Life as of Late #6 - A Family Wedding, Green Day & Summer Time!

Hello Everyone! 

Here is another update on what I have been up to during the summer months. I had intended to blog at least once a fortnight this summer, however this ambition has sadly not materialised as I juggle my time between many things. Not to worry though, here's some photos of where I have been and what I have been doing! 

Went to my cousin Ashleigh's wedding!

My lovely cousin Ashleigh got married to Richie at the end of June! All my aunts, uncles and cousins were in attendance so it was a brilliant day for everyone. I was very surprised and delighted when I was asked to read the First Reading during the wedding ceremony and I also distributed Holy Communion as there was a large attendance. (I did a course in college late last year). The day itself was just wonderful and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves during the day and evening! 

Green Day in Kilmainham:

As you can tell from my excited face in these photos, I simply couldn't wait to see Green Day in Kilmainham! I travelled up with my brother to the venue. The rain was intense however we were well prepared with waterproof coats and boots we didn't mind getting mucky. The support act was Rancid who really got the crowd warmed up and ready for Green Day. 

Despite the weather, the band were so energetic, with Billie running around the stage, fuelled with adrenaline and excitement. The set list was superb, with a mixture of old songs such as 'Welcome to Paradise' and new songs from their latest album 'Revolution Radio' and iconic hits such as 'American Idiot' and 'Time of Your Life.' Overall, I think they played around 25 songs or more, all of which were just utterly surreal to watch live! It was a privilege to see the band live, as I've loved their music for years now. I will definitely go see them if they ever come back to Ireland! 

Got Tickets for Ed Sheeran in May 2018:

I managed to get tickets for Ed Sheeran in the Phoenix Park for May 2018! Despite waiting for several hours, I finally succeeded and got the tickets! I was in work, ran on my break just before 9 to ensure I was on my phone for when the tickets were released. My break was soon over and I had to go back to work, and I still hadn't gotten tickets. The infamous, 'sit tight' refresh page kept popping up, leaving me in hysterics. I accepted defeat and went back to work under a cloud of sadness. 

Later my Mam collected me and told me to get back on my phone, as there were still some tickets left! I went home to go on my laptop and managed to get a pair of tickets instantly! I've loved Ed's music ever since A-Team was released but through chance and bad luck, I've never actually gotten to see him live in concert so I am waiting in anticipation for May 2018! 

Finally ventured to 'Thirsty Thursday':

Myself and the girls finally organised ourselves and our rosters to go to the infamous 'Thirsty Thursdays' in Gorey! Several of the pubs/nightclubs do cheap deals on alcohol on Thursday nights in the summer months. Maeve and Iseabail came down from Dublin to have a well deserved night out and a catch up. It was a great night as we caught up with people from school who we hadn't seen in a while. 

Made last minute plans for a night out:

Have you ever been at home on a Saturday night around 10.30, on the sofa flicking through your phone, watching television and having a case of FOMO? Until one of your work friends texts saying to head out that is! This happened recently and after a quick spur of the moment decision, I found myself tearing through my wardrobe and make up bag to make myself look decent in less than 20 minutes! 

I had to forgo the fake tan but I still managed a full face of make up which I was delighted with. Town was quiet overall but it was a good night as I bumped into friends I hadn't seen in a while as they're a year or two younger and aren't in college yet! Next week is the August Bank Holiday weekend and I'll be going to the Market House Festival to catch up with my friends so expect a blog post on that soon! 

Overall, I'm keeping a fairly low profile this summer, I sold my ticket to Indiependence so I'll be staying at home and going to the Market House Festival instead. I've also started my driving lessons so I'm keeping myself busy with those! For more updates, follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat (links on the right hand side)

I hope you're all having a lovely relaxing summer filled with plenty of fun and frolics!

Talk soon! 

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

First Year Ball

Last Tuesday was the First Year Ball in college, it's basically the college version of the debs except a little bit more low-key. Here's some photos from the night.

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless, 

Aveen x

''I'm Trying To Be Somebody Else but Everybody Else is Taken''

I started my second semester back in January after a wonderful 5 weeks of Christmas holidays. The second week of the semester has ended and week 3 is approaching. In all honesty, it feels as if we never quite left for the length of time we did.

In my college, it was RAG week and if you're a college student you'll know exactly what antics we were all up to! The Student's Union opened a bar in the SU Lounge for the week which was brilliant, especially as there were wonderful performances by various acts, which I really enjoyed.

I realise it's been nearly a month since my last update. Instead of the over-sharing I once did on my blog, I'm at the opposite end of the spectrum where I share very little content that is to a degree, planned carefully. The title of this blog post comes from the song, 'Best Man' by The Strypes. The lyric has been reverberating in my head for a number of weeks, mainly because I can connect to those few syllables so well. I've been struggling with my own identity as of late. There's different versions of 'Aveen' floating around and I'm not quite sure which of the categories and identities is currently most applicable to me.

For several months I've questioned my identity, 'Who exactly am I?' has been a question plaguing my mind for a long time. During my secondary school years, I clung to my online identity. I felt that by adopting the persona of 'Awkward Aveen,' it might have made my days easier - which it both did and didn't. When that persona didn't quite work in my favour, I went to being determined, hard working but incredibly quiet for a lot of 2015.

Upon starting college, I was left with the dilemma of who exactly I wanted to be. It's still very much an issue I experience on a daily basis. I didn't want to be known solely by my musings on the internet (great thing is that many of my friends know, but it doesn't bother them, mainly due to my infrequency of updates) yet, for several years, the blog was an integral part of my life, giving me confidence to be a person I never thought I'd could be.

I did consider quitting blogging a number of times throughout my first semester. I wasn't gaining any satisfaction in blogging. I felt that I was typing to a brick wall and felt quite lonely in the blogging world. I'm planning on being more involved in the blogging world this year, as I miss the friends I made through writing online.

Please don't get me wrong, I still struggle with issues related to confidence (that's a story for another day my friends) but I think these are eased by blogging. It's viewed as attention seeking or narcissistic to write on a blogging platform by some -  yet for me it's not related to that at all. Blogging is therapeutic, typing on a keyboard allows me to clear my mind and prevent any negative emotions from building up. Last semester I complained about a lack of time which reduced my ability to create content. This semester I am determined to post on a more regular basis.

To document one's life I think is a wonderful concept. I've re-read over diaries I kept from my childhood and early teenage years and I desire to do the same with regards to my late teenage and early adult years. One must not be afraid of their emotions. Our feelings make us human, stronger, not weaker. That's something I really want to fully learn the value of.

Tuesday night in Crush with some of the girls, the camera quality the photographer used was amazing. 

Most of the girls I live with in college quite literally 'out in force'! 

An assortment of selfies with the girls!

I went to see Ardal O'Hanlon in one of the local hotels on Saturday night. It was a brilliant evening that I spent literally laughing my head off.

One of my Christmas presents was the first Jack Reacher book by Lee Child. My Mam is a massive fan and decided it was time I joined the obsession. I'm about to start the fourth book (there's 19 in the series) so I have lots of reading to do - exciting times. I'd definitely recommend reading the books, they're absolutely fantastic. 

Aveen xx

*Title of blog post: The Strypes - Best Man 

Sixth Year Update: Finishing School, Yearbooks, Hoodies, Grad Night and Voting!

Hey Everyone!

I realise it has been a while since I last updated here and my YouTube series, ''Letters to the Leaving Cert'' so here is what has been happening in Sixth Year. This post is quite photo heavy but I hope all you visual people enjoy it.

Last week was our last week as Sixth Year students. The week really and truly flew by. On Tuesday we were given our hoodies, Wednesday was our awards ceremony, yearbook day and last official day of classes. Thursday evening was our graduation. I still find it difficult to comprehend that six years have passed in the blink of an eye. I still remember my first day as a First Year back in 2009, fill with excitement and wonder at the idea of a fresh start.

The awards ceremony was an absolute blur. All I can really remember is lots of clapping, music and smiles. I ended up winning four awards, an unexpected shock to me. I won an award for participating in the Senior History Quiz Team (we came second - by a point) an award for my history RSR (Research Study Report) an Academic (for my mock results) and a medal for having a 'Star Journal' ie a tidy journal.

After the awards, we all went and had our ''Last Supper'' together at lunchtime. We moved all the benches into the centre and all ate together. We had 3 last classes which we attended, giddy, hyper and excited for our new adventure. We all went to collect our Yearbooks and got as many friends to sign them before inevitably leaving. It was emotionally charged to say the least. I can recall sitting on the grass, gazing at everyone smiling and laughing, thinking how this will be one of the last times we'll see each other as one whole group.

On Thursday evening, we had our Graduation mass in the gym. We were all given a tree (mine was Hazelwood) which I planted on Saturday afternoon when the sun was beaming down. Afterwards we all got changed for the obligatory grad night out. We all spent ages taking photos (I have so many notifications of being tagged in photos over the past few days, it is hilarious) and headed off to the local hotel and then into town. I won't go into details but it was a brilliant night and everyone was in such high, flying spirits. It was a fabulous night filled with lots of fun and laughter.

On Friday, I went and emptied my locker and returned the key. It was strange saying goodbye to the locker. It was originally my brother's locker but I given the locker when he finished. I have 'before' and 'after' photos down below. I used to get many compliments and funny conversation starters due to some of my posters, mainly Dan and Phil fandom members spotted them!

I also voted for the first time this week! If you've been living under a rock, Ireland had a referendum on marriage equality (also one on presidential candidate age - which was rejected) It was quite exhilarating being a part of democracy. On Saturday in between study breaks I checked the counts, literally whooping and cheering when I heard that the referendum passed! I'm so proud to be Irish, especially as we're the first country to pass gay marriage by popular vote.

The Squad on the last day!

Sending snapchats to Jane

One of my articles in the yearbook! I have to say I'm quite proud of this article.

Some lovely messages from my friends at the back of my yearbook! 

Before I emptied the locker.. 

After the locker was cleaned.. sad times..

*credit to Robyn Burton for the photos below*

Post-voting selfie!

So that's all from me, hope you enjoyed this post. Next time I write will most likely be after the Leaving Cert. Next week I have revision blocks in school then it's the exams - scary!

Stay Strong, Happy & Fearless!
Aveen