30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 14: What's in your handbag?

by Dani Mc Mahon

The handbag, for decades this mysterious possession has caused many curiosity and others fear. Years of taboo around the accessory have resulted in it becoming a sacred place where hands of strangers do not go and about which no questions are ever asked.

Handbags come in all sizes, shapes and colours and can be seen as an extension of one's self, depending on how fashion conscious one is. 

Most women and indeed some men carry a bag with them and in the majority of cases these bags are full of unnecessary things which accumulate over time. Mary Poppins demonstrated this pulling a standing lamp from hers.  The challenge today is to show you the contents of my handbag, which I can assure you are far less impressive than that of Miss Mary Poppins’.

I must admit that my bag is relatively new and so it has not yet accumulated all the things normal bags have. Before I bare my soul and share with you I wanted to ask an important question, what does Queen Elizabeth carry in her handbag?

Perhaps we could get her to do this challenge, to put my mind at ease.

Contents of the bag: Purse, coin holder, kindle, passport, lip balm, leap card, pencil case.

30 Day Blog Challange - Day 13: Favourites

by Dani Mc Mahon

The challenge today, favourites.
Read on to see a few of my favourite things. (Yes I am humming the song from The Sound of Music right now!)

30 Day Blog Challange - Day 12: Draw Something and Take a Picture

by Dani Mc Mahon

Drawing is a great way to express yourself, should you be that way inclined. The challenge today was to draw something and then share it with the world. I must admit that this is a drawing I did a couple of months ago, none of my more recent drawings are finished so here is one I prepared earlier.

                                        (original drawing and photo credit: Dani Mc Mahon)

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 11: A picture of your handwriting

by Dani Mc Mahon

TA DA!
Today the challenge was to share a picture of my handwriting.
So, I decided to take a look at what my handwriting says about me, here is what I discovered:

• The lack of slant on my letters means that I am a logical, practical and guarded with my emotions.
• The small sizing indicates that I am focused and find it easy to concentrate but that I am also quite shy. 
• My printed 's' means that I am versatile. 
• Rounded letters, like my 'a' 'o' and 'f' suggest that I am creative and artistic.
• Connected letters mean that I am logical, systematic and make decisions carefully.

Analysing your handwriting may, for some, be a little like analysing your horoscope but some of the points above are pretty fitting. Why not scribble down a few notes and check out what your handwriting says about you?

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 10: Share a quote you love and why.

by Dani Mc Mahon

When you are a child you wish every day to be a grown-up. You spend infinite amounts of time playing games which require you to act like a grown-up, with an adult life and an adult profession. Everything you are presented with is all aimed towards growing up and what kind of life you are going to create for yourself. 

Once you reach your twenties and the pretending is over you spend your time worrying about whether or not you are filling your role adequately. Suddenly you are speeding through your twenties racing to achieve the things you think you have to before the next big milestone. The quote below is one which appeared to me today and it really spoke to me. 

Why are we all rushing to get to the next level? 

Who are we trying to please? 

What are we trying to prove? 

Maybe we should all follow this advice and sit back and enjoy life. Why rush through and see the amazing world around us as nothing more than a blur? 

We should slow down and take in the view, savour the experiences, feel what it is to live life to the absolute full. 

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 9: 15 Random Facts About Yourself

by Dani Mc Mahon

You may have noticed there has been a bit of a gap in my thirty day challenge. This was a busy week but I am back on track! The challenge for today was to provide all of you lovely people with 15 random facts about myself, here they are:

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 8: Your Favourite Childhood Toy

by Dani Mc Mahon

Being an only child until I was almost five, I was quite imaginative. For my first Christmas I received a present which would become such an important part of my life. I received a stuffed Penguin who was named Peadair Joseph. As I was no good at pronouncing such difficult names I took my own take on it and named him Pabi. He was my constant companion and still looks after me when I am at home for the weekend. He helped me solve the problems in my little world, wiped my tears and came with me on all of my adventures. So, here is a short piece on Mr Pabi, my favourite childhood toy.

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 7: Bullet Point Your Entire Day

by Dani Mc Mahon

Our lives are merely moments, bullet points, if you will...

30 Day Blog Challenge - Day 6: Move to the Groove!

by Dani Mc Mahon

Today's challenge is an easy one. Listening to music has taken over most lives these days. On the train, on the bus, on a plane. Almost every second person on the street is plugged in, walking through life to their own personal soundtrack. Basically, I have to put my music player on shuffle and write down the first ten songs which play.

Here we go:

30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 5 Does your Sign Define You?

by Dani Mc Mahon

According to the ancient practice of astrology and the mystical study of the star sign, we are all ruled by the stars and specific planets. 

Many people find the study of the zodiac to be a load of waffle and they frown upon those who read the horoscopes at the back of the paper each day. It is easy to see why people would read their horoscopes. Everybody is constantly looking for answers, looking to be pointed in the right direction, looking for a helping hand. 

There are twelve Zodiac signs in total. Your Zodiac is assigned to you in accordance to your date of birth and will fall into one of four sub categories; air, wind, fire and earth. These categories and subcategories of the Zodiac define the positive and negative traits of your personality and the study of this helps you to better understand yourself to help you develop as a person. 

There is also a certain amount of compatibility within the Zodiac with certain signs being more suited to one another in terms of friendship and love. 

Many people find it difficult to give into the idea of the Zodiac as we are all so unique and people of the same sign can often have quite diverse personalities. However, sometimes it is possible to see the same types of traits manifested in different ways in different people of the same sign. 

Taurus carries the following traits:

Strengths: Reliable, patient, practical, devoted, responsible, stable

Weaknesses: Stubborn, possessive, uncompromising

Taurus likes: Gardening, cooking, music, romance, high quality clothes, working with hands

Taurus dislikes: Sudden changes, complications, insecurity of any kind, synthetic fabrics

Apparently Taurus is one of the most easily recognised and most reliable signs around. As you can see, if you know me, I quite obviously have some of the traits assigned to me by my star sign. Some more so than others. One of the traits which I recognise in myself most often is being stubborn. Whilst this is listed as being negative I think it can also be a positive trait in life as a Taurus will rarely give in which is sometimes something you need. 

While I am not a huge believer in the Zodiac and I do refrain from reading too much into it I do find it pretty fascinating and I am not totally against the idea that people born around the same time could have similar personality traits. I do sometimes wonder if we are similar to our signs because it is what we have been told for many years or if we really are ruled by the stars. I guess we will never know...

30 Day writing Challenge: Day 4 Movie Review

by Dani Mc Mahon

Starring: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Nat Wolff.
Director: Nancy Meyers.
Runtime (in minutes): 121.

‘The Intern’ is the latest contribution from Nancy Meyers to a huge movie repertoire. Her movies have changed the way female characters are cast and played for our generation. From ‘The Parent Trap’ to ‘What Women Want’ Meyer’s genius shines through once again in ‘The Intern’.

Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) is a gutsy millennial who is changing shopping online. Battling her way through the industry and smashing the glass ceiling which so many women are faced with. She is an inspiration to those around her. Hathaway plays the role with such a sense of truth and passion which shines through and makes her character so relatable.

Her male lead come to us in the form of seventy year old Ben Whittaker (Robert de Niro). Ben is a retired business man who is finding all his idle time to be a bit of a drag and so he embarks on a new adventure. Taking on the role of intern in a whole new world where his Filofax and suit are a thing of the past, he forms a unique relationship with Jules.

The movie moves between comic and serious, there is time for laughter and time for tears. The theme of women in power is a strong one as we see the leading lady working to juggle family and work life without losing control of what she has carefully built and those she loves. De Niro’s character provides us with a view which shows the changing mind set of older generations bringing to the fore the idea of changing gender roles and mutual respect between the sexes.

The movie is a testament to the idea that is never too late no matter what your age or circumstance. It also serves as motivation to put yourself out there and embrace your ideas, a kind of feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway vibe emanates through. A thoroughly enjoyable movie which provides audiences with a more down-to-earth take on the chick flick, it is sure to put a smile on your face and a spring in your step.  

30 Day Writing Challenge: Day 3

by Dani Mc Mahon

 

30 Day Writing Challenge. Day Two...

by Dani Mc Mahon

Happy Thursday! The weekend is nearly upon us! Here is day two of the thrity day writing challenge I embarked on yesterday. One of those questions that everyone absolutely hates to be asked, especially in an interview, 'Where would you like to be in Ten Years?'. To bring a bit of life to what can be a pretty boring question I have made my post more visual. Here we go...

Day 2: Where would you like to be in ten years...

Are You Ready for This?

by Dani Mc Mahon

So as you may have noticed, my posts here at The Overleaf have been pretty scarce of late. I could start reaming off excuses as to why but in the interest of honesty I will be frank with you. Of late I have been feeling less than motivated. The last couple of months have seen many changes take place as I try to find where my passions truly lie. After careful consideration I have decided to return to my blog and I think the best way to get myself back up and running is to set myself a little challenge, so here goes...are you ready for this? 

30 Day Writing Challenge

Day One: Discuss your current relationship...

Wow, talk about a deep and meaningful topic to start! Okay so, anyone who knows anything about me will know that I am happily married and have been since August 2013. I married the love of my life in Mexico City on a beautiful Friday afternoon, a day I will remember for eternity as the happiest of my life. My wife is Mexican and we have been together for almost six years. 

At the beginning our relationship was one which required a lot of organisation and dedication, like all relationships I suppose but ours was long distance to boot. Living on different continents was really tough and there were plenty of tears each time we had to say goodbye and live apart. However, we fought hard and despite all the obstacles placed in front of us we made it work, we both knew that our love was worth it and that we had each found our soul mate. So it was that I found myself on a plane to Mexico in 2011, where I lived with J for two and a half years before returning to the Emerald Isle in search of brighter horizons. We now live here in Ireland, by the sea and we love it!

People are constantly giving out about marriage and giving it a bad name as a result. When you mention marriage these days you are met with less than enthusiastic faces. You are usually than fed the statistics relating to divorce and an opinion about how marriage is an antiquated institution which does no promote equality between the sexes. A few years ago I would have agreed. Then I met J. 

I think a lot of people let the label of being married really affect their relationship, I can safely say that since getting married nothing has changed for us, you do not love the person differently or value your relationship any more or less just because you signed a piece of paper, you continue to live and love just as you did before you donned a white dress and said 'I do' in front of a judge and a cat. 

I am happy to say that I married my best friend, we go on dates, we laugh until we cry, we laze about in pyjamas watching FRIENDS, we cook, we clean, we travel, we live life together and that is the most beautiful experience. 

P.S: Stay tuned in the coming days, I will explain all about the judge and the cat :)