So what are you doing with your life?

 A question I'm posed with all too often these days..

With my final weeks of University snapping up fast, it is the first time in my life where I haven't had a plan. The education system is all I know, it's a system that I have been in for as long as I can remember and the idea of being out on my own it very damn overwhelming. 

I touched on this in my previous post, Final Year Stress & How I Stay Organised and its true, it's SO stressful. On top of the mountain of work we have to do, we have the added pressure of trying to figure out what we have to do with ourselves and the rest of our lives and being questioned by everyone else about it. Not that I am giving out about people asking, to be honest I'd be asking the same question myself!

The reality of it all is, I don't need to know what I'm doing. There are so many options and even though I don't know what one to take right now, it'll all fall into place eventually. For God's sake I'm 20 years old, I'll be 21 when I graduate, I can do anything I want. 

I recently got offered a place to do a masters, in a subject that I'm not fully invested in and I don't really know if it is what I want to do. This is the first time in my life that I don't have a plan and it is terrifying me.

I have so many options, too many options.

Do I travel?

Work towards a graduate visa in the US?

Do the masters?

Try find a proper job?

That's why I'm not really a fan of the question 'so what's next for you?' Although it looks like everyone has their shit together, they really don't, for the most part, we are all in the same boat. My friend Emer recently wrote a post that really made me realise this, as she discussed her 'Quarter Life Crisis' and the doubt she feels in herself and her future. I don't think we're expected to know what to do next, we're just so young. When you think about it, even putting down a course on your CAO when you're just 17 or 18 is ridiculous! 

So whatever situation you're in, whatever age you are, just know.. Nobody knows what their doing so just work hard and wing it, everything will fall into place.

Let me know your thoughts on my social media channels, linked below!

Jeans / Bag / Coat (similar) / Top (similar) / Cami (similar) / Boots (similar)

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Final Year Stress & How I Stay Organised

 Do you ever just sit down and think- when was the last time I just sat down and did nothing all by myself?

Up until my final year in university I can safely say that it was probably last night while watching Netflix and eating way too many custard creams, but since September I feel like I haven't had many of them moments.

I go on as if this is a negative thing- it really isn't. I love being productive and my life, although at times hectic, is probably the best it has ever been.

This year in university, is the only one where my grades actually count towards my final grade, which impacts my next steps after I graduate. On top of that, I decided to do a 12 week diploma course in digital marketing because it is something I have been really looking into after I graduate. So with managing the two courses, a part time job, a long distance relationship, a social life and a blog- things can get a bit mental around here. I thought I'd share what I do to to get by.

MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING
A classic lesson I learned last semester. College 5 days a week and working 3 just burned me out. I found myself taking weekends off at a time because I just had no time to get anything done. I had money but I was so stressed towards Christmas. This semester I have whittled it down to two, maybe even working one day as it gets closer to exams because even though I'll have less money, there won't be as much pressure and I actually might be able to balance my life a little better haha.

CHOOSE RELAXATION TIME WISELY
If I'm at home all by myself, I'm working on assignments, blogging or sleeping.. I don't treat that as relaxation time. I have a Netflix account, but I hardly ever use it when I'm by myself (except around exam time when I watched the whole series of A Series of Unfortunate Events in two days.. oops). I tend to relax mainly when I'm with my friends or when I'm with my boyfriend, even though I do force him to come with me to blog shoots or even take pictures for me haha. Although it won't work for everyone, I find overlapping downtime with my social life works the best for me.

PLAN PLAN PLAN
A little strange but all I do is plan. In my notes on my phone I write a weekly outfit plan which saves me time in the morning and every night I write down everything I need to get done the following day. Assignments and blog events get noted in my planner. My monthly blog plan is organised on Google Documents as well as my weekly Instagram and Snapchat plans (Wow I sound crazy haha).  It's just how I stay on top of everything I guess!

MAKE USE OF THE COMMUTE
My commute to college is when I get shit done.. Them 25 minutes on the train up and back to college is where I do a solid amount of laptop time, and my makeup for the day (more time in bed? I'll take that!)

LEARNING TO JUST SAY NO
Even though I'm a people pleaser and I'm still working on this, learning to say no is one of the best things you can do for yourself. Learning to prioritise what you need to do and saying no to others when you need to do them enables you to actually manage your time better.

Shoes: Primark

Top: http://bit.ly/2lKfMm0

Jeans: Primark

Bag: Topshop (sold out)

The other day I actually had the thought- why don't I go out and buy The Sims?! After writing this post, it's safe to say that that idea has been quickly swept under the carpet haha.

How do you stay organised? Let me know on my social media below!

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Shoutout to Ailbhe for the pics 😘

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Valentine's Day | My Opinion

With Valentine's Day around the corner what a better subject to talk about than the controversial day itself. A day people seem to be either fully for or fully against so here is my two cents on the day.

On talking to my best friend on the topic the other day, she was adamant that it was a marketing holiday and how she would rather someone to express their love on any other day of the year, and not just February 14th. 

Sure, it is an excuse for brands and restaurants to make a whole lot of money through the pressure to give the one you love material objects and eat an expensive meal, I get that. It's just like any holiday to be honest, but behind it all is love. Even wether is it a card exchanged between two people, its a sign of appreciation for someone else. 

Something that saddens me is when it's so evident that there is so much hatred in a person. At the same time I have to think, well it is no wonder that people don't have that much love as from the minute they wake up they are exposed to tragedy on their Facebook feed and a stream of bad news in the background as the radio echoes. The hatred around the world on a daily basis is so saddening so I don't understand why someone would want to completely boycott a day that represents love and the celebration of people sharing it. 

It's not just about romantic love either, there are so many types of love out there. I feel like Valentines Day has a huge emphasis on romantic love, but why should you adhere to that? For as long as I can remember I have gotten my best friend a card, received one off my mam or just given and received little tokens off appreciation, what is stopping you from doing it too? Being single on Valentines Day isn't the bee all and end all- round up the girls and go for a nice meal and see 50 shades.. Share the love for your friends and family and let them know that you appreciate them (I can't read that without hearing DJ Kahlid in my head, I appreciate you hahah). Self love is a huge one too, with so much pressure being put on everyone these days whether it be from social media or too much college work, I say treat yo' self because you deserve it. 

At the end of the day though, I think love conquers all. Don't be put off by those cringy couples putting up everything they got each other on Facebook along with a huge paragraph expressing their love, enjoy it and share a bitta love too.

Let me know your opinions on my social media linked below and wether you will be acknowledging the day or not, have a good one!

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Amsterdam Photo Diary

Happy Thursday everyone!

If you have been following me on any of my social media accounts and if you have seen my latest post (you can check out here if you want), then you'll know that I was in Amsterdam last week. There is nothing much to this post, I just wanted to share some of my photos that I took whilst away. I hope you enjoy them and keep your eyes peeled for my Amsterdam city guide coming Sunday!

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