Reflections on a Spring Day | Feeling Positive

I'm sorry about the high concentration of photos that are just countryside, I know a lot of my posts have been like this but I just can't help but find scenes like this so beautiful. Especially on a lovely spring day when the sun is shining and the weather is just nice and mild, and no rain.

I took this photos on a short walk I went on with one of my friends, and they were actually just taken around my university campus. Basically the whole of my Easter break I had agonised over whether I even wanted to go back to uni. Being entirely honest I really hadn't been enjoying my university experience so far. I'd been feeling very very down and very very anxious and having entered into a relationship very early on after starting uni, for a while I ended up isolating myself and not making as many friends or experiencing uni life as much as I would have liked. The relationship then ended quite badly at the start of last term and although it was short, it was quite a horrible and painful experience which has taken me a while to recover from.

I just wanted to write today to sort of acknowledge this point in my life. Despite my reservations about uni and days and nights of worry and feeling like I never wanted to go back, since returning I've felt surprisingly settled, content and a lot more positive. Being out in nature and spending time with good friends who encourage me and build me up really puts life in perspective and I've come to realise that perhaps it all isn't so bad after all.

I know I'm probably not alone in my feelings towards uni and for some, maybe even just towards the place they're at in their life in general and I just wanted to encourage anyone who can maybe relate to my situation just to remember that this stage in your life is just that, a stage in your life. Life will always have its ups and downs, moments of joy and moments of sorrow but we need to remember that no situation will last forever, no matter how bad it seems at the time. Life goes on and you will keep going and come out much stronger.

Remember that you have complete control over your life and how you live it. Do things that make you happy, cultivate interests, cultivate good friendships and don't dwell on the bad you may have experienced in the past. Tomorrow is a new day and every day is a second chance to enjoy the life you've been given.

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Liebster Award | Tag

I am so chuffed to have been recently nominated for my first tag, the Leibster Award by MeganRoisinn! Basically this is a tag designed for small blogs with under 200 followers to gain some recognition in the blogging world. When someone nominates you they will give you 11 questions to answer and then you can in turn nominate another list of small/new bloggers to answer your 11 questions- I don't know if I explained that well. But here are Megan's questions:

1. What is the most expensive item in your wardrobe?

Umm, I really don't have many expensive clothes or anything. I think the most expensive item in my wardrobe is my Jack Wills gilet that I got for Christmas a couple of years ago and that was around the £100 mark but that's it really!

2. If you could interview one musician/band who would you chose?

Oh my, I don't really know because there aren't many musicians I really follow personally. I really like Ellie Goulding as a person, she seems like a nice girl, so probably her.

3. How much do you focus on how 'successful' your blog is?

I really have no real ambitions for this blog, I just started it as a hobby and something I felt would be constructive for me to do but I do think having some sort of readership, no matter how large or small makes blogging a lot more worthwhile so that's all I'm really concerned about in terms of my blog's 'success'.

4. You can only buy own-brand food at one supermarket for the rest of your life - where do you go?

If it weren't for the expense of it I would choose M&S mostly because of Percy Pigs but also because they do really nice bolognese sauce (If you've never tried it you should) but because I'm a student I'd probably say Sainsbury's just because it's way more affordable and I've been shopping there ever since I came to uni.

5. If you could have any breed of dog which would you pick?

Ahh this is a really hard question because I love dogs! There are so many breeds of dog I would love to have, at the minute I have a bit of an obsession with dachshunds because they're so tiny and cute. Though one of my friends has this amazing Old English Sheepdog who's gorgeous and I think I'd really like to have one of them at some stage in my life.

6. If you had to chose another name/URL for your blog what would you go for?

I really have no idea, maybe something from a piece of literature. My tumblr url is tirralirrabytheriver which is from the poem The Lady of Shalott by Tennyson. 

7. Are there any magazines that you buy religiously?

There are none that I buy religiously as such but I really like Glamour and normally get it to read on the plane when I'm going to and from uni.

8. Where is the furthest you have travelled on your own?

Completely on my own, just to Spain whenever I was au pairing.

9. If you could only wear flats or heels for the rest of your life which would you go for?

Definitely flats. I am not a very graceful creature and comfort trumps everything for me usually.

10. If you add up the amount your every day makeup costs you how does it make you feel?

It kind of surprised me how much it all costs all together but I don't really mind because normally it all does me a good few months and I see it as a small price to pay for a bit of confidence. 

11. What was the last fiction book you read for fun? Enjoy it?

I recently read Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence. I really liked Lawrence's sort of philosophical commentary in the book but I'm still processing my overall impression.

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So my questions are:

1) If you could live any place in the world where would it be and why?

2) What is your favourite childhood memory?

3) If you could be stuck in a lift with one famous person, living or dead, who would you choose?

4) If you could be any animal what would you be?

5) Do you have any strange talents?

6) Why did you start your blog?

7) What did you want to be when you were younger?

8) If you could travel in time would you rather travel into the past or into the future?

9) What's your favourite type of sweet?

10) What's your favourite season of the year and why?

11) What's the strangest thing you've ever eaten?

and my nominees are:
Miglė (Meet Me on the Balcony)
Ellen (Ellen Under Water)
Jess (Louise Amber)

Hannah (Go Exploring)
Jasmin Charlotte (JasminCharlotte)
Alexandria (Mirror, Mirror)

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Bracelet Stories

Recently a friend who was visiting me at uni noticed the bracelets I was wearing and asked me to explain the different places I'd got them.

 I thought this was quite an interesting question (particularly coming from a male friend), and it got me thinking. If you're anything like me, I rarely think of buying jewellery for myself so nearly all of the bracelets and necklaces I wear on a regular basis have been given to, or made for me by someone else, all coming from different places and each with their own little story, which from my experience seems to be the case with most girls.

I've picked out a few of my bracelets to show you. Some of them I wear everyday and others are more sentimental pieces. None of these stories are particularly long or interesting but I thought I'd share them with you anyway because it's weird little things like this that often interest me on other people's blogs!

This is just my usual everyday set-up recently, I love colourful braided bracelets and will normally just put on whatever my current favourites are.

1.

This first bracelet is from Thomas Sabo with my initial on it which my great aunt gave me for my 18th birthday. I normally only wear it on special occasions because it's quite dressy but I really love it. It was a really thoughtful 18th birthday gift, I thought.

2 &3.

These two bracelets were both given to me by my little sister. I think she got me the rose gold one for Christmas last year and then the one with my name on it she made in a bead shop we found on a day out last summer. She made me this and I made one for her with her name on it.

4 &5.

These are two of my favourite bracelets which were given to me by one of my best friends Libby for my 17th birthday. I believe she got them in River Island. The braided one is probably my all-time favourite bracelet just because it's so colourful and  casual; I wear it nearly everyday. 

6, 7 & 8.

These are not very well-presented in this photograph- apologies- but they are a selection of bracelets that have been given to me over the years by my lovely friend Hannah. She made me the chunky one on the left one Christmas, I really like it because it's quite tribal-looking and we're both into that kind of thing. The braided one was just a random little gift she gave me on a trip we went on to Kilkenny a few years ago. Then finally, the elephant bracelet I was given by her as a Christmas present last year. It's from Accessorize and I absolutely LOVE it because elephants are my fave.

9.

This bracelet was made for me by one of the little girls I au paired for in Spain. She loved anything crafty and on my second night in Spain asked me if I wanted to make bracelets with her. I love this bracelet because it reminds me of her and my time there. I made one for her too and she wore it everyday which I thought was really sweet.

10. 

This bracelet is really really special to me. I got sent it in the post along with a letter from another one of my best friends who's currently at university in London. I was going through a bit of a rough patch at the time and in the letter she just reminded me that things would get better and that she's here for me and I'm not on my own, and included this bracelet so I could remind myself of that.

11 & 12.

Not very interesting but the bracelet on the left I did actually buy myself and it's just from a set from Primark that I saw one day- but I've just included it here because it's one of the bracelets I wear everyday.

The one on the right, then, I got from my friend Carrie for my 19th birthday and I love it so much, I just think it's so pretty and I love the colour turquoise, I also love the little pink tassel on the clasp. I've been wearing it everyday since I got it.

I know this is a bit of a strange post but I hope you enjoyed it. I'd love to hear any stories about your favourite pieces of jewellery!

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Spring Playlist | What I've Been Listening To

All images credited to their rightful owners - no copyright infringement intended

As someone who thoroughly enjoys receiving music recommendations I thought I would share with you some of the songs I've been appreciating recently! I listen to a lot of folky-/acoustic-y music so if that is to your taste you might like some of these tunes:

Paint | The Paper Kites 

Hello My Old Heart | The Oh Hello's

Ghost | Jeremy Messersmith

Riptide | Vance Joy

Galway Girl | Steve Earl

Like Ships Need the Sea | Emily Hearn

Keep Your Head Up | Ben Howard

Ghosts | Laura Marling

Back To You | Twin Forks

Send Me On My Way | Rusted Root

Also, I doubt this will a new discovery for many but I've recently really been loving the site and mobile app '8tracks' which was introduced to me by my lovely friend Izi. Basically you can scour through thousands of different playlists by searching for tags (I frequently search for 'happy + folk) and it's a great new way of finding new music.

You can follow me on '8tracks' here :)

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Wednesday Walkies

Since I'm leaving for uni again in a couple of days time I've just been spending a little time with my family, making the most of the little time I have left at home as well as the rare appearance of some Irish sunshine! This afternoon we took a little road trip to this beautiful park for a wander and these are the resulting snaps I took:

6

Easter Fair @ Castle Ward

Today being Easter Sunday, we decided to take a family day out to Castle Ward, a National Trust property near to where I live which some Game of Thrones fans may recognise as the filming location of Winterfell Castle, the home of House Stark! There was an Easter fair on today so the place was very busy, full of families and young kids enjoying the lovely weather we had for a while this afternoon (though it didn't last long). I just took a few snaps of the day to show you. 

We had a wander through the manor house itself first of all and then went on for a walk around the grounds which was dotted with food and traditional craft stalls, and where I picked up some lovely chocolate strawberries! We then had a picnic in the grounds by Strangford Lough before we encountered the cute (and very photogenic) little donkey pictured above... Can I just say as an aside, I love donkeys, is there a cuter animal? I'm not sure that there is... 

Unfortunately, it actually started raining quite heavily and we had to make a quick dash to the car, but even still I had a great day. I hadn't been to Castle Ward in a long time and had forgotten how lovely it was. I would definitely recommend a visit for anyone who's staying in the area, especially if you're a Game of Thrones fan as there's a bicycle trail you can take of the various different filming locations on site. It's a beautiful place and definitely will not disappoint!

2

Birthday Shenanigans

I turned 19 yesterday!! Yes, I am now in the final year of my teens with absolutely no idea where the last few years have gone! Life is really strange sometimes.

 I'm back home from university now, snuggled up in bed, recovering from an absolutely amazing birthday "weekend"  (actually from Sunday to Tuesday) courtesy of some of my very best friends from home.

 First of all, on the Sunday afternoon, myself and two of my friends left for a trip up the Antrim Coast  where we stayed in a little town called Castlerock which has a really beautiful beach that has been used as a filming location for Game of Thrones in the past. That evening we just chilled out, watched some movies and then went for a late-night walk on the beach (one of my favourite things!), then the next day got up early to go bodyboarding which was really really fun even though the water was freeeeezing! I think the warm shower that was waiting for me when we got back was probably the best shower of my life so far, no exaggeration. It was lush. 

After a spot of lunch we headed up to Downhil Demense and Mussenden Temple; property owned by the National Trust which sits high up on a cliff overlooking the sea. The views from here are absolutely spectacular. I'd say it's definitely one of my favourite scenic areas in Northern Ireland, it's truly stunning. We stayed there until the sun started to go down then headed back to the house for a late dinner before heading back home.

THEN, yesterday morning a group of us set off once again to Belfast Castle and after a little wander around the gardens we started out on a fairly strenuous hike up Cave Hill-  for which I definitely wasn't wearing sensible footwear- but it was well worth it in the end for the amazing view over the whole of Belfast from the top! I'd never been before so I was really glad I got to go yesterday. It's funny how little you see of the things on your doorstep sometimes.

Finally, last night I went for a meal in the city with a few of my friends from school who I hadn't seen in a few months since I'd been away. It was really lovely to see them and get to catch up before I head back to uni again. A perfect end to a perfect day!

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