5 Reasons I'm Happy To Be Staying in Ireland for the Summer

Well, Summer is upon us and inevitably that means that most of my friends and the majority of my small town embark on a mass migration to sunnier climates, not unlike swallows. In general, by mid-May you can notice the lack of young people in my area, their spaces usually taken over by babbling Spanish students or excitable Americans (yes, I just partook in mass generalisation, so? I'm sad.)

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So, in an effort to cheer myself, and any poor, poverty stricken companions, up about the fact that we're left behind here in this lovely, death-by-boredom inducing country I've compiled a list that'll make you happy you're here*.

1- The Sunburn.

 We shall not be inflicted to that melanoma fuelled heat device and have to endure the pain of a sunburn. Oh, yes, you may look at them pictures on Instagram of various suns setting across the #pacific #thailand #spain #coast #beach and initially you may be overwhelmed with anger, but ever wonder why there's never a picture of the photographers face? Because, true to Irish form, they've seen the sun, lost their minds, took off all their clothes, wore no sunscreen and now are the colour of a very well done lobster.

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Trust me, if you're in Ireland, you will not (unless you're a vampire) possibly be able to get burnt by any level of heat coming from the so-called "sun" we have here. You avoid sunburn, pain, searingly painful red skin, copious amounts of after sun and your mothers continuous beration.

This is EXACTLY what I look like after half an hour in the sun :(

1-0 to us!!


2. Broken english.

Ah, the lovely non English speakers. Who doesn't enjoy meeting a stranger from a foreign land and getting to know them and their culture a bit better, it's one of the best things about travelling. Broadens your horizons a bit, doesn't it? Gives ya someone to call if you need somewhere to crash in a foreign country.

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All this may happen. However, something you can be certain will happen is that you'll forget to speak English and you'll walk away from your new best friend, possibly without a place to crash or any understanding of their culture, but for sure with new sentences tumbling out of your mouth such as "We swim?" (enter swimming gesture here) "Pool?" (all whilst miming jumping onto the pool and pointing extravagantly in the direction of said pool).

You may have broadened your horizons Bud but I can still speak English eloquently.

2-0 to us!!!


3. "Where did she get the money from at all?"

There is nothing more Irish in the world than wondering about someone else's finances. Do anything slightly extravagant, or yano something not so extravagant like going for a weekend away to Kilkee and all of a sudden "They must have won the lotto! Or maybe when Auntie Mae died she left a little present? Oh, may she Rest in Peace!"

When all you travellers come home, prepare for an onslaught of questions about finances and what's left and if you made money over there. I'll just sit in the corner, as poor as ever, but laughing at you and your incapability to tell anyone you got a loan and are in the painful throes of paying it back now heheheh. This may sound slightly bitter but, well, it is.

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However, anything that ensures me escaping Mary Flynn's questioning down the village means, in my opinion, I win. Again.

3-0 to us!!


4. Investing in Ireland.

Sher aren't we in the middle of a recession? The last thing the country needs at all is people going abroad and spending their hard earned money in foreign economies! Don't we have ministers here dying for another holiday, at our expense.

Any money I will be spending this summer will, unfortunately, be going straight into their holiday and transport fund. Woo.

3-1 this time I'm afraid.


5. Home Comforts

Before one of my best friends left she tweeted that she loved her bed so much she didn't know how she could deal with a blow up mattress. It was then I realised that maybe I was better off. When you go abroad you miss out on vital, life affirming things such as your kettle, real Barry's tea, your lovely mattress and your Mammy.

kinda

Mammy is a multi-purpose service. She'll cook for you, clean up after you, wipe your tears when you're sad and God forbid you get sick abroad without Mammy to make you a honey and lemon drink. It just wouldn't be the same. I'm not sure I could deal.

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4-1



Good thing I stayed at home after all!






*Terms and conditions apply. No guarantees.

Happiness

"If it makes you happy, don't let it go"

"Whatever makes you feel bad, leave it. Whatever makes you feel good, keep it."

"People will be as happy as they want to be"

"Happiness is where we find it, but rarely where we seek it"

J. Petit Senn

"Most people would rather be certain they're miserable than risk being happy"

Robert Newton Anthony

Girl Crush #2: Carey Mulligan

I am currently completely and utterly enamoured and in a frantic lust with Cary Mulligan. Inevitably with the Great Gatsby’s release TODAY in Ireland (contain your excitement!!!) Carey HAD to be the Girl Crush of the week.  I may be slightly biased considering The Great Gatsby has been one of my favourite books since I was in sixth year. I am fascinated with the character of Daisy and I’m hoping, with everything crossed, that Carey will deliver her usual flawless performance.

The 27 year old nominee and BAFTA winner is renowned for the raw emotion she brings to every character and is immediately recognisable with her pixie-esque do.

1.    Aforementioned do bringing us onto the first reason we love Carey. She is one of the very few actresses that can rock the crop-do and if that’s not something to admire I don’t know what is. She just does. She manages to always look elegant, yet fierce with her beautiful short hair that has been bleached, chopped and hacked to within an inch of its life, all in the name of art, of course.

2.    I'm clearly not the only person who have spotted how amazing Ms. Mulligan is, as she is ranked number 55 in FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women of 2012 and of course, her track record with the opposite sex could drive some women into jealousy fuelled hatred, however, we won’t let that happen! She is known to have dated both Shia La Beouf and Jake Gyllenhaal, two of Hollywood’s most sought after bachelors and, shall we say, they’re not lacking in the looks department either. However, the reason her attraction to the opposite sex is number two is the story behind her current beau. Carey recently married Marcus Mumford of, surprisingly, Mumford & Sons. This isn’t just a standard famous couple story, they were long distance pen pals when they were younger, resurrected their friendship as adults and fell in love and married!!! All together now *awhhhh*They are intensely private which simply maximises just how great their story is.

3.    Despite the fact that Carey was a massive tomboy till she was 15 she always, always looks great and rocks the red carpet, or the tarmac, wherever! She’s been known to sport Prada, Chanel, Vionnet and Christopher Kane, but to name a few. Carey generally channels a slightly alternative style with longer hems and a more chic and sophisticated look than a lot of actresses. She’s like a modern day Audrey Hepburn!

4.    Even though Carey is, apparently, dying for her hair to grow she refuses to wear extensions. The most she’s done is taken a few protein tablets. It’s been said that because she barely wears make up and is very natural it’d be hypocritical for her to wear extensions, and a lot of effort! She eats organic and attempts to wear mostly ethical clothing and understands that extensions go against everything she represents.

5.    The reason I love Carey the most is, simply, her talent! She, unlike a lot of women who would make the FHM Sexiest Women, has talent in abundance. She rebelled against her parents when she was younger to pursue acting and with brilliant movies like Pride and Prejudice and Brothers under her belt I can tell you that I’m glad she did!

  

The upcoming film that everyone is waiting with baited breath for is The Great Gatsby, with Carey playing the iconic role of Daisy Buchanan slongside Leonardo deCaprio and Tobey Maguire in Baz Luhrmann's sprawling, lush new epic. With Miuccia Prada collaborating on costumes and Jay-Z producing the soundtrack, I have no doubt this will be the film of the year. not to mention Mulligan;s already-praised performance!. 

London Lusts

I'm sure I've mentioned this before but I've a perpetual dose of Wanderlust. Anything that involves me leaving Galway and exploring new places I'm usually on top of and eager to participate in.

For years now I've had a passionate, lust driven, unrequited relationship with London.

I. Love. London.

London is without a doubt my favourite city in the world, so far anyway! 

Recently my Mam and I went on a quick overnight trip to London for a meeting. I was consumed with excitement and while I was supposed to be studying I couldn't concentrate on anything but what we were going to do when we landed and all the things we were going to see. I managed to plan for us to do far too much because I seemed to have forgotten that we were only there for a night.

My mother has never really quite understood my love and infatuation with London. She lived just outside London in Kent for years and she always maintains that London is the last place in the world she'd live.

On our way to the airport I was getting increasingly excited and in an, unsuccessful, attempt to calm me down she asked what exactly it was I loved about London.

I love night lights. I'm  one hundred percent terrified of the dark and all that lies within it but London is constantly lit up. Not only is it lit up but it looks so beautiful when night falls and the night lights come on.

My best friend lives in Romford and this is, of course, another huge reason I love visiting London. I only see her two or three times a year so if I get to go to London the cherry on the top of the whole visit is getting to see her.

She claims that everything is so different in London from Ireland. Something you'd expect I suppose but she says that for two islands that are so close she can't get over the extent of the difference in our cultures, the way we socialise and how people interact with one another. In Jamie's words "..you'd bloody love it... you'd fit right in here". There's something about the way we do things in my little town that I hate, and anyone who knows me knows this. She insists that when I move over, I'll be happier than I have ever been here.

When I was in London a taxi driver asked me if I heard anyone speak english when I was on Oxford Street, I told him that I hadn't really noticed and he told me to listen out the next time that I wouldn't hear any english. This is something I love. It's something Ireland is beginning to accept, slowly, very slowly, but it's smething that Londoners have had to embrace already and I love it. The diversity. Knowing that you could go out for a night and run into someone from any nationality. You could spend the day working with people from Greece, London or Austria. You can learn so much about different cultures and hey, the more friends you have around the world the more places you have to stay when you go travelling.

The one thing my Mam hates the most about London is that everyone's always in a rush, she maintains that everyone is pretending they have somewhere important to be and something important to do but it's all a front. I, on the other hand, adore this. Sometimes  I feel at home, we're moving so slow we're nearly going backwards. So many people are just happy to go along in a life that was already laid out for them or that they fell into. In London I feel like everyone is chasing their dreams when they run through the underground, I feel like I'm in good company. In my opinion, there's a constant sense that opportunity is knocking and if you're fast enough and smart enough you'll be able to grab it with both hands and live the life you imagined.

                                             

In London I feel like no matter what you want to be, be it an artist selling their works on the side of the river á la Paris or the managing director of a record company, the opportunity and the chance is there. If you look hard enough you'll see it skulking through the Underground or cycling through Hyde Park simply waiting for you to notice it and follow it to where you're meant to be. This is my favourite part about London. It's fulk of opportunity. There's always a chance to do something different and everytime I'm there I feel like I'm on the cusp of changing my life.

Date A Girl Who Reads

How very clichéd of me, a girl who reads, to post this here.

DATE A GIRL WHO READSby Rosemarie Urquico 
(In response to Charles Warnke’s You Should Date an Illiterate Girl)

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.

She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.

Buy her another cup of coffee.

Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.

It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.

She has to give it a shot somehow.

Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.

Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.

Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.

If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes.