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Doing it all, except the dishes and trying not to burn out

Posted on May 4, 2015 by rhonabethginny

So my daily life has kicked up a gear ever since the clocks went forward. An extra hour of sunlight meant only one thing to me, waterwork. No more tedious long erg sessions (rowing machines). Anyone who has sat on one of these will know that it’s great to get back off them. With that extra bit of light we could go out at 6.30 and get a good session on the water. Only problem with that is. I am left with NO TIME! I am not exaggerating. I work from about 8.30am to roughly 5.30pm, then I get togged out and head down to the club. We get on the water for about 6.30pm and don’t get off it til about 8. After bringing in the boat, getting changed, locking up and driving home it’s between 9 and 9.30. Then it’s time to make dinner. So we’re eating by 10pm and then we chill for about an hour before I start getting real sleepy and head to bed around 11-11.30 pm. I sleep, I get up and I do it all again. That is my daily routine roughly. Housework does not get done during the week. Dishes pile up (although very neatly) and wait patiently for a spare moment to get washed. Grocery shopping now gets squeezed in during my “chill time” on a Monday evening. Thankfully, I’ve enough clothes to get me through a week without too many loads of washing. On the weekends, I train, see my friends, clean the house and catch on some r&r with the boyfriend.

This is was all going grand, then the other designer went on a three week holiday. You can forgive him as it was his honeymoon. Nontheless, the anti was indeed upped in work. I had a more stressful and more demanding workload. He has since come back but the workload has not lessened. I also have the new task of being the coxwain for the novice quad. Foe those of you that don’t know, that is the person who steers the boat and yells at the crew to row harder (who doesn’t love to yell). I gladly excepted this task not realising how mentally draining it could be. How people do it well is beyond me. EVERYTHING IS BACKWARDS. So this means on my rest days I’m actually still down at the club. I may not be rowing but I’m still in the boat.

And don’t get me wrong, I truly love how active I am. I love the rowing, I love blogging (albeit, quite infrequently) and I love my job. I’m delighted that I still manage to socialise quite a good bit (it helps when you’re friends with the people you row with) and that Cormac and I still manage to get out and do lots of things, from the cinema and dinners to hacking through that part of the woods they tell you not to go in and despite all my whinging Cormac still drags me to. But I felt like I hit a brick wall this Thursday. I felt like I couldn’t keep going. On my way home from training I had a cry to myself in the car (yes I’m one of those people). How do people “do it all” and not burn out? How do they keep going? Are the snorting berocca or something worse? I have yet to figure out the secret. If someone knows please do tell me. Until then, I will solve my problem the way I solving it right now. Chocolate, boyfriend cuddles and a four day weekend which includes a trip home to my mammy. And ma if you’re reading this, I’m fine, don’t panic. Bless her she worries too much.

And as Cormac keeps telling me, would I rather look back and say I gave it my all or say I kept a clean house. I think we all know the answer to this.

Dressing for life…

Posted on April 13, 2015 by rhonabethginny

I think by now everyone knows that I love fashion. I love getting new pieces, I love putting outfits together. I love the confidence my clothes give me. When I was in college I strived to always be fashion forward. It was hard due to not ever having money, but because my days consisted of college and telly watching I wasn’t exactly restricted due to activity. So most days I looked very on-trend. Though I did get some odd looks. (Jaysus people it’s just a leather pencil skirt and cons!) I think this way of life was hugely influenced due to having a blog. I mean if I’m discussing clothes I have to look my best all the time, right?

But my life got busy and it became more than just college and blogging. I started working, started rowing, nephews came along, I started getting more active, I started baking and cooking, I moved out and started living with my boyfriend. And suddenly this need to be blog perfect fell by the way side. Unlike those fabulously stylish fashion bloggers I read about everyday, my job did not require me to look on-point on a daily basis and frankly it was becoming impractical. I mean I do love me some stilettos but they’re not my friend when I have to dash across town to the bank on my lunch break. And I adore white skinnies but I can’t exactly strut up to the rowing club in those, they would get destroyed! But that doesn’t mean I want to stop having fun with my clothes.

Yesterday is a wonderful example of this. As you can see from the above image I was driving a safety launch for some rowers going out for a Sunday spin. (You can also see that life jackets are in NO WAY flattering – I mean I look about thirty pounds heavier!) I could have changed my outfit from something less sensible to something more sensible but I don’t want to have to waste my day with unnecessary costume changes. No, yesterday I needed to be practical from start to finish. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to have fun. I still wanted to be me, I still wanted to show off some style. So I decided to dress for the persona of “chilled seventies surfer chick” which consisted of flares, vans, a surfer hoodie and an oversized plaid shirt. (Trust me it looked good sans life-jacket – why can’t safety be chic!?)

So in a long winded way, what I’m trying to say is that my style hasn’t really changed. I still love all the same things. But my attitude to dressing has changed. Style, to me, isn’t about mere aesthetics, but managing to find that balance between aestheticism and practicality, between what’s beautiful and what works for you. I’m no longer just dressing for my blog. I’m dressing for my life.

fun in the sun

Posted on March 13, 2015 by rhonabethginny

Oooh today was L.O.V.E.L.Y! Just the perfect weather to introduce my new coat to the world! Well it could have been warmer but I am not complaining after the battering we got the past few days. You know, you really do get sick of the wind howling. But today sunglasses were needed and a nice amble after lunch was had. How cute is Killaloe!

So about this coat. Well, when I was about eighteen or so my mam (hey ma!) decided to longer buy me an Easter egg like everyone else. No, she decided to buy me clothes, she loves clothes just as much as me and it was far more fun to go out and buy me a frock or a pair of shoes than to get me chocolate. And I wasn’t gonna stop her! After all, I get chocolate off my boyfriend, I don’t need piles of it. What I need is a new spring coat! And a spring coat is what I got! A beautiful oversized, swingful lemon gem of a spring coat!

And I think it goes real well with my dressed down Friday attire. A crisp white shirt and some trusty cons. Which are usually never that clean but I washed them the other day, much to my boyfriend’s annoyance. To be fair they were banging around the tumble dryer for quite some time, the telly was indeed turned up.

Oh yes crisp, fresh and clean was the name of the day!

Shirt, Coat, Belt: Dunnes / Jeans: Awear / Shoes: Converse / Sunglasses: Quay

I’ve come this far…

Posted on March 1, 2015 by rhonabethginny

Hey! People! Over here! It’s me! You remember me! Freckly? Short? Ass that won’t quit? Well even if you don’t I’m here and I am standing atop a mountain and announcing to this great cyberdom that I am baaaaaaack!

I’ve been gone for quite a while too… Little over a year, but unofficially I stopped blogging properly when I got a big person job. Which is going on two and a half years! I just could not summon the will to write after a long day of work bookended by an hour and a half commute. I was unprepared for it and my blog fell into disrepair. But if I’m to tell the truth I was a little relieved. I no longer felt I had to make posts for the sake of them, seek inspiration from the fashion world when I frankly saw none. I felt my blog no longer reflected me and if I’m being totally honest I didn’t really feel like I fitted in.

The last couple of years has changed me. My life has changed so much and thankfully all for the better! And I miss blogging. I want to come back if you’ll have me. I want to write more about my life and my thoughts, my progress through the world. This of course will mean my style but it’ll also mean my other passions and how they make me feel and how they are paving my life for me. But before I get to all that I of course need to update you guys and what has changed and what has remained of me.

What has remained… – I still have not dyed my hair (I honestly feel this is a very important piece of information) and I have no intention to dye it in the future. I mean, why would I, sure tis gorgeous!

– I still live in heels, being 5’4″ makes this pretty much a necessity and I just don’t feel right otherwise.

– I’m still with the boy! Going on nine years now. He even moved across the country and got himself a new job so I no longer had to do a three hour roundtrip commute. Yes, he is indeed a keeper and I love him to bits… Moving swiftly on!

– I’m still a graphic designer. For those of you who read my old blog it was clear that I had a passion for more that just fashion. Graphic design was a deep love of mine and still is to this day. I’m still lucky enough to work with such a talented team and I still get into heated debates over what image is suitable. Somedays I hate it but everyday I love it!

– I’m still as tactless as always! I’m honest, some say too honest, some same I’ve zero tact. But others have said it’s part of my charm. So there!

What has changed…

– I’m now an aunty! To two beautifully bald boys! Conor is two and JimJim is just over six months. Yeah, my sister didn’t hang around! They’re great kids and I love them to bits even if they have trouble growing hair and Conor is afraid of me because I am “no-mammy.”

– I am now an athlete! Oh yeah, I said it! I don’t just exercise, I train! Ladies and Gents I am a rower! It’s a great sport that allows me to keep fit and kick ass, all while trying not pass out or throw up during a 2k test! And I get to be with some of the best ladies I’ve ever known!

– Due to being an “athlete,” half of my clothing money is spent now on gym gear. Man, I do love Nike sports bras! They’re just so colourful! And sure who doesn’t want their own body weight in lycra in their laundry basket…

– Since finishing college I have lost over forty pounds. I wasn’t healthy and it was a constant struggle to blog and promote the fuller figure when in fact I was desperately unhappy. But I did it the healthy way, ate better, got active and lost it slowly.

– Since I had to learn to eat better, I became a serious foodie! And getting more adventurous everyday. Latest obsession, gozleme… Look it up, thank me later!

So there you have it. We’re all caught up. Will this change of direction fufill my need to blog? Will anybody actually bother to read it? Will I forget to blog after a week? Who knows, but sure let’s give it a go anyway!