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

Summer Haul! Hollister, Roxy, TK Maxx & Easons!

Hey Everyone!

So as you can tell from the title, I recently went shopping and decided to write a 'Summer Haul' about it. Personally, I find subscribing to email newsletters quite dangerous, especially if the newsletter mentions massive reductions on items and also free shipping on all orders. That's basically what happened to cause this haul!

First off I'll start with Hollister! Some of you may know already, Hollister had a sale AND free shipping which excited me greatly as their shipping fee is a little expensive in comparison to other websites. I rushed onto the site and ordered these beauties! First up is a white 'Hollister All-Weather Jacket' which I got for 39 euros (it had been 99!) I wanted to buy it in black unfortunately it had sold out. Nevertheless I love it in white!

 I also bought a green t-shirt for 17 euro. If you look below I was wearing the t-shirt in the latest Awkward Sprinkles videos, which you can see here and here It's a really comfortable and soft t-shirt, perfect for the lovely weather we're having at the moment!

I went to a shopping centre with my Mam and brother which is relatively near where I live. I went to Eason's and bought some new books! I bought the first Game of Thrones book after procrastinating for nearly a year. I went looking for it in town months ago but could never find it? I also bought 'Four' by Veronica Roth as I love the Divergent series (Christmas 2012 wouldn't have been the same without Divergent and Insurgent!) So I'm quite excited to read those two books. 

I also bought The Fault In Our Stars, even though I have a copy which I bought over a year and a half ago. Well, you might know about how my first copy got water damaged on a flight from London to Dublin (bottle of water burst, fun) and I gave a friend a lend of the book over 6 months ago and still haven't gotten it back so I felt I should probably buy another edition even though I really miss my first battered copy. 

I also went into TK Maxx and saw they had a sale on Vans! I'm a massive fan of Converse in particular but I've developed a passion for Vans so I couldn't walk away from these lovelies at 35 euros. I got them in a 7.5 UK size (I have big feet I know) I really like the leopard print and think it's something I wouldn't usually go for but I really like these!

 Finally, I was on the Roxy website (sale and free shipping hello) and bought two t-shirts and a new school bag (back to school in a month, boo)

So I bought this orange t-shirt for ten euros and the blue t-shirt (which I'm wearing as I type this!) also for ten euros which I thought were brilliant bargains.

I'm a little obsessed with Roxy and I always have a Roxy schoolbag for school so, for my last year of secondary school, this year wasn't going to be an exception. I bought this lovely polka dot bag for 22 euros down from 49.95. It also came with a free pencil case which I'm going to use as a spare pencil case should I ever forget mine on a busy day!

I've always loved the tags Roxy have. (Weird obsession I know) 

The crest on the front of my new Roxy bag. 

So that's about it from me! I have a fairly busy weekend ahead of me as it's the August Bank Holiday and there's usually a festival held in town which I usually hear all the way from my house but whatever So I'll be attending various events and I'll be writing about it here don't worry! (May feature another blogger who you probably can guess) I'm quite excited so it'll be a good weekend! :) 

I hope you liked the haul, have you bought some bargains recently? If so, let me know in the comments! 

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!

Aveen xx

PS. I also bought some things from Arnotts but I'll be featuring those in a later blog post. Hint, what I bought is for my bedroom. Possibly the next time you'll see my bedroom it might look a liiiiiittle different!

* All items featured in the blog post were bought by me, I was not sponsored to feature any of these brands. If you wish for me to write a review for your product, email me at aveepopk@gmail.com All reviews are my own opinion. 

All The Voices In My Mind, Calling Out Across The Line...

Hey Everyone!

So this blog post is a few days late and in all honesty, I don't really have an excuse! Every day is melting seamlessly into another, leaving me in the lurch and thinking of all the things I could have finished in the past tense, instead of actually doing the work I wanted to do.

However, what matters now is that I'm actually progressing to finish the random things I've procrastinated for the past few days. During the summer months I seem to just 'lose the plot' as my routine is thrown out of sorts for a few months. I suppose you could call it having freedom but I think for a few blissful weeks I let it go to my head, resulting in a week or two of just thinking of what I could have achieved in that wasted time instead of progressing further to achieve anything.

I have a huge 'block' in my head about school. It's my last year in second-level education and I think my mind is in denial over this somewhat terrifying prospect. However let's be positive, there's still over a month of Summer holidays for me to procrastinate and enjoy! I'm planning another YouTube video soon as I recently made some purchases online (some of which arrived!) from Roxy and Hollister so I'll be doing a Mini-Haul soon and maybe another video or two that may contain a trace of Sprinkles or Awkwardness (Watch this space)

Down below are some random things I bought during the week. I was down the town with my friends and for the first time in probably 6 months bought KISS magazine. I started reading the magazine when I was around 10 or 11 but stopped at the start of this year, mainly as I felt I had outgrown the magazine and personally, enjoyed the previous editor's styles of writing and also choice of topics. (I'm so picky I know)

I also bought 'The Book Thief' on DVD. I read the book (and cried a little) earlier this year and heard rave reviews about the film. As of yet I've to finish watching the DVD but the half hour or so I saw was utterly excellent. I just need a quiet evening or afternoon to just sit down and watch it. I also bought some iTunes cards because well, music.

I also got my hair cut for the first time in like 3 months. I'm usually very good and get it cut once a month or every 6 weeks but with Summer exams and going to the Gaeltacht for 3 weeks, time seemed to melt away. Before I knew it my hair was extremely thick and bushy so I knew it was time to get my hair thinned and cut again so my hair is nice and styled again!

Last Thursday I went to the Chinese with some friends for Viv's birthday. We all had a great evening and had amazing milkshakes afterwards (it's tradition okay) Grace was there too but we were sitting at other sides of the extremely long table, ooops.

Photos from my week!

Some of the girls at Viv's birthday

Random selfie from Thursday after getting my hair done

Photo with Viv!

Wexford played against Waterford on Saturday so again I'm embracing being a Yellow Belly and wearing my jersey. Let's hope the match in Thurles will be good!

So that's about it from me, I'll hopefully be posting later on in the week. I'm also blogging on Collab Sunflower! Check out the collaboration blog, each week we have a different theme and it's just brilliant.
I'll be posting on Friday about  'A Momentous Memory'

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!
Aveen xx

*Lyrics: Ed Sheeran ~ Bloodstream 

OOTD ~ Easter Holidays!

Hey Everyone!

Despite blogging for more than a year, I'm still not quite sure what 'type' of blogger I am. I mainly post lifestyle blog posts however, in the past few months I've developed an interest in fashion and beauty. At the moment I'm experimenting with my blog to see what suits me the best.

Personally I believe that we should all post different things to our ''usual posts''  at some stage, life is boring when you only post the exact same things! I've discovered that I love taking photos and using my tripod 'FredOrGeorge' which I get to use more often when doing different types of blog posts.

I will be posting more frequently over the next fortnight as I have Easter holidays at the moment! Two weeks of bliss to be honest which I have been craving. The idea of having two weeks of my own time is nearly a foreign concept for me, it's felt like so long since I've had that amount of time to myself, tragic really.

So here's my OOTD, this is what I would describe as a comfortable outfit. It's an outfit that I feel is really comfy and I feel so snug in my hoodie and with my hat (the weather earlier today was horrible)

I was extremely brave (by my standards) and went outside into the back garden to take photos, even with the new neighbours slamming their garage door practically every fifteen minutes.. (They moved in yesterday and I don't like them already oops)

Top/hoody: Roxy

Jeans: Penneys/Primark

Converse: Local shop 

Hat: Penneys/Primark

The sun went in, oops.

Behind the wall is the infamous garage that gets slammed closed every 15 minutes..

Spring weather in Ireland

Spring weather

Selfie with Harry (He's in nearly every selfie these days)

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!

Aveen 

PS. I will be posting a lifestyle post sometime over the weekend, I have lots of other ideas for during the next two weeks so stay tuned! x

OOTD - Divergent with Dainty Sprinkles!

Hey Everyone!

I am literally just back from the cinema after seeing Divergent with my friend Grace from Dainty Sprinkles! The weather wasn't too great however we meet up at the cinema so it was grand.

We arrived in the screening room literally as soon as the film started, due to the darkness we couldn't see a thing! I think both of us nearly sat on someone or their drink, I'm not quite sure but to whoever it was, sorry!

The film itself was brilliant. I read Divergent & Insurgent during Christmas 2012 (after being HEAVILY recommended by my lovely godmother the previous summer, thank you!) I instantly fell in the love with the trilogy, waiting impatiently as Allegiant was released a year later.

I felt that the film was very good, however the character development of some characters wasn't that great, I won't spoil much but I very much enjoyed it, it was a brilliant way to spend a damp and rainy Saturday afternoon! Also, two words, Theo James. I really think that Theo is a flawless embodiment of Four, he was absolutely perfect for the role, I'm looking forward to seeing him again in the adaptation of Insurgent.

So I decided to post an OOTD of what I wore! (Sorry if I'm standing awkwardly, I have blisters at the moment from another set of my Converse, never wear high tops when walking all over town! So I am currently limping at the moment, fun)

*The weather wasn't great outside so I had to take my photos in my room, I'm 5'8 and my tripod could barely fit me into the entire photo, oops...

Top/hoodie: Roxy

Jeans: Primark/Penneys

Shoes: Converse 

Hair Clip:  Pulse Accessories 

Hope you enjoyed my slightly random OOTD, as you can probably tell, I love the colour turquoise! I really like this hoody, it's so warm and cosy!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!

Aveen xx

The Only Thing Embedded In My Mindset, Is How I'm Addicted To Progress..

Hey Everyone!

Lyrics: The Coronas ~ Addicted To Progress
Sorry for the later than usual blog post today, I was actually being sociable this weekend for once! *Shock horror*

This week was my second week back after Mid-Term, in reality it feels like two months. I'm utterly exhausted at the moment, I've actually no idea why I'm so tired. Everything seems to be so stressful and I keep wishing there was more hours in the day to either study or sleep.

It's honestly shocking how quickly time is flying by, in 3 months, I'll be sitting somewhere in Galway talking Irish. In September when I started Fifth Year, I felt that the year was going to last for ever and the Gaeltacht felt like an unreachable destination. With each passing day and week, it's edging ever closer in my mind.

Monday to Friday was literally a ''blink and you'll miss it'' type of week.But Pancake Tuesday was glorious, I'm definitely in love with lemon and sugar pancakes. I was extremely positive on Monday morning however this positivity evaporated by the end of the day. At the end of each day I was practically begging to go home, even the other students blocking my locker block would set me crazy. (I don't cope well with a lack of sleep as you can probably tell)

We had a maths test on Wednesday, which I had a number of sleepless nights over (Might as well be honest) Due to the classes abysmal performance, we were given another test on Friday which hopefully will be better. I've been having nightmares and weird dreams about maths nearly every night since Monday, it's been horrible! (Imagine maths equations like chasing you near cliffs and screaming to find the volume of random objects, yep)

On Friday evening was the last week of the Irish Club until September (It's Spleodar, can't say which one though, cos that's a little stalkerish) and my friends and I were sad that Spleodar was over as we loved talking in Irish, playing games, eating pizza and of course, gossiping as Gaeilge!

Which leads onto why I wasn't on the interwebs on Saturday! All the Spleodar clubs went to Carlow for ''Slogadh Spleodar'' where we were in a parade all over Carlow all carrying balloons for Seachtain Na Gaeilge. Afterwards we had lunch and listened to an Irish band called ''Mo Hat Mo Gheansaí'' who were savage and played lots of songs in Irish (including one of my favourites, The Coronas, Heroes or Ghosts, link below to The Coronas singing it)

After Mo Hat Mo Gheansaí's performance (which had everyone up and dancing) We went to another very Irish place, Supermacs. I will admit now, I'd never been to Supermacs, mainly because it's not in my town (Niall Horan is obsessed with the place apparently!) The place was full of Spleodar students. Afterwards we began rehearsing for the Comórtas (Competition) where each club had their own song to sing and the best would be the winner.

*laughs really awkwardly* Our song was about Domino's pizza, honestly. The song was to tune of Waka Waka by Shakira. It was honestly hilarious singing about pizza ''Ni Mhaith Linn Glasraí'' ~ We Don't Like Vegetables, that was a line from the song! I'd post the actual lyrics but I'm laughing so hard thinking about us standing up on the stage singing the song about pizza, only in Spleodar! :)

Overall, it was an interesting week, full of plenty of ups and downs, but that's just the unpredictability of life. I try not to compare my ''behind-the scenes to someone else's highlight reel'' It may seem that bloggers have ''amazing lives'' (I have been told this by people) But in reality, I'm the quiet girl in the class who rarely speaks unless to say ''here'' when my name is called. People think I'm oozing with self confidence, it's the total opposite. I love writing, and this is my way of writing.

Photos from my week!

A random selfie, I'm still getting used to my glasses. 

Top and hoody are both Roxy. 

The place where most of life is now spent. ie, studying (Student-Dying)

I bought this months issue of Company magazine with Zoella on the cover! I've read most of it and it's absolutely brilliant. I loved Zoella's interview and photoshoot, the Grease t shirt was gorgeous.

A random selfie taken this morning. I feel as though my glasses make me look younger? Idk.

''Aveen your parent teacher meetings are on Wednesday'' *Fear in my eyes* 

First trip to Supermacs with malteser ice-cream. Half my OTP (Dantesers)

One of my favourite songs possibly ever, Heroes or Ghosts by The Coronas, in Irish! 

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless,

Aveen xx

#ChristmasBloggers: What I Got For Christmas 2013!

Hey Everyone!

So it's been three days since Christmas! Well I guess time flies when you're having fun. I had a really good Christmas and got to spend lots of quality time with all my family.I won't bore you all too much with presents I received or anything but I did take some photos and I even did an OOTD! 

I had a Christmas Eve OOTD, however my laptops battery died (I've ordered another battery so I'm just waiting for it to arrive) so in the meantime I'm using my brother's laptop as he's home for Christmas from university. He's just playing Xbox games and watching some box sets so I can use the laptop pretty much whenever I want, THANK YOU SIBLING. My Christmas Eve OOTD photo's were saved to my own laptop so I won't be able to post them for a while, oops. 

Do not fear however, I have practically all my photos from Christmas Day onwards! Here is a selection of photos I feel represent some aspects of Christmas, which I spent either reading Allegiant (if you have read it you will understand why I was crying for hours) I watched both seasons of Sherlock in preparation for New Year's Day and I also watched the Doctor Who Christmas Special (at which I cried at too) Don't worry, I didn't spend my entire Christmas crying at fandoms, I visited my family, aunts, uncles and cousins on Christmas morning. We have a tradition that all my Mam's side of the family goes to one of my aunts & uncle's house and we all chat and socialise for an hour or so until we all go home to our own houses. You might think that sounds strange but it's what we've always done, my Mam comes from a large family so it wouldn't be possible for all of us to be together for all of Christmas, same with my Dad's family. 

But I visit my Nana (on Dad's side, yeah my family is kind of confusing cos there's so many people!)on Christmas Eve before we go to Christmas Eve mass. My Nana is nearly 92 so we always have interesting conversations with her but I do feel guilty when I don't get to visit her often. 

On Christmas morning I was woken up by my Mam's alarm at 6 am (she set one to put the turkey into the oven, I wish I was joking) and I couldn't get back asleep so I went to look at what presents I'd been given (Disclaimer, I am in no way trying to 'brag' about the presents I received, I'm so completely grateful and thankful that my family and friends gave me such lovely thoughtful presents) I was delighted with the presents I got, I must be so predictable, every gift was perfect! 

I got a new pair of Vans, the Sherlock season one and season two box set, Allegiant, Perks of Being A Wallflower, the two final The Mortal Instruments books, cute dainty tins of Nivea and Vaseline with actual tins of Vaseline or Nivea lip balm inside (I have an obsession with cute tins) and all sorts of lovely quirky gifts (including a lovely Christmas themed onesie) 

A photo of my new Vans! 

My Mam found this socks and bought them ''ironically'' for me, she knows me too well!

A random photo of my outfit from Christmas Day

Why hello there! I didn't have enough time to take out my tripod so here's my random selfies!

Clips: Penneys/Primark

Necklace given to me by my brilliant godmother for Christmas (thank you Rebecca!) 

Necklace: Forever 21

Jumper: Penneys/Primark

Top with collar: Penneys

Necklace: Forever 21

Vans: Vans store

Vans :)

I love the collar on this top :) 

A blurry photo with... IS THAT HARRY STYLES! (more deets below!)

Bought this gorgeous Roxy hoodie on a sale in town. I also bought some things from the Roxy website and the Hollister website, when they arrive they'll be featured in a future blog post!

My new phone cover, I love it!

The third book of the Divergent series *cries as I read it on Christmas Day*

The Sherlock series 1 & 2 box set, I watched all 6 episodes in a day and a half, it was beautiful, bring on New Years Day for season 3! 

The Giorgio Armani perfume my godmother got me, it smells delicious! 

A cute little tin with a lamb on it (I love lambs) 

I finally admitted to my parents that 1D  are my guilty pleasure and I got a calendar(calendars are my life)

Some of the books I got, excluding Allegiant and '''Switched'' by Amanda Hocking, which is SIGNED! :D Also seen here is my 1D album. 

I also got a HARRY Styles cardboard cut-out,so far he's been my favourite present as I place him in random places around the house and everyone (in particular my Mam) gets scared and terrified by him! Priceless!

Sadly I didn't get the chocolate fountain for Christmas, this was at my Aunt & Uncle's house with marshmallows you could dip, needless to say, my cousins and I all hung out here most of the time!

I did get other things for Christmas as well, (An awful lot of chocolate, which I decided not to post as I didn't want the entire world to see what will have gone through my digestive system in the next few days :D)

I also got a cute pencil case and stationery from Paperchase and a CHOCOLATE RECIPE BOOK aah, from which I've already made some recipes (hot chocolate which I posted on Instagram) 

I'd like to repeat that I'm not bragging about what I got, this was requested and is also part of the Christmas Bloggers Series. This blog post marks the end of the Christmas Bloggers series, I had a brilliant time participating and a huge thank you to Jane for organising the series! 

That's it from me, I hope you enjoyed reading this post and my other Christmas themed posts! A HUGE thank you to my parents, brother, friends and family for their simply AMAZING gifts, you are all far too kind and generous!

Stay Strong, Happy and Fearless!