Amsterdam '16

And so have arrived at August- the Leaving Cert is over and done with and now all that is left is to nervously wait for results in just two weeks and pack a bag for college. I can't believe how quickly time has flown, how the months and weeks have faded, blurred and bled into continuous days of nothing but study and the occasional pub night. I turned 18; I sat the Leaving Cert; I slipped away to Amsterdam and Ibiza for just over two weeks, and now I'm preparing to pass my driver's test. I came back to cloudy skies and shuddering realisations: the time has truly come to grow up and get our shit together.

In the meantime, I'm so excited to get back to blogging. I'll try to post once a week- I simply had no time to write anything apart from essays and equations over the past couple of months. Now, as I've changed my column in the local paper from monthly to weekly, I have the chance to write more for this little blog more. As I only recently got back from The Netherlands, this is a photography ode to its capital. Grab a cup of tea, you'll be here a while. 

I did most of my exploring on my own, and so I took the tram and the metro into the city by myself. This was one of my stops- I now hope for Vilnius and Dublin to change its public transport into trams and Luas' only.

The first thing I did when I got into the city was visit the Rijksmuseum- I spent a solid 4 hours there, it's like Holland's version of the Louvre

The modern exhibit featured Modern Japan- an exploration of how Tokyo has rebuilt itself after the earthquake in the 30s. I found the graphic prints of Japanese ladies to be my favourite part, among the kimonos on display.

I will never get over the amount of bicycles and motorbikes in the city, I spotted little pretty Vespas everywhere

My sister and her partner, who I visited have the sassiest little cat who insists on crossing her front paws when she sits, like a little queen

The next handful of photos were taken by my iPhone, so the quality is a little off, but it's still pretty decent

The first thing we did when I arrived was go watch Ireland's last game in the Euros is a cosy Irish pub in the city

Even though Furby is a little queen who's stuck up alright, she's exactly like me so we clicked

On my last night we went on a beer crawl, where you go to 4 set bars, order a drink at each and get a free t-shirt. It was really cool and we got to explore the city even more.

I was carted off to a petting farm one of the days- and before my allergies kicked in, I got to pet goats, horses and even hold a chicken (!!)

And so, after our trip to Ibiza I got to steal a few more days in the city before I headed home. This journey was not only my first time on a plane alone, but also the first time I had a holiday without my parents.

Thank you so much for reading!

Gaby x

Dear 2015

And so my sweeties, in all the flourish and rush and bustle, another year has come to an end. It's unbelievable how fast 2015 has flown, how productive it has been and how eventful it was. I don't even know where to begin, I can't comprehend how many things happened.

But I hope this letter at least grazes the surface.

Dear 2015,

Dear January, I can't remember you. Dear February, you could have been less harsh. Dear April and March, thank you for Paris. Dear Paris, you are the most beautiful city I have ever visited. The trip itself could have been a lot better, but I fell in love with your balconies and gold statues and the immaculate attention to detail in every street, building and alleyway. I can't wait to go back, but maybe with different company.

Dear Tom Rosenthal, thank you for getting me through a cold spring. Dear Casey Neistat, thank you so much for starting your daily vlogs. They have easily been one of my favourite things this entire year. Dear Roscommon Herald, thank you for letting me into your team, allowing me to work with you and drink your tea. 

Writing in the paper has been easily one of my proudest achievements this year. I got to establish myself as a proper writer, with by-lines and published pieces. That has been honouring for me- my favourite moment this entire year.

Dear May, thank you for turning me 17. Thank you for making me a prefect, it turns out I'm good with words. Dear June, thank you for my exam attendant work. Dear town I live in, your drug scene is messed up real bad. 

I had the most productive summer, even though it doesn't feel like it- I began writing 'Teenage Trends' weekly, did 4 weeks work experience and passed my Driver's Theory Test. I went to Vilnius as per usual. Dear Vilnius Buses, you need to seriously calm with your ticket controls. Dear Vero cafe, your Fresh n' Tasty with Russian Schweppes and watermelon syrup has saved me from dehydration several times now. Dear fit lads in Vilnius, please stop hitting on my mother instead of me. 

Dear September, thank you for making me a Leaving Cert. My last September as a school kid. Dear October, thank you for all the blurry nights out and regrets the next day. Dear November, I never liked you and this year you were no different. Dear anxiety, I finally got rid of you. Dear December, I think it's finally time to realise I'm in Leaving Cert and to start taking all my study properly.

Dear legs, I still don't know how you're so bruised. Dear friends, thank you for putting up with my insane ramblings and rampages. Dear best friends, you're the best decisions I've made this year. Thank you for taking care of me when life gets too much. Dear family, thank you for sticking with me all this time.

There's so many things to look forward to in 2016. The Leaving Cert, getting my full driver's license, more writing, my grad, moving out and starting college. Dear 2015, thank you for preparing me for all these things that still frighten me to death.

Thank you for reading all throughout 2015, and for coming back to this irregularly scheduled little blog.

Gaby x

Life, Lately

A long- overdue hello to my sweeties. I haven't posted in so long, so I'm keen to get back into the swing of things, with at least a few blog posts a month. I didn't think the Leaving Cert would take as much time as it is, but I love blogging and will try to do it as often as I can.

Writing long blog posts is the last thing I want to do after hours of essays and homework and those stupid sraithphictuir (fellow Leaving Certs, ya feel me) so I pulled together some pretty visual content for a change. These are some of my favourite blog posts- just my thoughts, and a whole lot of pretty pictures to look at. Because sometimes that's all we need, a bunch of pretty pictures and the day gets better (hence why I love Instagram so much).

 If anyone wants to get me a rose gold bike, I will actually love you forever.

 I will be going to see The 1975 in March- I can't wait, I fully plan on running on to the stage and proposing to Matty during 'Love Me'.

Listening to Honeymoon as I type this. How do we like it? I'm loving it so far.

Thank you for reading, sweeties! I hope you enjoyed my spontaneous overflow of Tumblr content.

Gaby x

What I Wore: Summer '15

Sweeties, how heartbreaking is it to think its the end of August?! I cannot even fathom the return to school, the return to do the Leaving Cert this week- it honestly breaks my heart. Summer always seems to fly by, whether I'm busy or not. As I sit here writing this, the heavens are weeping outside my window and I probably have to stop kidding myself it's still summer- it's well and truly gone, however to be honest it never really arrived in Ireland.

My posting schedule is less frequent now- I've been writing my column for the Roscommon Herald each week and as I'll do the Leaving, I'll be writing it monthly. It honestly is such a joy and privilage to write it and to see it take up an entire page each week, with my picture and name beside the heading. It still feels so surreal, but in order to build up as much experience as possible I've been spending the last few weeks in the head office. I'm also trying to balance that with studying for my driver's theory test- I can't wait to do all the tests, to get my lisence and just to be able to drive. It's such a pain always relying on my parents to bring me places, I can't wait to just drive around town like nobody's business (we won't comment on my less than admirable driving skills).

As summer fades away, I thought I'll show you a few of the outfits I've been wearing and loving- most of them I wore in Lithuania, as the weather was gorgeous there, but a hoody and jeans was my go-to in Ireland. You can still definitely incorporate some of these into your wardrobe now, if the weather allows it!

Nirvana Top: Penneys

Jeans: River Island

Shoes: Shoe Rack

Blazer: my mother's :O

Jewellry: H&M

Dress: Penneys

Shoes: Shoe Rack

Rose gold chain: H&M

Crop top: Quiz Clothing

Shorts: Topshop

Shirt: River Island

Shoes: Converse

Top: River Island

Jeans: Penneys (I ripped them myself)

Shoes: Shoe Rack

Rucksack: Penneys

Dress: The New York Laundry Clothing

Shoes: Laura B for Paul Byron

Accessories

These are the accessories I paired with these looks- most of them I bought only recently, some of them I've had a while. I really got to love midi rings, rose gold jewellery and thin necklaces with tiny charms

                                       

Rose Gold Chain: H&M

Rings: Dorothy Perkins

Earrings: New Look, Dorothy Perkins, Penneys, River Island

Sunglasses: Rimi (no shame)

Eiffel Tower Necklace: New Look

Rose Gold matching necklace+bracelet: H&M

Rose Gold cylinder bracelet: H&M

Makeup

Mac's Mineralize SkinFinish in Soft and Gentle for highlight and Inglot's #467 

also how cute is my little arrow?! Casey Neistat inspired.

I've been loving a structured brow with the darkest shade from Inglot's brown rainbow trio, using my Zoeva Wing Liner brush and L'Oreal True Match Concealer blended on the brow bone

And that's it, sweeties! Summer is well and truly over, all is said and done. I hope you had a fabulous last three months, I know I did- I've never had a more productive summer.

Thanks for reading!

Gaby x

Let's Talk About Paper Towns

Paper Towns comes out this Monday, August 17th, and yes, I have already seen it. No, I didn't get an exclusive preview. And no, I didn't hitch it off a dodgy site online. I just happened to be in Lithuania when it came out early on the 28th, and I went to see in the first few days of release. I'm not going to lie, I loved it to the moon and back, way more than The Fault in Our Stars, mainly because it's a film I can actually watch and not have a crying fit after. I like Paper Towns because Cara Delevingne has a major role, and because it's main story line is one that matters.



Also this will contain quite a bit of spoilers. If you haven't read the book and hate getting spoiled, then this post may not be for you. I haven't read the book, but I plan to- so some of the points I make about the plot may be a bit off.

The main plotline is about a teenager named Quentin- or Q as his friends call him, even though I prefer Quentin- who, from a young age fell in love with a girl named Margo who moved in next door to him. When they were younger, the pair went on adventures and spent a lot of time together, so naturally Q developed feelings for her. As time went on, Margo became the cool and popular girl at school and Q threw himself into his classes so he could be a doctor when he's older. Time goes by, until in their senior year, Margo turns up at Q's window one night and takes Q on a mission to get revenge on her cheating ex-boyfriend and her friends. At the beginning of the movie, Q states that we all get a miracle, and Margo is his. I'm not going to lie, Cara Delevingne is a miracle to mankind, and watching her on the silver screen, watching her twirl and swirl and raise her beautiful brows and smile her British smile and slur her American accent made us believe Q, made us realize that she really was his miracle, this live wire, free and gorgeous girl who is his miracle, who awakens him (literally) and drives him to do the things he never thought he would.



Then of course Margo goes missing, and Q goes to crazy lengths to find her. And this is where I fell in love. Q's persistance and desperation to find this girl spoke to me. It reminded me about the feelings I've had towards people, and how I would hold on to the version of them inside my head. And then search, search and search for them. And when I did eventually find them, because people aren't that hard to find, I realize they are nothing like the version in my head. And that's what happened to Q. 

That's what I love so much about the film- even though it is very unrelatable in a lot of ways, like perfectly sound parents that just let you take a casual roadtrip across the continent with your friends, and how in general it has a very sugar-coaty type feel- it highlights something that hasn't been highlighted before for teenagers. Even though Paper Towns hasn't taken off as much as TFIOS did, it conveys a really strong message. This hits the film towards the end, when Q simply points out, 'She is just a girl.' I think that's the problem that a lot of young people have, it's a problem I constantly suffer with- the tendency to make up personalities in our heads about people we don't know but wish we did. And this puts a lot of pressure on us, to fit in with them, and on them, to reach these crazy expectations that aren't even real. Just like Q did with Margo, labelling her as his 'miracle', when really she was just a lost, confused girl trying to find her own way in the world.

Am I making sense? I wanted to write about it because I found it was such a unique feature I hadn't seen in films before, and I felt it actually mattered, it was such a clever thing for John Green to include in his novel. It spoke to me on a personal level, and it taught me a lesson or two. And that's why I 100% think you should go see it if you can.



Aside from that, the film really is great. It has humour, sadness, epiphanies and even a prom in it- sounds like a chick flick, but I promise you it isn't. All scenes are shot beautifully and carry a similar colour palette to TFIOS, all angles are wide and colourful, but more cheerful obviously. 

It's a great film to watch, and Cara will make you melt. At least she made me melt, I left the theatre feeling 600 more times in love with her than I was before, which I didn't think was possible. She is a queen, her acting is amazing and in general, she and Nat Wolff make the film awesome. The music is good, the editing is good, it's all ay okay. If you've seen TFIOS, you may even recognise someone from it, which is the most beautiful touch. This parallels with Isaac from TFIOS starring as Q, which I love and didn't realize until googling for pictures for this post, but now I understand why Q looked so familiar (as familiar as someone can be when youre looking at them for a few scenes in between having a breakdown).

Even if you go and see Paper Towns and dislike it, that time won't be wasted because you will have just spend some time watching Cara D, which is never a waste of time and frankly only makes the world a better place.

Thank you so much for reading this rushed review of Paper Towns- I just sat and wrote whatever came into my head.




Gaby x