Oh God, I needed that break. The last couple of weeks have been mental. Exams, my grandmother passing away, full time work…and all I wanted to do was blog. But it’s been great to have some time away from it and collect my thoughts. Every few months I like to take a good hard look at what I’m doing, evaluate and change. This is one of those times. So I’m happy to say that Soooali is sticking around for another while yet and this summer will be the best ever! I haven’t completely neglected the site however. I’ve been secretly working on ‘Soooali’s Grand Tour’ with some of Ireland’s top bloggers. It’s turning out pretty well and is going to launch this Monday, running for the month of June right here. I’ve asked bloggers to give me their tips and recommendations on some of the world’s top cities.

So, to apologise for my absence and lack of style posts, I’ve decided to plaster myself into the photos as much as possible! Haha! I’ve seen mirroring before and really wanted to see what it looked like. Fun, eh? This Saturday I’m travelling to Italy for a few weeks to teach English. Then it’s off to Stockholm from there for a whole month. Expect loads of photos and smiley faces, life is good!

Chiffon kimono from Penneys, loose tee from Gina Tricot, Jamie jeans from Topshop and Leopard print platforms from River Island. Vintage Casio watch, bangle from OVS and ring from New Look.

I was invited to make a ‘What I’m Wearing’ video at RTE’s Red Radar a few weeks ago. Here’s the final result! I’ve seen that a lot of Irish blog have done something similar and think it is brilliant that Red Radar are engaging with so many of us. It was great to sit in the make-up room while Nuala Carey got her face done (she didn’t need much!). I met some fun music blog that day too, which was quite exciting. Vanessa of Nessy Mon and Aidan of Golden Plec kept me entertained in particular. The link to this video will also take you to some other videos of Irish blog which are well worth a watch! And, I was part of the editor’s picks onShopaholic, they wrote a very kind review of Soooali and did a short interview too. (Scroll down to the third paragraph and I’m there!)

Also, many thanks to those of you who gave support during the last week. My family and I really appreciated it and we had a lovely few days together.

Today my grandmother passed away. She was such an elegant woman, with great glamour and a style of her own. She inspired me so much, in every way possible and I will miss her. She taught me the value of quality, the importance of supporting Irish and to always wear a lick of lipstick! She had a special love for everyone in our whole family. And now she will join my grandad, her true love. He was a champion gardener and I like to think that he’s waiting for her in God’s garden.

God looked around his garden
And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, ‘Peace be Thine’.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.

Ok, here’s the situation. I’m on a desert island and I can only have one accessory…just one. What would I pick? Sunglasses. Definitely sunglasses. Well I suppose that’s a bit of a cop out because, what else would you bring…it’s a desert island for Gods sake! But seriously, of all the accessories you could have, hats, necklaces, bags…sunglasses come out on top. The people of Mister Spex UK asked me to choose any pair I liked and try them out. So here’s my choice, Gucci chocolate/havana. It was so hard to choose just one pair from the selection, but once I saw these I fell in love. They are timeless and on trend all at the same time. I could imagine my mom wearing these twenty years ago and I can see myself wearing them in years to come too. They might be a bit big for some, but if you’re wearing Gucci you gotta be a bit obnoxious and let everyone know you’re worth it! Go on, have a look, you know you’re worth it too! www.misterspex.co.uk

A big thanks to Donal and his team for asking me to be part of this campaign. It was a pleasure to work with them, and of course my sunglasses are beautiful!