My Weekend: Cozying up on the couch with a cocktail and movie is ideal Friday night

TELL us a little bit about yourself;

I grew up in the lovely town of Listowel Co Kerry and moved to the Rebel County back in 2008 and totally fell in love with the place.

My fiancée Brian and our amazing little girl Poppy, are the ones that drive and inspire me.

I launched my greeting card and stationery business “PoppyRosePrintsIE” back in late 2021 as I wanted to achieve my dream of working for myself as a creative and to have the flexibility to be there for Poppy as much as possible especially in these early years. It’s great to be able to set my own hours to suit family life.

For as long as I can remember I have always loved drawing. 

My best tip is that whatever your passion is, don’t let others define and limit your abilities. We all start at zero and become better with practice. Our passions should be nurtured and encouraged as they are a special part of us and quite frankly life is too short to miss out on doing what makes us happy.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

After a busy week my perfect way to spend a Friday night is cozying up on the couch with Brian. We love to make a cocktail and watch a movie, usually a horror/thriller or a “so bad it’s actually good” movie. Some SBIAG movies include The Room by Tommy Wiseau, Sleepaway Camp and anything with the fab Nic Cage. On the rare time we get to go out together as a couple you’ll find us in Fred Zeppelins having the craic.

Lie ins or up with the lark.. which is it for you?

100% a lie in! We are a family of night owls.

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

For the last few years work has often crept into my weekends. Being self employed is a hard graft but I’m getting better now at keeping work to more “regular hours” now that Poppy is in playschool.

If money was no object where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

Edinburgh for sure, I love that city! My fiancée and I have been there a few times as we both enjoy it so much, we even got engaged over there as it is our special place. 

If I won the Euromillions I’d buy an apartment over there for more frequent city-break hols.

Not exactly a weekend break but a bucket list destination of mine is Japan, so if money was no object I would love some time in Japan.

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries?

I don’t do it nearly enough, but going to the beach is my favourite way to recharge. I love hearing the water lap on the shore, it’s just so soothing and helps to quieten my ever too busy mind. I also love having a stroll around Fota Wildlife Park with Poppy.

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

Absolutely, family and friends are everything to me and there’s no better way to spend a weekend than with them. Our weekends usually revolve around our family, and I catch up with friends during the week.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

Besides drawing, I love to catch up on my favourite YouTube vloggers which are usually other illustration based business owners that inspire me such as Katnipp, aPenas, and Emily Cromwell.

I also love to see my favourite bands play live, I’ve often gone to England for gigs (pre mom-life) as I find my favourites don’t play in Ireland much. I listen to lots of different genres but my most played artists would be Lorna-Shore, Kate Bush and Deftones.

Entertain or be entertained? If it’s the latter do you have a signature dish?

I love both. My signature dishes are a no-bake Nutella cheesecake, or my chicken and bacon carbonara.

We have so many places to eat out in Cork — where are your go to spots for coffee/ lunch/ special meal?

My favourites are Lab82 for brunch, their Wafflehoff dish is amazing. Son Of A Bun for a casual evening burger, my favourite burger is The Chipper when it’s available. For a couple’s dinner my favs are Sketch and Elbow lane for top notch steak.

Sunday night comes around too fast... how do you normally spend it?

After spending the day with family, Sunday night is usually spent prepping for the week ahead.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

As late as we can get away with, 7:50am.

Anything else you are up to right now...

The main focus for me this year is to expand PoppyRosePrintsIE into more retail stores. You can get any of my cards/prints on my website (poppyroseprints.ie) and my most popular designs are also available in the fabulous store “Meraki Pop Up Cork” located in Winthrop Arcade. Meraki Pop Up features 12 amazing businesses, most hailing from Cork.

Personally, I want to continue getting better at managing my work/life balance and doing more “good for the soul” things.

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