Villagers

Villagers. A unique name, for a unique band. Conor O'Brien as frontman is perfection. There is something about his stage presence that just doesn't come across through an iPod or cd. And when they played Last Christmas at the end, it made the night even better! Definitely recommend going to see them.

Hope you all had a great Christmas,

Talk soon, 

Ellen xx

My Love Took Me Down to the River to Silence Me

Ok it's official, I have band envy. I want to be in a band so bad...who's bringing this on? Little Green Cars that's who. I went to see them play in Vicar Street last night with my sister and was in awe. It's not the first time I've seen them either, I saw them in The Button Factory last year and then at Electric Picnic in August/September. This band spend their time travelling around the world with their best friends, doing what they love; singing and playing music, it sounds pretty perfect if you ask me. I think one of the main appeals of being in this band is that they're not too famous; they have reached a happy medium. Take, for example, One Direction who can't walk around without being mobbed by fans. Ok maybe they have millions (nearly billions apparently) but they have nowhere near a normal life, and probably never will. I also hate to say it, but there fame isn't going to last forever. Only in their most recent album have they started writing their own songs, and even those generally sound the same as their previous work. Now, don't get me wrong, I love One Direction and fair play to them for doing well, but would I want to be in a band like that? Honestly, I don't think so. Stevie Appleby came out on stage last night singing the haunting Red, an acapella song, to capture the attention of the audience. The rest of the songs flowed so well into each other,with just the right amount of interaction with the crowd.

The highlight of the night was definitely the encore. They finished up with The John Wayne and left the stage, but the lights didn't come on and most of the crowd stayed put, everyone wondering; will there be an encore? And the answer: yes...but not just any encore. They introduced us to a new song (very good) and then told an anecdote about how The Consequences of Not Sleeping came into being, before performing it. This already intimate gig, just entered into a whole new level of intimacy. The band were actually on the same level as the audience, and we were so engaged with them. Would you ever be able to reach that level of intimacy with a big-shot band? This groundedness is something which all bands should aspire to, it's how you not only capture, but hold onto, the audience's attention.  

A certain amount of talent is also required...that's the part I'm working on so I can form my own band!!

The haunting, Stevie Appleby.

What I Wore

I wore this floral, quite autumnal shirt that I got in a Barnardos shop in Rathmines for €5. My collar pins are my pride and joy, I love love love them. These ones are from Forever 21. I teamed the look with black jeggings from Tesco, and camel boots from Clarks. My beautiful sister did my make-up, we went for a simple brown smoky look.

Collar Pins!

Hope you enjoyed reading,
Talk soon,
Ellen xx

First Blogger Meet Up

Well, I went to my first meet up yesterday and I think it's safe to say it was a success! The beautiful Filomena of Belle F Beauty was hosting the event and after a slight hiccough with the venue at the beginning, the whole thing ran very smoothly. When I arrived with Marléne of Everything Coco Chanel there was already a good group there. I had a lovely chat with Nirina (Killer Fashion) and Zita (Zee-Railed) and was happy to see so many new faces. I was even happier to see the food on offer!! Delicious cheescake, aloe vera water and coconut water.
After spending a while chatting, we got down to business with our first speaker Giovanna from Cloud 10 Beauty . She was lovely and told us all about the new products they have in for Christmas, including products from eos, Kardashian Beauty, Real Techniques and Ciaté. We were lucky enough to get a Kardahian Beauty lipgloss, a Sleek eye dust and a Ciaté nail varnish/Christmas tree Decoration in our goodie bags (I'm hoping my sister, the make-up enthusiast, will do a review on these for me soon!).

The next speaker we had was Aoibhe from The Secret Obsession, and I have to say she was pretty inspirational. Aoibhe has a really successful blog that she's on everyday, but not only that, she also works as a branch manager in Brown Thomas and is in her final year of college, amazing! She sent out the message to us all that if we want to be successful, we can be, we just need to put in the hard work to get there.
Then there came the spot prizes, a Real Techniques set and a spa treatment. The lucky winners were Elisha of Always-Time-For-Tea and Marléne (very jealous!!)

Before finishing up the afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting Nicola of The Sequin Cinderella who shared with us some stories of the highs and lows of her blogging career.
We finished the afternoon with a round of photographs and a promise to meet again soon.

What I Wore:

I always like to try and be a bit different with my style, but of course, as a poor student I'm on a tight budget. So, when I saw this velvet playsuit in Penneys I couldn't say no! I teamed it with a white long-sleeved t-shirt, black tights and black biker boots (all from Penneys too). Over this, I put my monochrome blazer that I got in Forever 21 when I was in America over the summer. My earrings are also from Forever 21, and the necklace I made from Norweigan Kroner that I got when I was over there a few weeks ago.

My fabulous make-up was done by my sister, Ailbhe. We went for a purple/brown/black smoky eye look which I loved!

Some of the other blogger's business cards

My Norweigan Kroner Necklace

Hope you enjoyed the post,

Talk soon,

Ellen xx