Blog Awards Ireland 2015 - Vote for me!

For the second year in a row, I've made the shortlist of the Blog Awards Ireland  in the "Lifestyle" category and I couldn't be more excited!

Last year, I went all the way to the final and it was truly a great experience. I got to meet really nice people and even if I didn't win, I had a fantastic night with all my fellow bloggers.

The great thing about the Awards is that it makes you discover great blogs that you might not have come across otherwise. This year I've also signed up to be a judge and read truly inspiring blogs that helped on my own writing journey.

So what's happening now? This year, all the shortlisted blogs are opened to a public vote, so I need your help. I hate doing that sort of thing (i.e begging) but if you enjoy reading my blog and think it is worthy of being in the final, then please click on the link below, select "Nearly Irish?" and submit. 

Voting is opened until 21st of September. Thank you very much!

 

Read More

The Blog Awards Ireland

On Saturday, Fabrice and I attended the Blog Awards Ireland ceremony in Clane. I was very excited about the whole thing but anxious at the same time because I didn't know anybody. Thankfully, I had my husband (a.k.a my PR executive) to keep me company and introduce me to people he didn't know either( because that's definitely not a problem for him). I'm not a shy person as such, but when I am in a room full of strangers, I just panic and can't seem to be able to start a conversation. 

When we arrived, I signed up and wrote my name and my blog's on a name tag and stuck it to my coat. One of the organisers came straight up to me, and with a big smile said: "Oh, I know your face!, I probably read your blog! What is it?" I pointed to my name tag and replied "Nearly Irish". Her face suddenly shifted... she mumbled something and invited us to try the craft beer and cider on display. Awkward.

The night was starting well I tell you. We made our way to the drinks reception, but before even ordering something, we had to have our picture taken with 80's props. That was fun although I never want to see the result. TG4 was also filming the whole thing, and having just watched the highlights I'm glad I didn't see myself. But I recognised a few familiar faces.

Thanks to Fabrice who eventually started to talk to someone, we met Lucina who blogs for MS & me, a community blog for people living with Multiple Sclerosis, something I can relate to, as I have a couple of friends who have MS. 

The function room was absolutely splendid and you could see the organisers put a lot of effort in the decoration. And the must, we all got a goody bag. Not the crappy ones you get at any trade show. No. It was the Ultimate goody bag, full of vouchers, pens, a cup,  pop corn, drinks and so on. 

 80's props

There was no allocated seating, so we set camp at a random table, which happened to be full of very nice people, although we quickly realised it was the looser's table. We were 5 nominees, and none of us won. But the spirit stayed high nonetheless (thanks to the wine, mainly).

I had the chance to meet the lovely Debbie from Saucepankids (Her blog is about how to get your kids cooking, which is a fantastic idea), Aisling from Babysteps, and Marie from Irishjobs (probably the website I know best!). The food was good, but the highlight was undoubtedly the dessert. I think I will start a campaign to have those Glenisk delights sold in Tesco. Basically it was a cocktail yoghurt. Forget Tiramisu or black forest. Think Mojito, Irish coffee, Sunrise, Pina Colada... 2 or 3 shots and you don't need wine anymore. 

 

 

You can tell Fabrice enjoyed it!

As the evening came to an end, all of our table deserted so we decided to join another one. Sure, why not? After so much alcohol I was definitely not afraid to talk anymore. We had a great time with Caitriona and her boyfriend, from True Romance weddings. Such a shame I'm already married twice (to the same man,be reassured), or I could have used her services. 

We spent a brilliant night and even though I didn't win, I still received a certificate.

So what's next?

Well, I'll definitely keep blogging. Never in a million years I thought I would get this far in such a short period of time. I never thought people would actually read my blog, and find it interesting.

I want to thank all my readers, and also the judges who deemed my blog good enough to be a finalist.

Hopefully, I'll go all the way next year, and before I finish this never-ending post, I have to give a special mention to the blog who won in my category: With all the finesse of a badger. 

I was secretely hoping she'd won the humour category (So I could win in mine!), but she definitely deserved it. So well done!

Roll on next year!

 

Read More

The impossible quest for a B&B

Sometimes I feel like I'm married to the Wolf of Wall Street (OK, maybe minus the drug and sex addict part of his personality). I'm talking about his sales skills of course. Fabrice could sell ice to an Eskimo for all I know. I don't know how he does it, but he *almost* always end up getting what he wants from people and he's a really good negotiator. In short, he's my complete opposite. 

As you might be aware, I've made it to the final of the Blog Awards Ireland and when I got the news, I decided it would be a good idea to attend. However, I learned that the hotel was fully booked and it seemed like all the B&Bs around where unavailable either. Fabrice decided to use his sales skills, and basically sell our desperation in finding a place to sleep.

I made a list of pretty much all the B&B in Co.Kildare, from Straffan to Kill, Naas, Celbridge and even Maynooth. The first one I rang was probably the most unhelpful B&B owner in the world. I politely asked if there was a room available for the 4th of October and the answer I received was: "I don't know, just go check booking.com"!  Of course I didn't check and even if they had rooms, I wouldn't have stayed there after that kind of rudeness. The second one I rang was fully booked, unfortunately.

Do you think that would have stopped my husband? 

"I'm taking over", he said to me. 

"Give me that list". 

He rang another place and for some unknown reason, pulled off a fantastically fake English accent. After introducing himself for a good 5 minutes, he eventually asked if there was a room available, but sadly there wasn't. 

"Why did you take so long to ask for a room? "

"You see", he said, "you have to build a "relationship", and get the person to trust you so that she can be confident in renting  you a room..."

"Yeah, right, sounds like a lot of bullshit to me..."

That's when it all started to go pear-shaped. During the next call, he tried to fabricate an entire fake story about the reason why he was looking for a room. The B&B was "Failte Ireland" approved, and for some bizarre reason, said we were going to one of their conference in the hotel. Why, Fabrice, why??? The lady seemed all excited about that:

"A tourism conference? I might close the B&B then, because I want to go to!" 

After 10 minutes of vague explanation of what the event was about, he managed to get himself out of that awkward situation and hung up the phone.

"She didn't even tell me if she had rooms! All she wanted to know was about the event itself!" Well done honey, well done.

"I'll ring back. And I'll take my French accent." 

Some people never give up, don't they? The B&B was fully booked. But you know what, I'm not sure I would have dared staying there, and he would have had to keep his French accent. Too complicated for just one night.

He also tried all the hotels around, the ones within our budget obviously (although I would have loved to stay in the K club!), but sadly his "sales skills" didn't get us anywhere. In the mean time, I sent at least 5 messages on AirBnB and finally, after 2 hours of research, our last phone call had a happy ending. Well, sort of. There was a room alright, but only with 3 singles beds. Ah sure, we're only there to sleep anyway. So we booked it.

Of course, since that happened, I had 3 messages back from AirBnB, all positive! If you're still looking, go that website, you might be in luck! 

As for us, well, everything is sorted now, I just have to find an outfit, and trust me, this  will take more than 2 hours...

 

 

Read More

Blog Awards Ireland...I've made the long list!

I'm delighted to have made the long list for the Blog Awards Ireland, in the "Personal Blog" category. 

I have to thank Aoife for nominating me, although I kind of pushed her to do it. I even threatened not to bring her any biscuits back from Brittany if she didn't!

The truth is, I was allowed to nominate myself, but I'm crap at self-promotion. I hate begging for likes, comments, votes and so on. In short, I don't want to bother people. If someone wants to read my blog, great. I'm always happy with new readers and feedback. If not, well, I won't take offence. Not everyone wants to read about the stories of a French mum living in Ireland. And I can understand that.

The good thing about the Awards is that the winners are not chosen by a public vote, but by judges. There will be no "Pleeeaaaase vote for me!" on Facebook. For the next few weeks I will only have to concentrate on my writing. And maybe make my blog look a bit better! 

Today, I spend most of my days reading all the other blogs in my category and made some amazing discoveries. I didn't suspect there were so many interesting Irish blogs!

Thanks to everybody who reads my blog  and good luck to all the nominees, roll on the next few weeks, I can't wait to see if I make the short list!

Read More