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Travel Diary: Manchester & Liverpool

Greetings my dears, it is I, despite my lack of posting here I am in fact, still alive. I realise it has been a HOT MINUTE since I last posted and for that there have been many reasons which I will not bore you with but ALAS I have returned with a travel post - one of my favourite kinds.

In February of this year, my boyfriend (Ed, whom you have not seen here before, everybody meet Ed, Ed meet everybody) moved to Manchester in the UK for three months for a rugby trial so I have been visiting there quite a bit. It's a city I had never been to before he moved there and now is one I have grown to love more and more with every visit. We also paid a visit to Liverpool one weekend (only 40 minutes on the train from Manchester) which I also liked a lot.

Some places I recommend you include in your itinerary if you are visiting MANCHESTER:

1. Altrincham Markets

I cannot express to you how adorable and great these markets are. Amazing pizza, great coffee, to-die-for desserts and stalls selling just about everything you can think of or could possibly need in your possession/want to drink or eat. Altrincham is just a little bit outside of Manchester city centre (the tram service is amaze and will get you there in 20 minutes) and is such a lovely little place away from the madness of the city.

Also - sidenote: millions of cute dogs everywhere. If that doesn't convince you to pay a visit then I don't know what will.

2. The Little Deli Co., Altrincham

Another star spot in Altrincham for breakfast/brunch. Try the pancakes and the Mac and Cheese. If you're only going to be there once then get them both at the same time because neither can be missed, trust me.

3. Common Ground, Altrincham

A cute little coffee shop just opposite the markets that has the best coffee/hot chocolate and cake. Such a nice place to chill and they have the cutest little sun trap out the back where you can sit in the sun and just feel zen. Try their salted caramel brownie, carrot cake and dark hot chocolate. You will not be disappointed. Boyf also vouches for the coffee there, so all round a win from us.

Outfit: Jumper - Mango (similar), Tracksuit - Penneys/Primark men's section, Shoes - Adidas (similar), Coat - Topshop, Sunglasses - Ray Ban, Necklace - Chupi

4. Hale

This is another little town about a 10 minute walk from Altrincham and is definitely worth a visit even just to walk through. It is such a cute town and it feels like you're in a countryside town even though it's just outside the city. For amazing Italian food try Piccolino's in Hale. And then look at all the adorable red brick houses and pick your dream one (it's tough to pick just one).

Outfit: Dress - Zara (similar here, here and here, Jacket - Folkster Vintage (similar here, here and here) Ed's shirt - Vintage

5. St Peter's Square, Manchester city centre

Next up we're in the city centre which is just JAM-PACKED with places to go and things to see. Obviously we haven't managed to see it all but some of our favourites. This giant city hall cathedral situation was pretty impressive I must say (there are loads of gorgeous old buildings in the city centre among all the modern ones) but we couldn't get inside due to it being under renovation....until 2024.... which seems like an alarmingly long time. But anyway, still cool to see and a great backdrop for an impromptu photo shoot at sunset.

Outfit: Coat - Mango (on sale), Jumper - Bershka, Jeans - Bershka, Shoes - Adidas (similar), Bag - Zara (similar), Sunglasses - Ray Bans

6. Federal Cafe

Okay, this is an absolute MUST. I mean it when I say this was the best brunch I have ever had in my entire life - I'm aware that's a HE-UGE statement - but it's the truth. It's an Aussie/New Zealand cafe/restaurant in the city centre, we got to sit outside because it was such a nice day and the whole place just has such a good vibe, the staff were Aussie so were SUPER friendly and helpful, and the food. GOOD. GRIEF. We couldn't choose what to get so we ordered three things from the brunch menu and shared.

I got eggs benedict with halloumi (hold the bacon) and it was literally the best eggs benedict I have ever had, Ed got eggs benedict with bacon and then... THE FRENCH TOAST. The French Toast was served with berries, white chocolate and almond crumble (!), whipped vanilla marscapone (!!) and salted caramel (!!!). Pretty sure it was the best thing I have ever tasted in my entire life. No exaggeration. YOU HAVE TO GO HERE FOR BRUNCH. Served all day until 6pm because Aussies are cool like that.

7. 20 Stories

Another super cool Manchester experience that I would recommend doing during the day rather than at night, simply for the views (but I imagine would also be a great date night location). I would recommend booking as you have to wait in line if you don't and it's difficult to get a seat with no reservation (which is fine you can just stand) but just an FYI.

Outfit: Top - Zara (similar here and here, Jeans - Nasty Gal (similar here), Sunglasses - Ray Ban)

As the name would suggest it is a super cool bar with a terrace/garden area with the most amazing views over the entire city and these adorable bubbles you can book and sit inside while you have drinks. Definitely worth a visit during the day or even at sunset. Lots of people there who think they are actual royalty but if you just ignore those it's a really cool experience. Also, that lighting = gold.

8. Oldham Street Vintage stores

One final must-go-to in Manchester city centre is Oldham Street, which is basically an entire street full of vintage stores and if you're anything like us it's basically like falling into fashion heaven. The particular one we fell into had a kilo sale so we got a bunch of different things for £15. Lots of little gems to find and definitely worth a visit. There are loads more on that street (include a 3-story vintage store) that we didn't get a chance to venture into but who's window displays looked very promising. Happy thrifting!

LIVERPOOL:

We weren't in Liverpool for very long - just the day - so these were a couple of our fave stops.

1. Museum of Liverpool (John & Yoko exhibition)
This museum had so many great exhibitions to choose from - we chose the John Lennon & Yoko Ono exhibit (purely due to being in Liverpool and the inevitable Beetles influence that comes with being there) and I really enjoyed it. A lot of the exhibits are free and it is definitely worth a look to see if any of them tickle your fancy!

2. General scenery/architecture
I really loved just strolling around Liverpool - a lot of the old buildings have been preserved and still stand in their architectural fab-ness (moreso than Manchester which I found had been very modernised) and I really enjoyed that aspect of the city. It was pretty windy the day we were there (I'm downplaying that majorly - I literally almost got blown into the sea) so we didn't spend a whole lot of time down by the pier but it's definitely a cute stop to make on your travels.

Outfit: Cord shirt - Zara (similar), Jeans - Zara (similar here and here), Polo neck - Mango (similar), Boots - Nasty Gal (similar here and here)

3. The Cosy Club
As the tiredness started to kick in we stopped for a glass of vino here and let me tell you - there has never been a more suited name for a bar. It is so cute and cosy and kind of feels like you're drinking wine in a glamorous elderly woman's mansion. Trust me - go and you'll see what I mean.

photo credit: mostly Ed (le boyf).

Lots more travel (and other) posts to come (soon, I promise) - stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,

S ✗

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Overwhelmed.

So yesterday, as the title of this post might suggest, I felt overwhelmed. As in, crying in a bathroom cubicle in college by 11am kind of overwhelmed.

I am two thirds of the way through my Masters and although everyone keeps reassuring me that I'm on the "home stretch", I am still visualising the next three months of deadlines and group project meetings and inevitable mental breakdowns and life decisions to make. Not exactly something to look forward to. I know ultimately everything will be fine and I will get there in one piece and all of that, but sometimes you just need to allow yourself to feel overwhelmed, have the breakdown, practice some self-care and move forward.

So, today, with nothing scheduled in college, I have spent the day so far in bed, watching Grey's Anatomy with a jar of white chocolate spread, a spoon and copious amounts of tea. That, paired with an hourly scroll through Pinterest while waiting for my next episode to load has given me the self-care I need. It may sound silly, or ridiculous to some of you, but everyone has their own ways to care for themselves, everyone knows what they need to do when the meltdown hits and you need to get past it and out the other side. Sleeping really helps me - whether that's a good nights sleep, a late lie-in or an afternoon nap (or all three), it really does help. That, watching my favourite programme and eating junk food (I KNOW, it scientifically is said to make you feel worse but try white chocolate spread and come back to me). Then I plan.

When I panic, I am a planner. I organise. I schedule what work I need to do, what time and what days, I make to-do lists, I plan catch-ups with friends (essential) and that is how I cope when I'm overwhelmed and needing to get on with life (after my self-care day of course). It helps me feel more in control of what is going on. Sometimes, what you need is to come home from college and wallow and nap and stay there - which is fine - but yesterday post-meltdown I knew I needed to DO something with the rest of my day if I was going to take a self-care day the next day. So, I went food shopping - an activity I find oddly therapeutic but ONLY when I do it by myself - came home and cleaned the apartment, cleaned my room and bathroom, changed my bed sheets, had a long shower, put on three face masks, ate some dinner and went to bed, armed with a glass of wine and some Grey's Anatomy episodes to get through. And I felt better. And also like I had been productive with my life post-meltdown. Then today, I took a day.

The point is, it is natural to feel overwhelmed. And even more than that - it is okay. We're all only human. If everyone just floated through life's stresses and never had a wobbler about anything - that is when I would worry that they were on some other planet and/or some seriously strong non-prescription drugs.

Self-care is so important. Do what you need to do for YOU. Take a day. Take a nap. Change your bed sheets. Eat white chocolate spread out of the jar.

And the next day, wake up, check your to-do list, and try again.

Sending any fellow overwhelmed and teetering-on-mental-breakdown humans some love. We've got this.

Síofra

✗

photo sources: Pinterest

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What I learned in 2017

So, I have decided, I'm not really the biggest fan of putting up a list of my New Year's Resolutions, because when I inevitably fail on 90% of them, it's a bit shitty to have the published list to look back on at the end of the year. I still obviously have goals for 2018 which I may briefly mention, but overall this post is more of a look back on what I've learned in the year 2017 and, I suppose, indirectly, what I hope 2018 will be like having learned these things.

FRIENDSHIPS/RELATIONSHIPS

#1. How lucky I am for the good friends I have around me.

I know I say this a lot but honestly I sit and think sometimes, what the EFF would I do without my friends. It would be a whole other lengthy blogpost if I explained all the times I have needed my friends this year but it is safe to say I honestly do not know what I would have done without them. This includes my friends who have been around for years, but also more recent friends I have made since September when I moved to Dublin. I have only known some of these people 4 months and they have honestly helped get me through some of the worst days and shittiest things and I am so so thankful and grateful that they exist.

Not even being dramatic here but I really think I would have dropped out of my Masters already if it wasn't for my friends, both old and new. When it comes to romantic relationships, I am now so careful not to end up dependent on the other person because of how awful it feels when they leave, but the BOOTIFUL thing about adult friendships you make is that 90% of the time, they're not going anywhere and encourage you to depend on them and lean on them whenever you need to. And that is an amazing thing to have, one I think everybody needs.

#2. How happy it makes me to see the people I love happy.

In 2017, one of my best friends in the world got married in the most beautiful ceremony and reception ever in Portugal, and I cried from the minute I saw her walk up the aisle to the minute the ceremony ended because I was so overwhelming happy to see someone I love and someone so deserving of happiness, on the happiest day of her life, surrounded by everyone she loves.

Also this past year, another one of my best friends, Clare, moved to New York - her favourite place in the world - on a graduate visa and I have just seen her blossom and meet amazing people and do amazing jobs that have made her realise her potential and just what she has to offer the world and how valuable she is to the people around her

(P.s. Her blog: https://breakfastathummingbird.wordpress.com - it's amaze).

#3. How shitty people can be, and how its not your fault. (Also read: Trust your gut).

On more than one occasion this year, I ended up blaming myself for things going wrong in relationships/whatever-you-want-to-call-the-"exclusive"-stage-before-relationships. I figured that when everything seemed to go pear-shaped with everyone I met and remotely fell for, that I was the common denominator in each situation and thus it must be me. However, I have learned that when people treat you like shit, that is a reflection on them, not you. Think about it, it's not normal behaviour to treat another human being like they don't matter while telling them that they do matter, or not caring about how you make someone feel while acting like you care about them. That's pretty f*cked that anyone would act that way when you think about it.

If somebody treats you like they don't care about you, believe them. Stop making excuses for people. I am guilty of doing this because I never want to believe that I've been so wrong about someone, when the truth is you have to trust your gut sometimes, and if your gut is telling you something isn't right, believe it. Actions speak louder than words. Someone can tell you every single thing you want to hear because they know you want to hear it, and have zero intentions of acting on it, or are telling someone else the exact same thing. You deserve better. Not second best. Bye Felicia.

#4. People will use you

This applies to both friendships and relationships. If you are a pushover and let people walk all over you, never voicing how it makes you feel, then its never going to stop and those people are always going to push you around. Stand your ground, don't say yes if you want to say no, and make it crystal clear that you're not the kind of person other people can use to get to what they want, whoever these people may be.

COLLEGE

#5. Masters are bloody hard

Okay, so I was under no illusion doing a Masters would be easy under any circumstances, but I don't think I was fully prepared for just how much it takes out of you. Don't get me wrong, I love the course I chose, it's really interesting and I'm glad I did it, but MAN ALIVE is it exhausting. Never-ending assignments, readings and group projects, late nights and early mornings and overall exhaustion. I've had a month off for my Christmas holidays and I've never needed it more in my life, even just being able to catch up on the last 4 months of sleep deprivation and watch Netflix without feeling guilty that I should be doing one of 748 assignments has been BLISS. I'm looking forward to starting this second semester because I think I will enjoy the modules a lot, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't going to take full advantage of this last weekend at home - eating and sleeping as much as I can.

#6. Procrastination

This is something I have MAJOR issues with - in college and life in general. I don't know why, but I find it SO hard to concentrate on things like assignments and like life shit that needs to get done, even though I know it's important, I just will do absolutely anything to avoid it or to justify putting off starting it. I annoy myself when I do this so I'm going to try reeeeally hard to make a plan for each day of what I have to do and STICK to it, because it bothers me in my SOUL when I can't tick things off my to-do list because I've watched seven Oprah's Greatest Moments videos on YouTube instead of starting my assignments.

LIFE

#7. Anxiety is a b*tch

This one is pretty self-explanatory and chances are at least somebody reading this knows how it feels and let's face it, it's a BIATCH. I hate the word "suffered".. so I'm going to say "experienced." I have experienced anxiety for over five years now on and off, sometimes it's totally manageable and I can get on with life as normal, and other times not so much.

In November I went through a particularly rough stage of it for about a month, maybe longer, and I found it really difficult to concentrate on college and things I knew were important and I had to get done. But yet again, my friends came to the fore and got me through. It is so important to talk to people you trust when you're feeling shitty, there is absolutely no sense in trying to keep it to yourself, because you'll just end up feeling worse. Talk to your friends, or a professional or both, talk to your doctor if you're worried it's lasting a long time and maybe you need some more help. There is no shame in it, literally every second person you meet has most likely suffered from some kind of mental health difficulty at some stage - no matter how mild or severe - and 9 times out of 10 people are willing to help you get through it in any way they can. Going back to the dependency thing, this is another time where it's totally okay to lean on people. You're only human.

Sh*t I am leaving in 2017:

Taking sh*t from people/giving people more chances than they deserve/Making excuses for people

Not trusting my gut and allowing people to convince me I'm overreacting when I'm not

Procrastination

Being afraid

Giving attention to negative people or negative things

FOMO

Attempting to like avocados

Thank you so much for reading if you got to the end of this ramble, and I hope this might have helped you in some way to recognise things in your own life that you need to focus on or let go of. And if anyone has been going through a shitty time, you will get out the other side I promise, 2018 will be better. Sending you virtual hugs and lots of love.

Síofra

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Travel Diary: Manchester & Liverpool

Overwhelmed.

What I learned in 2017

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Final Year: What I've Learned

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Travel Diary: Manchester & Liverpool

Overwhelmed.

What I learned in 2017

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