Sunday 18 September 2016

Life As Of Late - The College Edition


September has well and truly returned, bringing back the routines of school and college. I'm preparing for my third week back in college, so I finally mustered up the time to write about what I have been doing since making the trek back to Limerick. (The photo above was taken a couple of days before I left, in Courtown Harbour on the last day of summer). 


 Visiting DCU and Glasnevin Cemetery 




I went up to DCU shortly before returning to college, as my brother (fondly referred to as The Sibling) is starting his Master's degree up there. I wish him the very best of luck in the course and hope he likes DCU! 

I persuaded -read, begged - my parents to bring me to Glasnevin Cemetery while we were there. It truly was a wonderful experience to view the graves of so many historical figures from Irish history such as Michael Collins, Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington and Countess Markievicz to name a few. 


Visiting the cemetery added another dimension to the stories I've heard in history classes over the years. It brought a sense that these names in the history books were real people with real lives and graves. (Slightly morbid at times but it was a unique experience) 

Got a hair-cut and a spray tan for college 



My hair was in dire need of a trim so in true back-to-school tradition I got mine cut shortly before returning to Limerick. I also got a spray tan as they were on special offer in a local pharmacy and I was looking frightfully pale after being sick over summer. I ended up looking quite brown but it gradually lessened over the following days! 

Spotted Goats Outside The Window

Goats always make a consistent appearance in these blog posts, today is no exception! After a few days being back in Limerick, I opened a window and heard bleating. I looked across the road and there were two lovely goats in the field! They've since moved on but it was cute to see and hear them for a couple of days.

Socialised/Meet With Old Friends And New 








A major highlight of college is being back with my friends, as well as making new friends! College consists of frequent nights out, a sample of which I posted above. I promise the only new friends I've made aren't the pigeon that tottered over to me in the Bus Station! 

Retained Snap Streaks


At this stage, it feels as if we just send selfies with the captain of 'retain the streak!' or 'keep the streak!'  The joys of student living! 


How are you settling back into school or college?
Let me know!  

Aveen x

Sunday 14 August 2016

Life As Of Late #2

I quite like the idea of writing an update on the last fortnight through a visual/photographic way. Once again, here is my Life As Of Late. 

Meeting Up With Old Friends And New Friends


At the beginning of the month, I went to the Gorey Market House Festival and met up with my friends from secondary school and was introduced to new friends. It was a brilliant weekend to say the least. 


 Dealing with Adulthood and Responsibilities

Upon realising it's my last few months as a teenager, I decided to try be an adult. As a result, I bought what I felt a lot of adults use - sellotape and also a laminator. Scary times. 


Designed an Emoji?

On Snapchat you can design yourself as an emoji. As an avid emoji user, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to send emojis of myself to my friends. Note, I got a little bit excited sending this snap. 

Read Harry Potter and The Cursed Child (Also, cried)


As a massive Harry Potter fan, I just HAD to buy Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. I devoured the book during an afternoon. I might also post a review for those who haven't read it yet as it is quite interesting and different to the original seven books (this book is the script of the play in London).




 Petted More Goats?!



On the Sunday of the Market House Festival, there were goats and other animals on the Main Street, along with several other attractions. Being me, I ran towards the goats and sheep to try feed and pet them. 

And petted sheep


Became obsessed with a new Snapchat filter



As you can tell, I spend too much time on Snapchat. But this is definitely one of my favourite filters to use when sending snaps. (Snapchat: AwkwardAveen)

Made an impulse purchase


I decided to buy a sandwich maker ''for college'' to make myself a tonne of toasties with. I'll be rolled out of my apartment in college next May I swear. 


Have you ever bought any random impulse purchases?
Let me know in the comments, tweet me or shoot me an email!
Aveen x

Sunday 7 August 2016

Back to College Stationery Haul!


It's officially that time of year again - preparing to go back to school or college! You might be thinking, ''I still have a month of left my holidays, leave me alone Aveen!'' yet I feel you can never prepare too early for going back in September. 

As I will be starting my second year in college, I now realise what stationery I actually need for my college course (primary teaching). Last year I went slightly insane buying every and any piece of stationery I could place my hands on. (Including a page hole puncher which I have not yet used). This year however, I was more sensible thankfully! 

To start with, I bought a school bag from the Roxy website. Even when I was in secondary school I always had to have a Roxy school bag. I found them so spacious, stylish and comfy to lug my heavy books around in. Needless to say, this ethos hasn't changed so I bought a floral patterned bag this year. Funnily enough, the bag matches the pencil case I bought in Penneys/Primark! (not in that photo but in normal daylight they match). 

For lectures and tutorials I always bring refill pads to write notes or to occasionally doodle. I tend to buy refill pads with dividers in them and you can label each section according to each subject. Due to the amount of modules I study each semester I usually need 2 refill pads with 5 dividers in each. I find it a lot easier coming up to exam and assignment time to study as I know where my notes are. 

I picked up some sticky tape with dispensers (you never know when they will come in handy). I got two so I have one for my bedroom at home and one for my room in Limerick. Likewise I bought two sets of sticky notes so I won't have to carry extra things around when I'm travelling to-and-from at the weekends. 

Blue tack is also a great investment to get. I found I went through a lot of blue tack when I was teaching on placement last semester. As a result I keep blue tack with me at all times during college time. 

I also bought two lever-arch folders for future placements later on in the college term, along with the poly-pockets to go in the folders. Sharpies were also on special offer in Tesco (where I also got the majority of my stationery, their section of stationery is just a dream!) so I picked a pack of them up, along with pens, pencils, an eraser and highlighters. 

I also find that light plastic folders are great for keeping any hand-outs or notes you might be given in tutorials or lectures. Depending on the subject, I could get several handouts from my tutors or lecturers. Keeping them in the small plastic folder is great especially coming up to exam time as you know exactly where the notes are. 

I also picked up two smaller notepads, one will be for writing down my 'homework' or my to-do list whilst in college. In some lectures we're asked to study readings in advance of the next tutorial or lecture so I'll most likely write down the necessary information in one of the notepads so I can keep on top of my work. 

I hope this has helped anyone starting college as a guiding point for what to buy as regards to stationery. If you aren't sure what to get (regardless of your college course) a refill pad and a few pens/pencils is always an excellent starting point. I think with my course I go through a lot more stationery than the average college student, I feel as though I spend the college year just stocking up on stationery!

Have you gotten any cute stationery or notebooks for going back to school or college?
Send me a snap (SC: awkwardaveen), tweet me or let me know in the comments!

Aveen x

Monday 1 August 2016

Life As Of Late

As it's the summer and my first year of college has come to a close, I've spent the past couple of months back at home. To be totally honest, I've been a little bit of a hermit due to work, being ill for a number of weeks and other factors.

Here's some of the things I've been getting up to recently.


Petting Goats
If you read my Twitter or Tumblr, it's hard to deny that I love goats. I think they're so lovely and cute! I've spent countless hours watching Vines of baby pygmy goats and follow a few goat focused Instagram accounts. I recently visited Kia Ora Mini Farm, who have several pygmy goats as well as animals of every type and description. But of course my attention was directed towards the lovely goats. I stood there in the baking sun simply petting goats for an afternoon recently. An afternoon well spent really. 

Pokemon Go

                                             

Who isn't obsessed with Pokemon Go lately? The Sibling and I have been going on frequent walks around town looking for Pokemon, Pokestops and lures. It's been a fun week running around after Eevee's, Pigeots and even an Arcanine! Playing the game really reminds me of my childhood, Pokemon was a huge feature of my life as a child. 

Reading Books - As Always!


I'm making an effort to continue reading every day. At the moment I'm stuck into the Jack Reacher series of books by Lee Child. At the moment I'm reading, 'Nothing to lose' which is quite interesting so far. All the previous books have been excellent so I'm optimistic that this one will be just as good.

Sending Snapchats/Thinking I'm Humorous 

 

Snapchat is honestly one of my favourite apps at the moment. Like everyone else, I love the filters that I can apply. Here's some of my recent snaps to my friends with my supposedly 'funny' captions. Maybe I need to go outside more often. . . 


Taking Selfies


Snapchat is again to blame for this (and the filters). Here's a small selection but boy there are a lot more floating around!

Coffee/ Hot Drinks


As a self-confessed coffee addict, I love a good strong coffee as much as anyone. If I could spend my days drinking coffee, reading books and newspapers then I would be very happy indeed!

Here's what I've been up to lately, have you been doing anything strange or unusual lately? 
Let me know in the comments, tweet me or send me a snapchat, my name is awkwardaveen on SC

Aveen x

Sunday 24 July 2016

Madame Tussauds in London


As well as the Making of Harry Potter Studio Tour all the way back in the month of May, The Sibling and I crammed in a visit to Madame Tussauds in London. This post was actually compiled back in late May/early June yet is being posted in July! Logic?

 To say I got giddy taking photographs with waxworks of people I idolise, is an understatement. I had a brilliant morning screeching and running over to waxworks and taking photographs.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, here's 13 for you to digest! There were many more photos from different waxworks, however these were my favourites. 

Aveen x x

With the waxwork of the wonderful Benedict Cumberbatch. Maybe someday I'll met the real Ben.


Jennifer Lawrence/Katniss Everdeen - all the goals

'Tom Cruise, you'll never be Jack Reacher, you're not even tall enough!'