Irish Blog Awards 2014 - Yay, I've been nominated!

On Friday night I returned home a little bleary eyed. Thursday was my final day in my current role and Friday saw me enjoying some refreshing gin and tonics in the hot and humid Manchester sun as a final farewell with some awesome work colleagues. When I arrived home sometime before midnight, I took it upon myself to scroll through Twitter. Low and behold I had received a few tweets with one in particular congratulating me on my Irish Blog Award nomination. I replied with a "Say whaaaat?".

I quickly jumped onto the Irish Blog Awards website and discovered I had been nominated in the category of 'Best Disapora Blog' (sponsored by The Irish Dairy Board) and had made the long list. I was delighted to say the least, squeaking with happiness and abruptly woke the boyfriend to tell him of the news. He wearily congratulated me and I knew too well, in his slumbered state he was not taking the news in at all. This is the first time I've ever received a nomination in the Irish Blog Awards and its amazing to know that someone (the delightful Claire Ann tweeted me to let me know) has taken the time to complete an application and suggest me as a worthy winner. To receive that digital nod for the first time made my evening and its more than nice to know that the words I share are not only read but appreciated too.

The Irish Blog Awards celebrates the best in Irish blogging and this year, will crown 32 worthy winners on October 4th in the Westgrove Hotel, Clane, Co Kildare. What excites me most about being selected for the long list is the opportunity I now have to discover, view and read other blogs I've never heard of or come across. The chance to discover people who are just as enthusiastic as me about blogging and who share the mutual passion to write and publish words and thoughts, often personal in nature online. I've a funny feeling my Twitter and Bloglovin feeds are about to rapidly increase!

What happens next?

Well, over the next few weeks a group of independent judges will view my blog and mark it according to a score sheet set by the Irish Blog Awards themselves. The best scoring blogs in each category will be compiled into a shorter list with the final list being released on August 22nd. If I'm lucky enough to make the next round, 70% of these marks will make up the final score with the remaining 30% of marks coming from a panel of judges made up of sponsors and renowned bloggers. 

It's all very exciting and fingers crossed for the next round! Go light a candle, tell your granny to say a prayer at mass and help a blogging sista out!

Image Source: Irish Blog Awards

Disaronno Terrace - Manchester - July 30th

Sunshine, sunshine and more sunshine. Manchester is basking in it lately and the good news is that it's set to continue for a couple of weeks. So much sunshine has seen Manchester dwellers escape their offices on the dot at 5pm and head to a refreshing outdoor space where they can enjoy a cold and refreshing beverage of choice. Warm evenings enjoyed in an outdoors space, I feel contribute to a more fulfilling day. Often, there is nothing worse than feeling that your entire day was taken up just working, eating and sleeping, so when you have the opportunity to enjoy those lovely warm hours from 5pm to 10pm during the summer, you have to grab it with both hands!

With the forecast promising, I was excited to hear that Manchester will have the opportunity to experience the Disaronno Terrace, a one off series of summer parties taking place at The Oast House in Spinning Fields on four separate evenings over a four week period. Having previously enjoyed a successful four week run in London, the Disaronno Terrace will play host to live performances from some of the newest and brightest acts. 

Launching the Manchester leg of the Disaronno Terrace on July 30th are Newcastle-upon-Tyne's Little Comets. Those attending are in for a treat. Their award winning combination of expert percussion and melody, alongside edgy laptop pop duo Thumpers are sure to make for an excellent evening and with a Disaronno sour cocktail in your hand, it sounds like a perfect Wednesday evening and mid-week treat to me.

While you're enjoying the tunes, the talents of local artists will be creating unique artworks throughout the evening live on La Tela Nera (The Blank Canvas) including Mogwai cover artist John Powell-Jones, illustrators Lewis Loughman, Paul Hallows and Dr.Me duo Ryan Edwards and Mark Edwards. Interestingly each piece created will be an original interpretation of the romantic history of Disaronno which incredibly, dates back to 1525. This of course appeals to the artist in me!

There will be complimentary master classes and tasting sessions run by mixologists, teaching lucky guests about the secrets behind the perfect Disaronno Sour. Expect sweet tastes complimented with punchy lemon to enjoy on a summery Wednesday evening. There will also be the opportunity to create your own twist on this classic from an assortment of fresh ingredients and garnishes available on the evening.

Outlined below is the line up for each of the four evenings and complimentary tickets, which include a tempting Disaronno Sour Cocktail can be found at Disaronno.beoriginale.com.

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday 30th July

Music: Little Comets and Thumpers

Art: Lewis Loughman

Wednesday 6th August

Music: Saint Raymond and The Crookes

Art: John Powell - Jones

Wednesday 13th August

Music: Teleman and Cribs DJs

Art: Paul Hallows

Wednesday 20th August

Music: Summer Camp and Pins

Art: DRE ME

The Grateful List #4

Its been a while since I've put together a grateful list so I guess now, mid summer, as the sun is shining is as good as time as any. The Grateful List is an opportunity to share all those moments, big and small which simply put, make me happy. It's easy to not appreciate the little moments and let a busy life get in a way!

- Having the opportunity to be woken up by a loud crackle of thunder and then staying up for an hour to watch an amazing lightning show at 4am.

- Experimenting with clean foods and making smoothie bowls. Simply delicious.

- Warm sunshine and lazy weekends with nothing much to do except sleep and relax.

- A nice, chilled glass of wine on a humid evening. Enjoyed on the balcony of our apartment.

- Arranging my first Manchester blogger meet up. A mix of excitement, anticipation and nervousness all rolled into one.

- Shopping in a whole foods / clean eating store. So many lovely foods to choose from, it's difficult not to buy everything!

- Organising our somewhat messy spare room into a guest / craft room. It's teeny tiny and proving a challenge.

- Having the opportunity to attend exciting Manchester events as the guest of a number of PR companies. It has been a great way of meeting fellow bloggers.

- Cooking clean meals not only for myself but for my hungry boyfriend too.

- Having the recent opportunity to run the Colour Run with Dannii from Hungry Healthy Happy.

- Excited to start a new role with a new company next week!