Category: siopadóireacht/shopping

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Beo don Nollaig

Stair na tléine

Here’s my article for the December edition of Beo! In this article I give a few tips for your Christmas shopping. While it may be a little late to buy from international sites many of the Irish sites listed below might still be able to get your gifts to you in time. I also share a few ideas for virtual gifts: for example did you know that you can gift iPhone/ iPad apps and also check out others’ Amazon wishlists and gift them vouchers for a specific gift? Well now you do!

Tá an Nollaig buailte linn agus tá margaí le fáil ar líne. Tá margaí ó thaobh bronntanais agus do gach aon ní don bhféile idir bhia agus dheoch ar fáil. Is fiú go mór súil a chaitheamh ar roinnt suíomhannamiondíola Éireannacha chun na margaí sin a bhaint amach fiú chomhdéanach leis an 22 lá Nollaig. (Féach www.curiouscupcakes.com mar shampla, a dúirt liom ar líne le déanaí go mbeidh siad ag bácáil isag dáileadh leo go dtí sin.)

Ar ndóigh is féidir bréagáin a cheannach ar líne ach n’fheadar an bhfaca tú riamh rogha chomh leathan is atá ag www.mimitoys.ie? Dontuismistheoir nach féidir leo tabhairt faoi na siopaí ar chor ar bith, tá catagóir líonmhar stocaí acu fiú amháin le hainmhithe beaga, cniotálaífrancaise, ábhar ealaíne, liathróidí lonracha, téada scipeála aguscleasanna beaga eolaíochta. Rud eile gur mór liom faoin raon atá ag MimiToys ná easpa a leithéidí Lightning McQueen is Peppa Pig orthu!

Minimix frameAch ar ndóigh, ní do na gasúir amháin í an Nollaig. Ach don ghasúr atá ionainn ar fad tá http://www.pressieport.ie agus www.GiftGenies.com. Is suíomhanna Éireannacha an péire seo agus tá neart spéisiúil le feiceáil orthu. Mar shampla, nach é do mhuintir bun agus barr na Nollag? Sin a chreidimse féin agus is breá liom an fráma pictiúir seo a ligeadh don úinéir an chlann ar fad a thaispeáint lena chéile ar bhealach tarraingteach: www.pressieport.ie/products/Minimix-Frame.html

Lucht Coimeádta na mBronntanas

An rud sainiúil faoi People Love Presents ná go mbailíonn an bheirt bhan a chruthaigh an suíomh na bronntanais is fearr ó gach cearn denidirlíon: d’fhéadfá coimeádaithe na mbronntanas a thabhairt orthu!Sheol siad feidhmchláirín don iPhone le déanaí a ligean duit anfaighteoir a shainiú ionas go mbeidh an cláirín in ann an bronntanas is oiriúnaí a roghnú duit. Ná habair liom nach mbeadh sé sin ina chabhair mhór duit i gceann coicíse! Féach, cuirim i gcás, ar son do leannáin:People Love Presents – cá háit eile a bhfaighfeá bronntanas chomh speisialta sin?

Tá péire bronntanais ceannaithe agam cheana ar www.gruupy.com ach ní féidir liom scríobh an iomarca fúthu ar eagla go léadh an faighteoir faoi anseo. Is múnla gnó spéisiúil é Gruupy: cuireann siad margadh ar fáil chuile lá ar an tuiscint go mbeidh a dhóthain daoine ann chun a margadh a chomhlíonadh. Bhí iPad ar fáil ar €400.00, fágaim, a fhad isa bhí cúigear déag sásta ceann an duine a cheannach. Bhí an lá sin.

Is ag caint ar iPadanna is ar iFóineanna, nó iGhutháin, n’fheadar an raibh fhios agat gur féidir feidhmchláirín a bhronnadh ar duine eile? San AppStore é féin, roghnaigh an cláirín a bhfuil fonn ort é a bhronnadh; gabh síos go bun an scáileáin agus feicfidh tú cnaipe “Gift this App” a ligfeas duit r-phost a sheoladh leis na sonraí ar fad ann. Thar cinn don té atá ag súil le iPhone sa stoca maidin Lá Nollag! Is féidiréarlais iTunes Store a bhronnadh ar an mbealach céanna freisin agus ligfear don bhfaighteoir ceol, cláirín nó scannáin a cheannach.

Dearbhán, Cinnte!

Caithfidh mé a rá gur fearr liom i bhfad dearbhán bronntanais leictreonach mar seo mar is é mo bharúil go mbíonn sé i bhfad níos éasca nasc a cliceáil i rphost ná cinntiú go bhfuil an dearbhán i do phóca is tú ag tabhairt faoin mbaile mór. Rud níos deise fós faoi dearbhán ó Asos.com, ná nach ngearrfar an t-airgead archárta creidmheasa an bhronntóra go dtí go gcaitheann an faighteoir an dearbhán. Rud eile a thug mé faoi deara ná gur féidir dearbhán a roghnú do bhronntanas ar leith ar Amazon. Luíonn sé seo isteach go deas leis an tseirbhís mhianliosta atá acu. Nuair atá tú ag brabhsáil ar Amazon ar do ghuthán nó ar do ríomhaire, is féidir táirgí a chur le liosta do mhianta. Is féidir an liosta seo a dhéanamh poiblí nó príobháideach. Má bhíonn sé poiblí, is féidir le haon duine teacht air trí chuardach agus bronntanas a roghnú as do mhianliosta féin ansin. Agus má tá mianliosta agat féin, is féidir cnaipe a chur ar do bhrabhsálaí a ligfidh duit tairgí ar shuíomh ar bith a chur leis an mianliosta, (rud atá an-spéisiúil domhiondíoltóirí idirlín). Ní bhfaighidh tú geansaí Nollag riamh arís. Ach ab é go dtiocfaidh d’aintín ar an suíomh seo: http://www.gammychristmasjumpers.com/

Is é an Duine an t-Léine

Stair na tléineIs ag caint ar éadaí, má bhíonn tú ag smaoineamh orthu mar bhronntanas caith súil ar ayearoftees.com*,togra álainn ina bhfuil fear darbh ainm Keith Walsh ag dearadh t-léine in aghaidh an lae. Tá siad monachróim ach tá roinnt díbh go gleoite, roinnt díbh greannmhar, roinnt meonach, ach tá siad go léiruathúil. Más fearr le sprioc do bhronntanais níos mó dathanna, caith súil ar lafraise.com. Ní suíomh Éireannach é, admhaím, ach tá sé Eorpach ar a laghad! Do na mná i do shaol, tá neart le fáil ar doo-lally.com a chuirfeadh gliondar ar a gcroí!

*I gather that as this project is finished the tee-shirts are no longer for sale. Boohoo!

Tá neart búistéirí ar líne (rud a fuair mé amach le déanaí is a chuir íonadh orm!) agus tá duais Gradam Gréasáin na hÉireann is Eircom Spider buaite le déanaí ag James Whelan Butchershttp://www.jameswhelanbutchers.com/ – glacaim leis go mbeidh cearc fhrancach is liamháis le fáil uaidh.Má tá fíon uait le gabháil leis an bhféasta seo, molaim féin www.curiouswines.com – tá siad sásta a gcuid saineolais a roinnt leat ar an nguthán, ar r-phost, ar Facebook nó ar Twitter is tú ag roinnt an fhíona fhoirfe don bhféasta.

Má tá tuilleadh eolais uait faoi shiopaí Éireannacha atá ag díol ar líne, tabhair cuairt ar an mbunachar atá cruthaithe ag Damien Mulley ina bhfuil dátaí deireanacha seachadta liostáilte ag na miondíoltóirí chomh maith le roinnt lascainí. http://bit.ly/9jV331

Mar fhocal scoir, muna bhfuil do dhóthain ansin duit, tabhair cuairt ar I Love Shopping, suíomh atá curtha ar fáil ag An Post ina bhfuil beagnach gach miondíoltóir Éireannach ar líne luaite.

Nollaig Shona daoibh go léir!

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Suits you sir!

Ah the Irish Summer! Well so far this year we cannot complain too much. Most primary schools will finish up this week so expect a turn for the miserable in no short time. This year, however, I am uber-prepared. I have a list of things to do, I’ve sorted the toys and with quiet optimism I have purchased* a pair of children’s wetsuits from Puddleducks. I say quiet optimism because, while I hope to hit the beach, I am presuming it will be cold enough to require said wetsuits. About 3 years ago I bought a wetsuit for Himself so that he could “enjoy” surfing when visiting friends in Donegal even in November. Either the wetsuit or male bravado enabled him to stay in the water for up to 3 hours while myself and the other surf wag chased children up and down the beach purely for the purposes of keeping us all warm. We soon realised after one weekend in Donegal when the kids were paddling with their Puddleducks raincoats on and nothing else (I kid you not!) that wetsuits were a no-brainer for the Irish weather.

Last year we holidayed in lovely Lahinch. (I never did rustle up the energy to post about the lovely holiday we had there. We rented a holiday home in Ballyellery from Trident Holiday Homes. Photo on right was the view from the cottage on one of the truly Irish days 🙂 Ask me if you need more details.) Lahinch is a major surf destination so Himself and some of our friends had a great time. Yet again I missed an opportunity to surf as I was pregnant and too bloody tired even though I wasn’t so far gone. The weather was only okay at the time and we looked at wetsuits in the surf shops in town. The available range wasn’t great in Lahinch and even the second hand ones were pricy so we left it. However there were a number of days where we had to quit the beach as children’s lips turned blue!

I sent a tweet to Puddleducks earlier this year asking them if they were planning to stock wetsuits ever and Aedan replied to me that they were researching the options. A while later Suzanne contacted me and said they were sourcing two different types of wetsuits from suppliers and would I like to try them out. We opted for the full length suits in XSmall and Small. They have since launched a range of different beach products including these suits, a shorty version and various UV suits and beach shoes.

Due to the fact that their father has a wetsuit the Nippers were already favourably inclined. Considering the pair of them had to date refused to even put a two in the water we were concerned that it would be money badly spent regardless. Well the Nippers seemed to think that these suits would make them invincible and Nipper 2.0 even had great plans to go bodyboarding! (Where does he get these ideas!) Their first outing was literally a wash out which involved a real Irish picnic in the car before putting on all our raingear for a walk and some sandcastling in the rain on the beach. Our next outing was on one of the hottest days in this recent hot spell. My sister and I rustled the two of them up after school and headed for Sandycove. While I wouldn’t recommend Sandycove for a hot day, even midweek it was jammed, it was perfect to get the boys in the water in their suits. It’s a very calm inlet which helped them get over any reservations they might have had.

They played happily for the 2.5 hours that we were there in and out of the water. No blue lips and we are saving a fortune in suncream! The suits are great and a good fit with some growing space in them. The Nippers are very different shapes and both at the smaller end of the scale for their age. You can see from the photos that the limbs require a little turning up. Nipper 1.0 is whip thin and so we managed to pull the suit onto him no bother. Nipper 2.0 still has some of his baby fat (he recently turned 4) so we struggled a fair bit to get him into his. Let me put it like this: a child who was disinclined to put on their suit would win that particular battle! That would be my only issue with the XSmall size – it doesn’t seem to allow for the fact that a child that age might be likely to have a little more pudge. Add neoprene, however stretchy, to the mix and there’s a bit of heave ho-ing. But they were both very easy to remove and because of their size far easier to rinse than an adults. In fact I rinsed them in the sink and there is no way you would fit even a small adult suit into a sink.

We subsequently spent an afternoon on Curracloe strand in Co. Wexford which was far less sheltered and there was a stiff breeze that day. Again they played very happily in and out of the water although Nipper 2.0’s courage failed him somewhat. (Who’s talking about bodyboarding now, eh?!) Of course, I put them all to shame by swimming in plain ol’ togs. Due to the ongoing fluctuations in my body weight over the last 8 years there has been no point in getting a wetsuit for myself!

At €35.99 for the suits I think they are well worth it. They seem to be well made (I’m not expert) and include all the features you would expect on a wetsuit: tight ankles and cuffs and a turtle neck with adjustable fastener. The zip is sturdy with a strap for closing and it tucks away neatly. All the tech specs are included in the Puddleducks listing. Look at it like this: on an overcast day you might decide that the beach is just too cold for the kids so you go to the swimming pool. In Lahinch last year that notched up €21.00 for 3 of us. Alternatively if you compare it to the cost of suncream at circa €10.00 per bottle which may get wiped off as soon as it’s on it’s also a far longer lasting bargain. I also really believe it’s the way forward for holidaying in Ireland. I’m the only family member who doesn’t have a suit but I noticed in Lahinch last year that most of the families were all kitted out in them and many of them were not surfing at all, just swimming.

*Disclosure: I received these suits at cost-price from Puddleducks.

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Is she really going out in them? (The Twitterers made me)

White pointed toes shoes side lacesWhipped up into a frenzy by a ridiculous Twitter chat in relation to Joe Jackson’s shoes and convinced I could find anything online I have just purchased these delectable items. It will make up for the Peter Pan booties that I didn’t buy in Amsterdam last October. Himself will not be impressed. Mind you he was talking about buying the neighbour’s garden from them earlier because their luscious crop of dandelions are upsetting him and his weed related OCD. However, we could probably use the contents of our drinks cabinet to pay for the neighbours’ garden. The solicitors fees would be the biggest cost involved.