A quick questionnaire....

I've had the time of my life..........

I knew I had been neglectful of the oul’ blog, but honestly, I really didn’t realise that it had been almost 3 months since my last post! I am not even going to try to make up an excuse……..I’ve got nothing apart from the fact that I have felt like I’ve been on holidays for those past 3 months!

Since the start of one of the best summers Ireland has had for quite some time, so much has happened: spending days down in Brittas Bay, minding my sister’s kids, going on a mini-break to my Dad & his partner’s gorgeous home in Castlepollard with my girl, Lou, sitting in the garden & playing a spot of Badminton or Swingball (remember that!!!?).

There have also been some major events over the past few months that I would like to mention because they were pretty special for me:
• “Just Blanaid”…my gorgeous girl, B opened up a photographic studio, Shutterbug (check out www.shutterbug.ie) in her hometown of Kilkenny with her brother, Eoin Hennessy. The place is just incredible but really, there’s no shock there as B has once again outdone herself - dat girl has got her sam sereeyas Interiors skillz  Congrats to Both Blanaid & Eoin on their very successful (& quite mad!) launch.
• Dee’s Hens night: this is going to sound odd, but anyway, my beautiful Kiwi darling Dee is married to her Irish sweetheart, Craig for the past 3 years but she never had a hen’s night. So Lou decided it was high time she had a belated one! About 16 of us hit the ludicrously cheap but amazing Sweet Basil Thai restaurant in Rathmines and then (staggered!) on to see the incredible Dublin Glee Choir perform in Tripod. Such a great night

• Neasa’s engagement: my longest-standing bestie of 25years (I know, right!?) Neasa got engaged to her lovely Frenchie, Hubert. She was away at the time and sent me a text which I read in my kitchen among all the girls. My reaction was “Oh My GOD” and silence for about 2 minutes with the girls looking at me asking “What Luc, what is it?”. Eventually, I was able to tell them the good news! I’m really looking forward to a wedding in La France in August 2011 :)
• Sports-wise there was my fourth Flora Women’s mini-marathon (will do a separate post on that!), I’ve taken up Touch rugby, which I love and Ultimate Frisbee, which I also love, even though I still can’t throw the Frisbee properly. It sounds mad but it’s a brilliant game. One of the girls in my hockey club invited me to play in Herbert Park and it’s fo’ fwee!! It’s all for fun, i.e. not competitive, although I somehow manage to be competitive (strange that!) and the people I’ve met through it are all so lovely, really cool, funny & fun to be around. Thanks Anna 
• Myself and Lou managed to gate-crash a mini-surfing holiday to Achill Island with the Accenture Surf Club and with thanks to Shane Ahern who suggested we go along! I’ve never been to that part of Ireland and when I left, I just had this feeling that I have to go back there again. I can’t describe it, there’s something magical about it. The smell of the ocean as you drive into Achill just made me giddy and the scenery is utterly stunning. There have some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve ever seen and I even managed to catch sunrise on one that looked like that beach Leonardo Di Caprio discovered once in a movie! The sand was like talcum powder on my feet, the sea glistened various shades of turquoise as the rising sun’s rays bounced off the tide, if there’s a heaven, I hope it’s just like that!! (It then proceeded to pelt down rain on us, but it was still gorgeous!)
There were about 80 of us in the group, everyone getting along famously and as it is on any surf trip I’ve been on, the people are just so chilled out, friendly & easy-going, not to mention hilarious. Our tummy muscles hurt from the laughs we had all weekend which totally made up for the non-existent surf!! Thanks to all the guys from turfnsurf in Bundoran for being the excellent, enthusiastic instructors they always are. (check out www.turfnsurf.ie )

So, I haven’t been sitting on my arse doing nothing, I’ve just been rekindling my love for my amazing friends & for life. Genuinely, when I wake up each day, I think I’m the luckiest person alive :)
Luc xx

Feast or Famine.....

Ok, I know, it's been nearly a MONTH since I last put a post on the blog. Yes, I am a complete and utter sham. My most sincerestest of apologies to all of y'all :(

There's been loads going on over the past month of which I will go into detail in separate posts but for now, I want to let you know about my new 'modelling' career which started this week. I am under no illusion that this career will be very short-lived but it has been so much fun while it lasted!!

It all began on Monday when I was the Bride for the Clontarf Castle's new wedding brochure. It was a long day (9hrs) and it was freeeeezing for the last few shots which were outside but thankfully my groom, Mark Adams, kept me laughing for the whole day (mainly AT him as opposed to with him but laughing all the same!). We haven't seen any of the snaps yet, but looking forward to it.

My last 'modelling' job came when my housemate & one of my besties, the gorgeous Laura Cunningham (http://www.lauracunninghamstyle.com/) asked me if I'd be a Soupermodel for the "Soup for Life" campaign that the incredible charity, Gorta, are organising. She told me that they needed some 'celebs' for a photocall on Thursday to which I burst out laughing at the idea of me being a 'celeb' (hahahaha). I happily agreed to go along!

I met Tanya, Adrienne & Conor who work for Gorta and are the brains behind the campaign - all of whom are so, so lovely. There were 5 Soupermodels: Conor Clear (TV3), Louise Herraghty (Today fm), Angela Scanlon (http://www.angelascanlon.com/), Louise Jordan (Fm104) and eh.....me! We donned our signature Soup for Life T-shirts (which are very cool and should be available soon) & had great craic taking the pics with the lovely photographer, Naoise of Maxwell Photography.

Soup for Life - 14th May 2010
Why soup? In Ireland during the Great Famine, soup kitchens fed more than one third of the population - they were critical in saving lives. This May, Gorta and the Irish government will be commemorating the Great Irish Famine. They will be remembering the past but also looking into the future. Today, undernourishment affects over 1 billion people but Gorta believes that small actions create opportunities for big change.

Supporting the general public's events, a number of restaurants in Dublin, Cork & Mayo are signing up to support the campaign on May 14th donating €1/bowl of soup sold on the day.

Anyone who signs up to run their own Soup for Life event will get a Soup for Life pack which includes an online cookbook of soup recipes from all over the world along with lots more :)

For more information, log onto: www.gorta.org/soup

What else would ya be doin' of an Easter wkend??

So now......Easter is a time to reflect on how good you've been for lent and indulging in everything you gave up during this reflective...is it 40 days? Well, that very long time that you were all good and disciplined, right??

Well, why not hit the gorgeous town that is Kilkenny and go to the Absolut Style @ Set 3-day, Vintage Fashion, Furniture & Film Fair? Everything you could dream of in the ultimate weekend of indulgence is waiting for you......those involved are well aware of "these recessionary times" (I swear if I hear that one more time.....oh wait...sorry!) and are offering a daily ticket cost of only €8!!!!! That's a serious bargain!

So, what's on the agenda.........?

Movies to die for all day on Friday including Popcorn and goody bags - YUM! (I may spend 8hrs watching movies......because I can!)

Masterclasses in Style, Hair, Make-up on Saturday to get u all 'SET@ for a night of Mayhem with the incredible DJing talents of The Stylebitches

AND ....

Chill out time with their Soulful Sunday with live Jazz music, more amazing movies & food stalls (very important!!).

.........if that wasn't enough, there will be fashion, furniture, Hair, Beauty and Photoshoot stalls there throughout the whole weekend.

There is one, incredible woman behind it all!! Anything she puts her name to is a roaring success and I've NO doubt that this weekend will be her most successful to date. That woman is the stunningly marvellous Blanaid Hennessy (of http://www.blanaid.com/ and http://www.thestylebitches.com/ )

I am 100% sure that next year it will be a case of:

"Have you got your EP tickets?"

"EP, are you mad? Have you got your Absolut Style @ Set tickets more importantly?"

Best of luck B, so, so proud of you !

Luc xxx

Life's too short....

Sometimes in life something really simple can make us open our eyes and realize that our time 'here' is so limited. On this occasion, it was a documentary on Jade Goody a year after her death. I'm not big into magazines or Celebs to be honest and Jade Goody was no exception. I never really followed her life or what she did but I always remember thinking that under her big-mouthed, brash personality, you could see a girl
who was full of love, especially when it came to her kids and I admired that so much in her.


I do remember when it came out that she had cervical cancer and being a bit shocked by it. She was so young and full of life, how could that happen? Since Jade got diagnosed over 400, 000 more women have gone to get a cervical check this year. This is something that we should be doing regularly but before now have 'forgotten' to do or basically put on the long finger - I did it all the time but not anymore. Had Jade been diagnosed 2-3months earlier, she would still be alive today.

While watching the documentary, I was blubbering away - I know, it doesn't take much to open my tear ducts in fairness but it was all the accounts her true friends were giving of her, her kids father speaking so highly of her and in such a beautiful way and the clincher for me was when her mum sobbed & said "Jade had always been a mum to me, I was never a mum to her but when she got sick, she couldn't be a mum to me anymore, so I had to be her mum. I regret to say that it was only when my daughter was poorly, before she died that I was ever a real mum to her".

I always say to myself, "Live in the moment", etc. but this really hit home for me. Life is WAY too short and I don't want to have any regrets like Jade's mum clearly did. From now on I am going to try to do the following:

• Tell those closest to my heart how much I love them


• When I'm with someone, I'm not going to fear losing them, just cherish being with them


• Take a moment every day to be thankful for all that I have & not dwell on what I don't have


• When things go wrong, laugh and see the funny side of it


• Take risks knowing that I'll be ok, no matter what the outcome may be


• When things annoy me in others, I'm going to look at what I love about them instead


• Remember to look around me & see the beauty in nature


• Achieve all the things that I've always wanted to do


• Basically, live every day like it's my last, because who knows, it may very well be...

One of my favourite quotes sums it up for me:

"Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching and live like it's heaven on earth"

Picture from http://www.veryhappypig.com/

When in (self) doubt.......

I have always known that the industry I am sure is for me is one of the toughest to get into and even when you're in it, it's pretty damn hard to stay there! That's why you have to stay 110% positive and truly believe in yourself.

I've been completely shocked by the response I've had from some of the Head Honchos in the Media world. The fact that they have even replied to my correspondence with them is a huge compliment in the first place, but some have taken the time to meet me in person, give me advice and help me to see where my 'niche' lies. It really has blown me away and I feel so lucky.

In saying that, I still have my days when I think to myself, "Is this it? Am I just trying to grasp at something which is unattainable? What the hell am I doing?"! (those thoughts occuring in particular after I lodge money into my account and my balance is LESS than I've just lodged........ouch!). Generally, I really do believe that this is what I should be and will be doing full-time, I just need to be patient but there are times when that self-belief flies out the window and I seem to be paddling in a pool of self-doubt.

Yesterday was one of those days, until I read this:
"There is nothing you cannot do, and if you approach all things in life in the right order, you will do everything you want. Live your dream on the inside first, completely and totally, and then it will manifest in your life. When you have tuned yourself on the inside so completely, you will magnetize everything you need for your dream to become a reality.
This is the law. All creation in your life begins inside of you."

I know a lot of people think all of this is a load of crock, but honestly, I have so many examples of it happening in my life that I truly believe in it. Sometimes I just need to read something like that as a little reminder . So now I am going to bounce back out of the pool of self-doubt and open the window to let that self-belief back in, where it belongs :)

Here's to a great and exciting week ahead...
Luc xxx

Quote from The Secret, Rhonda Byrne (surprise, surprise!!)
Picture from http://www.marcelnunis.com/

Who are you?

Unlike many people, turning 30 last year didn't scare me at all. I actually embraced it! Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I donned a housecoat and a pair of slippers!! I'm still a kid in my head and love to go out and have the craic but I am also not ashamed to admit that I love staying in at weekends to watch The Late Late (ok a little shame there, but I can take it!!). Turning 30 for me was more about realising how lucky I was with everything in my life, feeling confident in my own skin and recognising how much I have grown compared to when I was in my early 20's. Back then, I thought I knew it all and thought that I'd learned all I had to learn!!!

Looking back at myself in my early 20's now, I realise that I really didn't have a clue about life nor did I have the answer to everything. I felt so differently about myself and relationships with others....I was the ultimate crowd-pleaser, bending over backwards to try to keep everyone happy, never being able to say "no" for fear of ruining a friendship/relationship. Now I know that if I can't do something someone asks me to do, they won't actually fall out with me or hate me forever!! I've learned to be able to deal with issues/dilemmas/problems in a completely different way and hopefully, a better way.

Today I was questioning myself about a lot of different things and though I've definitely changed and matured in the past few years, I still don't know it all and I'm still learning about myself. I asked myself "Is there ever an age when we feel like there's nothing new we can learn about ourselves? When I'm 40/50/60, will I still be learning about myself? And if so, can we ever really know exactly who we are?".

I know myself now a hell of a lot better than I did 10 years ago:- I know what I want to do with my life & the things that make me happy, the type of guy that I want to end up with & more importantly, the type of guys I definitely don't want to end up with, how friends should be treated and how they should treat me, how to be decisive (with the exception of when I'm hungover, still haven't mastered that!), how to stand up for myself when I feel I've been treated unfairly and lots more! But, what will I be able to add to my list when I hit the big 40, 50, etc??

It's all very exciting really!! All of this was going through my head (I tend to think ALOT!!) and then I picked up the thought for today from Rhonda Byrne's The Secret and check out what it said:

"Sometimes, when we don't have the courage to change, everything changes around us to direct us to a new path.....

...You cannot stop yourself from growing - evolution requires it."

Pretty appropriate :)

Have a FAB weekend. I'm off to get myself ready for The Late Late !!!

Luc xxx

Picture from http://www.growthlink.co.za/