Hi Everyone

So regular readers will know we recently celebrated our first wedding anniversary. It has been a crazy year, those of you who have followed me for a while will know Mum passed away in August. anyone unfortunate enough to have experienced a loss knows of the severe trauma and the psychological impact this can have. Lets just say there are good days and bad days. I really was’nt feeling great at all coming up to our anniversary.Memories of the run up to the wedding and all the fun we had last year played on my mind, it was bittersweet. Mothers day falling the week before did’nt help either. It was a difficult week to say the least, but I’ve lived to tell the tale and I feel better now. A weekend away in beautiful Connemara was just what I needed to de-stress and have some fun. Of course we had to celebrate being Mr and Mrs Dillon for 365 days

In the station house bar

I had been browsing online for a hotel deal and came across the Station house hotel clifden  I had a look on the website and thought the hotel looked lovely. They have some very reasonable deals on for romantic breaks and for families. Our package included a two night stay with dinner bed and breakfast, and evening meal and two spa treatments. I booked it straight away as I have been to Clifden before and always loved the place.With a name like Conneely Id have to have Connemara connections. My Grandad actually came from Clifden before moving to Castlebar. He came from the railway cottage My Dads cousin rose still lives in the homeplace. I caught up with Rose and her hubby Lawrance for a few drinks during our stay in Clifden. It was great to catch up and have the craic.

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Hi Everyone

Im finally getting through posting these recipes from Last week. The burrito bowl was a very popular one. It’s a low carb version but You could easy add brown rice, homemade wedges or if you are treating Yourself Nachos would be divine. I had mine on a bed of spinach as I was saving my macros for a weekend away for Our anniversary. The burrito bowl was absolutely delicious and definitely one I intend to make again this week. I served it with guacamole, recipe is on here and Glenisk natural yogurt instead of sour cream. But as I said feel free to adapt it to your own taste.

Here it is, enjoy

Love Maria

Low carb Buritto bowl

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Hi Everyone 

I really can’t take the credit for this as I saw it on LovinDublins snapchat. However it’s a great recipe and it was very popular over on my SnapChat. It’s super easy and only takes a few minutes & my god is it tasty. 

Enjoy folks and let me know if You make it.

Love Maria 

Fresh and full of flavour

4 Ripe avocados, they need to be soft and squishy.

1 small red onion chopped finely

1 tomatoe chopped finely 

1 green chilli chopped. I used the jar version as I didn’t have fresh. I used 4/5 slices from the old El Paso jar. 

Chopped fresh coriander.

The juice of a lime

Black Pepper & salt 

Method 

Mash the avocados and add in all the ingredients and mix well.

That it, simple as You can enjoy on its own, with spicy mince or in a salad. Super simple and quick with huge flavours 

Hi Everyone

This is the recipe for the porridge bread I made on snapchat last week. I made two  different versions a savoury and a sweet. They were delicious. I was making two small loaves so I broke down the recipe into half.  Il give You the full version and You can break it down if You need too.

Enjoy

Love Maria xx

cake liner are from homestore and more

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Hi Everyone

Can You believe it’s March already? The last two months have just whizzed by. We have been doing some beautiful work in the salon this Spring. Of course Olaplex is featured quite a lot as always. Having used Olaplex since August now We are really getting into the swing of things. Clients are requesting Olaplex with every set of highlights or colour now as they can see the amazing impact. Hair becomes a lot more manageable and looks glossy, shines and appears thicker. Teamed with professional shampoo and conditioner for homecare. Olaplex is a dream, a real game changer in hairdressing. Protecting the hair structure, reconstruction of hair bonds from the inside, and fabulous condition. It’s a win win all round.

Prelightener gives a very clean blonde

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Hi Everyone 

This is just a few quick tips on managing Your own hair. A few simple Habit changes can make life easier. We often end up having these chats in the salon. I suppose I can forget sometimes that things I think are basic are not known by everyone. I thought I’d share these ten little nuggets of information. Feel free to snapchat me or comment or message me any time if You have any questions or want to know anything about hair.

 I hope they help someone and please click share. 

Love Maria

Blowdrying Essentials

1. Invest in a good quality shampoo and conditioner 
2. Shampoo twice rinse and apply conditioner through the mid lengths and ends avoiding the scalp area only.
3. Don’t overload the hair with product. You might think You need half the bottle of conditioner but trust me, the finer layers of product can penetrate the hair easier. Use too much and it will just go down the plughole. 
4. Pat dry with a towel soaking up the water. Vigorous towel drying will cause more tangles. 
5. Begin de-tangling immediately start from the ends work your way up. Starting at the top brushing down will cause breakage. 
6. Dry Your hair properly with a hairdryer. Contrary to popular belief drying hair naturally is actually more harmful than using heat. When we dry the hair we shut down the cuticle protecting the inner bonds of the hair. 
7. Use a nozzle. The reason we have a nozzle on the dryer is to direct heat to one place. This ensures a smoother finish. 
8. Avoid tying hair up wet. This is lethal for breakage, avoid at all costs.
9. Know Your hair. Is it dry and damaged from over colouring? Is the damage from incorrect handling? Vigorous brushing, brushing tangles out dry etc? Or have You always had dry or frizzy hair naturally? Maybe You have normal hair that just needs a few tweaks to your styling habits. 
10. Use the correct products for Your hair type. There are loads of brilliant products out there. Just make sure you are using the correct one for Your hair. For example a lady who has naturally dry frizzy hair needs a moisture boosting shampoo mask and maybe a styling oil or cream. This is necessary for maintaining naturally dry hair. A lady with fine hair maybe has broken ends from incorrect use of the Straightner or over colouring. Will need a protein based reconstruction range for weakened hair. Just be aware of the difference.  

Blowdried with Denman brush and GHD curled at the ends