Sex And The City 2: Meh.

Yesterday evening, myself and Himself's sister took ourselves off to Dundrum to see Sex And The City 2 courtesy of Kellogg's Special K. 

The pre-movie reception was fab, as Harvey Nichols bar and restaurant played host to gaggles of women (and a few bemused-looking boyfriends) and we were plied with cosmopolitans and prosecco and vino and icing-laden cupcakes and mini burgers and bite-sized fish and chips.

The movie itself, well, not so much.

I loved the original TV series - yes, even the early episodes with Carrie's cringey to camera dialogue - and thoroughly enjoyed the first movie outing, so I'd been looking forward to SATC2 for ages. Now, I'm not going to do an in-depth review and risk getting into spoiler territory, but I knew within the first few minutes that I wasn't going to be crazy about it. The whole thing kicks off with a storyline that I found completely implausable and manages to work in a serious contender for Worst Irish Accent of All Time. It was clearly pulled straight out of Darby O'Gill - I'm pretty sure the line "And arragh sure how would you be this grand begorrah day?" was uttered - and drew groans from right across the audience.

Things did improve after those first 10 or 15 minutes, and the lavish costume changes were enjoyable and the sets were rather gorgeous, but this still isn't a patch on either the TV series or the first film. I thought the characters felt one-dimensional and good storylines were thin on the ground.

Just dial down your expectations - way down - before going to see it, be prepared for the Oirish bit, and sure, be the hokey, you'll be grand.


PSSST - Elle Decor have a big spread about the interiors in the movie here, and you can hit up Habitually Chic and HGTV for some additional images of Carrie and Big's apartment.

Talon-tastic Thursday: Pink and orange and glitter, oh my!

Right, I am so supposed to be working and making my dinner right now, but I just wanted to really quickly show you the paint job I wore to the Curragh last Sunday for a day of racing with our friend Pamela, her boyfriend Vlado, her Aussie colleague Catherine, and Catherine's new squeeze Allistair.

While the others all made money, I lost a tenner in the first race I bet on and promptly decided to put my money into glasses of cool white wine instead. Sip, sip, aaaaah.
 
To put the talons in context, here's the outfit I was sporting:

I know it's difficult to tell from the above, truly dreadful photo, but the material of the skirt of this frock is iridescent when the light catches it. Here's a quick close-up to hopefully show that a bit better:

Now, since the weather was so absolutely uhmazing - I can't remember the last time I went out in public with bare legs and shoulders - I wanted to keep things nice and bright for the fingernails, too, and the print of the dress and golden shimmer put me in mind of an Indian or Moroccan Summer mani.

We'll have none of that desperate to win ladies' day boring understated chic here, ta...

* Headpiece: borrowed from the sister
* Dress: Chupi
* Top: Camaieu
* Grosgrain ribbon worn as belt: A. Rubenesque
* Corsage: Penneys
* Shoes: Bershka
* Nails: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Fucshia Bling Bling (pink), Chanel Orange Fizz (accent nail), topped with a graduated layer of Lancome BB Sand

Today, Matthew, I'm going to be...

... babysitting.

Himself's niece Saoirse is beside me at the table, sucking down a carton of Ribena and paring the hell out of any pencil that dares cross her field of vision. That's grand. I can handle the shavings, which are now so plentiful they could be used to line the hutch of a particularly large rabbit and he'd feel nothing but comfortable, and the fact that the pencils are used to draw on the table as much as on the paper, but at some stage I will have to change her nappy.

That, my friends, is not grand.

I have never changed a nappy in my life and sort of hoped I'd never have to do it. There's only two years between myself and my sister so I never had to do hers, and I used to pull disappearing acts that David Copperfield would have envied in my teenage years when cousins of nappy-wearing age started getting a bit whiffy. Himself gave me a crash-course the other evening and made it sound very easy, and Saoirse's mother changed her this morning before I picked her up, and I thought I'd be fine.

I am, after all, 28 years of age - a grown-up, by all accounts, and absolutely past it as far as my cousin Eddie is concerned - and regularly have to pick up after the dog.

However, I had to get her to blow her nose earlier when she complained about it hurting her and I nearly puked at what was expelled.

Doesn't really bode well for the nappy-changing, does it?

Need new ice-cream bowls? Head to TK Maxx.

Having locked myself out of my house yesterday and with Himself not due home for hours and hours on end, I took myself off to Portlaoise to hit up Superquinn for some half-price crab meat and other vittles... and, er, accidentally ended up in TK Maxx.

Oops.

I sort of thought I might pick up a few picture frames or some kitchen bits, but I emerged with a tub of ceramic baking beans (an absolute necessity), a giant bottle of Tigi Catwalk Oatmeal & Honey shampoo (am just about out of all other shampoos, so I actually did need this!) and four acrylic ice cream bowls, two pink and two purple.

I need hardly tell you that they were an essential addition to my servingware collection.

They were €2.99 each, also available in green, black, red, and clear, and I heart them. They remind me a bit of the set of my granny's little pink glass bowls that I don't like to let people use for fear they'll break.

You can just see one here, posing as a vase:

Afterwards, I did make it to Superquinn for the crab meat which I proceeded to make into crab cakes (will post the recipe tomorrow if I get around to it.)

They would likely have been delicious had I managed to cook rather than cremate them.

In today's Herald, you'll find...

... my ultimate self tanning "How To"!

(If you're in the Naas area, buy it now, quick, before Mam snaffles all the copies.)

Unhappy Hipsters: Class

I came across a high-la-rious website today.  

Unhappy Hipsters pokes fun at po-faced modern design fanatics by wittily captioning shots of their modernism-gone-bad pads and their bored looking kids who are feckin' hanging for a bit of telly time or begging for a Golden Retriever (deemed a "pedestrian" breed by their parents).

Observe:

Heh.

Talon-tastic Thursday: Two purples and a clothes haul

Since there was no Talon-tastic Thursday last week, I thought I'd try and make it up to you with a double-whammy of jewel-toned fabulousness today.

First up is Rimmel Purple Reign, €5.23, one of the recently released additions to the 60 Second range. It's a purple with undertones on the pink/red end of the colour spectrum, cut with a very subtle shimmer. 

I think it'd be totally work appropriate for all but the most sedate environments, but then eh I used to wear Skittles manis to work. Might not be best placed to make decisions about work appropriate nail colours, I suppose.

This next one is probably not for work. Not even for me. 

I got a bit (more) obsessed with sparkly purple nail varnishes last Saturday when I was supposed to be looking for day dresses in Whitewater in Newbridge. So naturally enough, I came home with no dress, a green top from a|wear...

... a duo of skinny plaited belts from New Look (the brown is more tan and less sh*te coloured In Real Life)...

... and a bottle of Gosh nail varnish in Gasoline, €8...

I was also very, very tempted by a bottle of Estee Lauder Ultra Violet and a Rimmel that I can't remember the name of but which is more of a blue-purple than Purple Reign and is proper glittery, so really I did well just to come home with one new bottle of purple bling.

I decided to use my new Gosh to try and recreate the purple Katy Perry manicure I've been ogling for the last while. Here it is, incase you haven't seen it yet:

via Twitpic

And, eh, here's my effort (sorry about the terrible photo quality):

Ah. Should possibly have grown out my nails and looked more closely at the placement of the bling bits on Katy's mani before attempting this. As it is, my nails just look like they were attacked by a sprinkles-happy 3-year-old. 

Le sigh.

This is two coats of Gasoline atop the aforementioned Purple Reign, not just because I was stuck for time but because Gasoline has a fairly sheer magenta jelly base which I do not love. It is far more glittery than it looks in these pics, though.

What nail varnish or other lovely beauty bits are you wearing today or planning to sport at the weekend?

I'm in the Herald again today!

This blatant self-promotion is totes mortifying, but I know that Himself will have a blue fit if I don't mention it.

So...

Have you bought the Evening Herald yet today? Pick up a copy on the way home from work for some top skincare and beauty tips for looking after your eye area from yours truly across pages 28-29!

EDITED THURSDAY, MAY 13, 2010 @ 10:12AM TO ADD: Here it is looking all swish!

(Clickable for a larger view or available online here.)

BT2 goes vintage, provides opportunity for gratuitous 'Zoolander' reference

Like the idea of hunting for unique bits and bobs at flea markets but find you never get round to actually doing it? Well, from this weekend you'll be able to get your flea market fix in BT2 on Grafton Street, where The Dublin Flea Market will be running a weekly pop-up shop from 10am - 6pm on Saturdays. 

There'll be no clothes, sadly, but I'm promised that there'll be vintage books, vinyl, retro interior accessories and collectable bric-a-brac to pick through.

It might seem a bit of a strange juxtaposition, a posh shop hosting second-hand pop-up stalls, but I guess it just proves that thrift shopping is, like Hansel in Zoolander, *so* hot right now...

Source

A P.S. for Zoolander fanz: there's a sequel in the offing! Ben Stiller confirmed in an MTV News interview earlier this year that they're working on the script.

A P.P.S. for fact fanz: did you know that Zoolander's agent in the fillum, the guy who also plays Arthur in King of Queens, is Ben Stiller's da?!

Nellie the elephant: An unlikely design icon

It's a bit of a strange one, but I've been really drawn to white elephant-shaped teapots of late. 

Yeh, I know. Random.

The specimen above is a Jonathan Adler number that's priced at a massive $110...

... while this little guy clocks in at £15.

And hey, they're not just good for pouring tea - how cute does this one look masquerading as a makeshift vase over in Nicole's gaff?

via Making It Lovely

Hem hem... Bit of exciting news!

No posts this week as I have been busy on another project... writing for the Evening Herald! That up there is my first piece for them (clickable for a larger, readable view and also available online here.)

I nearly squealed out loud in the Centra around the corner yesterday when I saw it looking all snazzily laid out in print. 

Ever cool, me.

Dad has been buying the Herald every day for as long as I can remember so it's really lovely to be writing for them. It's a pity that I managed to send them what is possibly the least human photo of me ever for my headshot, but sure that's only a minor detail!

Awesome storage boxes from... Heatons?

Right, just before I sign off for the weekend...

Heatons (stay with me) have some deadly container boxes in stock right now that would be ideal for seasonal clothes storage, like putting away the winter woolies for the incredible summer that we're about to have.

I'm all about the power of positive thinking today, folks.

They're made by a crowd called Premier, and are transparant plastic with clip-on one-piece lime green or grey lids. The lid thing is important (yes, really) because those folding two-piece lids that some containers come with have holes in them than an elephant could easy skip through, which means the stuff you're storing in them is inclined to get really, really dusty. These boyos from Heatons do have ventilation holes in them, but they're at either end of the boxes and there's a little moulded lip over the top of them which should pretty much do away with the dust problem.  

I got a mahoosive one, the big 65 litres size which is about 73cm x 45cm x 25cm, for €16 yesterday because I wanted to see if it'd fit under the bed in the spare room. Not only does it fit poifectly, but the zesty lime green lid actually goes really well with the duvet cover (obviously an essential consideration for underbed storage) and it holds absolutely heaps of stuff. 

Those two overflowing Avoca bags that I mentioned the other day, the ones in the spare room that were bursting with wrapping paper and bows and ribbons and the like, have now been retired. Their contents have been rehoused in The Box, together with all the other sort of crafty stuff that was in various drawers and corners around the place.

The Box. More enormous In Real Life than this picture suggests.

I'll definitely be swinging by Heatons later on today to pick up a couple more for the winter boots and not-currently-in-use handbags. They're currently taking up way too much valuable wardrobe space that could be put to better use housing new, summery purchases ;)

Enjoy the long weekend!

Noo Shoes: The Ultimate Flats

Do you like my noo shoes?

I flipping LOVE them. They're everything I like in a pair of flats: properly flat with no silly looking little mini heel, metallic, leopard print, bejewelled - and they have a bow on the vamp too, underneath the bling.

They were a total steal at €14, reduced from €49 or something similarly 40-ish in the Monsoon outlet in Kildare Village. I am wearing them with pretty much everything at the minute - skinny jeans, leggings, dresses, skirts (although not all at the one time) and even with some nautical stuff which actually works really well.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and plan today's outfit around them...


P.S. If you'd like to go directly to some more style/fashion posts, just clicky on the "Style" label at the bottom of this one :)