Pretty Boy Friday

I've had a crush on Karl Urban since Lord of the Rings.

Pretty Girl Friday

Hayden Panettiere

This girls look is super versatile. Whether cute and innocent, or sultry and sexy she just nails it. I loved her in Heros but haven't seen her in much lately. Here's hoping that 2012 will bring her back to our screens.

Wednesday Wishes

A wish for today...

Late nights but good sleep? A good meal but not a full tummy? Great friends and the time to spend with them? World peace? Endless spring days filled with sunshine? A new puppy? Shiny hair that behaves itself?

Nah...

... today I'm wishing for a peach smoothie

Think simple pleasures

Enjoy

Here Is A Challenge

I challenge you to duel.

I will...

...impart wisdom onto a room full of students

...meet friends for lunch

...enjoy an ice cream

...bask in the sunshine

...get my gym face on

...see friends from far flung places

...get coffee and cake

...sleep happy

What will you do to make today amazing?

Typography Scrabble - Andrew Clifford Capener

This limited edition Scrabble set is absolutely gorgeous... and available on pre-order HERE.

This walnut and birch set would make an amazing gift for any scrabble or typography enthusiast. Andrew's purpose of this project was to revive an old, but loved game. His idea is to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what font their scrabble set would come in. The set is available in the font of your choice or with an assorted font pack. 

Love it... love it... love it

Wednesday Wishes

What is your one true wish today? What would make you smile? What would fill you with that glow of joy?

My wish for today is a basic one but not easily obtainable. My wish is for companionship. Even though I am far from being a social butterfly I love having good company around me. I love the hug that your soul feels when you stop and realise that you are happy. The company is good, the conversation is flowing, the smiles are honest and the joy is clearly seen.

First Date Drama

He's plucked up the courage to ask you out... finally... and now comes the dilemma of a First Date. Where to go? The only advice I can give you is don't go to the movies... just don't.

Going to see a film as your first date is probably one of the worst ideas in what will surely be a short relationship. I know that some of you wise women of the world are quietly nodding your heads as you read this and murmuring 'The movies, no chance to talk and get to know one another' or 'What a waste of several hours as you both stare front and centre'. While these are pretty valid reasons to not like visiting the picture house as first date territory they are not mine.

Just visualise everything for a moment... you're going to play the female lead in this particular production (apologies to my male readers, consider it just role play). You've fretted about what to wear, how to do your hair, how much perfume is too much, should you wear heels.. the usual. You've decided that jeans are casual but that your new top and shoes give it an 'edge'. Your hair is loose so that he can see how carefree you are. You're not wearing any rings so that he can hold your hand with ease. Ditto with forgoing lipstick - you want the end of date night kiss to be perfect and smudge free. You've let him pick the movie and agreed to share your popcorn. You still have butterflies in your tummy over the fact that you are actually on a date with this gorgeous man beside you.

And then the drama starts...

You find your seats in the darkened theatre, get comfortable, prop the oversized tub of popcorn between you and open the bag of Malteasers now so that you don't ruin a quiet moment in the movie with the rustling of sweet wrappers. You become incredibly aware that your date is actually sitting beside you. His hand is on the armrest. 

Should you reach out and hold his hand? 

Oh... He moved his hand... Maybe he doesn't want to hold hands... Wait he's moving his hand back... Does this mean he wants to hold my hand?... No wait he's just getting some popcorn... 

Should I try that corny trick of brushing off his hand as I reach for some popcorn at the exact same moment?... Dammit, too late. He's moved his hand away again... He's moving in his seat... Will he put his arm around me?... 

Oh Ryan Reynolds is so cute... I loved him in The Proposal... Should I make the first move in the hand holding situation?... I'm a modern woman, I can hold a man's hand first... His hands are in his lap now... I can't just reach into his lap... He'll think I'm only after one thing... 

God, why are my palms so sweaty?... Maybe I'll wait a few minutes and then hold his hand... Hold on! Why hasn't he tried to hold my hand?... 

This scenario has a shelf life that equals the length of the movie that you're watching. It's times like these that make a 2-3 hour epic movie a disaster to watch. Well... along with the fact that at some stage you're gonna have to miss some of the film because you really wanted to get the extra large coke and drank most of it before the trailers were over. 

The minefield of physical contact within the First Date territory is tough enough to deal with in a well lit room where you can see your opponent clearly. Throw in dimmed lighting, blinding special effects, a very expensive soundtrack and the fact that you have to constantly flick your eyes from the screen to him in case you miss his body language cues and you have an exhausting first date.       

Just not my cup of tea. Not at all.

Give me conversation, coffee and cake... any time. It just works... well as long as he likes conversation, coffee and cake too. I'd even settle for tea, toast and banter if he was cute enough, and had a pot of strawberry jam.

How about you? What tips can you offer for a first date idea? Have you ever gone on a disastrous first date? What happened?  

Pretty Girl Friday

Sofia Coppola has really grown in to her skin in the past few years. Gone is the drawn look in her face and it has been replaced with a freshness that makes her captivating to look at.

Pretty Boy Friday

Rafael Nadal - those eyes, those cheekbones, that Armani ad...

Wednesday Wishes

What are we wishing for this week my lovelies?

I know that my wishes are revolving around getting on top of this unfortunate head cold, and feeling healthy again.

Time to bring out the big guns - swapping the coffee in my travel mug for honey and lemon in hot water, vitamin C in the drawer at work, warm scarf permanently around my throat, not going outside without a jacket, making sure to eat something wholesome and nutritious at lunchtime and keep my evening meals to a minimum so that I can sleep a little easier, lots of soup, cuddling a hot water bottle while I watch tv at night.

What are your tips for keeping ahead of the spring sniffles? I'd love to add some more to my list.

Things I Love Today

Pretty Pastels - Now that we're in the throes of SpringSummer fashion, I have finally embraced the pastel trend that is sweeping across the nation. This weekend my mum treated me to a gorgeous new outfit on the basis that it couldn't have any black or grey in it. So sitting in my room... just waiting to be worn is an amazing pair of peach skinny jeans, a cream cami and a dark cream open knit slouchy jumper. Are you the type of person who has to wear a new outfit right away or do you like to hold on to it for the perfect occasion to debut? I love holding onto my new duds for just the right occasion.

 

Text Buddies - Having someone who answers your texts. It's a great feeling. I love those day long conversations that you can only have via text messages. I text... an hour later you reply... you ask a question... I send an answer... I text when I get a coffee... you reply over dinner... no rush... no panic... just conversation.

Men in Hats - Now not just any hats... this doesn't apply to baseball caps or beanies - unless it's a gorgeous slouchy grey beanie. Lately I've been noticing more than a few guys around our fair campus looking very debonair in an array of hats. Fedoras, stingy brims, panamas, you name it. I love how they finish off a mans look. I say bring back the hat for SpringSummer2012.

Honourable Mentions - MAN CANS, gold glitter manicures, raising my BodyPump weights twice in one week, side ponytails, THIS manicure - so simple I think that even I could do it,watch THIS then read THIS and then form your own opinion about Joseph Kony, floral underwear sets, coconut mochas, yoghurt covered banana chips - my new favourite snack, the thoughts of strawberries coming into season

Pretty Girl Friday

 Jennifer Connelly has one of the most striking faces in Hollywood. I can never figure out if it's her defined jawline or her amazing eyebrows that frame her features so well but today we recognise you as a fabulously pretty girl. 

 

Pretty Boy Friday

Matt Boomer - gorgeous, sexy, talented and unfortunately not straight or single

Wednesday Wishes

How are we wishing today my sweet readers? Right now... close your eyes, take a deep breath and wish for something frivolous.

Go on... no... actually close your eyes.

Now wish!

Did you wish? I did. This week I'm wishing for a picnic with friends. A warm afternoon, a quiet place, a blanket big enough for us all to fit on, some naughty but nice treats and fruity drinks. 

A Puddle Of Romance

Oh... it's raining outside! It sounds so lovely, sitting inside listening to the rain on the window. 

Wouldn't it be great to be curled up on a nice warm couch, with a steaming mug of tea and a lovely blanket... listening to that rain? 

Wouldn't it be amazing to be curled up in the above scenario, with a hunky man beside me? Wouldn't it be romantic? Isn't rain so romantic? 

A walk in the rain... that would be romantic too. With cute kisses... while the rain drops run down our faces. It would be just like a movie... like The Notebook, or Spiderman. 

 

Except that you're not Kirsten Dunst, and he is not Ryan Gosling. And kissing in the rain is not romantic. It's cold, and wet. It's definitely nothing like it looks in the movies. All both of you want to do is to get the hell inside. You want to find a towel to dry your hair before it manages to become stringy and frizzy at the same time. You want to make sure that your cheap mascara hasn't decided to run all down your cheeks and into your cleavage. He's trying to figure out how long it will take to dry out his new trainers and whether that funny sensation in his crotch is coming from your kiss, or the fact that his baggy jeans have been soaking up the contents of the puddle you were both standing in.  

Rain is only romantic to those who do not have to live with it. Irish people do not find rain to be a romantic prospect. It's usually cold, and accompanied by high winds. It turns your cute new umbrella inside out the first time you use it and usually breaks one of the spokes. It means that all of those new season suede shoes that you're lusting after are pointless unless you spend several nights and half your wallet waterproofing each pair. It means that you have to buy your jeans half an inch too short so that they don't soak up rain water every time you run to the shop for a quick takeaway coffee. Pretty hair do's? Don't. Silks and satins? Sacrilege. Dainty ballerina flats? Drenched. A large proportion of fashion? Pointless. All of your work planning the perfect outfit, the night before you know that you're going to run into that cute guy at college, can be ruined with a quick look out the window in the morning. Ok... what can I wear that doesn't touch the ground? That is pretty waterproof? And still looks good?

Bah... rain. 

There is nothing sexy about wearing a pair of wellies to work or college. Even if they're your favourite pair of sparkly festival wellies. Wellies are not cute, or sexy - EVER. Neither are umbrellas. Or rain coats. Or wet clothes that stick to you all day long. In fact you would have probably been better off staying at home and wallowing in the misery that you have just saved yourself. The prospect of rain is romantic. The Hollywood rain scene is romantic. But actual rain... never romantic.

It's weather like this that makes me glad to be single.

Pretty Girl Friday

Elizabeth Banks

Can't wait to see her play Effie Trinket in 'The Hunger Games'

Pretty Boy Friday

John Patrick Amedori

From watching him grow from Evan on The Butterfly Effect to the gorgeous Arron Rose in Gossip Girl John Patrick is a noteworthy Pretty Boy this Friday. Those smouldering eyes and amazing cheekbones, coupled with the slightly tortured look in his eyes begs for him to be cast as a tortured, possibly supernatural character... maybe a character in the forthcoming 'City of Bones' movie??