On Saturday, the 10th of September, I had the pleasure of participating in the Limerick Pride 2011 Parade. This year's festival ran from Saturday, the 3rd of September until Sunday, the 11th of September and marked ten proud festival years (and five years of the Pride Parade). The route went from City Hall, up O'Connell Street, down Henry Street and culiminated in a block party at Clohessy's Bar.
On Friday, the 9th of September, I attended the final of Ms Gay Ireland 2011 which took place in Dolan's Warehouse as part of the Limerick Pride Festival 2011. I went along to judge the competition (being one of a panel of five) which saw women from all over the country competing for the title of Ms Gay Ireland 2011.
Limerick Animal Welfare is a registered charity which was founded in 1983 and is dedicated to
caring for abandoned and neglected animals in the Limerick area. Over the last
five years alone they have saved more than 2000 animals. The aim is to promote
the humane treatment of all animals, working towards a more compassionate
society.
The event saw pieces being modelled from shops such as The K Boutique, Adare and The Ivory Closet - Designer Dress Hire, Limerick (two of my fav boutiques) by models from the Holman-Lee Agency.
My sister and I at the Fashion Show
What I wore
I wore a dress from the Ivory Closet Designer Dress Hire, Limerick. I also debuted my new hairstyle (ie my Hotloxs Hair Extensions) which I wore straightened. I paired the Rachel Gilbert dress from the Ivory Closet with some knee-high socks and black heels as well as a black clutch.
As you've probably noticed by now, I recently underwent a bit of an image overhaul in the form of my new long, luscious locks! My new look is thanks to the wonderful team at HotloxsHair.com who provide superior quality long-lasting humain hair extensions.
Before
I opted to have a full head of permanent extensions installed using Pre-Bonded Virgin Remy Hair. Before I spoke to Anna from Hotloxs, I had never even considered getting hair extensions (despite really wanting long hair ever since I cut off my waist-length hair and dyed it dark when I was sixteen). I always thought that because my hair has so many different tones in it- as a natural strawberry blonde, sometimes I appear blonde, other times extremely red - that I would have to dye the whole thing in order to get extensions to match it and I didn't want to lose my natural colour. So I was delighted to find out that Hotloxs can match absolutely any hair colour. The extensions can also be dyed and highlighted as you please.
After!
The entire installation only took one hour and Anna cut the extensions so as to match my own hairstyle and to achieve the length I wanted. The colour match is absolutely perfect! The extensions will need to be replaced after 3 - 4 months but do not damage your hair at all as they are no longer glued to the hair like they used to be!
I was so impressed with my hair that I recorded a video the first day that I got the extensions styled, which you can view here (and is on my new Youtube channel - "MissSamiSushi"):
The Hotloxs Studio is located above the Dublin Tourist Information Offices just off O'Connell St. Be sure to "like" their facebook page here and visit the website http://www.hotloxshair.com/ where you can buy clip in's as well as contact the stylists about arranging your Hotloxs Hair Installation and view all the price lists.
On Saturday, the 20th of August, Peter Clohessy competed in the final of Charity ICA Bootcamp 2011 in order to raise funds for Aware. I went along to the grand final in Termonfecken to cheer on Peter in his pursuits of being crowned "Charity ICA Bootcamp Recruit of the Year 201"1. Much to my delight, Peter walked away with the title and won over €20,000 for Aware!
In the lead-up to the hugely successful Dublin Zombie Walk 2011, I took note of the fact that a similar event was being planned for the streets of Limerick in early October, "Outbreak - Limerick Zombie Festival". Not only would there be a zombie walk, but the event encapsulated an entire weekend of zombie goodness. Needless to say, I was extremely interested. Then, when I discovered that the organisers were looking for a charity for the event to be in aid of, I knew I had to get involved.
Following a bombardment of e-mails by myself about the amazing work that the Cliona Ring Foundation does, Mike McLoughlin - organiser of Outbreak - agreed to hold the event in aid of the Cliona Ring Foundation. Needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled - not only would I get to dress up as a zombie for the second time this year but it would all be in aid of the CRF, which I am an ambassador for.
The event itself is currently taking place this weekend and the event schedule for the remainder of the festival is as follows:
Friday 30th
Event – Zombie Film Night
Venue – Daghdha, St. John’s Square
Start time – 8pm
Admission: Free (but a donation to The Cliona Ring Foundation may be given on the door, and would be greatly appreciated!).
Kicking us off will be a screening of Limerick film-maker Dermot Petty’s short ‘Zombie Waltzing’, a documentary about the new and disturbing phenomenon of Gothic Country’n’Irish music, filmed locally in Lough Gur.
This will be followed by a screening of Dan O’Bannon’s delirious and demented 1985 zombie-comedy classic Return of the Living Dead, which will be introduced by film writer and critic John Byrne.
BYO snacks and supplies
Following this, After-party in Bourke’s Catherine St.
Saturday 1st October
Hunt Museum at 2pm plays host to the Spooky Tour! A specially themed tour of the museum for our little zombies. It’s FREE in for any kids (or kids at heart) who turn up dressed as Zombies!
YOUTHFEST 2011 takes place in Dolans from 1pm, Its a Huge All day All ages non alcoholic event, with Lots of bands, dancers, magicians and yes, plenty of Zombie goings on too! The event benefits the local Youth Cafes
Melt Cafe If you’re about town and looking for a good coffee, pop in to Melt on Catherine st. , and 10% goes to The Cliona Ring Foundation!
THE ZOMBIE SHUFFLE!! This is the one you’ve been waiting for! The party starts around 6pm At the Bottom of Bedford Row, outside Foxy’s Bar. We’ll have music, facepainters, photographers, and some special performances before we set off on our slow parade of the city at 7.30pm. The route will continue up Thomas st, along Little Catherine Street, back down William street, onto Cruises Street. From there, there is Official Outbreak themed Events in Nancys, Cobblestone Joes, and Mickey Martins.
The Official Shuffle Afterparty takes place in Nancy Blake’s Directly after the Shuffle concludes, with Drinks promos and special entertainment laid on for us!
FILTHSTEP takes place in Dolans, doors at 22.30pm Limerick’s Original Dubstep Night returns to lay down some heavybass sounds for all the heads back in limerick looking for something different.
Midnight Feed! Later that night, those hungry zombies can grab a late night feed at Lulu’s Cafe on Catherine Street, where there will be a special deal for all Zombies that turn up! Its open til 4am, so plenty of time to get that feed in!
Sunday 2nd October
The Zombie Hangover feast! Pier One Hotel Offer a zombie feast, late Breakfast with movie screenings, and proceeds going to Cliona Ring Foundation. Recover in comfort!
SKAZZOMBIE Skazz bring their unique Ska Punk Sounds to Foleys on Lower Sarsfield St. for our Wind down party! Gigs starts at 9pm.
Photo by Ken Coleman
I am particularly looking forward to the Zombie Shuffle, its afterparty and the Hangover Feast taking place on Sunday in the Pier Hotel - I'll definitely be indulging in a Vegetarian Corpse Surprise!
For those of you travelling to Limerick for the weekend, the Pier is offering a special room rate of only €49. Contact them on 061 317179.
Please come along and support the Cliona Ring Foundation this weekend and join in the festivities. For more information on the Foundation, visit http://www.clionaringfoundation.com/ or check out the ILoveLimerick.com documentary I did with the ILoveLimerick crew below;
The shoot involved my (rather crap) attempts to flee from a hoard of zombies - taking refuge on the Treaty Stone, legging it down the street (with Councillor Tom Shortt in tow at one point) and barracading myself into the newly-opened Edinburgh Woolen Mills on Bedford Row. The Pier Hotel acted as base camp for us and a room was kindly provided so that the volunteers could be zombified.
On Wednesday, the 17th of August, I attended the Limerick Lourdes Charity Cycle cheque presentation at which the Cliona Ring Foundation was presented with a cheque for the sum of €13,008 at Bobby Byrne's Pub, Limerick.
The fundraising cycle saw a team of 12 cyclists and 4 back-up team members travel 800km from Nantes to Lourdes to raise money for three charities - the Cliona Ring Foundation, Limerick Lourdes Invalid Fund and the Irish Motor Neuron Disease Association.
A huge congratulations to everyone involved in raising such an amazing amount!
I was joined by Leo Cullen and Ronan O'Driscoll as well as a group of kids who were also there to help promote the fundraising festival which is taking place all over the country this weekend (from Thursday, the 15th of September until Saturday, the 17th of September).
You can support Aware by buying a daisy chain from one of the many volunteers selling them all over Ireland this weekend. You can also donate by texting DAISY to 57500. Texts cost €2.50 each, with a minimum of €1.90 going to Aware.
What I Wore
Although this was almost a week after getting it done, my spray tan which I had gotten in the Salon Hair & Beauty IFSC ensured I had a healthy glow while the girls styled my hair and did my make-up. I didn't have the chance to pick out a dress from my favourite boutique, The Ivory Closet Designer Dress Hire (based on Shannon Street in Limerick) so instead I wore one of my own summery dresses.
On Saturday, the 13th of August, I attended the final of Miss Ireland 2011 with my good friend and author of Miss Red Blog, Ali Ryan.
The final took place in the D4 Berkley Hotel and saw girls from all over the country compete in the hopes of winning the title of Miss Ireland 2011.
Upon arrival, guests were treated to a drinks reception before the four-course sit-down meal.
The competition itself then commenced and included a swimsuit round, eveningwear round and a fashion show in which the contestants modelled the lastest A/W trends from Debenhams. Following the selection of the top fifteen and then the final five, each finalist was asked a question by one of the panel of judges which included Sarah Morrissey, Paul Byrne and Sophie Anderton.
Miss University Ireland 2011 Holly Carpenter was crowned Miss Ireland 2011 by the beautiful Emma Waldron (Miss Ireland 2010). I was delighted by the choice as I had been at the final of Miss University 2011 back in April and knew that Holly would be a great representative.
The after party took place in Buck's Townhouse and provided a great end to an amazing evening.
A huge congratulations to Miss Ireland 2011 Holly Carpenter and to the organisers of Miss Ireland for putting on a spectacular show. I know Holly will do us proud when she competes at Miss World 2011 in November.
Catwalk to Kilimanjaro is a charity climb being undertaken by Irish models Roz Purcell, Georgia Salpa, Daniella Moyles and Louise Johnston to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Ireland, which is dedicated to granting the wishes of children aged three to eighteen living with life-threatening medical conditions.
The climb itself will take place in October but, before then, the girls will be running various fundraising activities which you can keep up to date with on the facebook page here.
One of these activities was the fundraiser launch party which I attended with the author of Miss Red Blog. Highlights of the night included Paddy Cullivan's role as presenter (who you may remember as the host of the Gooseberries which I presented an award at back in January) and two comedy sets.
What I Wore
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to pick out a dress at my fav boutique, the Ivory Closet but I did have time to get my hair done in an upstyle at The Salon Hair & Beauty, IFSC as well as a French Manicure.
The event took place in Bentleys Bar and featured an ILoveLimerick.com feature entitled "A Decade of Pride" (which you can check out here) as well as speeches by those key figures involved in this year's festival.
Photo by Dolf Patijn
This year's Festival runs from September 3rd to Sunday, September 11th. For more information on the upcoming events and the Pride Parade, check out the website here.
Guests included Haunty Beor, Pearstar Sashay, John McNamara, Rich Lynch of ILoveLimerick.com and many more.
The shoot saw many hair, make-up, location and outfit changes (including several dresses from my favourite boutique, The Ivory Closet) as well as many of the props that Rebecca May Weddings is known for, including her amazing jeweled bouquets (which my friend's sister who is soon to be married will not stop raving about)!
A huge thank you to everyone involved in the shoot, in particular to:
Production and Stylings: Rebecca May Weddings, Photography: Sean Curtin, Post Production: Ken Coleman, Creative Director: Richard Lynch, Hair: Sonia Danagher for Hugh Campbell, Make Up: Mandy O Loughlin, Fellow Models: Georgia May Power and Louise O'Sullivan, Location: Dromoland Castle, Co. Clare.
