Spreading Valentine's Love without Breaking the Bank - 5 Deadly Deals!

With Valentine’s Day less than a month away it’s time to start thinking about what you're going to get that special someone in your life. Having spent 18 years with my husband, I can say from experience, it’s not worth spending a fortune to go out for a meal and stay in a hotel on Valentine’s Day. We’ve had mediocre food, time limited tables, harassed waiting staff and highly inflated bills so we decided a long time ago to spend Valentine’s night at home with a candlelit meal after the children have gone to bed. 

Creed - Movie Review

Who's In It?

Tessa Thompson, Michael B. Jordan and Sylvester Stallone

What's It About?

After being adopted out of Juvie by Apollo Creed's wife, Adonis Creed becomes a boxer and persuades Rocky Balboa to train him when no one else will.

Any Good?

Right from the start I could see how similar Creed is to its Rocky predecessors. You've seen the same story over and over - kid with no parents in a detention centre starts fighting, then takes up boxing. The story isn't what makes the film though, that's all down to the incredible performances.

Michael B. Jordan is a stand out, he brings out the absolute best in an alright script and knocks it out of the park in every emotional scene. The real star of the show though is Stallone, he is PHENOMENAL as old Rocky. 

Thinking of films like The Expendables and Judge Dredd, this performance was totally out of the blue; he IS Rocky but doesn't play him as an underdog boxer character, but as an old man who's making up time with a friend he lost. After winning the Golden Globe for supporting actor, I honestly think he'll go all the way and get the Oscar to go with it.

Ryan Coogler was also great directing this, the fight scenes are some of the best I've ever seen - definitely the best boxing specific scenes. The film is shot so that you see every punch, and it doesn't make a big drama of every tap the boxers get; I wish the film was in a higher framerate for the fights because they were so quick.

Incredible acting and well choreographed fight scenes bring Creed to life, but it's not all about the fights. The emotional scenes pull no punches (sorrynotsorry)and really brought the feels - especially a certain two that you'll know immediately if you watch it. Which I really recommend you do.

Rating: 

Things That Rustle My Jimmies

Hello, Thursday my old friend, I've come to unrustle on you again. It's been an eventful week in many ways, many great, some good, some truly awful. In an effort to restore some personal balance though, what say we unrustle those jimmies? Yeah? Great. 

1. Media outlets posting click-bait headlines about a long awaited Friends reunion, knowing full well it's not a reunion at all but a documentary that will happen to include all of the actors from the cast. They don't tell you that until you click though. SWEINHUNDS. 

2. Booking a bargain flight with EDreams but the flight confirmation revealing you're flying to an entirely different city an hour away, with the expectation that you'll 'Hop on a train'! 

That's not a bargain...

3. The 'Lady Ball' fiasco online this week. I refuse to link it but it's a pink football with huge media fanfare - 'It's never been easier to kick straight, while looking great'. 

Even IF this isn't an ostentatious, outrageously sexist pish take and is an actual thing: 

4. The fact that Adele is not a pal of mine that I can't just call up for pints, even more upsetting having watched this week's Carpool Karaoke (HERE). Hello, Adele, it's me. 

5. The self appointed grief police on social media following two celebrity deaths this week. Telling people what to feel, how to feel and when...

 Tell us, what's been rustling your jimmies this week?

 Release that Kraken in the comments!

5 Simple Steps to Bag a Travel Bargain

Go on admit it, how many times over the last fortnight has your finger hovered over the 'Book Now' button for a holiday?! At this time of the year everyone and their mother is trying to sell you a holiday and to be fair some of them are fantastic bargains, others, not so much. There’s an art to hunting down that bargain holiday; the holiday that you want that is, not just going anywhere because it’s cheap but to be honest that’s perfectly fine too, I’ve done it and had great experiences. But if there is a particular destination you’re after read on as I’ve a few tips that might help you save yourself some cash that would be better spent enjoying your holiday than on an overpriced flight, ridiculous flight times or a so so hotel stay. My top 5 tips for bagging a travel bargain:

1. Book it Yourself

That’s my motto and it hasn’t let me down yet. By booking it yourself you are effectively cutting out the middle man who would otherwise be taking a cut of your holiday price. Sometimes however it can work out slightly cheaper to go on a package holiday as they might put on a bus from the airport to hotel or they can get a cheaper rate as they are booking hotel rooms in bulk, I’ve found this mainly applies to sunshine holidays. So my advice would be that before you book anything get a quote with a travel agency and then price it yourself. 9 times out of 10 you can find it cheaper yourself.

2. Sign up to Airlines Newsletters

Seems straight forward really but with the current price war between Ryanair and Aer Lingus now is the time that you want to have your finger on the pulse. It’ll give you a better chance of bagging that flight in a flash sale before they’re gone. I know you tend to see it all over social media when there is a sale but even an hour can make all the difference so it’s wise and be the first in the know.

3. Fly Midweek

If you’re off for a week or two try to fly midweek not only will the airport and flight be less crowded especially if you’re travelling with children but you’ll also save yourself some serious money. Last December we went to Disneyland Paris and flew out on a Tuesday morning and home late on a Friday night. I halved the price of the flights by opting to go Tuesday rather than Saturday morning. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to check in and navigate our way through the airport and security in December with 5 little ones under 9, no rushing, no queuing, no panic.

4. Open Skyscanner Searches

You’ve more than likely heard of Skyscanner before now but did you know that you can select “anywhere” as a destination? It might inspire you to go to somewhere you hadn’t even thought of. If you already have your destination in mind but just don’t know when is the cheapest time to go you can select “whole month” or “cheapest month”, clever eh!

That’s not all, you can sign up with your flight requirements and they’ll send you free daily price alerts. This option will pop up as you are searching for flights. Test out Skyscanner searches HERE.

5. Mix it up

Don’t be afraid to book separate flights with two different airlines for your outward and return journeys. I used to think, it was a bit weird to book different airlines. Would I be drawing attention to myself? Did I look like I was up to something untoward? The simple answer is no, not at all, many savvy travellers do this as not only are you saving a packet you’ll also have a greater range of flight times to choose from. 

A couple of years ago I called my sister Susan on a Wednesday to ask could she get the following Friday off work, luckily she could. I booked us return flights to London for under €10 each including taxes and charges. We even flew into and out of different airports. Granted we left with the lark on Friday morning and returned on a lunchtime flight Sunday but we still had enough time in London to let our hair down. Not bad for less than half the price it costs me for a return train to Dublin. 

Don’t forget the ferry! Sometimes it’s cheaper to go by ferry as a foot passenger, so it’s worth checking out if it’s an option for your chosen destination. As an aside, with the ferry there doesn't even have to be another destination, it can be a trip in itself; see how we got on on a one day jaunt HERE. Travelling without the little ones? There's nothing quite as footloose and fancy free as an impromptu booze cruise to catch up with friends (once the weather forecast is in your favour).  

Tell us, what's your best tip for bagging a travel bargain? 

Have you booked a trip for 2016 yet? 

Things That Rustle My Jimmies

Hellloooo, 2016! Are we ready for the first unrustling of the year? I KNOW I AM!! In no particular order of idiocy: 

1. Post Christmas Insomnia

2. 'Have you tried this Teatox? 

It detoxes your body!'

3. Midweek Hangovers

4. Lipstick Marks on the neck of 

the Office Milk Carton...

5. Following the sexual assault of dozens of women in Cologne by hundreds of men, the Mayor of the City has urged 'A Code of Conduct for Women'. 

FOR WOMEN. 

FOR. WOMEN. 

In Germany. 

In 2016. 

FOR WOMEN!

Now that feels better! Well maybe not the last one. 

I may be incensed by the last one for a very long time, if not forever. 

Tell us, how was your Christmas? Bring forth your jimmies for the great unrustling!