Nicola Keegan

Are you a thank you note writer?

If not, you should be. Thank you notes are a powerful way of expressing gratitude. They are the longest lasting way of saying “thank you”.

Either way, you can get a great deal on stylish, personalized thank you notes from Tiny Prints today. They are selling all of their more than 1700 designs for 40% off…for less than 24 hours. The deal is only good from 10:00am Pacific Time today through 8:59am Pacific Time tomorrow.

They have perfect designs for graduates to say thanks, thanking people for gifts, for kids, for parents, for business, for literally every occasion. And you get to personalize them by adding your own text, choosing your font, and even uploading your own pictures if you choose.

So check them out now and use the promo code DEAL0404 to save 40%.

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We just arrived home from a lovely few days in Paris.  We managed to find some reasonably priced flights to Paris, and Ernest, who was in Athlone for a while kindly invited us to stay with him.

August is a funny time to visit Paris because it is the month when Parisians go away on holiday!  Many of the shops and restaurants (apart from the city center) were closed up.  However it is a good time to visit as it isn’t quite as busy as maybe July.

The Metro and bus system are brilliant – so easy and cheap to whizz around the city. And in Paris there is always so much to see and do.  We must have walked for miles and miles over the last few days!

Highlights for us were sharing our visit with Ernest, meeting some of his friends, and some of ours, and also eating some great French food! The French really know how to do food, although they have a lot to learn about service from the Americans

We had some delicious pastries, coffees, ice creams and lunches in some of the many street bistros.  We also ate one night at this lovely restaurant – “Bistro Des Dames“.

Other highlights were the Aquarium, the Monet Museum and the Musee d’Orsay.

Looking forward to visiting Paris again!!!!!

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I found another great competition to enter but I need your help…

I asked Michelle if I could use her photo below of Lily in the snow last year – the theme is “Full of Life” and it is to be a winter photo.

So the 4 photos with the most votes are judged by a panel – and the winner gets €10,000. Wow what a prize!!! So you can vote for this photo if you are in Ireland, and you can vote once per day.

SO PLEASE HELP US!!!

VOTE HERE AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!!!

Thank you!!

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Hmm.. now for some food and drink with some jazz mixed in!

And if you want to see the rest, you can look in the gallery – here!

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So in part 3 we have some photos of the beach, and the port..

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Some of the streets around our apartment and nearby -the flowers overhead were just beautiful! A real splash of colour against the white houses..

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Just got back  from a week in Puerto De Mogan, Gran Canaria. Our first time to any country  belonging to Spain! The first lot of washing is spinning away in the machine, and the bags are unpacked, so it’s on to the more important business of reliving the warmth and the sun through some photos that I want to share! I will add them to the gallery later on, but here are some tasters that I will add as I go along! Enjoy…

Firstly, some photos of the apartment that we stayed in.  It was nicer than expected, roomy and clean. Very close to the port and the beach.  It even had a private roof terrace where we spent many an afternoon reading, playing chess and snoozing. We even ate our dinner up there one evening!  There was a jazz festival on the week we were there, so we were entertained every evening. Good job we like jazz as we could hear it every night as they played just down the street from our apartment!

To be continued…

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Amazingly, I have won two competitions in two weeks! I really can’t believe it as I am FOREVER entering competitions, and never win anything!!

The first prize that I won was two tickets to a pre-season friendly between Munster and Gloucester.  Unfortunately, it was in Cork, so I couldn’t go, but I was able to post them down to some friends who made good use of them I believe!!  The second part of the prize was a big signed team photo!  I have put it on Ebay to see if I can sell it for some holiday money – but if I don’t sell it, I will keep it!

If anyone is interested in buying it HERE is the link to the listing!!!

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So I have almost finished James & Sarah’s wedding photos – I just have a few that I would like to make black & white and then I am done

If you would like to look through them (be warned, there are over 200!!), click here.

Here are a few funny moments.. showing how much James is loved by his family.. and why

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On Sunday, Virginie hosted a lovely baby shower for Miriam – she worked really hard, and made some beautiful little decorations & accessories.

Vanessa made these amazing cupcakes which tasted even better than they looked!

Take a look at the delicious treats as well as all the glamorous ladies in attendance!

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