Saturday 30 September 2017

My weeks in Photos 18th-29th

There are two reasons this post includes two weeks, the first being COLLEGE!!! 


I started college on the 18th of September and its been one big ole ball of stress since as the work was piled on since the first day. Of course there are some classes I love, and some I very much want to stuff in a box and send off to sea.. Professional, Regulatory and Ethical Studies I'm looking at you... but that's part of learning isn't it and we have to just keep swimming... through the mountain of paperwork.

Thing's have finally come together in our new home with everything working as it should (please don't say I just jinxed it) and we're finally completely settled in, the curtains are hung up, we've done our first washing and Rich even finally got time to fix his old lava lamp... and then to sit mesmerized by it for hours. 

I'm learning things I have dream't about learning for years. Since I was a kid I wanted to be a Vet Nurse and thanks to dear little Tabitha I've been practicing lots of new techniques. And I also got my first experience in a proper lecture hall.... it was boiling.


As September moved on, I finally got the first glimpses of Autumn on this beautiful walkway onto campus which I actually love passing each day as it is so cute and I also seen this magnificent tree on my way to college, how amazing are the colors? and the way it is slowly fading out.. ombre colors to die for.  I also am getting back to having my big old hearty bowl of porridge and chia seeds mix for breakfast which couldn't be more autumny. 


The second reason this post includes two weeks is because of us being complete fools. We locked ourselves out of our apartment.. on a Sunday evening at 8pm.. without our phones. It was an adventure, to say the least. We called into a local hotel to use their phone and rang every locksmith in the county but of course, none were working that late on a Sunday. So the hotel kindly gave us a discount to stay the night. And so when we finally got into our apartment all that was called for was this amazing pizza from Iceland.









This week was also Freshers Week and us being optimistic, we got wristbands which would get you some discounts and free into clubs. Our first night out in our new place... what could go wrong.... everything. The fools at the club wouldn't let us in said that the wristbands were for another week (it literally says the dates on it) so we got some food and just went home had great chats and drinks at home. The rest of the week I was sick and so overwhelmed with college work so we didn't even try to go out. We used our wristbands instead to have a breakfast in a cafe and get a free cinema ticket instead. 

Its been two hectic weeks ending in me been dosed with the full... here's to next week. 

How did your week go? Any dramas like ours? let me know in the comments. 





Thursday 28 September 2017

Home Organizing


It's fair to say, when I get to organize, I'm a happy girl. 



 Possible the best thing about moving is unpacking (although most wouldn't agree) as you get to arrange and rearrange everything until it's 'just right'.
First thing I noticed when we were viewing the apartment was how other apartments had little mats outside the doors which I thought was quite cute as it makes it that little bit extra homely. I 'borrowed' this one from my mum to place outside our door. 





Starting with the kitchen my favorite section is this little corner where we have some food stored and recipe books.

I'm a little OTT when it comes to organizing and labeling but I mean when has a label ever not been useful?

I decided these cereal containers would be great to store pasta in as you can pour quite easily from them and they look quite interesting on the shelf as a statement.



I'm hoping to get back into my healthy cooking and stocked up on some supplies which I stored in containers very simply with the label on the front and instructions on how to cook them on the lid.
I had worryingly amounts of fun organizing these foods but was surprised when Rich joined in and started labeling too.



A super great idea that I would like to pretend is mind but is not, is using a clipped clothes hanger as a holder for a recipe book. It keeps the book of the counter and out of the while holding the page open for you and freeing your hands up to cook.
I have the book just open at random as a statement piece for the kitchen for now (will eventually get to cook) as I think it's a nice piece to have hanging up.





Along the countertop, I added a white cardboard box to keep our Veg in. We picked up this box along with about twenty others in the moving process and I just thought it would look nice to keep the veg on the counter and also having them air out and not be stuck in a cupboard (also we don't have any cupboard space so wasn't much choice).





One of my favorite little details is our 'fruit basket'. I was given this tiny little shopping basket and first thought of keeping makeup brushes in it but then thought it would look nice in the center of the kitchen table and now have it full up with apples.


Along with the fruit basket, I added in my Hogwarts class filled with mints. It was kind of a joke at first as Rich had a packet of mints and left them everywhere so I thought I would leave them out nicely on the table to be fancy homeowners with mints on the table for their guests. I didn't have any saucers or fancy plates so I used my HP glass as I won't be using it yet, (saving it for Freshers week and lots of wine).









On to the bedroom, and I was given this over the door hanger and thought it would be quite useful, turns out we had enough clothes storage and so I had the idea to hang my necklaces on it as it leaves them untangled and easily viewable so I can choose them without any bother (although them rattling when you move the door recks Richards' head, but hey that could be a bonus).








One of the things I'm most excited about is having my very first vanity table and organizing it. I've never been the biggest of girly girls but I do have the basics and like to keep them in good nick. I got the small storage unit years ago and have always kept my makeup in it, of course, organized separately into their sections. I've painted this many times but just as I was moving I decided for an elegant blue ombre and then the writing in dark letters. It didn't exactly turn out this way but its still nice. On top, I keep my pallets and beside it, I keep my brushes in an old flower pot, nicer than it sounds, its made from clay and has gorgeous tile pieces glued all around it, and also odd perfumes and bits. 


 



As we're only recently moved in, I may yet be doing more organizing as we settle in and see where things should be, I'll update you as we go. Have you any organizing tips or tricks that you found useful in your home or something totally unique like the little clothes hanger recipe book? Let me know in the Comments below <3

Friday 22 September 2017

My OOTD all Week for College

As I've mentioned quite a few times, I'm not the biggest of girly girls and wouldn't normally dress up or wear makeup on a daily basis, BUT starting college I said to myself I was going to use the nice clothes I have (and not just keep them for 'the right occasion', we all do it right?)  to make more of an effort with my style. Also, I think starting college where there are literally thousands of people, is the perfect time to experiment with your style and be adventurous (just you know, also legal, we're not talking mankinis here) trying new things to either stand out or fit in. So without further ado here's my first week at college attempting to be stylish...

(just a little FYI, these were all taking on my phone as I rushed out the door late for class so they aren't the best of quality). 


Day One's outfit was very simple as I am studying Veterinary Nurse I wasn't at all sure what I should wear on my first day thinking we could possibly be in labs so I went for a very casual look. I wore one of my favourite go-to tops with a lace-up front and lace pattern on the back, teamed with casual leggings and a cardi. 

The detail on this top is what makes it go from a go-to casual top to a dressy top which is perfect for classes as you want to be comfortable yet dressy. I actually got all of this outfit from Penny's/Primark, which scarcely shows my obsession with that store. 
I included the back detail in the second picture but don't be alarmed, I am Irish but I am not that pale, its taken on a white background as you know, I can't physically take a picture of it on my own back, so instead raided my boyfriend's wardrobe for a white top background. 

Day Two is one of my favourites as I had experience of what the other girls and gals wore to college/class and started to feel more experimental, although it's still rather simple. Again with this outfit, it's all about comfort (I had a 9-6 day of lectures) and I swapped over to narrow fit woolly leggings (Penny's you are a delight for your leggings) and this time added an even more dressy top. I'm not actually sure where this is from as it's a hand-me-down from my old landlady (who was a legend and gave me three huge bags of clothes to choose from) but again I love the detail. This top is all about flowyness and I don't know how else to explain, but the 'wings' are the main statement part of the top. I love how when I moved my arms I had this flowy look and also was super comfy as it had a warm sewn-in tank top underneath. 

I went with my statement hairdo, of a platted fringe (the only plat I can do) and added a very light little jacket I picked up on sale in Penny's a while back which is incredibly light but really adds to an outfit with the pop of green and gold linings around the neck and wrists. 





Day Three was when I really got confident and went with a dress. I've seen sooooo many girls in amazingly styled outfits either dresses or perfectly matched tops and skirts and I thought today you know I'm going to wear my favourite dress shirt thingmabob (its a quite short dress that looks like a top). I usually style this with my black bowler hat but left the darn thing back in my home home (not my college home) so instead I added plenty of accessories and went with my big owl statement necklace and more of a plan trainers ( I normally wear big black & pink sporty trainors because I have to walk 30 mins to college) along with tights because A. it's short and more importantly B. its damn cold. And of course it be Ireland and the day I choose to wear a dress, it was pouring rain so I added in my light RiverIsland jacket which again I picked up in a sale (RI sales are the only time I actually enter that shop as normally above my price tag but they do a sale well). 

Day Four I felt more autumny and by this stage was wrecked and wanted comfy warm jumpers so I picked this deep maroon one again from my seriously stylish ex-landlady. What really drew me to this top was the Peter Pan collar which I'm a sucker for as they really make an outfit pop, along with this long silky material that hangs over the bum &  tum (just where I need it to cover). I went back to my basic black leggings with this outfit as this day was all about comfort (another 9-6 day). 
I did my hair in a little half up bun which I'm really starting to love as a style because it's so simple to do and is a cute little hairstyle that saves just sticking to plain hair everyday. 

In case you're wondering about the Halloween stickers, I'm blocking out my weird claw-shaped hand that happens when I take a selfie, it happens to us all right? 



Just a little P.S the weather was absolutely gorgeous this day and I was roasting in this jumper.. just my luck. 


So that was my weekly OTTD, I'm only in college four days a week (thank the gods for being off Fridays), so thankfully only have to come up with four outfits, pyjamas all weekend. But I did quite enjoy putting together my outfits and look forward to planning some more.

What are your go-to college/school/work outfits? let me know in the comments <3 

Thursday 21 September 2017

Moving in Disasters & Celebrations


I mean this is us we're talking about so you knew there was going to be some disaster along the way.

We arrived up after a 3-hour drive and about six runs up the six flights of stairs with the last of our stuff to be moved in, to find no electricity in the apartment (even though it was meant to be on three weeks ago). It didn't help that we arrived quite late in the evening so the light was fading quickly. Luckily our amazing landlord got it arranged quite quickly that an electrician would be out, but not until 9 pm. Again luckily the landlord also had a heap of candles around the place so we weren't in total darkness.
So we sat amongst the candles and boxes of our stuff until 9 pm hit and Mr. Bond the electrician arrives and saves the day finally getting us power. We did our little victory dance around the kitchen proud that we sorted out our first disaster ourselves.







Before we even thought about unpacking, we wanted food first and so we went to cook... and ran into disaster number 2. The cooker wasn't connected. No matter what we did the cooker would not let us eat and so we decided to find a take away down the road. Off we went and in the door of the takeaway, standing drooling over the menu... until the waitress comes out and tells us there closed... disaster number 3. We were hoping to have a little celebration drink for our first night in the new place, and so we went to an off-licence... which was also closed, disaster number 4. So we went back home with our stomachs rumbling louder than King Kongs roars.
 I had more grease in my hair than John Travolta and badly wanted to relax in a hot shower, but you know where this is going... there was no hot water, disaster number 5. So mister went investigating and found a switch which he turned on and... nearly killed himself as there were loose live wires and it sent off big green sparks... Fatal disaster number 6.
That was the last straw as we gave up before we did any more damage and went to bed with our snack dinner (leftovers from the road trip) and a movie.










Although the first day was a disaster I woke up on the right side of the bed after a super sleep and decided I would surprise himself and hope down to Lidl for some fresh pastries and apple juice for breakfast before a big day of shopping and unpacking.












Surprisingly this all went okay (although we've still no hot water or a working cooker) and we finally got our celebration drinks and a treat yo self-takeaway while playing Monopoly and feeling at home.


I guess this was one of those moments where you have to take it on the chin and count it as one of 'life's experiences'. You do actually hear many stories of young couples who move into dingy little flats with electricity problems and hey this could be a story to tell the grandkids.




Monday 18 September 2017

My first day of College




This was it, the big day that I have been dreaming about for many years.. and it completely and even more, lived up to my expectations. 


I've wanted to do Veterinary Nursing, go to an actual college and be a qualified Vet Nurse for as long as I can remember and even though I just had my first day, I still can't believe its actually happening. 
I have done two years of courses previously, which I refer to as college as I did stay in student accommodation and had the college lifestyle, see my slightly embarrassing college post here. But for me, this is real college its an actual degree and it's in a huge Institue of Technology, and it's very scary but exciting. It's been a challenge for me to get here as I missed my last two years of secondary school and then did two PLC courses, but whats important is I am here... and loving it. I was selected for advanced entry into 2nd year, as I had done my two years PLC, so this means I am in with people that know each other for a whole year and have already made great friends, and it was one of my worries about joining, although I and a good friend of mine were very lucky as we were both in the same PLC college last year and were both selected for this course in LYIT so at least were not totally alone and lost.
It was a huge deal for me to walk into a massive college (3000 students) and a large class of students (32) but I did it and had the most interesting day...






It started off practically running for 25 minutes to college, even though I was up an hour and a half early I still managed to be late. And then not knowing where the room was and being 20 minutes late, but I made it to my now favorite class ever! 
 I know what you're going to say, this is what we do in college? play with teddies and pretend they're real! but no this was just introduction/revision for the first day and a little bit of fun between the mad busy lectures ( I already have 6 A4 pages of notes and 5 handouts. This was only the first day and there is already SO much information and studying today, I guess I should have expected this as a science/nursing degree. 

Me and my lost buddy went the whole day without interacting with the other classmates as they all really kept to themselves and we're so excited to reunite with their friends that they didn't really pass much head of us, until the very last class of the day...

Professional, Regulatory and Ethical studies... ugh. The minute I saw this I thought this is going to be my sleepy time class but surprisingly was actually very interesting as we were thought by a lovely new teacher who is actually a registered Vet Nurse herself so she can show us her own opinions and examples of experiences she had.  As the title may explain, this is more of a talky class where people give their opinions and debates ( I think every course has one of those communication type modules) and we were split into groups of 8 for this. I was separated from my buddy which was great for both of us as by ourselves we had to interact more and the group of girls I was with were so lovely introducing themselves to me, asking about me and helping fill me in on the things I missed from 1st year. Turns out some are actually from my hometown and will be doing work placement with me so it's great getting to know them now.

It turned out to be a really fun class and even more importantly I got to talk to the others and meet some great girls who I hopefully will get closer to in the two years (and have some going out buddies). I left class walking through campus ( which  I dreamed about while watching college movies) with a beaming smile (which probably won't last for long with study stress) as I am doing something I am completely 110% interested in and after finally meeting some nice people.

I hope to update the blog on my college journey as I go. What are your expereinces with college? I'd love to hear your stories (even the wild nights) let me know in the comments below.

Sunday 17 September 2017

My Week in Photos 11th-17th August



This has been one mad crazy week as we moved, and found ourselves in disaster after disaster... 




Starting off with a dislocated jaw and four hours waiting in the hospital.




Major problems with the new apartment and no electricity to have hot water or cook... until four days later we finally got to cook our first dinner (was freaking delicious if i must say so myself), Kurdish style turnip cooked with tea bags,  and have a hot bath (extra bubbles), the thing that was taunting me since we moved as we've only showers at home and couldn't wait to relax in a bath.





From there on things got much better... yummy salads became a daily occurrence, we would usually go out for the morning and do shopping for the last of the things we needed and then came home and cooked up this hearty lunch and then there was major lie-ins ( I'm taking 3pm here), the perks of not being back to college yet.  





Towards the middle of the week, I really started to notice Autumn arriving and think I expressed that in my outfit. 







After walking 30 minutes to Aldi (and back) we treated ourselves to a major treat- yo -self -movie night. We re-watched the Perks of Being  A Wallflower (I baled) and then watched a comedy called Losers which was hilarious (just what we needed after the emotional tugging of POBAWF). 




Lastly this evening, again after a really big lie in, we wanted to explore our new town while it was such a nice day and we took a 4km walk around (I am now on able to move my legs) some beautiful sights of old cathedrals and right out to a beautiful town park and home again. 


I love the idea of keeping a short and sweet picture diary each week to look back on in the future, what are your opinions? do you keep a diary or take each day as it comes and look forward to the next?  

Thursday 14 September 2017

Homeware Haul

Being the proper new home owning adults that we are, we had to go shopping for some essentials that we'll be needing for the next two years. We are students and that means getting everything on a budget and finding those deals and boy did we search every place to get the best deals we could. It was actually quite enjoyable going around stores checking things off our list and gathering up our new supplies. It truly felt like Christmas when we got it all home to unpack and organize into where we'd keep them working together to plan out where everything should go. 




 The first great deal we got was an amazing find in Argos for a 50 pack kitchen starter kit which was perfect for us as there were some bits in the flat but not everything ( and me being a neat freak preferred my own) and this made it easier to get everything we did could possibly need for the kitchen and will last us many years hopefully in where ever we may live.







My absolute favorite thing we found was this kettle and toaster set. We hadn't planned on getting a toaster (to save a bit of money) but had been looking in many places for the best deal on a kettle. Just by the off chance, we were in Adli recently and they have a big range of homeware items in and we spotted this great deal for just €25. Now the price was amazing, buts what even more amazing is the color. I, of course, went straight for the blue, by- passing the pink and red because obvs blue is my favorite color but it's also more neutral for my boyfriend to be part of his home too and also I find the color is really relaxing and interesting in a kitchen.


From there, we had a base color to choose other things we might need but actually, we (Richard as a joke) picked the blue dustpan and brush before we even had the kettle. I choose a blue bath mat and some kitchen utensils we might need to kind of have some matching color in the house. Although Richard insisted on the lime green toilet brush (even though we later found there was one already in the house).  After that, we just gathered up little things we needed such as extension leads, clothes drier, dehumidifier etc. 






I really wanted to include this popcorn maker as a homeware item as I was given it as a present a while ago and kept it specifically for when I got my own place. It also was another cool thing to unpack and plan on putting somewhere.





I forgot to get photos of one of our great deals, a duvet and mattress protector, because we were so eager to get the bed made up and chill out (we live up 6 flights of stairs and had quite a bit to move in with no lift so many runs up and down the stairs). Again it was something we had been looking around many places for and just so happen to pass Harry Corry and they had a 70% off sale which was amazing as I have never even been in one of these shops before because I associated it with being quite expensive. I can't quite remember how much it was but I'm pretty sure we came out with both for €20.


Lastly we got a water filter jug as were both spoiled at home with water filters and don't like drinking straight from the tap. We got this great deal in Argos for €17 ( €12, when we used a €5 voucher we got buying the kitchen kit) which came with two spare filters. 

After all this burning a gigantic hole in our pockets the rest of our necessary homeware items came second hand (stole from our parent's homes), such as the smoothie maker seen in the background above, blankets, Tupperware, coffee tables, mugs, plates etc. And after all that, our home was built.

It can be quite expensive or quite affordable to kit out a new home, it all depends on how much research and planning you put in beforehand. The key is to really shop around, don't impulse buy, search a number of shops for the best overall deal.

Following the Haul here on the blog will be the apartment tour once we've all completely in place.