Closet Clear-Out, Dublin

If I was at home this coming weekend I would definitely be checking out this Closet Clear-Out event in Dublin! I really need to go through my wardrobe and make room for all my new Paris purchases

Dublin Fashion Festival

A recent but brilliant addition to the Dublin fashion scene is the Dublin Fashion Festival, taking place at the end of next week. As well as fashion shows and exhibitions, the festival has offers in shops, on beauty and hair, not to mention plenty of cocktails, snacks and treats! I’m planning on spending Thursday eve at Fashions Night Out in Brown Thomas, followed by cocktails in The Exchequer Bar and The Lost Society. On Saturday I’m getting a new haircut at The Art Team, before hitting the shops to take advantage of the many discounts on offer. What will you be doing?

Dublin Fashion Festival, 8th – 11th September

This week I mostly loved… #70

The video: OK Go do The Muppet Show theme song

The article: Legends of the Fall: Flipping through 2350 pages of glossy goodness, via The Observer

The event: Dublin Garden Squares Day

The trailer: New Years Eve

The outfit: Rosie Huntington Whiteley

Hotspot: Atelier 27

Atelier 27 is a new dedicated retail space for Ireland’s young designers, and is located above the amazing Om Diva on Drury street in Dublin. Housing 14 resident designers (2 Milliners, 3 Jewellery Designers, 1 Design Duo and 7 clothing designers), the Atelier also gives its residents the chance to rent a private studio in the building and use the professional sewing room. It is hoped that the designers will take part in teaching at the workshops in the Om Diva Sip and Stitch nights. There will be a dedicated atelier on the fourth floor of the building in which the residents can hold mini shows or private viewings. The Atelier aims to provide a forum for young Irish designers to design, sell and develop their brand under one roof.

Some of the designers at the Atelier include Carolyn Moore, Alice Moyon, Umit Kutluk, Rose & Voom, and Maria Tapper.

Its all about the bike!!!

FitzCycles bike chandelier

Regular readers of this blog will know about my knee operation during the Summer and my surgeons orders to get on a bike! Prior to August the last time I had been on a bike was when I was a kid, and next I was being told that swimming and cycling were now going to be my two forms of exercise… But after 5 months of hitting the gym, I’m ready to admit, I’m starting to love a good cycle!!! Handy for me, a friend of mine has recently opened the coolest bike shop in all of Dublin – possibly even the coolest in Ireland – FitzCycles Along with stocking a huge range of bicycles for all ages, levels and budgets, Paul also has cool t-shirts, millions of accessories and plenty of safety gear. More about Paul and FitzCycles after the jump…

One of my favourite bikes!

WAH nails & Barry’s Tea: 2 of my favourite things!

Most of my readers know that I’m an absolute nail polish junkie! I just love a fancy nail… Recently I have become slightly obsessed with WAH nails after seeing them in Topshop while on a trip to London. And when I heard they were opening soon in Dublin I thought I’d died and gone to nail heaven So when I was informed of an upcoming Barry’s Tea event where Sharmadean Reid (WAH Nails founder) is guest speaker alongside those lovely ladies from Beaut.ie, I knew I had to be there. And you can too! Read on for more info….

The Beauty Spot @ Dakota Bar, Dublin

One thing I miss about living abroad is the amount of variety I had on any given night out. I find that in Dublin, most of the club nights are more of the same, and anything that’s slightly off centre rarely gets the attention it deserves. With that in mind, when I received some PR into my inbox this week about Dublin’s newest club night, I had to write a post on it! The fact that the night is centred on beauty, fashion and music was an added sell.

BYOB restaurants – where are you all?!

I love eating out. But like most people, I can’t afford to do it all the time! Generally by the time you’ve added on the bottle (or two) of wine, its an expensive night out in Dublin yet again… Recently I’ve been wondering why more places don’t have a BYOB policy if they are finding it difficult to get people in – who wouldn’t want to bring their own drinks with them that they’ve picked up in the offie next door! In the last couple of months I have been to three BYOB restaurants here and I’ve certainly no complaints….

Alfie’s – I heart you!

After much talk of this place on South William Street, and many threats of an early Friday there, I finally made it to Alfie’s last night. And jeez am I glad I did! The little sis regularly goes on about this place with its lure of €5 cocktails and a barely-believable €14 early bird menu, so I knew I had to get there once pay day came around (February was a tough month on the pocket!!!). And meeting with an old friend served as the perfect excuse to test it out – him being a fellow food lover.

So off myself and himself headed. Without a booking we got in about 6pm and got a nice little table down the back. The interior is long and skinny, with high tables out the front and little cosy corners and tables down the back. A carafe of wine was €12 (I think) and the choice of red was very tasty at this price. My friend started with the duck salad which we both agreed was delicious and huge! I had the fishcakes which were like all fishcakes really, but very filling and for my main I had a chicken penne dish which was so tasty! I had actually gone for this because I was feeling a little off and thought it would be a nice bland choice but it was the opposite On the other side of the table, the scallops were going down a treat also. My dishes were all part of the early bird menu, which was excellent value and more than enough even though the portions are smaller than off the regular menu.

Off we headed to Bruxelles (the beautiful and talented Ciara Ashmore was playing) with our bellies full, and more than enough wine, raving to everyone who would listen about Alfie’s and how we were going back as soon as possible. Perfect place for a date, after work banter, Saturday pre-drinking lining or a catch up with Mum! Next time I’m going is with the girls so cocktails will be had….