Update 31 May 2011: You can now find an up to date list of Irish shops and international websites selling shoes in large sizes on my Pretty Big Shoes Store Directory.

Cinderella Shoes have opened a shop in the Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre within the last couple of weeks. This shoe shop only stocks ladies shoes in larger sizes from size 8 to 12. I have blogged before about the lack of Irish shoe shops stocking any big sizes, so this is very big news for me!

The shop is located on the top floor of the shopping centre. It is painted purple and is beside the black Wrestling Mania shop, about half way down the same side as The Laptop Shop (the opposite side to the art gallery and toilets).

Cinderella Shoes opened a concession in Arnotts a few years ago, but whenever I visited, all I found was a couple of small shelves right at the back of their massive shoe department. So, I am thrilled to see a proper shop at long last dedicated solely to ladies with large feet (sorry about the pun there!). I dropped in last weekend to have a look and enjoyed the novelty of just being able to pick up shoes on the shelves and put my foot straight into them. My size 9 foot is extremely wide, and I was even able to even get into a couple of size 8s. They still have some Winter styles on sale, mainly boots, with knee high boots for only 60 euro in some cases. The Spring/Summer stock is arriving daily at the moment, and there were already some colourful sandals in the shop when I visited. They also stock a lot of more formal evening shoes, which is the trickiest type to find in large sizes.

Before you start hyperventilating, you won’t see anything Manolo-esque there and it’s not exactly Faith or Office either. Nevertheless, when you struggle to find even one shoe in your size in most other Dublin shoe shops, you should still feel like me in a sweet shop here. It’s one small step for mankind, but one giant leap forward for Dublin women blessed with big feet. Hopefully the Cinderella Shoes store will get plenty of promotion ensuring that they finally have a shop where they can find shoes to fit them.

This afternoon it was starting to look like the 2 foot Christmas tree I’ve always had in my bedroom, dating from when Penneys sold excellent quality decorations, would be the height of it. But tonight we discovered what can only be described as a Christmas tree superstore on Milltown road. The smell of countless trees greets you on the way in, and they are available in all sorts of sizes. They even have small real trees available for apartments. We wanted a 6-7ft tree, and saw some proper, full trees at long last. We were quoted a price of around 60 euro, plus 10 for a stand. That’s not too bad considering that some are selling far inferior trees in Dublin 6 for upwards of 50 euro. One note of caution – the netting machine was broken when I visited, so once they take the netting off a tree for you to see what it looks like, it cannot be put back which makes getting big trees home fairly tricky. I think there is a delivery service available, but I’m not sure what charges are involved.

Right at the back of the long fairy garden of real trees is a shed with about a dozen stunning artificial trees on display. They are more expensive than many on the high street, but there is no comparison. While you can get lots of cheap artificial trees, the decent 6ft trees I had spotted in the stores ranged from 100 euro to 240 euro. Apart from table top ones, the smallest artificial ones in Milltown are 7ft tall and cost from around 200 euro up. That’s a significant amount, but in the context of what the department stores charge, it seems reasonable when you see how well they look. Besides, once you use it for a few years, you see the savings from not buying a real one each year. Of course, your carbon footprint gets smaller too – if only I could reduce the size of my real footprint as easily!!

So if you have not got your Christmas tree organised yet either, Milltown Road (near the Murphy and Gunn car showrooms) is well worth a visit. They have an outlet in Blackrock too – check out IrishChristmasTrees.com for more info on what’s available, or if you’re really lazy you could buy online. The artificial trees look much better in reality than in the pictures on the website. Artificial is definitely a better option for apartment dwellers without a car like us. Having seen these magical looking artificial trees, I’m hoping to indulge in one while they are still available – pictures to follow if I’m successful!

I walked into At Home with Clerys today and I fell in love at first sight with the Fama Moon Chair. It’s perfect for lazing around, watching movies, cross stitching…

It rocks, it swivels, it reclines, it costs a fortune, but I love it!!!

I’ll try hard to restrain myself but I think that my SSIA has just seriously shrunk!

Thankfully, I am not alone in my appreciation of appetising pastries and delightful bakeries and cafes are springing up all over Dublin city centre. Cake eating can be an expensive hobby but sure a lot of what you fancy does you good! Here’s a few of my favourite haunts and feel free to add your own:

• Keogh’s Cafe, Trinity Street
  The smells are so amazing when you pass by Keogh’s small restaurant that it is nearly impossible not to stop and buy something, a fact proven by the frequent queues out the door. Their coffee seems popular, but I stick to the cakes. My absolute favourite is the cherry and almond scone. Heaven! Be warned, they sell out fast.
• The Larder, Parliament Street
  This place has only opened recently, but it is clear that they have put a lot of effort into styling and presentation. The staff are friendly and welcoming too. I’ve picked up some lovely plain and brown scones here lately in cute cellophane bags closed with dainty The Larder stickers.
• Avoca, Wicklow Street
  This place needs no introduction to many and their massive scones are very tasty indeed, as are the gigantic chocolate cookies. Compared to everything else in the shop, the bakery offers surprisingly good value for money too!
• The Bakery, West Essex Street, Temple Bar
  Yummy chocolate muffins, apple sponges, scones, tarts and crumbles – I could go on and on. They also do some savoury stuff like soups and sandwiches if you are into that.
• Queen of Tarts, Dame Street
  Tiny little cafe that is nearly always crowded. I used to have a big soft spot for this place, but lately the cakes have not tasted quite as nice to me. But they are still pretty yummy, if a little pricey.
• La Boulangerie, Camden Street
  This cafe has now expanded so that the bakery shop has moved next door. It has proved very popular, even though it was a bit off the beaten track when it started. There are lots of specialist treats here along with the more common but just as delicious doughnuts, danishes, croissants and gingerbread men.

I have blogged before about the brilliant StrawberryNET website that sells big brand cosmetics at big discounts. I am a big fan of the site and my family have made several orders.

Unfortunately our latest order was intercepted by Customs and Excise, which meant we had to pay tax and a handling charge before our purchases were delivered. This is the first time that this has happened. Either Irish Customs have finally copped on to all the white boxed gifts with blue ribbon arriving from Hong Kong, or our package was just checked at random.

My Mum reports that dealing with Customs was more inconvenient than the extra charge, as apparently the note informing us that our StrawberryNET parcel had been retained contained out of date contact details for them! The correct address for Dublin in case you ever need it is as follows:

Customs and Excise
Dublin Mail Centre
Oak Road
Knockmitten
Dublin 12
Phone: 7059737

StrawberryNET are up front about the possibility of tax and duty charges on European orders and the official line is as follows:

For the current time, we will endeavor to assist and cover in cases where duty is charged to the customers in some European countries, but we emphasize this is on a goodwill, not on an obligation basis.

I have e-mailed them regarding our order and will report back with the outcome, but I am not expecting any compensation. I will continue to use the site, as there are still savings to be had. Just be warned that despite the tempting checkout total, your StrawberryNET order could be held by Customs in Ireland and may not seem quite so sweet when the extra charges are added on.

I do not work for Vodafone and I don’t own any shares either, but this one’s a no brainer. For the rest of this year, Ready to Go customers can call any Vodafone number at any time and talk for up to 60 minutes for the price of 3 minutes. Yes, that’s right: you only pay for the first 3 minutes of the call and Vodafone foot the rest of the hour! I’ve read the small print and can’t see the catch yet, so let me know if any of you legal eagles spot anything.

You do not even need to change price plan assuming you are on either of the current tariffs (Social Life or Work and Leisure). You just need to call Vodafone or go online and activate the Stop the Clock option for your current plan. Why anyone would not want to do this is beyond me!

I actually switched from O2 to Vodafone over a year ago to avail of their More to Say price plan, which was attractive for bigmouths like me. They discontinued that tariff a while ago (probably all my fault ), and it has taken this offer to lure me off it. Next year may be painful when the promotion ends, but in the meantime, given that I mainly make long calls to one Vodafone number, I should be able to shrink my hefty credit costs and buy lots more fizzy cola bottles instead.

I don’t usually get taken in by all these miracle cream claims and am pretty low maintenance, but I was so impressed by the presentation given by QVC’s resident Elemis therapist Keeley that I decided to give it a go. (The great thing about buying from QVC is that there is a 30 day no quibble money back guarantee regardless of how much you have used the creams! I have yet to actually avail of this though…)

Before taking the plunge I did some research online, and I registered at the Elemis Time to Spa online store. When you sign up, they send you 2 x 3ml samples of their Pro-Collagen Marine Cream moisturiser and their Papaya Enzyme Peel exfoliator. They are tiny samples but amazingly you get a few applications out of each and it enables you to make your mind up for free. They also offer you an online consultation with an Elemis spa consultant who will recommend products for your needs and give you 15% off your first order.

Elemis products are expensive. The Pro-Collagen Marine Cream is particularly pricey. A 50ml jar costs €124 in Harvey Nichols!!! However, clever clickers can save online by buying kits at QVC or trying their luck at Ebay. Unfortunately for my bank balance, I loved both product samples and have tried several others since and am now an Elemis addict! I have managed to limit myself to the skin care products so far, but they also do bathing, aromatherapy and men’s ranges.

I had suffered from dreadful dry skin for ages, despite also suffering from acne. Before the 3ml sample of Marine Cream was used up, my dry skin was cured. I couldn’t believe it! Spots are still plaguing me, perhaps inevitably due to medication I’m on, but overall the condition of my skin is so much better. It is all subjective, but my skin feels much softer and looks much healthier. I will always be pale but the pallor of death has finally deserted me!

I’m not sure about the anti-ageing benefits. At the ripe old age of 25 and a half, I see fine lines appearing. They still look just the same to me after a few months of cleansing, toning and moisturising with Elemis products. On second thoughts, since the doorman at Keating’s swanky new church pub on Abbey Street doubted I was over 21 last night, maybe it is working wonders!

Mind you, it is probably all in my head. I gave my mum a small tube of my miracle cream to try. She handed it back to me a couple of days later, announcing that her €10 Oil of Olay moisturiser was much better. I only wish it worked for me!

In case anyone else out there wants to indulge, here are some handy links:

• Official Elemis site – general info on skin care, bathing, aromatherapy and men’s ranges
• Elemis online store – as far as I know, you still get a couple of free samples sent to you if you register
• Elemis brand shop at QVC – the kits here often offer some great value
• Elemis at Ebay – there is a big market for Elemis products at Ebay but not many great bargains from my experience
• Elemis on sale in Irish stores: there is an Elemis counter and spa service at Harvey Nicks, Dundrum and I think that Nue Bleu Eriu, South William Street also sell Elemis products. Thérapie on Molesworth Street definitely sell Elemis products as well as providing the beauty treatments, as does the High Maintenance Beauty Parlour in Donnybrook.

The new Topshop store will include a personal shopping service with super swanky changing rooms and style advisors, and a designer section which will feature up and coming Irish designers. The most novel concept is the introduction of their Topshop To Go service, which is only available in a couple of stores outside Topshop central at Oxford Circus, London. With Topshop To Go, you can just ring them up with info on your style likes and dislikes and the occasion you need an outfit for, and they will come straight round to your home or work (within a 9 mile radius I think) with a car full of clothes! There is no charge for this service. You just pay for the clothes. To be honest, if I ever made use of it, I think I would end up buying an outfit even if I hated all the clothes just to avoid major embarrassment!

As you may have gathered, I’m rather excited by this welcome addition to the Dublin shopping scene. For those more interested in architecture than retail therapy, they are supposed to have restored the building to its former glory and produced a one of a kind shop, so even if you don’t want to buy anything it might be worth dropping by…

All I’m hoping for is a funky winter coat.

This was annoying enough when I just used to use the standard ones (Vaseline, Carmex, Labello etc). However, lately my lust for lip balm has led to more expensive tastes. Without any cream, my lips are constantly dry and peeling so when I find something that works I don’t mind paying a bit extra.

This started with La Roche-Posay‘s Ceralip which I found in a small chemist. It cost €7 for a small tube which is not too bad at all if you do not keep losing it! The tube was quite a long shape, so I usually managed to hang onto it. It worked wonders. Alas, that chemist went out of stock and I have not managed to find it elsewhere since.

So I moved on to L’Occitane’s shea butter lip balm stick. L’Occitane have shops in Wicklow Street, Dundrum and Blackrock in Dublin. It just comes in the standard plastic rollup type container, but cost €9! I managed to almost lose that a fair few times too but the distinctive navy colour helped. It feels quite wet but it works fairly well. I’m not too keen on those stick type ones though as they can get a bit manky after a while.

Then, I got into all sorts of trouble. I discovered Elemis skincare (thanks for bankrupting me QVC!). As part of an outrageous bulk order, I added their Lip Rescue in since it was only €18. €18 for a lip balm – I need locking up! This was quite different to other lip treatments I had tried. It feels like a gritty After Eight which may sound a bit strange but I really liked it. Until last Wednesday when I lost it.

I am going to try and resist indulging again, at least until my L’Occitane one is used up. But with my lifelong habit of losing lip balms, I should probably stick to the cheaper ones, unless they start making the dearer ones into lip balm key rings like these ones. Now there’s a good idea! In the meantime, if anyone has any lip remedies they swear by, let me know – the cheaper, creamier, clunkier and more colourful the better!

It’s on in The Burlington Hotel on Saturday 10th September. You can find out all about selling on eBay and network with other Irish sellers. I think this is a nice idea but in my innocence I thought it would be free. It costs €35! It’s not a lot and it includes "an eBay workbook, lunch, tea and coffee", but they seem to be covering quite basic stuff. As for the networking bit, a few main sellers could just organise a few drinks for free. I think eBay could absorb the costs of such events in order to popularise eBay in Ireland.

Having failed to sell stuff on eBay a while back, I should probably be handing over my cash though! Or maybe I should just stick to buying. I’m good at that