Staying at the Sandymount Hotel, Dublin

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There’s always something special about staying at a hotel in the city you live in. It feels like a real treat, a brief blast of indulgent escapism from your normal life of doing the dishes, grudgingly sorting out the laundry and throwing together dinner from last night’s leftovers before settling down to your ‘Sex And The City’ boxset.

This weekend I got to indulge in 24 hours of escapism when I stayed at a Dublin hotel I’d shamefully never heard of before – The Sandymount Hotel, a family-run home-from-home that’s been in business since 1955 and that’s right beside the Aviva Stadium. (FYI if you’re attending a match or event at the Aviva, this is THE place to stay, as I soon found out on Saturday morning as I bravely battled through the deluge of enthusiastic rugby fans heading in the opposite direction.) Continue reading “Staying at the Sandymount Hotel, Dublin” →

Money saving tips for vegetarians & vegans

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One of the most common gripes I hear is that healthy eating is expensive. If I received a bean for every time someone suggested to me that you need a steady supply of cash to be vegetarian or vegan, well, I could make a very nice dip with it.

The truth is, convenience foods ARE less expensive than healthy items but there’s plenty of ways you can adopt a plant-based diet without needing to take out a bank loan. Being smarter about key ingredients, prepping your meals in advance and getting creative in the kitchen are just a few ways you can eat healthily on a budget. Continue reading “Money saving tips for vegetarians & vegans” →

Mediterranean tofu scramble recipe

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Of all the meals we eat in a day, I’ve always found vegan/vegetarian breakfasts the hardest. Maybe it’s because I’m not a big breakfast fan (but trying to become one) or maybe it’s because everything seems to involve eggs or dairy, especially when you go to a café or you’re staying in a hotel. Everything changed when I discovered tofu scramble, Mediterranean-style. Continue reading “Mediterranean tofu scramble recipe” →

Snap out of that funk!

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Have you ever been stuck in a terrible funk that just wouldn’t shift? I don’t mean a rut, I mean a crappy mood, a general Charlize-Theron-in-Young-Adult ‘why bother?’ feeling. Lately, I just can’t shake it.

Unlike being stuck in a rut, my ‘could you be bothered?’ mood isn’t because of a bad break-up, getting the boot from a job I loved or a run-in with nightmare relatives. It’s just there. In many ways it’s easier to get out of a rut because you can change jobs, move to a new place or do whatever it takes to give you a change of scenery. Getting out of a funk and changing your mood is a bit trickier. Continue reading “Snap out of that funk!” →

How to cope with hay fever hell

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Runny nose, itchy eyes, can’t stop sneezing, sexy panda eyes – it can only be hay fever. It’s just the worst, isn’t it?

Close to a million people in Ireland suffer from hay fever and the bad news is, this year is set to be a severe one for allergy sufferers. Hay (sorry), don’t shoot the messenger! I’ve had hay fever since I was a child so when an event invitation landed in my inbox promising to give me a few tips on managing hay fever, you can bet I made my way to The Westbury faster than you can say ‘BLESS YOU’. Continue reading “How to cope with hay fever hell” →

5 things you can do for your gut health

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Confession: I first discovered the anti-inflammatory diet from Spencer Pratt. Yes, that Spencer Pratt. For the record, we both have sensitive skin so when I read his self-care routine on Fashionista, I thought the anti-inflammatory diet could solve my own skin and overall health woes too. Another reason to be thankful for Speidi, right?

When I first started looking into the anti-inflammatory diet I have to admit, I found the topic of gut health (Leaky gut! Microbiome! Good bacteria! Bad bacteria!) and the sheer amount of information on this topic to be completely daunting. Continue reading “5 things you can do for your gut health” →