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Copenhagen is a city that's been on my 'Places To Visit' list for years now, so I'm delighted to have finally gotten to go there. While I will say it wasn't my most favourite European city that I've been to (Amsterdam, Budapest and Bruges would probably be my top 3), we did have a lovely weekend, and if you're planning a trip there soon, I have some great recommendations for you!

25Hours Hotel Copenhagen




Where We Stayed: 25hours Hotel Indre By

I couldn't recommend 25hours Hotel Indre By enough if you're planning a trip to Copenhagen anytime soon. It's right in the middle of the city, the decor is absolutely gorgeous, and I think it's excellent value for money. We booked a large room, and had the most amazing floor to ceiling windows. The room even had underfloor heating, although it wasn't cold enough to use it yet. A big comfy bed, a lovely rainfall shower, and USB sockets beside the bed, it ticked all of the boxes for what I'd consider a perfect hotel room. 

The hotel offers a breakfast style buffet, with the usual European breakfast options of cold meats, cheese and bread, but as the hotel is home to a NENI restaurant location (a fantastic chain of restaurants that serve the most delicious eastern Mediterranean food), there was also mango hummus and fresh olives in the buffet too. 

One of our favourite parts of the hotel was the happy hour that takes places in The Boilerman Bar at 5pm daily, where delicious highball cocktails are free for guests of the hotel. There was also a record room, where you could pop on a record and sit back and relax. Like I said, I truly do recommend this hotel, and as 25hours Hotels have quite a few locations around the world, I'll definitely be booking another of their hotels soon.






Where To Eat: 

There definitely isn't a lack of great places to eat in Copenhagen, but one thing I will say is that when everyone goes on about how expensive Denmark is, they aren't lying. Now, nothing was extortionately priced, but overall, things were a good bit more expensive than most European cities. It's hard to give an exact example but I would say when you convert the prices over to euro, everything has at least €3-4 added onto the price compared to what you'd pay in Dublin. Anyway, enough on that, below are some of the places we ate that I'd highly recommend saving for your next trip to Copenhagen.

- Cantina: I'd seen quite a few people recommend Cantina for delicious Italian food and it didn't disappoint. Anywhere with burrata on the menu is good in my eyes, and the rigatoni was also delicious!

- Apotek57: There's certainly no shortage of coffeeshops or bakeries in Copenhagen, and I think Apotek57 had to be my favourite. Amazing filter coffee (that was the only hot coffee option, and I appreciated the simplicity), and delicious baked goods, it's definitely one to pop into.

- La Neta Nørrebro: So some of you may have heard of Mikkeller, who make delicious beer, but they actually also have quite a few different restaurants (from ramen to tacos), and La Neta is one of those. My favourite food will always be Mexican, and I have to say, La Neta was one of my favourite taco places I've tried in quite a while. I'd highly recommend ordering the Chillakillers!

-Warpigs Brewpub: Another of Mikkeller's food offerings is Warpigs. This place isn't one for vegetarians or vegans, so I apologise in advance, but if you love rock/metal music, smoked meat and good beer, then Warpigs is the place for you. Served in a canteen style, this is a great place to go and try out lots of Mikkeller and Warpigs beers (they have loads of taps in the walls which is really cool), and eat good old southern American barbecue food.





Things To Do: 

Usually on weekend city breaks like this I'd have a jam packed itinerary with a schedule for all the sights we're going to see each day, but as this trip was for my birthday, I wanted to take it a bit easier than usual and just enjoy the city. We did see quite a few cool things though, so I'll pop them below for you to take note.

- Studio Arhoj: A visit to Studio Arhoj is a must when in Copenhagen. You can actually see the colourful glass mugs and ornaments being hand-blown in the back of the studio which is very cool, and the designs are just so bright and lovely. A great place to get some gifts to bring home with you, or even just treat yourself!
- Kastellet: This was probably our favourite thing that we saw whilst in Copenhagen. It's an amazing fortress that you can walk through, and you'll find a picturesque windmill to the left hand side. If you walk through Kastellet to the north gate, you can then walk around to the famous Little Mermaid statue and back towards the city. 
- Nyhavn: The famous harbour is definitely worth having a stroll along, we even stopped for a drink in one of the bars on the left hand side as there's lots of outdoor seating so you can people watch until your heart's content.


So there we have it, my definitive (not really) travel guide to Copenhagen. It's a fairly compact city, so we actually didn't use public transport all that much, but they do have a very handy app called DOTs that you can download and buy a travel pass on that works on pretty much all of their transport, and also includes journeys to the airport. I hope you've found this helpful, and if you are heading to Copenhagen anytime soon, enjoy!

Copenhagen Travel Guide - What To Do, Where To Eat & Where We Stayed

13.10.22


Long time, no blog post is an understatement. It's been over 2 years since my last blog post, and while I'm not entirely sure if blogs are still a thing people enjoy, I've certainly missed writing posts, so I thought I'd revive this little corner of the internet, and what better post to come back with then a roundup of a few of my most recent favourite hotels. There's nothing I love more than finding a gorgeous new hotel, and these three really impressed me, so without further ado, here they are...


Hotel MOTTO, Vienna: 

We visited Vienna for the first time back in March, and during my research for the trip I came across Hotel MOTTO, a boutique hotel with gorgeous interiors and the perfect location (it actually sits right on top of a metro stop). 


Location: 
Hotel MOTTO is located in the Laimgrube neighbourhood of the city and is just on the corner of the main shopping street, 'Mariahilfer Straße', which you can walk down (for about 15 minutes) to get straight into the heart of the city. Even though it's quite a busy street, with lots of people shopping and walking about during the day, the hotel rooms are lovely and quiet, which is great because while it's nice to be in the thick of it all, I still like a quiet hotel room. As I mentioned above, an entrance to the Neubaugasse metro stop was just under the hotel, which we found very handy for hopping on the metro to get around the city.


The Room: 
I booked a Deluxe room, and as soon as I opened the door, I instantly knew it would be one of my top 5 most favourite hotel rooms that I've stayed in. Every little detail had been thought of and perfected, from gorgeous printed fabric that covered the headboard and wardrobe, to the most stunning claw foot bathtub. Speaking of the wardrobe, it was nice and big, with more than enough hangers (something that's so rare in hotels these days), so we were able to fully unpack and also store our suitcases in the wardrobe too, and since we were there for 4 nights, this was ideal.

Overall:
We had such a great stay in Hotel MOTTO and if you're thinking of booking a trip to Vienna, then I'd highly recommend staying here. There's a restaurant on the top floor with incredible views, and I think since we have visited they have opened their rooftop bar too. Every single member of staff we encountered could not have been more helpful or friendly. Make sure you also check out MOTTO Brot, the bakery attached to the hotel, they do the most delicious pastries and breads!


The Hoxton Southwark, London: 

I am a big fan of The Hoxton hotels, and having stayed in the Amsterdam location for my birthday last year (a trip I will definitely have to write a post about soon as I have so many more recommendations to share), my expectations for the Southwark location in London were high. Thankfully, it did not disappoint and lived up to all of my expectations of The Hoxton brand. 


Location: 
When I was first looking at booking The Hoxton, Southwark, I wasn't sure if it would be central enough, and if we'd feel like we were miles from the heart of the city, but with Southwark tube station a 2 minute walk from the hotel, it was actually perfect. It's also only a 10 minute walk along the Thames to the Millennium Bridge (and of course the Tate Modern and The Globe Theatre in that area too), and less than a 10 minute walk to Waterloo Station which we took advantage of and got the train over to Staines to go to Thorpe Park for the day). Long story short, I think it's the perfect base for a trip to London!


The Room: 
Like with all of The Hoxton hotels, the room was gorgeous, with wood paneling on the walls, clever use of space, a nice big smart tv and a rainfall shower. We booked a Cosy room, which was a little small, but perfect since we were out all day anyway, but one thing I will say is that in hindsight, I would definitely have booked the room up from that (Roomy). We are very used to our king sized bed at home, so the queen sized bed in the Cosy room felt just a tiny bit too small, but that's just personal preference I guess! 

Overall: 
As I mentioned above, if you're looking for the perfect base for your trip to London, and love a laid back, chill hotel vibe, then The Hoxton, Southwark is perfect. There is a seafood restaurant on the roof of the hotel called Seabird, which has the most incredible, almost 360 degree views of the London skyline, and while we didn't eat there during our stay, I have only ever heard rave reviews about it. 


The Mayson, Dublin: 

Back in June I was lucky enough to be invited by The Mayson to stay in one of their beautiful Townhouse Suites, and 3 months later I am still thinking about how beautiful the room was, and how much I miss their heated outdoor pool!


Location: 
The Mayson is located right next door to the 3Arena in Dublin, so it's the perfect place to stay for the night if you're going to a gig there. We actually went to see one of my favourite bands, Foals, in Fairview Park the night we stayed which was less than a 10 minute drive away, so it was ideal for us. 

The Room: 
I adore the 'heritage' style of interiors, and The Mayson gets it spot on with their Townhouse rooms. There were so many details in this room that I want to recreate in my own bedroom. The copper roll-top bath had to be one of my most favourite features. All of the rooms in The Mayson have a Dyson hairdryer, a turntable (with records in the lobby that you can choose from and bring up to your room) and a Marshall speaker, and I think it's the details like these that really set this hotel apart from others in Dublin city.  There are also Warehouse rooms, which have more of an industrial, NYC kind of vibe, and I think the next time I stay in The Mayson, I'm definitely going to book one of the Warehouse Suites.


Overall: 
I think one of my favourite parts of The Mayson has to be the heated outdoor pool and sauna. We checked out of our room and headed down there for a few hours of relaxation and it was pure bliss, I honestly could have stayed there all day. We also ate dinner in Elephant & Castle, one of the restaurants in the hotel (there's also Ryleigh’s Steakhouse on the roof of the hotel too), and I finally got to try their famous chicken wings and they did not disappoint. If you're heading to a gig soon (and like myself, don't live in Dublin and have to drive almost 2 hours home afterwards), then I'd definitely recommend treating yourself to a stay here. 


Well it only took me over 2 years to actually write a new blog post, but we did it Joe! I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully it's not another 2 years before I write the next one. If there's anything you'd like to see in particular on here (be it city guides, or book reviews etc), then please do feel free to pop me a message over on Instagram! Thanks so much for reading.

(This post contains affiliate links.)


A Few of My Most Recent Favourite Hotels - The Hoxton Southwark, Hotel MOTTO Vienna, The Mayson Dublin

21.9.22




Summer 2020 might not be everything we'd hoped for/imagined, lots of us won't be travelling abroad like we had planned to, but all is not lost! We're very lucky to live on such a beautiful island with the most gorgeous beaches, mountains and lakes. Today I thought I would share some of my top picks of places to stay on the island of Ireland in case any of you are looking to get away for a bit of a 'staycation' this year (trust me, I don't like that phrase either, but it is very apt isn't it?). 

Top 10 Places To Stay In Ireland This Summer - Irish Staycation Recommendations

9.6.20


Reading has always been the best form of escapism for me and I know we could definitely all do with a bit of that at the moment, so here's what I've been reading recently if you're on the hunt for something new to read!

What I've Been Reading Recently #2

31.3.20

Disclaimer - This post is sponsored by Revolut but as always all opinions and thoughts are honest and 100% my own.


This is a blog post I am very excited to share with you because I am working with Revolut as one of their Pioneers, which if you've followed me for a while you'll know I am the BIGGEST Revolut advocate, so getting to work with them is a dream come true! If you haven't already checked out the first blog post I wrote last year about why I love using Revolut so much you can check that out here, and it covers a lot of the basics and lots of the general features available to all users of Revolut. You can also get a FREE Revolut card by signing up with this link - bit.ly/39qUq1W.

My Favourite Way To Spend - Revolut (AD)

11.2.20


Back in October, Dara and I finally took a trip to Paris, and it was everything I'd ever dreamed of. Paris for me was always one of my dream cities to visit, but one I'd just never gotten round to actually visiting. Before our trip, I was slightly worried that it might just be a very over hyped destination, and that we'd find it too touristy with not enough soul, but luckily it was the opposite of that, and it truly is one of the most enchanting cities I've ever visited!

Paris Travel Guide - What To Do, Where To Eat & Where We Stayed

2.2.20

Disclaimer - This post is sponsored by BookBeat but as always all opinions and thoughts are honest and 100% my own.

If you've been following me for a while, you might have guessed that I'm an avid reader and my one of favourite things to do is to get completely lost in a book for hours on end. I know lots of you are also book worms, so when BookBeat got in touch to see if I'd like to try out their service, and share it with you all, I was very excited. I was even more excited after I'd been using BookBeat for a few weeks, because it's exactly what I've been looking for, and I think lots of you are going to love it too!

So what is BookBeat? Basically, the best way I can describe it is that it's like Spotify, but for audio books! Unlike other audio book services where you pay per audio book, with BookBeat you simply pay a monthly subscription fee, and you get unlimited access to thousands of books.

If you're as excited as I was when I first heard about BookBeat and want to try it out for yourself, 
you can sign up for a free trial here, and enjoy unlimited audio books for an entire month!
With BookBeat you can even download your audio books which makes it perfect for listening to them whilst flying and you can also add the books that you want to listen to, to a list called 'My Books'. It makes it very easy to keep track of what you've listened to, what you want to listen to, as well as how much of each book you've listened to, which is great because I often forget about books I've read, and I'm halfway through before realising I've already read the book! BookBeat also has a handy sleep timer setting, so if you're listening to a book before bed, you can set it to stop playing after a certain amount of time so you don't miss anything while you're asleep. 
Two of my most favourite recent reads are on BookBeat, The Girls In The Garden by Lisa Jewell and Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman, so if you're looking for inspiration, then definitely check these two out, and if you do, let me know what you thought of them! As you can see above, I've also just finished listening to The Family by Louise Jensen on BookBeat and it was fantastic, a great one to listen to if you love lots of plot twists and surprises!


BookBeat makes it really easy to find new books to read, with an inspiration page with trending books, selected new releases as well as the latest best sellers. You can also explore your favourite type of books with the categories page, which is very handy for someone like me who tends to stick to the same genre/style of book (I know, I need to branch out a bit more).

Like I said at the start of this post I was very excited about BookBeat because it's exactly what I've been looking for. I can now listen to books on my drive to and from work, while I work out, or even when I just want to lie on my bed with my eyes shut after a long day, it's a book lovers dream!

I also think BookBeat is extremely reasonably priced too, for only €14.90 a month, you can have access to unlimited audio books, which is why I became a regular subscriber after my free trial had ended.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and remember you can get an entire month's free trial by signing up through this link. It's not affiliated or anything, just a great way for you to try out a brilliant service!

Thanks for reading!
Emer x

The Perfect Subscription For Book Lovers - BookBeat (AD)

1.12.19


Well here's a blog post I've been meaning to write for almost a year now, but as they say, better late than never! As you can probably tell from a quick glance at my blog/Instagram, I LOVE to travel, and I also like to shop, but sometimes, if you're travelling to a country with a different currency than you're used to, it can be a bit daunting/stressful, so today I thought I'd share what I use to spend money whilst I'm away.

I know lots of you have probably already starting using Revolut, and if not you've definitely heard of them, but I do still get people asking exactly why they should get an account and how it all works so hopefully this post will be helpful for anyone still on the fence. I've also included some screenshots of my own Revolut app to help explain some of the features for those of you who haven't used it yet.

At the moment, Revolut have an offer on where if you sign up through this link, they will give you a free card (I think I paid €5 for mine a few years ago).

So why is Revolut so good and why do so many people rave about it? Well there are a few reasons why I love it:

  • No charges for paying in a different currency.
This is probably my most favourite part of using Revolut, becomes it comes in handy when I'm travelling to a country that doesn't have Euro as their currency. Basically I just pay with my Revolut card like I would back home, and that's it. Revolut will work out the exchange rate, and they actually have it on real time so it's very accurate, and there isn't a charge for paying in a different currency like there would be with some other more traditional banks. It's made travelling so much easier because now I don't need to go and change money before I travel as I hate carrying cash anyway. As you can see from one of the screenshots below when I was in Poland, on the app, when you spend money in a different currency, it will show you how much it cost in your own currency (mine is obviously euro) and how much it cost in the currency you paid in. Very straight forward and simple, I love it!

  • Budgeting
A feature I haven't looked into a huge amount yet is the budgeting feature in Revolut. There is an option to view your months spending by catergory, which is good, so I can see if I need to cut back on my shopping, or excessive taxi use, but they also have a feature where you can set a budget each month and even set budgets for each category, like shopping, restaurants and transport. This is great if you are trying to be more conscious of your spending and I just love the breakdown of my expenditure in this simple form, it definitely helps me think twice!


  • Instant transfer
Another super handy feature of Revolut is the instant transfers between Revolut accounts. By now, literally all of my family and friends have a Revolut account because I bang on about it so much, so whenever we go out for meals or trips, splitting the bill is so easy because I can just send my portion straight to whoever is paying. They actually have a specific bill splitting feature that I need to use more often where you can create a bill, so say €50 total, and then invite your Revolut contacts to pay their half. Super easy, and instant too, unlike some bank transfers that can take days.


  • Apple Pay
Now depending on what bank you're with, you might have this already but unfortunately I think most Irish banks are a bit behind with the times so my traditional bank account still doesn't have Apple Pay, but not to worry, Revolut does! This means that when I lose my wallet (which I'm afraid to admit happens far too often) I can simply double tap the home button on my phone and up pops my "virtual" Revolut card and I can use contactless payment to pay. Honestly paying with your phone feels like we've finally made it to the future!


  • Saving is very easy.
If you find you struggle to save, then this would be a very good feature for you! Revolut have these things called "Vaults" that you can set up to save money in, almost like a virtual piggy bank. They also have the option to round up your spare change so that each time you use your Revolut card, they'll round it up and put the difference into your vault automatically for you. You can also set up a certain amount to save each day/week/month too, so for example I have it set up that I put €10 into my vault every week. 


So that's a bit about Revolut and why I love it, and if you've been on the fence about it, or unsure what it was all about, I hope it helped you! I've been using it for over a year and a half now and I really couldn't recommend it enough. If you do want to create a Revolut account, remember that you can get a free card by signing up through this link!

I hope you enjoyed this post, thanks so much for reading!

Emer x




How I Spend Money Whilst Travelling - Revolut Review

16.8.19

Disclaimer - The mattress featured in this post was gifted to me by Simba but as always all opinions and thoughts are honest and 100% my own.
I've just checked and my last blog post was publish in FEBRUARY?! Honestly where does the time go? In my last post Dara and I had just moved in together and it was all very exciting. We've now been living together for 4 months but it honestly feels like 4 years. Anyway, enough rambling, today I wanted to talk about something that I've been extremely excited about, a mattress... I know that it may sound ridiculous to you to be excited about a mattress but this is not just any mattress, it's a hybrid mattress and it's kind of changed my life.

When Dara and I first moved in together, I brought my old double mattress from home and we had a hand-me-down box spring bed base. I am not exaggerating when I say that when Dara sat on the edge of the bed to put his socks on, I was almost bounced out of the bed. Obviously this didn't make for a great nights sleep as anytime either of us moved even just the slightest bit, the other would be woken up. I am someone who values their sleep so it was a bit stressful trying to get used to sharing a bed every night anyway, let alone dealing with the added hassle of not having the best bed/mattress set up. That's what no one tells you when you move in with your other half, it's all well and good to live together, and don't get me wrong I absolutely love it, but there's definitely an adjustment period and a lot of bad nights of sleep.
So obviously you can imagine my absolute joy when Simba got in contact and asked if I'd like one of their mattresses to try out. I was already doing my own research into these online mattress companies who deliver their products in handy boxes and have all sorts of cool technology built into their mattresses to ensure the best quality of sleep and Simba was easily the top rated and recommended company I had looked into.

Simba's mattress is made up of five layers (which you can read more about on the image below because I definitely couldn't do all of the technology and features justice) and they also feature 2,500 unique conical pocket springs which individually adjust as you sleep. The only way to describe what it feels like to lie on this mattress is that it feels as if you're being hugged by it, it's so supportive and not too squishy like some memory foam mattresses can be.

We've had the mattress for just over a month now and I wanted to wait that long before I reviewed it so that I knew exactly what I thought of it. Basically, I think this mattress is easily my most favourite thing I have ever owned. Sounds dramatic but I can't describe my love for it any other way. I actually don't like to travel now because I'd much rather be at home in my own bed. Dara's the same about it too, every night when we get into bed we both sigh happily at how comfy it is. It's made a huge difference to the quality of my sleep too which is the really important part. I wake up feeling very well rested and since I wear a FitBit which tracks my sleep very accurately, I can actually see that the quality of my sleep has improved and the amount of times I wake up at night has drastically decreased.
The combination of memory foam and the 2,500 springs mean that Dara could be jumping all over the place beside me in bed (which he often does, does anyone else's partner twitch like mad in their sleep?!) and I wouldn't feel it at all. The top layer of mattress is also designed to help with temperature control which again is brilliant for me because Dara is like a radiator a lot of the time so the Simba mattress keeps me nice and cool.

One thing I will mention, because as you all know I am nothing if not honest, is that there was an odd smell from the mattress for the first couple of weeks. Dara didn't notice it too much but I'm very sensitive to smell and there was a musty sort of smell coming from the mattress. I got in touch with Simba (who have an excellent and very helpful customer service team may I add) to ask if this was normal and they assured me that this was totally normal and nothing to worry about. It's apparently called "off-gassing" and happens with lots of mattresses that have memory foam in them. So if you do get a Simba mattress and you're a little worried about the smell at first, it's all good and it just needs a bit of airing out.
Simba have a whole range of mattress sizes in both EU and UK sizing, and we went for the UK King size (150x200cm) and that bit of extra room in bed compared to the double size has also made a massive difference to how much easier it's been to share a bed now so if you can size up, I'd definitely recommend it. The dream would be to one day have a bedroom big enough to fit a bed where I could have the Emperor size (200x200cm, I know, how massive is that?) but for now, this king size bed is absolute heaven!

Never did I think I'd write such a long and in depth blog post about mattresses but here we are! I did warn you in the beginning of this post that I was seriously excited about this mattress and hopefully the info in this post has helped to explain why. Of course I couldn't share all of this without getting you all a little discount too in case you are also on the hunt for a mattress so if you sign up here, you will get £75 off your mattress which isn't too shabby of a discount at all!

I hope this post was helpful if you are on the hunt for a new mattress and like always if you have any questions feel free to pop me a message over on Instagram!

The Thing No One Tells You About Moving In With Your Boyfriend - Simba Mattress Review

12.6.19


I feel like I've been seriously slacking when it comes to blog posts over the last couple of months so I thought why not do a little life update/catch up post for anyone who doesn't follow me on Instagram and or might not keep track of my every move (honestly, I wouldn't blame you, I'm not that interesting). I'd like to do more of these chatty kinds of posts, so do let me know if you like them, or if they bore you to death, feel free to let me know that too!

The biggest life update I have for you is that I got my first proper 'adult' job after finishing my degree last May which is very exciting! I'm halfway through my second month and it's going very well with lots of exciting plans coming in the future. I do like to keep a certain degree of my life private so I won't be shouting who the company I work for is from the roof tops, just because I don't think it's relevant to my blog and I'd like to keep the two separate, but I will tell you that my official title is "Social Media Co-Ordinator" and if I could have come up with my dream job, this would probably be it!
The second big exciting life update that I have is that Dara (my boyfriend) and I have moved in together. It's something we've been trying to do for about a year or so, and I am delighted that it's finally happened, although I totally underestimated just how much effort (and money) was involved in moving out for the first time. Things I've always taken for granted and never really thought twice about like Wifi, electricity and even which pots and pans are good quality are now all I think about and I feel very grown up indeed.

A few weekends ago we made a trip to IKEA to buy everything we needed for the new house and I finally understood the cliché joke about couples and making it through an IKEA trip without breaking up. On our previous trips to IKEA, we were only picking up the odd thing here and there, but on this last trip we had a full on list of things we actually needed and it was definitely the least fun IKEA experience I've ever had. At one point in the lighting section I very nearly had a meltdown because we couldn't agree on which wall lights we wanted... I mean really? Wall lights? It was at that moment that I realised we were officially fully fledged adults!
That weekend wasn't all bad though as on the Friday night we went to see one of my absolute favourite musicians, Ben Howard, in the 3Arena and he was as incredible as always. Unfortunately lots of the audience seemed to only be fans of his first few albums which he didn't play, so there was a lot of talking within the crowd which kind of ruined the atmosphere but I enjoyed the gig nonetheless.
That night we stayed in The Wilder Townhouse which I'd seen on Instagram and had instantly fallen in love with the decor and vibe. I was surprised at just how close it was to Stephen's Green/Grafton street too and would definitely recommend it if you're looking for a very central hotel in Dublin that's beautifully decorated and does a delicious breakfast (avocado on toast just wins me over every single time). One thing I would say is that if you're driving to The Wilder, there is limited parking and we had to park on the street for a while so it's just something to keep in mind.
We also took a trip to Budapest in the midst of all the moving madness which was definitely some bad planning on my part but we loved it nonetheless. It's such a beautiful city, one that really surprised me as I had zero expectations of it going over there, but I'll save all that for a proper blog post about our trip so stay tuned for that!

So my life for the past month or so has just been full of lots of change which for a Libra like myself is just terrifying but I've been trying to not freak out too much. I'm hoping now that I'm getting settled both into my new job and house that I'll have a bit more time for blogging again because I really have missed this little creative outlet of mine.

Thanks so much for reading and I promise I won't leave it as long until my next blog post!

Let's Catch Up!

21.2.19

One of my most asked questions on Instagram is always about my tips on how to travel on a budget and just how I've been able to get most of the trips I've been on (Gdańsk, Prague and Bruges to name a few) for under €200 for at least 2-3 nights. I am finally getting round to writing this post with my top 5 tips and hopefully it'll be helpful for those of you who want to see the world, but don't fancy having to take out a loan every time you travel!

1. Do your research. 

My first tip is probably a very obvious one, but it's one that helps me save the most money. Each year I like to come up with a list of cities that I'd like to visit and then I hop onto Google and spend a few hours scoping each destination out. The most important things to take not of are when the location is busiest with tourists, because this will obviously affect flight and accommodation prices. Another thing I look up is the weather, because usually a trip will be cheaper if it's during the colder months, for example our trip to Budapest in February is working out very inexpensive because it'll still be quite cold and not everyone likes to travel to colder climates. Google Flights (the only website I ever use to find flights and to get flight price comparisons) also has a feature that lets you put in the dates you'd like to travel on and shows you the world map with the price of flights to pretty much every city in the world for those dates. This is another very handy way of finding out where is cheapest to travel to at certain times of the year.

2. Track your flights.

Like I mentioned above, Google Flights is the only website I use for finding flights. I know lots of people love other sites like Sky Scanner, or Kayak but for me personally I find Google Flights nice and straight forward to use. One of the best features I've found on there is the ability to turn on price tracking for a flight you're looking to book. I will never book a flight on the first day of researching it as flight prices go up and down all the time. I like to track the flight price for a week or so, and see if there is a trend in the price change. Each time there is a change, Google will send me an email and lots of the time this is how I get super cheap flights because I know straight away if there has been a price drop. There are lots of articles online with advice on which days/times of the day are cheapest to get flights, so that may be something to look into, but for me, I just stick with my price tracking on Google Flights.

3. Look into Airbnb as well as traditional hotels.

If you've read any of my previous posts about Airbnb or if you follow me on Instagram then you're probably sick of me harping on about Airbnb and how much I love it, but seriously, if you want to travel on a budget, Airbnb should be your first port of call. It's definitely where I've saved the most money for our trips, with our Airbnb in Prague only costing €56 per night (in quieter months it's only €35 per night) for an entire apartment which was half, if not a third of the price of hotels in Prague and we had so much more space than we would have had in a hotel room. I have a whole blog post about Airbnb and the tips I have called 'A Guide To Airbnb - How To Find The Best Places To Stay' so if you want any more info on Airbnb then definitely give that one a read. If you haven't used Airbnb before, you can get €30 off your first trip if you sign up through this link and for every person who completes a trip using my link, I'll get €15 travel credit so it's a win win for all! I'm not in anyway sponsored by Airbnb by the way, anyone can share their link with their friends to get them money off, and €30 is a nice little discount to get on already cheap accommodation!

4. Pack light.

What's the point in going to all the effort of getting cheap flights and accommodation if you're just going to pack way too much and pay what are in my opinion extortionate baggage fees for checked or overweight luggage? I always travel with just a carry on suitcase and a backpack/tote bag no matter where I'm going or how long I'm going for. If you pack smart, you really only need a small suitcase like a carry on anyway. I do have a two blog posts about my packing tips and how to pack light, one is called 'The Streamline Wardrobe - How To Pack Light' and the other is called 'How To Travel With Just A Carry On - Travel Tips & Tricks' so hopefully they will be helpful!

5. Plan your trip and budget.

The final tip I have is to plan your trip and budget accordingly. I'm a planner anyway so I love this part of organising a trip, but it really does help to save you money as well as time whilst you're exploring a new city. The first thing I'll do is research the general price of restaurant meals, if the city has any kind of transport cards that last for a couple of days (a great money saver) and if there are any tourist cards like the iAmsterdam card that will give you free or reduced entry to lots of attractions. Then I like to get a good idea of the restaurants we would like to try out and how much it'll cost, how much transport around the city will cost, and how much the attractions we'd like to visit and sight seeing we'd like to do will cost. That way, when I am actually on the trip, I won't be stressed about money at all and won't come home and realise that I've spent triple what I'd intended on spending. Of course I don't stick to the budget 100% of the time, because I am travelling and enjoying the experience, but it does help to have a fair idea before you go.

I hope these tips are in some way helpful and that they'll help you save some of your hard earned money on your future trips! As always if you've any extra questions, just pop me an email or an Instagram or Facebook DM and I'll get back to you. Thanks for reading!

How I Travel On A Budget - 5 Tips That Have Helped Me Travel For Under €200 Per Trip

11.1.19


I feel like it's been an age since my last beauty post, but to be honest, when it comes to beauty products, and especially make-up products, I stick to what I know works and that's that! With that in mind, I thought I'd share the products that I've found myself reaching for the most over the past couple of months, a little favourites type of post if you will. Some of these products I've actually used for well over a year and have repurchased, whilst others are more recent additions to my make-up drawer, but all of them take top priority spaces in my make-up bag (especially when I travel) so it's safe to say I consider them very good indeed!

PS Brow Sketch Eyebrow Pencil

First up is probably one of my top make-up products ever, and it only costs €2.50. I often get complimented on my eyebrows, which is both a weird but flattering compliment to get, and asked which products I use in them so I'm always delighted to share this little gem. This brow pencil from Penneys is almost identical to the Benefit Precisely My Brow pencil but is only a fraction of the price. It's a super small pencil, so it makes it very easy to give your brows a nice neat shape and fill them in without it looking like you've used a sharpie. I also find the staying power is amazing too and every time I'm in Penneys I'll buy at least two of them because I live in fear of them being discontinued! 

Fuschia Makeup Minx Eyeshadow Palette

I've been lucky enough to travel a good bit this year, and have gotten really good at slimming down my make-up bag considerably to allow for a few more outfits than I need, so palettes like this one from Fuschia Makeup have been so handy. This palette is so compact I can actually fit it in my purse, and it has all of the colours I need, since I only ever do a matte, neutral kind of eye look (to be honest, that's all I can do without looking like I've been playing in my mother's make-up drawer). These shadows are super pigmented and blend really well, so even a total eyeshadow rookie like myself can get on well with them! Fuschia Makeup is also an Irish brand, so not only can you look fab with your pretty eyeshadow, but you're also supporting a local company which I love.

Flormar Terracotta Blush-On in Pink Bronze

This is another make-up product, like the PS Brow Sketch, that I've been using for a few years now and have repurchased it once or twice, so that's how I know the love is real. I actually used to be somewhat scared of blush, since I have naturally red rosy cheeks anyway, but thankfully I realised it gives a bit of life to my face after I've applied my foundation! I find this blusher from Flormar in the shade Pink Bronze is the perfect colour for me when I'm a little paler in the winter. Since it's got a mix of lighter pinks, darker more warm pinks and a bit of gold too, it gives a lovely wash of colour to the face without being too much. 

NARS Climax Mascara

If you follow me on Instagram (if not, come over and say hi), then you might have seen that I was lucky enough to work with NARS in promoting the new Climax Mascara. This is honestly the best mascara I've ever used, and I like to think of myself as a bit of a mascara aficionado so trust me when I say I have tried hundreds! It's lightweight, so you barely feel it on your lashes, but it gives amazing volume and so much length. I've actually had people ask me if I was wearing false lashes when all I was wearing was the Climax Mascara so if that's not a testament to how good it is, then I don't know what is. Another thing I love about it is that it's easy to take off, so there's no scrubbing of your eyes, but at the same time, it lasts all day without any smudging or flaking. 

Too Faced Peach Kiss Lipstick

I've always been a matte lip girl, so much so that I stopped wearing traditional lipsticks and just stuck to matte liquid lipsticks, but these Too Faced Peach Kiss lipsticks have made me fall back in love with creamy, comfortable lip colours! They're part of Too Faced's Peaches & Cream collection so they smell good enough to eat and they're so creamy that they just glide onto your lips, but at the same time they're nice and matte and long wearing. My favourite shades so far have been 'Sex on the Peach', 'He's With Me', 'Disrobed', 'Got Peach?' and 'Chill Pill'.  I described 'Chill Pill' recently on my Instagram story as a nude-y red, which might sound ridiculous but that's exactly what it is, a nice neutral, muted red shade which is perfect for day to day wear as it isn't too in your face if you know what I mean?

So there we have it, the 5 makeup products that have been my go-tos recently and haven't let me down yet! What are your most reached for beauty products? Have you tried any of the ones I've mentioned in this post? 

As always I hope you enjoyed this post, thanks so much for reading! Emer x


The 5 Make-Up Products That I've Been Loving Lately

28.11.18

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