Lets Catch up!

Hey Peeps,

As usual its been a while!

sure I may as well be consistent with my lack of blog posts!

let me fill you in.

 My Sister Linda & Gary's Wedding

One big thing that did happen on June 30th was my sisters 

wedding!!! It was an amazing day! I still can't 

believe she is married <3 and she made the most beautiful bride!

Welcome to the family 

Gary!!! 

I went with a cream and baby pink Dress with pink fascinator

rose gold shoes and Bag.

This was one of three dresses I had bought for the wedding!

The stress of it LOL

The wedding took place in Balscadden Church which is a small,

intimate, pretty church just on the outskirts of Balbriggan. 

The reception was then held in the Glenside hotel. 

The whole day was fab, food was amazing and the music was superb.

There really is nothing better than a family wedding.

There was a Prosecco and Guinness reception on arrival for all the 

guests. The couple had also organised a singer in the resident’s bar while 

the guests waited to be called for dinner and the wedding photos got underway.

This was a nice touch. The style at the wedding was fab!

There was also an amazing blow up photo-booth which 

everyone had a crack at after dinner.

Thank you, Linda & Gary, 

for an amazing day I'm sure you had a ball! 

Can't wait to see the wedding photos!

Techies for Temple Street

On July 7th, Myself and 19 others from Zendesk took part in the finale of Techies for Temple Street. This is the third year Zendesk has taken part and this year the company were the main sponsors. My team was called team Sombrero and the other Zendeskian team was team Relationshape. We all boarded the bus for the RDS at midday. 

1,000+ people from all different companies across Ireland technology 

sector came to Dublin to compete in the techies for temple street treasure hunt. This consisted of a mind and body stimulating challenged across the capital city.

The event was tun by an event company called dynamic events and hosted the trail online.

In total, we walked/ran 15km around Dublin city in one of the hottest days of the summer. The trail this year was on an app, we had to go to different locations around the city and unlock and complete challenges. We may not have won or even came in the top 10but we sure had great crack. I would highly recommend this charity event and I will defiantly be taking part again next year. 

Simon Community room to improve in Oak house
Zendesk also partner with a lot of other charities in the city and beyond.The Simon Community and YMCA are two of these charities.I took part in a project called Room to Improve. This is wherevolunteers come and help decorate and improve rooms in the facility. Oak house is a high support housing facility in Dublin 7. Ithouses 32 individuals at present. Eachhas their own bedroom, which consistsof a bed, wardrobe and sink area.Before the Simon Community took the building over, it was ran by the local council. As you can imagine it was not in great shape as it is an old building.Six of went down to oak house that morning and were given Rollers and paintto decorate three bedrooms. As you can imagine the threeresidents whose rooms were getting the makeover were very excited.It felt good knowing doing something so small can make one person so happy.

The group were split into groups of three. A pair in each room. 

Myself and Jamie had the pleasure of doing the smaller of three.

We completed two coats of paint on each wall and pretty much finished this room. 

I unfortunately don't have any before and after pictures.

It was a really rewarding experience and if the chance ever comes up

again to do something like this I will be jumping on board.

Zendesk announce 300 new jobs

Many people may have heard via the news that Zendesk is expanding. 

This means 300 new jobs are being created in Dublin.

Dublin will be the EMEA region headquarters. 

We currently reside in one grande parade and will

 move down the canal to 55 Charlemont place.

The new building will hold 500 employees and is to be a

super state of the art build for all us Zendeskians to enjoy. 

On the morning of the announcement July 12th

we (staff of Zendesk)were invited 

to come and enjoy the spread in our fountain space.(canteen/event area) 

Here is where we were treated to champers and some really nice 

canapés from Gather and Gather.

Zendesk also invited our Tánaiste Francais Fitzgearld which she

gladly accepted. The room was full of press, staff and other 

VIP's for the event.

If you would like to donate to any of the charities mentioned above 
you can do so via the following links:

Dublin Simon Community: http://www.dubsimon.ie/Fundraise/WaystoDonate.aspx
Temple Street Children's hospital: https://www.templestreet.ie/donate/
YMCA: http://ymca.ie/fundraising/

Thanks for reading!

Chow for now 

Annie Mac 

xXx

Summer has arrived!!!

Wow!!!

What a weekend! 

I hope everyone got out and enjoyed the sun,

 it really was fab!Long may it continue!

Happy Monday everyone.

My weekend was pretty hectic to say the 

least but I still got a workout in. 

On Friday I had the taste of Dublin which is 

always a great day/night out. Smash hits 

were playing which is really the highlight of the event!

The weather held up too which made it even better. 

On Saturday after my workout I just chilled in the sun

like everyone else in the Ireland! 

We also went to a very impromptu

BBQ, It wasn't a late night as we were 

wreaked from the evening before and 

the beautiful heat.

So..  I stretched my workout as far as the

 outdoors on Saturday and did

it in sun in my back garden. It was roasting as 

I'm sure you know but I was not

in the mood to be indoors, in an empty

 gym looking out at the sunshine.

My workout:

I wanted to concentrate on arms, abs, back, lats and glutes.

I made my own HiiT workout up with the use of 

two 5KG kettle bells, an AB roller and an exercise ball.

The set consisted of:

15-20 reps on ab roller.

15-20 reps of Abdominal side bends with 5kg weight 

(above repeated on each side).

15-20 reps of back lifts (on exercise ball) this

 targets glutes, lat muscles and back.

15 - 20 reps stomach crunch (on exercise ball).

20 press-ups.

15-20 reps of kettlebell swings.

5 sprints of up/down back garden (cardio to get the heart rate up).

It took me about 30/40 minutes to do 

this workout, it was very hot which made it harder 

but I enjoyed the cold shower afterwards!

The next day I really felt it on my back and sides,

 even now on MondayI'm still a little tender. 

Not in a bad way in a good way. 

Which is great because I did not think it would 

do much so it obviously has. I am going to

 continue this once a week as its nice to 

step outside the gym walls

 into the fresh air and mix it up a bit.

This morning I decided to Jog to work from my bus on

the keys. I get off at the convention centre and usually

cycle from there up the canal to work. 

Yet again it was a warm one! I was hoping I

would get there in 20 minutes but that was even a struggle!

The journey is 3KM and it took me 29 minutes which 

lets be fair is not a great time! 

At least I did it, I'm working late tonight so

I won't get to go to the gym. 

 Something is better than nothing.

What have you done for your body today?
Get up and enjoy the weather 30/40 minutes you'll
feel great for it!

Thats all for now thanks for

reading!

Annie Mac

xXx

Whats been happening?

Heyyy Peeps!! 

It's been a long long time since I've posted anything.

Mainly because I have been busy with different things over the past few weeks.

One major thing that has changed since being active on the blog

is I started a new job. I now work for a company called Zendesk and I love it!!

Anyone who follows me on snapchat will know why!

snapchat handle: ann.mchale

Enjoying a prosecco @ my work leaving party

I had my leaving party in 37 Dawson Street. They have a 

small bar down the back called the Whiskey bar. This is for a more

relaxed setting before your night gets started. It has a 
a large couch and comfy seats to relax on.

The staff were so accommodating and even gave me a bottle of

prosecco as a thank you/congratulations on the new job which was

really nice. I would defiantly recommend the venue for 

any party or event.

Thank you to all my friends/colleagues in AZ Tech for coming out on the night!
I had a ball and I will never forget my time or the people in Allianz.

on to my new digs....Zendesk
I now work for the IT Global Support team in Zendesk.
and it is awesome.  I love my new Job!
Upon starting I received my MacBook Pro and lots of Zendesk Swag!
Including a bag, a jumper, a coffee cup, a t-shirt, a water bottle and a
portable Zendesk power bank.
My colleagues are all good fun and I have a super cool boss :)

Some Zendesk Swag & Cupcakes

Myself along with the rest of the Zendesk new hires for May & June 

April/May was quite busy for me with

changing job, My oldest friends wedding,
 my sisters hen party in Portugal, a trip

to visit my other sister in the UK along with going to the gym and football.

My oldest friend of 27 years Edward got married to
his beautiful wife Karen on the 27th April.

Myself, my Mam & Edward the day of his wedding 21years
after our first trip to the zoo.

Karen & Edward on their wedding day.

The wedding was one of the best I have been too if not the best!
  The wedding venue including the ceremony was in
the Spingfield Hotel in Leixlip.
I was an emotional mess at the wedding.
I was just so happy to see my friend so happy and so in love.
Myself and Edward grew up together and he was/is pretty much the brother
I never had so obviously I was going to be emotional.
After a stunning ceremony the guests were treated to
a prosecco reception while the room was reset for the
dinner.

The Couple had everything for their guests. At our table
was a lovely poem which I obviously cannot remember! It basically said
how were both lucky to have found one another and to look
under our plates, they hope someone
 in the room would become lucky. Underneath the
 plates of each guest was a scratch card each. I
have never seen this done before but along with the poem it was just really nice.
My scratch card did not make me rich unfortunately!
There was also a very large photo booth which was kept busy
throughout the night. The photographer also had
a gold frame, he was floating around taking pictures of the guests also.

Ronan, myself & my parents at Edward & Karens wedding.

The happy couple also had a sweet kart
and favors in the ladies bathroom consisting of all the
requirements a girl should need :)
The band and DJ kept us dancing all night, it really was
a great wedding! 
The hotel setting was stunning.

Thank you Edward & Karen for a wonderful day!

I left the wedding at 2:30am I would have stayed later
only for the fact I had a flight to Portugal to catch with 22
Mad hens for my sisters hen party in Albufeira. I arrived at the
airport a fair bit hungover after the wedding the night before.
The flight was dodge. Only when I landed did I start to feel normal again.
When I say Albufeira is mental it is! I would defo
recommend it for a mad drinking holiday, a hen or stag party.

The Bride and I

All the Hens with the Bride to be my sister Linda in Albufeira

On the first night we went hell for leather out on the strip all dressed
as lifeguards. needless to say a good few of us were out until the early hours of the morning!
I think the last time I saw on the clock was 6:30am.

The next day most of the group went to the beach while
myself and Nicole slept our hangovers off!
We relaxed by the pool for a few hours before getting ready 
to go out. The theme on the second night was black and classy.
We went for a slap up meal in a restaurant called the hot stone. The food
was divine! 
Just to mention my mother is 70 and she partied harder than most of us on the hen
I actually do not know where she gets the energy from! She told
me it was her first ever hen party, I could not believe it. It was
nice though because her first hen party happened to be
her daughters. <3

Anyway my sisters wedding is this month!
On June 30th, I cannot wait. The dress is bought
and operation slim down(again) has commenced!!

I also went to visit my sister Helen the end of May.
She moved to the UK a few months ago and
it was time for a catch up. While there we went to 
see Take that in the Getting Arena. The concert 
was brilliant!!!!
I see take that are streaming their concert tonight 
into cinemas across Ireland and the UK I would highly recommend if your 
a Take That fan and you didn't go to the concert to get on this right away!
Odeon and IMC cinemas have the rights to it so check you local listings.
We had a great time with my Sister and her partner Bal. The 
high light has to be my mother tasting one of the hottest sauces in
the world. Her reaction was priceless! I also got it on
video which is even better! 
Thanks Sis for a great weekend! 

I think that pretty much brings me up to date 
with all things here in the life of Annie Mac.

The next big event is the wedding eeekkk. I cannot wait!
Best of Luck to My Sister Linda & Gary on their Big day.

I will post on the blog hopefully once a week from 
here on out.

Chow for now!
Annie Mac
xXx

Happy FRI-YAY!!!!!!

Happy Friday peeps!

In the words of Alan Carr "Well what a week its been!"

11 days and counting on my plan. 

So the dress I spoke about in the last blog post arrived

during the week. 

Good news it FITS!

All though it is a tad tight so now I'm on a serious mission!

Operation trim waist is now in progress.

I have been to the gym three times this week one AM session and 

two PM sessions. I love how great you feel on a Friday
after the gym.
I also weighed myself while I was there and 
I have thankfully lost 1 kg this week.
Hard work and willpower really does pay off!
Seeing that scales go down this week has really mad the hard points of
this week worth while.
I am chuffed!

I keep a food and exercise diary now.
I plan my workouts before going to the gym so I'm not
walking around between sets cooling down. I know I am
getting a good 50 minute workout.

Generally my food intake has not been to
different to last week,
breakfast, lunch and dinner, 2/3 litres of water per day
no sugar in my coffee, no soft drinks and some protein.
I'm also currently drinking miss fit skinny tea which I love.
Lots of people are doing the drop a dress size 28 day challenge with
Miss Fit Skinny tea. You can join the group on facebook for it here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dropadresssizechallengebymissfitskinnytea/

I'm motivated to keep going. I have one week to go
and then its party time at the club dinner dance on Saturday 
19th! I cannot wait for the event.

I'll post my food Diary for the weekend 
on facebook on Sunday.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Ciao for now 
Annie Mac
xXx

Happy hump day!

Hi Peeps!

Urban dictionary describes "Hump Day! as:

"Wednesday, or the hump of the week. The absolute BEST day of the week, the day of maximum hope that maybe, you might make it out of this week alive. A particularly good hump day can last you the rest of the week, and by doomsday morning (Monday) you survive by anticipating hump day. Nothing goes wrong on hump day"

I always thought hump day was a bad thing until today!

I had a great day and I am feeling fabulous!

My food intake for today was as follows:

Breakfast: weetabix  x2 & 1 americano

Snack:Brown bread with butter and jam (I know the Jam is bold)

Lunch: Salad no dressing

Snack: 30g popcorn & Mint choc fulfil protein bar

1 americano

Dinner: 2 Poached eggs on Wholemeal bread & 1 cup of tea

Water intake: 2ltrs

Calorie wise I had: 1239kcals

I also went to the gym 

While in the gym I did the below:

Bike 10 minutes for my warm up.

I then went into a Tabatha style routine.

This consisted of 45 second bursts as hard and fast as I could go

with a 90 second rest between each. I did this cycle 10 times.

I broke it up between the treadmill and cross trainer. While on

the treadmill I did speed 11 for my 45 second bursts 

and between speed 5 and 6 for my rest. I then finished 

on the cross-trainer doing the same as above on an elevation

 of 2 and level 5.

I was sweating I could actually feel my fat crying!

It felt great!

I then went on to do some weights, 

5kg dumbbell curls 12 reps x3.

Tricep pull down 27kg 12 reps x3.

Lateral pull down 30kg 12 reps x3.

I then finished with some ab work on the abdominal bench.

It's not the most difficult routine but it's  

a start. I'm feeling good and that's all that matters.

I bought a dress online this evening for the gala ball that

ill be going to in three weeks. It's a back up in case I do not like

how I look in any of the current dresses I have. I did buy a dress all

ready for the night but I am just not comfortable in it.

Hopefully in three weeks time i'll feel comfortable and can share 

what dress I went with for the event.

For now that's my goal. three weeks time!

I can do this!

Depending on how my body feels I might

go to the gym again tomorrow evening.

If not I will go on Friday after work.

What I'm Loving at the moment:

 I am totally loving the dark evenings! 

When I came home from work I 

went to the gym, showered, ate my dinner then sat down to

watch some TV. It was still only seven pm! 

Bliss!! It's also getting that little

 bit colder so the fire was lit which

made the sitting room so cosy. It really is the one thing I love

about this time of year! The Days feel so long! 

 Therefore I feel more relaxed.

Thanks for reading!

Ciao for now :)

Annie Mac

x

Time to wake up and get serious!

Hi All,

I know, I know! It's been a while yet again I am back. 

Halloween is over so that only means one thing... Christmas is around the corner!

In 8 weeks time it will be

done and dusted for another year!

So whats the plan? I hear you ask. 

I'll be honest I went back to see good old gym last week

I went twice both 6am sessions. I was

good last week for about 4 days then the weekend came and I

more or less undid everything! Story of my life!

Anyway, It's a new week and Monday has been and gone

Today I went for a run with  my friend Carla at lunch time.

We did bursts of 2 minutes jogging/running and 1 minute walking.

It was short but better than doing nothing!

In the morning I am heading to the gym with my mate Nicola.

I plan on doing 20 minutes of full on weights and a 10 minute

burst of cardio to finish. The gym only opens

at 6am and I need to be on the road for work by 6.45

hense why it is so short.

I feel good after today, Day 1 is over,

I have not ate bad and dinner is in the oven.

Chicken, Vegetables and sweet potato chips.

I am going to make some changes for the next three weeks. 

1. No Sugar in my coffee or weetabix.

2. No Junk food - clean eating that has to be prepared.

therefore cutting out any processed foods.

3. No alcohol, yes girls I said it!

I need to do this. I have a dress to fit into in

three weeks so I need all the help I can get and the above 

changes will help me.

In three weeks my club has its awards night which

I am really looking forward to. I want to feel comfortable 

and confidant in myself going to this event.

It's set to be a great night. My team have

three awards to collect so it will be a great end to

a great season to celebrate with the girls and the rest of the club.

Details of the O'Dwyers gala ball and Awards Night.

Todays meals:

Breakfast: Branflakes

Lunch:Salad

Snack: Fulfill Protein Bar

Dinner: Chicken, Vegetables and  Sweet potatoes

 Chips

Hopefully I am as good for the rest of the week

I am defiantly determined.

Ciao for now

Annie Mac

x

Goodbye August ... Hello September

Well August has clearly been and gone!

Not one post from myself on my so called blog! 

I keep saying "I will get back into the swing of things tomorrow!"

Tomorrow never comes!

Why??

 This is what I need to figure out....

Why do we fall off the bandwagon so easily but find it 

so hard to jump back on?

At this rate I am chasing the wagon down the road

and giving up as soon as I get out of breath! The Wagon is

long out of sight for me to jump back on again!

I started slimming world back in July (i think) and as

soon as I gained I gave up! I gave up with the lifestyle

changes, the syns and 

I  unfortunately gave up in myself more than anything....

I felt deflated and defeated 

and if I'm being totally honest

I still feel the same now sitting here in September.

For some reason as of late chocolate has become my weakness!

I have never been a big chocoholic

but as of late I find myself thinking and wanting chocolate more and 

more.

Once it's in my head that's it, I need to get rid of the craving

by having it. It's a vicious circle because once I have

it I feel guilty which then in turn makes

me eat more to cheer myself up....

Who is this chocolate beast?

I honestly do not know her!!

How can I overcome this? I have tried setting goals,

I have tried all the diets! Do I need to re-train my

brain into a different way of thinking? 

Here is my month in review.....

August was a very busy month for me. I had

my Mams 70th birthday,

Her actual birthday is on the 3rd of August which was a week

day so myself and my sisters called up to her with balloons, presents.

cake and of corse the prosecco! (this was definitely

the start of my downfall!)

Mam was over the moon and she really enjoyed 

the evening with her daughters and some grandchildren.

My sisters and I had chipped in to get my mam a special gift.

A necklace.... It has all our names and birthstones in it which I 

thought was a really nice touch. 

website for necklace: www.mynamenecklace.ie

A more detailed photo of the necklace is over on my instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BJEfX4BDUSj/?taken-by=whoisshe_anniemac

The big night was still yet to come.

To this day I cannot believe we pulled it off.

We held  surprise party for my Mam in 

Kealys Pub in their new hanger 6 function room.

Which is so beautifully decorated. I love it.

website:http://www.kealys.ie/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kealyspub/?fref=ts

Dion who helped me organise everything was 

amazing and I would just like to thank her and 

the staff for a great night. 

Before the party I had organised the beautiful Grace Mongey

of FacesByGrace to come and do

Mams make-up along with my own.

Grace is so talented at what she does and she is

such a nice girl I loved having her over to make us up!

Thank you Grace and best of luck with BabyFaces <3

Graces amazing work above and mam totally shocked 

when she walked into the party!

Check some of graces social media outlets below;

website:http://www.facesbygrace.com/

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/facesbygracexx/?fref=ts

The party was a great success and we had

120 people at it. We also had a photobooth/photobox

which my friend in work developed. We ran it on a raspberryPi.

this went down a treat and some of the photos were quite funny!

Thanks Zac!

Another big event in August was

my football teams Championship final against Na Fianna.

Final score: O'Dwyers 4-18 Na Fianna 1-06

After the win we all went back to the club for some

well deserved food and drinks. It was 

nice to sit down and have the laugh with 

the girls on the team and our management.

Well done again girls! 

So here we are September yet again.... before 

we know it, it will be Christmas and 2016 will be gone!
That means I only have a couple of weeks to
get myself sorted.
I think I need to concentrate on being happy.
If I keep on being negative I won't get anywhere.
Its time to change my way of thinking.

The club have a dinner dance coming up so
this is going to be my first goal.
I'm not going to say I want to be this weight or a certain
size. Instead I just want to be comfortable in my dress
and in my body.

I have re-joined the gym and I am going to
hopefully get a program this week if
not next week. I will do this program 20 times
and then I will re-visit the trainer for a new program.
On days where I do not feel like doing the program I will do
one of the gym classes to push myself.

I know this has been a long post
but it has been a long time since I wrote anything.
I had lots of other things and events on over the last month
or so also but I don't want to keep rambling on.

Chow for now!
Annie Mac
xXx