 90's, but it does also examine Viola (who spends the majority of the story in a hospital bed as she struggles with a eating disorder). There is also flashbacks to the early 70's when they were 12 when they were galavanting around the countryside with a another set of twins and 14 in London and eventually back in the countryside once more.

 The twins go through a lot as children one trauma after another, the big one is kept until the end which I both dreaded and was almost looking forward to, to see what lead to a chain reaction that lead the twins to go off to become the adults they are.

This story shows how emotions such as grief, love trauma, when not dealt with properly particularly as children without the support of appropriate can lead to gapping tears and strains as adults 

This is a fairly dark book but I enjoyed it, it's kinda like a modern fairytale with love and dark towers and witches

How I blowdry my hair

I don't often blowdry my hair (pure laziness) I should because my hair kinks and goes utterly crazy when I don't. I have a lot of hair   ( I mean A LOT) and my hair type is normal/dry and even though I get stick for my hair colour I like it.

When I do decide to blowdry it these are the products I use and how I go about drying it.







Before I dry my hair I apply Aussie Take the Heat to my ends and I applied the Toni & Guy Boost-It Mousse to my roots for a bit oomp to the hair. I dry it using the Babyliss Elegance Hairdryer. I once read a Rod Stewart interview and he said he blowdried his hair upside down and to the opposite way you want it to lie (If you want your parting to go to the left blowdry it to the right) another tip is when your hair blast it with the cold setting to close the cuticle of the hair (it stops moisture getting into your hair and frizzing it up).

                                              

This is the end result. It takes me a while to dry my hair 100% but when I do I love how my hair looks.

What I wore: Easter

It was Easter yesterday and I hope you had a lovely day, if you don't I hope you had a nice Sunday!!

I decided to braid my hair into halo/milkmaid/heidi braids (easiest way to do your hair somewhat fancy)

The dress is from River Island and the shoes are New Look

Base: Catrice Photo Finish 18hr Liquid Foundation (020 Rosy Beige), Boiing Concealer (01)

Cheeks: Bourjois Blush (03)

Eyes: Naked Palette (Naked, Sidecar, Buck), Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on eye Pencil (Perversion, Mushroom)

Brows:Soap and Glory Lid stuff (Mudhoney).

Lips: Essence Lipliner (10 Femme Fatale)

What I wore to;

The Opera House:
My Grandmother won 4 tickets to see Grease in The Cork Opera House. I had just finished my first week in my new job so I took a ticket to celebrate. Since I wear a uniform and no make up during my work (fair play to those who wake up early and put make up on)

I wanted to keep it minimal and set myself the task of choosing 5 products only.

Base: Garnier BB Cream
Eyes:  Soap and Glory 'Thick and Fast' mascara, Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner in 'Slash'.
Cheek: No 7  Blush Tint in 'Blossom' (I apply this to my fingers and blend into my cheeks)
Mouth: Catrice Lip Colour Pen in 'Glamazona'

Outfit: My River Island High Rise Jeans and a simple black and white striped t-shirt.  

We had a fab time at Grease, there was a lot of swaying and singing along. The actors and set were spot on.

What I've been...

Eating: I am starting to fall for those yummy prepared salad things in Tesco, but they are fairly expensive for what they are, so when I see one in the reduced area I am all over it. This week I tried the spicy couscous and it was amazing, I'm sure I could make it myself but when its already made and just begging to be bought I oblige.
I know I'm late to the party here but I only just had red velvet cake this week, home made by my friend, who only made it because he knew I was not eating choclate (Lent is so almost over, thankfully)













Watching:
I've been making my way through the IMDB Top 250 Films of all time and this week I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, which was such a good film. (It won 5 Oscars the year it was released). I recommend this film to no end.
I was fairly late to the party when it came to Game of Thrones, but then I watched the three seasons in 5 days and was hooked majorly, I've actually met Littlefinger, and the forth season has started and I am tres excited!











Listening to:  Pharrell Williams' Album Girls has not left my ears. The song 'Happy is my go-to running song, it leads to dunning (dancing and running hybrid) but I'm off in my own little world so its all the one to me. The song Come get it bae and Gush and Marilyn Monroe are so catchy too. 

This week I also went to the play 'Grease' in Cork Opera house. If you can go, go I was singing along and swaying and I enjoyed every second. The cast were amazing and the dance moves were phenomenal and the casting itself was spot on. I love going to plays and this was just a great friday night experience

I started my job this week, I am so excited about it, to be doing something and being back in a hospital working. Getting up before 7 isn't even that bad at the moment! 
How was your week?

Images from Google

Lit Nit Wit: Casual Vacancy

I honestly did not know how much of a Potter fanatic I was really till last Thursday and I met someone with blue hair and refused to call her anything but Tonks for the evening. She and her husband started calling my Ginny in return and that made me overly pleased altogether. Anyway when I saw The Casual Vacancy in the Library by the one and only Ms JK Rowling I had to read it. Obviously I knew it was going to be anything like Harry Potter but I still wanted to read it

The book begins with Barry who is a parish Councillor in the english village of Pagford dying on his wedding anniversary, and how his death and the space left in parish council means especially as two major issues surrounding an area of Pagdord known as The Fields are coming up.
The Book tells the story coming from no less than 18 villagers who are all connected to each other be it being class mates family customers, partners. I found all the names a bit confusing but thats more so because I am terrible with names anyway!

This book delves into family and village living and plays on the fact that  everyone knows everyone in a village like Pagford and everyone has secrets and dirty laundry and things no one outside a house should know. It examines the complexity of relationships, family life and what people will do for they're family, bullying,mental health and addiction  and the effects that has on people  and the power the internet.

The imagery was something that also stuck out at me "A used condom like a cocoon" sticks out to me.
And I did NOT see that ending!!

This book is an adult book, which I would absolutely recommend
What are you reading at the moment

How to get over man flu

I don't often get sick, particularly since I've worked in hospitals I've been surrounded by sick people and bugs so my immune system is borderline Hulkish! Even my Hulk of an immune system has its off days like Monday night till yesterday. Even then I was only bed bound until 10pm Tuesday and it was only a headache after. I'd like to give some advice for the day you are sick and the days after.

Eat and Drink: The only thing I ate tuesday was cake and chips (that is totes allowed on sick days...) but the days after, particularly if its a stomach problem, stick to blandish food and protein. I had avocado on toast and a boiled egg for example. The days you are sick and the days after you MUST re-hydrate, hot or cold but fluids are essential! A few alcoholic beverages (if you are old enough to drink, and again your stomach feels up to it) can kill off the last of the bugs too..........(don't quote me on that)

Get of your bed: ASAP get out of there! Strip your bed, get dressed in really comfy clothes, walk the dog, have some food, have a shower! There is nothing better than a shower after you've been ill and you can just feel instantly much better. Treat yourself a bit too, I put on a rehyrating face mask (your skin get dehydrated when your sick too). When it comes to leaving the don't plan on running a marathon the day after a sick day, being ill takes a lot of energy out of you.

Uggs are a must when you are recovering :)

What I've been (#2)

Eating:
Quinoa porridge (recipe from here). I saw this mentioned in a few blogs and I thought I'd give it a try. It was really yum, but I can only get small bags of quinoa and its not cheap, so I'll be sticking to my muesli. Monte Cristo sandwich which is a cheese and ham sandwich dipped in egg and fried, so horribly bad for you but so tasty. Lemony roast chicken couscous (recipe from here) I had a load of couscous that I wanted to use up and I found this and I love toated pine nuts so this was a winner. I didn't want to buy mint and instead I used avocado and I ate it both hot and cold and it was just as good either way

Going to:
Kaizoku con was a convention held in UCC over the weekend my brothers and I went to. The norm is to cosplay at these things so I braided my hair and put on some boots and a gilet and I was Ygritte from Game of Thrones. We watched Pokemon origins (don't judge me) and ninja was played and there was really cool nerdy things for sale.

Watching:
Finally saw The Princess and The Frog. I know all Disney movies are cute but this film was soo cute, the songs are catchy, the main character has such a cool attitude, highly recommended.
The How I met your mother finale was on last night and a lot of people are quite angry about how it ended. I don't think it ruined anything, and the scene with Barney and 'The love of his life' was really adorable.