I have joined pinterest and haven't had much time to get around to blogging as well these days. If you would like to visit my pinterest page, please pop over http://pinterest.com/4allthingsnice/ and become a follower. I would love to see all your boards and pins too so share your pinterest boards with us. There is such much inspiration on pinterest- I love it!

I posted a few weeks back about my magazine reviews. My review featured in Irish Country Magazine which I was very proud of. For those of you that are not familiar with this magazine, Irish Country Magazine is bursting with fashion, beauty and lifestyle tips, features on inspiring rural women, makeovers with women who love farming and fashion, health, beauty and wellbeing. It's got interiors inspiration, gardening pages and how to grow your own vegetables. My next magazine feature will be on IKEA's online magazine for Ireland which will feature my new home, they contacted me through my blog :)

Sorry for the lack of blog posting lately but last Saturday the 2nd September, we went on our honeymoon. We just got back today. As some of you may know, we got married in February but waited to go on our honeymoon until this month. I will post some photographs of our trip for you. We went to Madeira and stayed in the Cliff Bay Hotel which is part of the Porto Bay Hotels and Resorts. The flight took just over 3 hours and for those of you who may not know, Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago located some 1,000km from Portugal and 600km from Africa. It is an oceanic volcanic island. Today I will show you some photographs of the Cliff Bay Hotel where we stayed, it is a wonderful hotel and I would highly recommend it.

Entrance Garden

Main Entrance

Artwork

Hotel on cliff

Rose Garden

 

Lower sea level swimming pools

Lagoon Bar and swimming pool

View of Funchal Marina from fourth floor balcony

 

Side view from balcony

 

View of boats sailing by from bedroom balcony on fourth floor.

 

Next post will include more photographs of Funchal the capital city of Madeira.

Hello everyone,

Hope you are all well. Apologies as I have been busy and haven't had much time to blog. I have completed my review for the magazine and have the interior design photos taken of my home, fingers crossed some of them will be used. I will keep you updated on them anyway. Here is one of the images I have taken of my kitchen.

The weather was lovely and sunny here today in Ireland but this evening is getting dull again, the rain is never far away. What have you all been up to?

Here is a lovely book to have on your coffee table, just to pick up and take some inspiration from. It would make a great Christmas present too. I hope you are all near ready for Christmas. This day next week is Christmas Eve! How do you spend your Christmas Eve? Do you relax with family and friends? Or perhaps you always forget some presents or cards and need to run to the shops to do some last minute shopping? Do you prepare some of your Christmas dinner? 

Are you all set for the Royal Wedding? I spotted this beautiful book over at Country Living by author Fiona Goble- Knit Your Own Royal Wedding- How cute is this!!! Kate, William, the Queen and the Corgis :)

{All images from Fiona Goble, Knit Your Own Royal Family Book} 

Here is just a quick look back at some of the things I blogged about in 2010. Some of you may remember a few of the blog posts but if not, why not take a look at them. I enjoy writing my blog and have really got to know some amazing people, some creative, some taleneted, some so sincere and good natured. I love reading all your blogs. So here are my own favourite posts from my blog in 2010;

January: In January I tended to be very emotional as I was unemployed. I wrote long posts but some of them are nice to read back over, others are a bit boring if I must say so... :) This is my favourite post of January when I wrote about colour or as the americans would spell it color.

Colour

February: I was very creative in Februrary and made a small rug, a wall hanging and some hearts. I also posted some images from my interiors scrapbook, take a look at this post;

Images from my Interior Inspiration

March: I was busy throughout March as I got a new job in February and was getting to grips with the job. I didn't get around to blogging as much. I did  post some lovely photographs of Ireland for Saint Patrick's Day for those of you abroad, have a look;

Lá Fhéile Pádraig Sona Duit

April: I spent alot of time in April outdoors as the weather was good. Every Sunday myself and my boyfriend went somewhere for a drive or walk discovering the countryside. I also spent some time on his farm with the animals, have a look;

Why not pop over and meet the animals on the farm

May: I blogged about random stuff in May. I blogged about things I love and here is just one of them;

Things I love...

June: Summer was here and I was full of life, visiting great houses and gardens and enjoying the long days. I also wrote about interiors and style and I revealed my BIG news to you all;

Some BIG news

July: In July I wrote about my holiday in Edinburgh, Scotland with friends and shared some inspiring kitchen designs with you all. The weather wasn't very good, it rained a lot. Here is a post from my holiday when I visited Stirling;

A visit to Stirling in Scotland

August: I went to Kilkenny for a long weekend in August and the weather was lovely. I was inspired by Pip Studio, Amy Butler and Avoca. I blogged about more home interiors and some design and craft centres I visited. 

Avoca

September: Our new home progressed well in September and I posted some updates on it and what my new life on the farm will be like.

Oh to live in the Country...

October: I was busy in October posting about all sorts of nice things for the new house including lights, mirrors, stoves, doors and lots of bright interiors. This was one of the updates on the new home, not much has happened since apart from the roof is now slated.

Update No. 5 on my new home

November: I blogged about Christmas preparations including crafty gifts, pine cone decorations, and handmade goodies. I also focused on more interior inspiration; beautiful bathrooms, making a splash (bathroom tiles) and wonderful workspaces. I posted about owls- owl templates and owl love you :)

Owl love you

December: While Christmas shopping I saw lots of lovely items I could of added to my santa list, actually if I added them all, my list would be endless. I posted about some of these including pom pom galore, handbag heaven, away with the birds and dear santa...As always though I was looking out for lovely images of kitchens online too. Here are a few I loved in December

Pretty Kitchens



So there you have it, a whirl wind tour of All things nice.... for 2010. I am delighted I got to share it with you all and thank you for your kind comments. Hope you enjoy it :)

I found this lovely website and blog while browsing the web this weekend and thought I'd share it with you all. I love it and as I am moving to a farm I feel it is totally me, I love rural life and represent all that is rural :-) What is a Farm Chick?

According to the website 'A Farm Chick is a girl who sees the world through rose-colored glasses. She loves her family. She laughs a lot. She's farmgirl meets Fifth Avenue and with a little style, she'll change the world'
I hope you like it as much as I do!

{Farm Chicks}

Have I mentioned Pip Studio before, if I have please forgive me, if not go check it out. So pretty, so sweet, so cheerful, so colourful, so me!!!

Having read a post over at The Curious Cat blog about the book A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, I thought I had heard of the book and I was right, it was sitting at the back of my bookshelf. Thank you for reminding me :) So that night I took it out when I was off to bed and started reading it in bed every night this week as I have not been able to sleep these nights. I finished it last night. It is a very gripping story about a girl in Afghanistan, about friendship, love and alot of brutality, suffering and endurance. It was very sad and brought me to tears a number of times. I really recommend this but be warned have your hankerchief ready and don't read it if you are feeling abit down. It brings home to us the suffering some people endure and reminds me of how lucky I am in life.

 *Photograph from National Geographic

I have read a number of posts on various blogs relating to the New Year and New Year Resolutions. Do you make any New Year Resolutions?  I was just reading Laurie Anne's post from Rebel Blossom about making a list of things to accomplish in 2010 and I have decided to make a list of goals/dreams for 2010. As the saying goes

A goal is a dream with a deadline

but I have also read that a goal without a plan is just a wish, so I will plan my dreams, and I am being realistic. I am not dreaming of winning the lottery or something silly like this.
So why not set goals and reach for the moon, because if you don't make it, you'll land among the stars. Anthony Robbins said that 'setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible'.

So whether you make New Year Resolutions, make a list of things to accomplish, or a list of goals or dreams, remember that if you don't like something change it and if you can't change it, change the way you think about it! So maybe you will make some minor changes in your life for the New Year.

Oprah Winfrey once said
Cheers to a New Year and another change for us to get it right 

and we all know that the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement. So whatever your resolutions, changes, targets, goals or dreams are for the New Year I hope you all achieve what you want and have a Wonderful New Year in 2010.

And remember in the end, It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years

                                                                    ~Abraham  Lincoln