Friday 31 October 2014

Halloween Baking; Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Happy Halloween!

Today I have a delicious recipe for the most scrumptious chocolate chip muffins!

You will need: (To make a dozen)
25g sugar
75g butter or margarine 
150ml milk
225g self-raising flour
150 chocolate chips
1 tablespoon of baking powder
A drop of vanilla essence 
2 medium sized eggs

METHOD
** Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius
1. Cream the butter and sugar together.
2. Whisk the eggs, milk and essence in a separate jug.
3.Add the contents into mixing bowl.
4. Sieve in flour, baking powder and coca powder.
5. ''Fold in'' gently eg stir until it's all soft, chocolatey and yummy
6. Pour in the chocolate chips!
7. Place mixture into cupcake cases in a cupcake baking tray
8. Place in oven and allow to cook for exactly 22 minutes
9. Once baked, place on a wire tray and allow to cool.
10. The best part, decorating!

To decorate my cupcakes I used chocolate butter icing and various sprinkles (see below) 









The Family said that these were delicious, so why don't you try bake them too? 
Hope you all have a lovely Halloween!
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!
Aveen xx 

Wednesday 29 October 2014

Haul: Converse, Orla Kiely & Wet N Wild!

Hey Everyone!

I did some shopping over Midterm and decided to share my purchases with you all! You may know I've developed a teeny obsession with Orla Kiely, an Irish designer. I got one of her handbags for my birthday and I bought one myself. They're such versatile and pretty bags.  Her designs are just simply to die for, they're that beautiful. 

I was in Wexford town on a shopping trip and paid a trip to a shop, which had an entire section of Orla Kiely products! I actually squealed a little, it was like an Aladdin's cave, filled with so many pretty items that I just wanted to own and stare at for the rest of my life. I bought a cute cake tin which I'm going to be using whenever I bake and a pen which I can't wait to use in school or to take notes with. 





Last Saturday I was going around the town and saw these gorgeous Converse on offer in a local (but my favourite) clothes shop. All Converse High Top shoes were reduced to 30 euro and I luckily found these in my size. I adore the colour and think the shade of pink is really striking. 




I also went into a local stationery shop (another favourite of mine) and saw that 2015 planners were out! I love having notebooks to scribble things in and I fell in love with this design. I love the birdcage and the general romanticised Parisian feel to the planner. It'll also be useful for organising my study. 



On Tuesday morning I was woken up to my brother shouting in the hall, ''YOU'VE POST AVEEN!'' Turns out it was the package from Elizabeth from Elizabethsblog and the prize of make up I'd won. The products are simply gorgeous and so pretty so thank you again! x





That's about it from me, 
I'll be posting an AwkwardSprinkles video on my channel soon. *Hint* Grace has uploaded hers*
I've another few blog posts planned, in particular an Awkward Sprinkles blog post and a Penneys/Primark haul so stay tuned! 

*****I've started a YouTube series called ''Letters to the Leaving Cert'' 
Let me know what you think of it !




Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx



Sunday 26 October 2014

Struggles And Reality Of Being A Leaving Cert Student.

I thought it was about time to finally post after a fortnight interval.

I feel I should be honest and explain my inactivity on my blog as of late. With the stresses of being a Leaving Cert student, I've found it quite difficult to scrape together some time to sit down and tap away on my laptop like I usually do every week. There seems to be so many other ideas and problems that consume any spare time I do happen to possess and I honestly despise that.

The week before Midterm was quite simply a nightmare. Multiple tests in all my subjects, short deadlines for essays and tonnes of material to be revised, I found it difficult to breathe without feeling anxiety consume my lungs, let alone justify several hours to type on my laptop about things that I felt were so completely insignificant and false in comparison to all the work and study I was doing.

Thankfully all that is behind me. I doubted myself far too much and believed I hadn't done any work since coming back to school. In fact, it was my need and desire to have everything practically word-perfect from my notes that caused me so much stress. I had 10 sets of sraithpictiúr to learn and if they weren't word perfect, well I recited them for hours until they were.

It's officially midterm and so far, I've completed three out of the five essays I was given as part of my week's work. I feel relieved but I won't fully relax until everything is finished. I want to have a few days, an utter luxury, to relax and do NOTHING. I crave mornings where I wake up, with no anxiety or nerves in my stomach, worried about study and work still left to do. I just want a few days just to have fun and live, on my terms.

I'm planning on finishing the rest of my written school work tomorrow and relaxing for the rest of the week. I've had several drafts of incomplete blog posts knocking around my blog for several weeks, either due to a lack of time to add 'polish' to them or I was simply terrified about posting them as they involved real-life incident and my feelings. How terrifying indeed.

I'm also a little annoyed. I had five tests in the space of three short days and studied for all of them. The fourth test, first thing on a Friday was maths. I've double maths on a Friday morning. Maths is quite simply my Achille's heel in comparison to my other subjects.  As a result, I've a huge fear of having maths tests. I mean, a huge fear. As in my other subjects I can learn off the material and regurgitate it in words on paper, I find them much, much easier. Maths, however is a whole different ball game.

However I've made a special effort to not miss any maths tests (or any tests) in either Fifth or Sixth Year. My belief is that you can't skip a day or pretend your sick on the day of your Leaving Cert so why bother do it in school time, instead of learning from your mistakes and owning up to the fact that you aren't comfortable with the topic of the test and should try harder at learning it? I never get A's in maths but I try my best (If you're wondering, I am in Higher Level) and always try scrape an honour in the tests. But it bugs me when people skip the tests out of laziness, yet appear in school later in the day, once the test is over. I honestly find that so cowardly. That sounds horribly blunt but if you want to be in the Higher Level classes you have to do the work, not just sit there and look pretty and brag about being in Honours. School is for doing work and working hard, not to make excuses.

I know that statement will most likely get a negative reaction and probably a few glares and upturned noses when I'm back in school, however, I feel it's the truth. It's better to accept your weaknesses early in play, rather when it's after the mocks and there's little time to rectify your mistakes. I'm not comfortable on certain topics of maths (Trig, ew) so I've brought home my exam papers and book in an effort to try improve  those questions, as well as a general brush up on all the topics.

That goes for all my subjects, not just maths. I read over my notes in various subjects frequently, particularly business and ag science. Soon the information becomes common knowledge to you, not just something crammed into your brain to last for a revision test your teacher sets you.

Being in Leaving Cert isn't great. In all honesty, it's quite awful at times. However, I'm only stuck here doing all this work and study until June. After that, the world is our oyster. We can do whatever we want. You can travel the world, go to college, whatever your heart desires. I find that thought comforting in the midst of writing an essay on the weakness of human judgement as seen in Shakespeare's play Othello. (Ps. I reckon it's how gullible and easily led Othello is that leads him to follow and become ensnared in Iago's Machiavellian scheming and to his ultimate downfall in killing Desdemona, based on his over-reliance on 'honest and just Iago.')

Don't worry, I will be posting frequently this week and will most likely be a lot more positive than this. I found that once I talk about what's playing on my mind, blogging in a light hearted becomes far easier to do.

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx

Ps, I'm going to Penneys/Primark during the week so I will be posting a haul. 
The return of Sprinkles that can be Awkward may be imminent. Watch this space. 

Tick, tock, goes the clock. 

Sunday 12 October 2014

''Come on Skinny Love, Just Last The Year''

Hey Everyone! 

Thankfully, it's the end of another long school week. The fact that Mid Term is two weeks away is keeping me positive for the fortnight ahead. It's hard to believe that we've been back in school for this long, it's as if the summer never existed. 

I had an interesting week it must be said. I caught up on all my homework this week, except an English essay (which isn't due for more than a week) So my whiteboard of a 'To-Do list' is quite bare in comparison to other weeks. 

I went to see the comedian Tommy Tiernan in concert on Thursday night. I can honestly say I spent the entire night laughing. I won't mention any of his fantastic jokes here, mainly as they're directed for a more adult audience! It was my first Over-18's gig and I'm proud to say that I didn't get asked for ID. (Afterwards Mam said it was because I'm old, how kind) It was a hilarious night and it was nice to have a couple of hours of forgetting about Leaving Cert and stress.

I also got some t-shirts in Penneys! At the moment there are Hogwarts House's t shirts so I bought a Gryffindor tshirt and also a Slytherin one. If you look below you'll see a photo of the Gryffindor t-shirt, the Slytherin one is similar, except that it's bottle green with the Slytherin crest *makes puns about Slytherin and the Chamber of Secrets, mind if I Slytherin? Joking.* 

My week has mainly consisted of homework, study and revision. I went to Spleodar and was i gceannas  of the activities again with another cinnire. It was a brilliant night and I'm definitely gaining more confidence in speaking Irish aloud to a group (That said my grammar is questionable) My Gryffindor t-shirt was a hit and received many compliments (thank you, that makes my year seriously) We're going to the cinema next Friday night to see a film which should be good.

Next week seems a little quieter on the homework and study side, yet more active in the social part of my life (for the first time ever) Some of my friends and I are going to see the school musical in the local theatre which I'm really looking forward to as many people in my classes have parts (which should be amusing to watch)

Photos from my week
Coffee + Books/Magazines + Treats = Life. 

What my life consists of when I'm not studying. 


Fantastic gig!

"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart
"

Random selfie after I plaited my hair (and turned into Hermione with glasses and a Gryffindor t-shirt)

That's about it from me! Hope you all have an amazing week, I'll see you all soon! 
Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!
Aveen xx

*If you're going to the Swipe Festival awards, you'll see a video of me thanking Swipe Festival for my award. Message me if you see it!* 

**Lyrics: Birdy ~ Skinny Love




Sunday 5 October 2014

The Transition Of Seasons


Summer turns to Autumn. 
Not all at once, but through a 
Transition of Moments. 

The balmy Summer nights, 
Bright as a firework, adrenaline fuelling the light.
Turning increasingly darker until you pull the curtains at 7pm, 
Darkness already fallen and the daylight long since passed. 

The 99's, once so comforting and relaxing on the beach. 
The sand was warm and soft between your toes as you gazed into the scorching sunshine.
Waves lapping up the beach, the smell of salt in every breath,
Is replaced with endless cups of coffee
And pumpkin spice lattes 
As hot steam swirls gently upwards from the cup .

The denim shorts and cotton t-shirts, 
Once stuck to your skin with humidity,
Are substituted with woolly jumpers, hats and scarves
To warm you against the sudden Autumnal Chill 
As the brown and red leaves crunch softly with every step you take
On the dry, cracked pavements. 

Breaths that were once filled with mugginess, 
Now appear as white steam through the atmosphere and condensation to windows. 
Life, once going by quicker than a stopwatch, 
Slows, 
To the pace of a stroll in the park. 
Frost, Dew and Hope linger in places unexpected. 

Leítír Móir, Galway. 






Saturday 4 October 2014

My 18th Birthday and Reflection

Hey Everyone!

So last Friday (September 26th) was my 18th birthday! I'd like to say thank you to all my friends and family for their lovely cards, gifts, text messages, Facebook messages, tweets and lots more, you are all so thoughtful and brilliant.

I was in school on my birthday, double Maths is always fun when you turn 18. *intense sarcasm* However the day simply flew by, before I knew it I was in Spleodar with some of my friends all speaking Irish. It was my first week in charge as a cinnire so I was a little uneasy about being 'i gceannas' but it all went well and I got good advice too. If you don't learn something new every day then you clearly didn't have a good day!

Afterwards at home we had cake (which was scrumptious!) and I opened present from my family and friends. (If you're wondering, gifts from my parents were opened when I woke that morning!) Mam and Dad gave me an Orla Kiely handbag and some small presents which I appreciated as much as the handbag, lip glosses are life. Down below are some of the presents I was given.

*I'm not bragging by posting this blog post. I wouldn't call it a 'haul' like if I went shopping. Birthdays are different and I'm extremely grateful to all my family and friends for their cards and gifts, they're far too kind :)

On Saturday night I went to the Chinese with most of my friends and we all had a brilliant night filled with yummy food and of course, chocolate cake. I actually only took a few photos, which is very unusual for me, so they're down below too.

I must admit, it's slightly strange turning 18. In Ireland I am a fully fledged legal adult now and that's quite weird to think about and consider. The only ''adult'' thing I have done so far is buy some scratch cards, (with zero success) and walked around the alcohol section in Tesco thinking ''Muwahaha I don't feel awkward walking here now as I can legally buy anything I want.'' How weird indeed.


Photos From My Birthday!
Some of my birthday cards!

I adore this card my godmother made, I'm planning on framing it and hanging it on my bedroom wall.


The utterly gorgeous Orla Kiely bag my parents gave me, it's love. 



Taylor Swift perfume from my lovely cousins, thank you! :D 

Perfume from Grace. (I'm noticing a trend of perfume) Thank thee Grace! :D *Subtly wears it to school all week*

 A necklace from Topshop from Viv, thank you, it's so pretty. 

A bracelet my friend Emily gave me from Germany as she went on an exchange there and came back the day of my birthday! :) Thank you! :D

I bought myself another Orla Kiely bag after my birthday as they had special offers on them and well, you can never have enough handbags can you? ;)



A gorgeous notebook from Caítlín, thank you! :)  Notebooks are my life

My friend Robyn gave me this really pretty notebook which she covered herself. Thank you, it's so cute! :) 



Orla Kiely design. 

 
A take away coffee flask !


Saturday night!


Robyn & Maeve

Maeve & Caítlín 

Unfortunately I don't have many photos from my birthday dinner as I spent too much time chatting than taking photos. Yet I can't really complain about that either, it's nice living moments, not just capturing them on a camera. 

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen xx