Aishling's June in Review - 2014

It's been quite a while since I done a month in review (December actually!) so I decided to do one today and hopefully try and get one up again at the end of this month and keep it going for every month! If you like this please let me know and we'll definitely try and make it more frequent!

First up is, what I've been up to on Instagram!

At the beginning of the month the weather was amazing! It was super warm and the sun was out all day. We decided to get some lunch at Red Earth, Mullingar, Co. Westmeath which we have been to many times because the food is just so delicious! This time though we got to sit outside in a gazebo type thing and it was just lovely! We both ordered the Open Chicken Sandwich which is homemade bread, chicken, lettuce, mayo and sun-dried tomato. Sounds pretty simple right? But for something so simple it's ridiculously delicious! The homemade bread is particularly tasty :)

For something nice afterwards we got the amazing Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake. It was so delicious, obviously! :P

Back to Red Earth again and this time for dinner! This was around a very stressful time so we needed something nice. In the evening Red Earth dims the lights, brings out the candles and sets it up as a lovely evening restaurant. We felt quite underdressed in our jeans and t-shirt but soon some families arrived with their kids and we felt less underdressed then. More families and couples turned up but luckily the kids were super good and didn't make much noise at all which was great!

On to the food! The food! First up they brought us a baguette with a tomato and garlic spread which was the most amazing delicious spread I've ever tasted! You can also see a green one in the photo but I'm not sure what that one was as I was too busy with the tomato spread!

I got an 8oz homemade minced Mullingar heifer burger on a Waterford Blaa, beef tomato, lettuce, pickles and red onion. *drooools* I need it now!

Steve got the pan seared corn fed chicken breast, mushroom risotto, Tournafulla black pudding Madeira jus. It was delicious! I had some of course :P I will, for sure be getting that next time we go which better be soon! Do you hear that Steve? ;)

Top left: Cute leopard print duvet cover I bought in Penneys! I was actually looking for something light and bright coloured but unfortunately unless you really like pink there isn't much of a selection in Penneys. I couldn't pass on the leopard though! ;)

Top right: I bought myself some very pretty Lilies that took ages to come out but when they did they smelt amazing! Unfortunately they were a bit big for my window and I rubbed off them a few times and some of my clothes is now stained. Damn!

Bottom left: The amazing weather we've gotten to wake up to here in Ireland lately. (You can also see the massive lilies which weren't even in full bloom yet.)

Bottom right: Henry Rollins new book which he signed, yay! He signed 1500 of them and my book is number 614 :D I have yet to read it but maybe I'll have a review in future.

I haven't got to wear much makeup lately which has been annoying me. It's mainly too hot and I hate having something on my face that I just sweat off anyway. I have many things I want to review for you guys so I think, hot weather or not, I'm gonna put something on mah face soon!

The makeup in these photos is my grungy look which I'm loving at the moment. (with and without glasses.)

The weather has been ridiculously unpredictable. We've had a serious heatwave with lots of sunshine, thunderstorms, rain non-stop somedays and then back to the heatwave and sunshine! So the sky was changing a lot and I got some photos of it :)

Merle ♥

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movies I've watched this month (that I remember):

We mainly rewatched a few films! The stupid World Cup has been taking up most of the month so we haven't gotten to watch much films or tv shows. It's Steve's fault :P

• ParaNorman - is about a kid that can see ghosts and it's amazing! It's all stop motion and looks beautiful. I've seen it many times now and it doesn't get old. 

• Whip It - When I'm feeling down this is the best thing to watch! Girls kicking ass. 

• Moonrise Kingdom - Oh Wes Anderson! His films just get better and better. Bill Murray steals the show but to be honest everyone is so good in this movie, from the kids to Bruce Willis, Edward Norton and the perfect Frances McDormand. 

• 13 Assassins - This one isn't a re-watch, both me and Steve hadn't seen it before! It's a Japanese Samurai epic directed by Takashi Miike. It's a pretty good film but I was expecting it to be a bit better than what it was. Still a great watch though!

• Inception - Can we call Inception a classic now? Hadn't seen it in awhile, which is the best time to rewatch a film so you can kind of experience watching it for the first time again!

• The Lego Movie - We saw The Lego Movie in the cinema when if first came out and I have to say, I was so surprised at how good it was! I just love it now! Everything is awesome!!! :D

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tv shows I've watched this month (that I remember):

• The X-Files - We've been re-watching the The X-Files for awhile now. We're finally onto Season 8 so only one more season to go. I have to say I'm not enjoying this season as much and I do think when Mulder decided to feck off for most of the season and Robert Patrick's character comes into it, maybe they should have thought about ending it then. I will still always love The X-Files of course but do think it should have ended a couple of seasons short. Anyhow we're nearly done and even though it's not as good as other seasons, it will be sad to see the end of it. But then I can start re-watching it again hahaha! :D

• Fargo - Fargo the TV series is of course based on the film of the same name. It stars Martin Freeman, Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Hanks and Allison Tolman. Oh and you can't forget Better Call Saul! Everyone in this, everyone, is so so good. The whole story had me on the edge of my seat and I couldn't wait each week for a new episode. Definitely one of my favourite shows and I'm sad it's over.

• The World Cup - Is it over yet? Can I have my TV back now, Steve? :P

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music I've been listening to:

I've made a June playlist of all the songs I've been listening to over the last month which you can play here. I will post some of my favorites below!

Wolf Alice - Fluffy

First up is a song I've had on repeat all day everyday by Wolf Alice. Just love this song so much! They have a great 90's sound and I just love the singers voice. Moaning Lisa Smile is also a fantastic song by them which is in my playlist too.


Killer Be Killed - Wings Of Feather And Wax

Killer Be Killed are a supergroup made up of Grey Puciato from The Dillingar Escape Plan, Max Cavalera from Soulfly, Dave Elitch from The Mars Volta and Troy Sanders from Mastodon. If you're fan of heavy metal or just music in general, this is one you need to hear!


Drunk In Love - Vintage Big Band - Swing Beyonce Cover


My boyfriend's wonderful sister Michelle linked me to this amazing YouTube channel of old timey covers of popular songs. It is just wonderful! This is one of my favourites! A cover of Beyonce's Drunk In Love. You wouldn't think this would work so well! I love Beyonce but that song is just terrible and one of my least favourites by her but now I can enjoy it with this swing version! :D Be sure to check out all the other amazing covers too!


Summer Camp - Better Off Without You


I'll leave you with a band that I have no idea how I came across but they're made up of just two members. I love this song! It sounds very 80's and super catchy! :D

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That's all for June but I'm already busy starting this months (July) post!

Watch any good movies or find any good music lately?! Let me know in the comments below! :D

Thanks for reading!

A Book A Day for July!

The A Book a Day UK was brought to my attention on twitter today by musicandeverything.com aka @claireskane on twitter.
@DoubledayUK are inviting book lovers (of which I am one!) to tweet their #BookadayUK every day in July!
I'm gonna tag #BookadayIRL also :)
They also say there is a chance to win your favourite reads but I just love this as a book tag.

Here are the list of topics for your book a day for every day in July

Day 1 - A Book that made you laugh out loud

• Well-Remembered Days: Eoin O'Ceallaigh's Memoir of a Twentieth-century Catholic Life by Arthur Mathews.

If you want a good laugh read this! (but then get mad cos so much rings true...) Read it and weep in more ways than one!

Tell me what book make you lol?

You can check out my books a day on twitter or you can check out my weekly posts :)

Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

"The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012. The story is narrated by a sixteen-year-old cancer patient named Hazel, who is forced by her parents to attend a support group, where she subsequently meets and falls in love with the seventeen-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee." via Wiki

I've had The Fault in Our Stars book since it was released. I ordered one of the signed by the author Amazon books back when John Green was even making the videos of himself signing them. But unfortunately something went wrong with the Ireland (and I think some other countries too) shipments and I got an unsigned book. Later though I was sent a little sticker thing with his signature that I could stick into the book. I wasn't super happy cos that wasn't what I ordered but didn't mind so much now especially since I can give the book away and keep the signature! I put the book aside, misplaced it and have since been meaning to read it. When I heard about the movie I decided it was time to actually give it a go.

After so much hype about this book I have to say I was really disappointed.

Don't get me wrong I didn't hate this book, there was something I liked about it but can't really put my finger on it. It might have been John Green's fast paced rant/talking (Just like in VlogBrothers) or some of the good quotes he comes out with, I also really liked the Peter van Houten character which I don't think we got enough of. But still that didn't save it for me. 

One of the things everyone says straight away about this book is how terribly sad it is and how much they cried and its heartbreaking. Cancer is a horrible thing that too many people, teenagers and kids have to deal with but yet I didn't find it very sad or heartbreaking and I certainly didn't cry. I mean it's a sad story, yes, it's sad what happens, yes but still it didn't really make me get upset and curse the author like I did with Harry Potter. What happens is also very predictable in my opinion but I guess I was expecting it? So that made it less sad? Am I completely heartless? I don't think so. I just don't really like soppy, lovey dovey books or movies. Don't get me wrong I like romance when it's done right but this was a little teenagery for me. 

Again I can't say I hate it or dislike it and I can't say I wouldn't recommend it either. There is something there that I enjoyed but overall I was very disappointed with this book and do not get the hype over it. 

I really hate giving this such a bad review as I wanted to like it but it just failed for me. I won't let it put me off reading other John Green books though. Which hopefully I will have positive reviews about!

What did you think of the book? Does anyone else out there agree with me? I feel like so many people love it and find it so heartbreaking but I really felt none of those things.