Proud to be Irish

Happy St Patrick's Day everyone,

Hope you all have a great day and for some people I know its the start of midterm/Easter holidays and I am so jealous!:-(

For the day that's in it I wanted to do a post about how proud I am to be Irish and I also have a bit of news to tell you below. All this week with the lead up to today, I have been feeling extra proud to be Irish. There have always been moments in your life where you're so proud of your country. At sporting events, seeing successful Irish actors in movies. seeing Irish musicians achieve global fame etc are all times when you feel that extra.. "Come on Ireland" attitude.

Although I have always felt this feeling when watching TV or attending events, its not until I moved here to Toronto that being from Ireland and telling people I am Irish have I felt such pride. The reason being is the reaction I get from the person I have told. I am yet to receive a negative comment about Irish people when others share their excitement with me about the Irish person they know or met or became friends with. It is always..."Oh I love the Irish".

For such a small country we have a fantastic reputation, although some of the time it can be drink related, most of the time the reputation we have is that we are the most fun, the bubbliest,  the friendliest and apparently we have the best accents.

While it might rain a lot, when the sun shines its the most beautiful place on earth. We have produced some of the world's best food and drink. Made some of the world's greatest songs. We have some of the world's most successful actors. We have sporting champions. We have saved lives and also lost a few great ones too. We are scientists. We are artists. We are a small little country with the biggest hearts. We have it all!

Sometimes, you need to take a step back, to travel and explore new cultures to then appreciate your own culture and country and all its beauty. We as a country have been through some dark times but we came through it and did it all while probably still smiling.

Last week, I made the tough decision to decline my offer of returning to my job in Ireland in September after my career break. Which means I am staying in Toronto to see out my 2 year visa. This was not an easy choice as I miss working with children and especially miss the people I worked with. I made this decision as I have such a huge opportunity here to work and travel and I will not get this chance again. So I am grabbing it by the balls haha!

I love Ireland and all the people in it, especially the ones that I miss dearly, but I need to continue my adventure here for now. I will return though don't you worry!

So today on our national holiday that is celebrated all over the world. Be proud to be Irish. We might be small but we are GREAT!

Happy Paddys Day!

Hope you have a good one:-)

Talk soon xx

Zita J

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!

Happy Friday!

Thank God its the weekend, I don't know about everyone else but I think this week dragged! The weekends go so fast and the weeks drag. So, I wanted to fill you in on my current hair drama and also to give word of warning to anyone silly enough to do what I did to NOT try do your own hair when trying to go brown from blonde:-(

A little background information is needed first of all. As you'll see below, the first two pictures is my natural colour. Dark brown. How cute was I as a toddler may I add?

I used to constantly get compliments on the colour and length as I got older. Being asked what colour it was, where did I get it done etc and I was so proud to say it was my own colour. However, in 2010, 20 years of age, while on my J1 in California I foolishly decided to dye it a redish colour. Because I was naturally dark it wasn't too dramatic and had a tint of red while still dark.

But it didn't stop there, then I got obsessed with trying other red and purple shades.I even went extremely red as you'll see below. Probably thinking I'd look like Rihanna or something haha.

When I got sick of maintaining that and realsing it wasn't that nice on me I went back dark but probably too black....

Not only that but I then got a notion it was too long and needed a change so I cut half my hair off. I still regret it. I miss my really long hair:-(

Then, just recently after I made the decision to move here. I wanted the black out and it to be changed to brown, trying to get back to my natural colour. One of my cousins did it for me and it was perfect! I loved it! But do you think I'd be happy? Nah...

After a few weeks of being in Toronto, I went to a hairdresser to get lighter tones put in and after my 3rd visit going there, in December I went very blonde at the ends. The picture below is what I came out with...

To be honest, I did like it at the start but it was also so much drier than my hair had been and I couldn't deal with seeing orange tones. So what did I do?

I turned it GREEN!

Yes, green. I can't get a picture of it that does it justice but I am not lying it was green! I tried to go back brown and I put an ashy brown over my whole head. What I didn't know, and if you are like me please don't try this at home, that ash brown colours turn blonde hair....green. Who knew? Well hairdressers but I was too cheap and trying to save for Vegas to go to one.

In a panic the night I dyed it I even resorted to putting tomato ketchup all over my head as google told me too and no it does not work and yes it was disgusting! The next morning my cousin came to the rescue and skyped me while I was in a shop panicking over what colour I should put in next. She recommend something with a red undertone first to neutralize the green and then a reddish brown over it! The result was actually quite nice. 

Its not back to the way I want it yet and the blonde is starting to come through again a few weeks on, which I am sad about. I'll probably have to go to a hairdresser so they can fix it properly but my lesson was definitely learnt. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! 

What colour was your favourite on me? I think the orange just before I went bright red! Haha! Who knows what colour I'll go next! I'm joking Mum :-/

Have a great weekend guys!

Talk soon xx

Zita J