“Just like, realising things” - a summary of 2017.

In the words of Kylie Jenner, I’ve had a chance to sit back and realise things. Looking back on 2017, it’s fair to say it’s been an absolutely shit up and down year. So I’m going to talk about the highlights and low lights and hopefully leave it all behind in this post.

One of the biggest highlights of this year was finishing my university degree. After three years of blood, sweat, tears and shorthand, I completed a degree in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth Univeristy. The months completing the dissertation were some of my worst and brought on stress and anxiety like I’ve never had before, not even mentioning the weight I put on.. but I did it. And it’s one of the best feelings in the world! 

Another highlight was getting to go on my dream holiday for the fourth time - going to Disney World Florida and Universal Studios Orlando. I am a huge Disney fan and it really is one of the happiest places on Earth. You feel constantly in a euphoric bubble that when you leave, it’s a huge drop in emotion. Some days I wasn’t happy, mainly because someone at home was causing me grief, but overall, it was the best holiday of my life and the bond with my family grew stronger. 

And it was good that the bond with my family grew stronger, because not long after I got back from holiday, my first long term relationship came to an end. It’s been one of the hardest hitting things I’ve experienced in a long time. At the start of 2017, I was certain that this guy was the one. He was my best friend. We would talk about our future after univeristy and finding a place together when he’s finished his degree. I embraced his love for fifa and cheered him on when he played and he let us watch every Disney movie under the sun without moaning about it. We would take trips to ikea and pretend we were choosing things for our own place - strangely enough most of the time we’d choose the same things. I’ve also got to thank him for getting me into Game Of Thrones.

We were so in sync that I was naive in thinking that nothing could change, nothing could touch our love. But I was wrong. Initially he was nice about it and came round and discussed how he was unhappy and stressed due to his current career choices, how it was affecting his mental health. I understood how he was feeling and knew it was best for him to go and get his own space and sort himself out. He told me once he was sorted in himself that he would come back and we could rekindle what we had. Broken and confused, I didn’t let myself move on because of what he said that day, but when I asked for closure a month later because it was messing with my head, he told me he didn’t want to be with me anymore. He was “softening the blow” before because I had my graduation ceremony coming up. 

I didn’t think I could be broken twice, but I was. After a heated phone call that was it, done and dusted. Time will let me forgive and forget, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving him to be honest. I always question how much of the initial break up was true. Were those tears real? Will he really always love me? I guess I’ll never know. 

But with loss comes gain. I filled the void with my first car, my beautiful little fiat! It’s a car I’ve wanted since I passed my test 3 years ago and to have my dream car is such an achievement. I also got a new job and it’s helped keep me busy and happy - I’ve made such amazing new friends and it’s done so much good in my life - I’ve also been offered a team leader role within three months so it can’t be all bad!

I’ve also reunited with a girl who I’m so happy is back in my life. My main girl Hannah, who I came back in contact with after finshing university has been my rock since my break up - I honestly can’t thank her enough for making this last half of this year bareable. She took me away to Dublin, another main highlight this year, and taught me that you don’t need a man to be happy, just friends and family who adore you. Here’s to many more memories and trips in 2018! Catch flights not feelings! 

Looking onward to 2018, I’ve decided it’s going to be all about working on myself. I’m no longer giving all of me to someone else, so it’s time I got in gear - get a journalism job that I love, keep building friendships and making memories with them, work on my fitness (I’m not saying I’ll lose weight this year cause I say it every year and I think it’s bad luck as it never works) and just in general, be a stronger, happier, better me.  

Goodbye 2017, I’ll only miss half of you. 

A Christmas Getaway.

So, to say the least, the last half of this year has been quite unexpected. After having my confidence knocked and a period of being completely lost with who I was and what I wanted to do with my life, an old friend came back into my life. She told me it really isn't the end of the world to have change, and that I should embrace this change and use it to my advantage.

Which is why I jumped straight out of my comfort zone and took my first ever solo holiday without my parents. Just me, my best friend and the beautiful city of DUBLIN. At first I felt it would be a nice thing to do to get things off my mind, but by the end of the trip, I found myself feeling so free and independent and fully immersed in the Irish history and culture - I didn't want to go home.

Here are some highlights of the trip and some amazing places to check out if you ever find yourself exploring this beautiful, historic city.

Dublin Central Hostel, 5 Blessington Street

We decided rather than forking out on a hotel to try a hostel and it was one of the best parts of the trip! Such good value for money and we got to have a private room with an en suite - so if you’re a bit aprehensive about hostels because of sharing with strangers, there’s always an option to have a private room. 

Breakfast and WiFi was free every day and there was no curfew on when we had to call it a night, which worked out well with our boozy nights..

Dublin City Centre

The Hostel we stayed at was only a 5 minute walk from the city centre which was perfect for us wanting to be tourists and explore the heart of the city. Bustling with shops, restaurants, bars and hotels, the city centre could easily be mistaken as the Oxford Street of Ireland. With the festive decorations and historic millennium spire statue to impress, it was a fabulous hub to explore.

Temple Bar District, Grafton Street

If you want a memorable night out in Dublin, the Temple Bar district is the place to go. From quaint little pubs to nightclubs and modern bars, the bar crawl opportunities are endless! We tried the iconic Temple Bar, which I’m pretty certain is the place Ed Sheeran met his ‘Galway girl’ (I met her on Grafton Street right outside of the bar) .. so that was an added bonus. Also the fact that the live music singer in the pub played pretty much Ed’s whole album made the night even better! 

We also couldn’t leave without trying a Guinness and it’s fair to say, it’s disgusting. But when in Dublin, it had to be done!

Guinness Storehouse, St James’s Gate

Speaking of Guinness, it wasn’t a trip to Dublin without getting a picture infront of the giant storehouse gates that I see all over social media. Although we didn’t pay to take a tour inside the storehouse, you can still explore the outside of the premises (which is huge) and take plenty of pictures! Also as you can tell from the picture, the gates are absolutely huge.

Trinity College Dublin, College Green

One of the main reasons for taking this spontaneous trip was to visit a friend of which is currently studying at the beautiful Trinity College. If you’ve ever wanted to study at Hogwarts, this is the closest you’ll get with historic buildings which haven’t been touched for hundreds of years, along with some equally amazing new builds, but none the less, is a campus which puts most universities to shame. As the campus is in the city centre it is open for anyone to take a look, although if you want to immerse yourself in the outstanding long room, which houses the historic book of Kells, you’ll have to pay around €20. However if you know a student at the college, you get in for free!

Jameson’s Distillery, Bow Street

If you love whiskey and fancy going somewhere to get a little tipsy, then Jameson’s Distillery on Bow Street is the place to be. Having never tried whiskey, it was a fairly interesting experience and we even had a go at whiskey tasting (do not recommend if you are not a fan of the taste of whiskey). It was a laugh none the less, and we left extremely tipsy. The decor was also very pretty and there is a tour of the Distillery if you fancy paying a few euro, but we just wanted a drink.. 

Merrion Square Park

Here houses the statue of the great (and Irish) Oscar Wilde. His family home is opposite the park, and his statue was actually built in a way that he is looking over at his house from his spot in the park, which I thought was a really clever and sentimental idea. The park was gorgeous and Merrion Square in general is a very nice area if you’re looking for a quieter spot in Dublin to explore.

National Gallery of Ireland, Merrion Square West

The Gallery was something we thought we had to do as tourists, being as the building itself is amazing and there are many paintings from Irish artists in there that you won’t see anywhere else, as well as pieces from Picasso and other late and great artists. 

The Brazen Head, 20 Lower Bridge Street

This pub is the oldest pub in Ireland, dating back to 1198. The pub is adorably small and quirky, with tiny corridors and low beam ceilings, and extra freaky stairs. Although it was too busy to grab a drink in there, it was fun to explore and hopefully when I come back to Dublin I’ll be sure to have a drink there!

Some other honourable mentions include O’Neills pubs, the Natural History museum, the Little Museum of Dublin, the Do Dublin open top bus tours and the River Liffey. All of which made the journey so amazing - I can’t wait to explore more of the world, but also go back to Dublin one day and do it all again!