Dear Friday

(My blog is set to Irish time, but it's still Friday here in Canada!)

Dear Zach, painting with you is so much fun, kiddo. We can't tell what the future has in store for you, but I can guarantee you will do something with your wonderful creativity. :)

Dear Mr Caterpillar, little Liam and I had a lot of fun playing with you in the back garden. Liam has been asking for you quite a lot ever since.

Dear Pretty Purple Phone, thanks to you and your wonderful photo-taking abilities, I have become one of those people who takes photos of absolutely everything, including their lunch.

Dear Kina Grannis, I cannot believe you replied to my email!!! Proof that you are one of the sweetest musicians in existence. :)

Dear Ants, Zach was not very impressed at you guys eating his Goldfish crackers. He doesn't like to share food, even if it falls on the ground.

Love always,
Orla

PS~ I would love it if you would check out my newest YouTube video :) And I would love it even more if you could subscribe to me! Thanks :)

PPS~ I just realised I'm wearing the same blazer in the photo with Kina Grannis as I am in the video. Just a random bit of info there for ya. 

Giant Smiles and Thank Yous!

I said pretty much everything I wanted to say in this awkward video. :)

I award:

Mandy (My 100th follower!)

Kaitlin

Rae Marie

Trishie

Lily Marie

Autumn

Sarah

And here is your award... :)

Love always, Orla

Morning Lullabies

I could write about how I love the morning sunshine streaming into my bedroom, and the fresh air through the open window. How I enjoy my breakfast of fresh fruit, and I sit and ponder all of life's precious offerings. I would be lying. And I would never lie to you girls. Truth is, I look a bit like this in the mornings: 

I am not a morning person. At all. In order to avoid the morning blues, I have to come up with ways to wake myself up as pleasantly as possible. So I have come up with a 'Morning Lullabies' system, whereby I set my alarm every night with a happy song to wake me up. Music calms me, and helps me to start the day as best I can. 

Morning Lullabies

Upside Down- Jack Johnson

Bucket- Carly Rae Jepsen 

A Message From Your Heart- Kina Grannis

When I'm Gone- A Rocket To The Moon

Bubbly- Colbie Caillat

Count On Me- Bruno Mars

Ours- Taylor Swift

Breakfast At Tiffany's- Deep Blue Something

Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles

Morning Lullabies- Ingrid Michaelson

Happy Corner

Have you ever felt so inspired and full of ideas and creativity that it all just crashes together, explodes and leaves you with absolutely no idea what to do with it all? No? Wow, I think there is something wrong with me. I am so full of energy right now, and I have this overwhelming urge to blog, but I have no idea what about! I just need to get this cheerful, crazy energy out of me somehow. Hmm... How about a pick and mix blog post? I will give you a little taste of what is going on in my head right now, what is making me so crazy and incoherent. Ready? .....Okay.. GO!

"This is your life, and it's ending one minute at a time" ~Narrator, Fight Club

 

"Among all the fairytales, I choose Shrek, because that's where I learned that even the imperfect people can have happy endings" ~Unknown

"But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions." ~D.H. Lawrence  

My new song, 'Postcard'. Tell me what you think of it, and please subscribe to my YouTube channel. :)

So there you have it. A brief look at the inside of my head. It is going crazy, and I feel like dancing around the kitchen, or running down a hill, or baking brownies, or... Sitting. In silence. And just appreciating the fact that right now I am able to smile, and say that I am feeling happy. I want to savour the moment, because sitting with my puppy curled up beside me, the fire lighting, a mug of hot tea, and Imaginary Friend playing on iTunes- I am happy. :) 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday, and if you're not having a great one like I am, then I hope you have an utterly fantabulous week to make up for it. :) 

Love always, 

Orla

Musical Musings

I am obsessed with Youtube. I have found many of my favourite artists on Youtube. People sit on their beds recording videos of themselves singing wonderful songs with beautifully real voices. Their personalities win my heart, and I find myself drawn back to them over and over. Here are a few of my favourite covers from my favourite Youtubers. :)

First up- The wonderful Kina Grannis singing Coldplay's 'Fix You', one of my all time favourite songs. I was lucky enough to actually meet Kina after her show on February 1st, 2012! I will never forget it. This girl is amazing. Incredibly sweet, incredibly talented, and incredibly down to earth. Please, go fall in love with her music.

Jayme Dee singing 'I Will Follow You Into the Dark' by Death Cab for a Cutie. Such an unusual voice, but incredibly addictive. If you have any doubt as to how great this girl is, watch her Bath Tub video- she's so cool!

Sarah Crummy's cover of 'Jar of Hearts'. Wow, this girl will win you over instantly, be it with her phenomenal musical abilities, or her endearing personality. I adore every song she posts, without exception.

Ally Rhodes singing 'Give Me Everything' by Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Afrojack and Nayer. I hate this song. I mean, I really hate it. But I cannot help but really really love Ally's version. :) 

Imaginary Friend's version of 'Fly Me To The Moon'. Beautiful man, beautiful music. His voice is just haunting, I could listen to him all day. I only wish he had more songs... 

Drew Tabor's cover of 'Superbass'. Just watch it. :) I was shocked! It made me like the original. Drew Tabor is one of the quirkiest musicians I follow on Youtube. If you're not used to her, then the start of this video might confuse you, but please just listen to her singing. 

So that's it! I know that no one will watch all of these anyway, so to give you some chance, I will leave it at that for today. I will most likely be doing a few more posts just like this one, because I love to promote these wonderful, hidden talents. 

Have a happy Sunday. :) 

Orla.x

This Week

This week was endless cups of sweet tea and lovely chats with wonderful friends.

This week was being dorky in public. Practicing our British accents, playing in shopping trolleys, skipping and being pirates. Why ever not? 

This week we had flowers on the table. Red carnations. A little pop of energy and fun, one of the simplest of pleasures. 

This week was celebrating birthdays. Shout-outs to Mam, David, Eva, Emilia, Niamh and Jane. I hope your birthdays were positively wonderful! 

This week was trying very hard to promote my blog and Youtube account, and being over the moon with every new comment, subscription and view! You are wonderful for reading this, and when I see your one extra view in my stats I will instantly want to hug you. :) 

Love always,
Orla.x

You'll never guess what...

(A post requested by the lovely Aoibheann!)

**Photo heavy

It always happens that everything will be super calm and slightly boring for weeks on end, and then all of a sudden everything happens at once. Am I the only one? Well, not to worry, because I have just had the most exciting 2 weeks!

On the 1st February, I met one of my biggest musical inspirations ever. 

You don't know who she is? What? Oh my goodness. Here! 

You can of course skip these videos, and pretend I never posted them. You would be very silly to do that, and you would be missing out on hearing a musical genius at work. Just saying. :)

So yes, that's what happened on 1st February 2012. Kate and I traveled all the way across the {tiny} country  to watch Kina Grannis play live and to meet her afterwards. We were exhausted, and Kate ate a very questionable burger before the show which meant while I had butterflies listening to Kina sing, Kate had food poisoning. BUT- it was all worth it! Sorry Kate, I know I said I wouldn't mention that... 

And what else happened in the last 2 weeks? 

Well, I may have mentioned before that I have the best friends in the entire world. Better than the best! And I may have mentioned a couple times that I'm turning 18 this week? Well.... My fantastic, amazing, incredible, wonderful, perfect, super duper friends brought me to Paris for my birthday!!! 

Yes, they really really did! I told you- Best. Friends. Ever. Wanna see pictures? No? Keep scrollin'...

My new boyfriend. 

This is Laura's zebra. He will travel the world with us, and we will take pictures of him everywhere!

Kate is an absolute genius, I love her! She got us all the way around Paris and safely back to our hotel, and we didn't get lost once! Everyone, please clap for Kate. 

We bought teddy bears at Disney Land! Thumper is mine, Nala is Kate's, and Eeyore was bought for Kate's beautiful niece and God-daughter Anna Jane, who is 3 months old on Thursday. :)

Sorry for the photo overload there- I had to narrow it down from 703 pictures, I thought I did well! So that was my amazing birthday present from the best friends in the world. :) And I will leave you with this video....

Have a happy Monday. :) 

Love Orla.x