Maybe, just maybe, I might finally have the time to sit down and write this little life update.

First things first; I've moved away to university! Yay!!! It's been quite an experience both positively and negatively. But I'll discuss that later in the post.



It's been two weeks now since I moved away from home and into my Uni halls. If you had asked me on the first night how I was feeling; I would have burst into tears saying I felt homesick and I'd just made the biggest mistake of my life. On the first and even second night, I had a few troubles with my room which meant that I ended up feeling massively homesick and anxiety really kicked in. The whole thing was just horrible. As the week progressed, things started to get better. I started to find my rhythm and my feet. There were things occupying my day and by night, I was busy still trying to sort my room out.

Thankfully, I can now reply to the same question with a new and much better answer, I'm feeling 100% better. I'm still full of nerves and I'm still trying to work things out. But I'm also extremely excited for this new chapter in my life.

Moving to University


I always envisioned myself moving away for university and when the time came to start packing and buying everything, it was very surreal. The moment I had been dreaming about for three years was finally coming true and it took me a while for that to sink in. I did panic pack a little.

I moved in on a Saturday so I had Sunday to finish settling and to gather my surroundings. My Mum and Brother helped me move in on Saturday and my Dad came down the following day to help me finish unboxing everything. I have to say unboxing and unpacking aren't as fun as packing.

Friends and Flatmates

On the first night and the days following, I felt really lonely and since I wasn't going out at night, I didn't know how to find friends let alone make them. I felt like I put this expectation on myself that I needed to find my new best friend in the first few days and when I hadn't done that I felt like I failed.

In uni, there are numerous ways to meet new people; there are societies, your course and lectures/ seminars, a million group chats on WhatsApp and Facebook and out and about on Campus. I've met people on my course, through Facebook and even in my halls.

I've heard all of the horror stories about flatmates and I moved in thinking the worst. Thankfully, all my flatmates are really nice and I don't want to jinx it but things are good and we get along great. Our kitchen is clean. No one's particularly noisy. It's great.

New Life


With everything in life; there are positives and negatives. This is a very exciting time in my life but it's also the scariest. I've always been surrounded by people I love, both family and friends. When I first moved in I was like a Baby Giraffe trying to walk for the first time. It was as though I had been scooped up from my wonderful life and dropped somewhere else.

I think the most exciting thing about this is I can finally study a subject that makes me really excited. But also, I can study on my own terms as opposed to being forced to sitting in school or sixth form which I found really limiting. I love to discover new things and there is so much to discover here.


I'll be back soon with a new post.

Love, Aoife x
I'm back with a new post! Yayy!! In this post, I wanted to explore all the things that I'm doing now that I never in a million years thought I'd do. I'm a grown girl now and I'm doing things that my child self would feel sick with nerves at the thought of doing it.

Since I'm officially an 'adult' now, turned 18 in June, I've started to reflect on the type of person I am and who I've become. With doing that I noticed I do a lot of things I never said I'd do or even imagine doing. Some things stay the same and some things change. Here are 12 things that I never thought I'd do:




#1 Grow Up! We all do it but when I was little my biggest fear was to grow old. I didn't want to be 18 or 25, that meant responsibilities that I didn't want. I wanted to be a child forever, be looked after by my parents but now I welcome growing older. It comes with a little more adventure at the cost of a few extra responsibilities.

#2 Own a Purse. I'm sure all my friends' eyes have bugged out of their heads considering how I love to buy purses. This was another one of my childhood fears. I swear I wasn't a weird kid who was afraid of everything. I remember as a child -with my fear of growing up- that the concept of owning a purse filled with money made me sweat in fear. I was afraid of owning a purse filled with debit cards and cash. Debit cards specifically. I associated owning a purse/ wallet with adulthood, independence, and having to make your own money. You'll be glad to know my feelings towards purses have changed dramatically. The idea of having a purse filled with cards and cash makes me extremely happy. Who's up for shopping?





#3 Enjoy Shopping. I used to dread shopping. It was so boring being lead around BHS *Shiver* and Marks & Spencer's. I would yawn all over the shop waiting impatiently until my Mum said we could go home. Since then, I've come to the realization that shopping can be fun if you go to shops you enjoy. You just have to stay away from the shops your Mum took you too. P.S- I am so happy BHS closed down!

#4 Take an interest in Fashion. My interest has skyrocketed over the last few years and I think it's because it became fun, it was no longer something to cover your back. I started to take an interest in my appearance and take influence from the people around me and the media. I am much better put together now than I was ten years ago. Can you believe that my favorite outfit was once a matching velour tracksuit and hoodie from Primark? *Cringe* I guess we've got to start somewhere.

#5 Hang around Shopping Malls. I think I was around 10 when I asked myself what could possibly be entertaining for girls to hang around Shopping Malls. Well, sadly I have become one of those girls I used to wonder about. I could spend like six hours walking in, out and around shops for no reason.

#6 Own more than 5 pairs of Shoes. Growing up I was only allowed four pairs of shoes; one for school, a pair of trainers, sandals and a pair for special occasions. I used to dream of the day I would own more than four pairs of shoes and start building a shoe collection. Now, I've lost count of how many I have.



#7 Buy a Magazine Monthly; The ultimate sign of being a sophisticated lady. I've purchased GLAMOUR every month for the last 3 years and I absolutely love it. From the content to the writers, the quality of it is amazing.

#8 Wear Makeup. This is pretty self- explanatory. When I grew up the latest lip kit everyone spoke about was the glossy one from Sainsbury's they picked up with their Mum at the weekend. Now we're talking Kylie Lip Kits, Barry M, Mac etc.

#9 Know What I Want to Be When I Grow Up. My parents will never let me forget the day I told them I wanted to be a cleaner. It will go down in history as one of the strangest things I've ever said. But don't worry, I know that when I grow up I want to be a journalist... And I'm halfway there. Well technically, I'm already there. Yayy!!



#10 Go To University. Yes, your girl made it! She is about to become a journalism student (whoop!!), I can officially put that in my Twitter Bio! Growing up, I never wanted to go to university, I didn't like the idea of debts or taking out loans. I saw it as pointless. Neither of my parents went to uni so I didn't have a role model who went which meant I never saw it as something I had to do. It was only in year 11 when I started to entertain the idea that I considered going to help achieve my dream.

#11 Move Away From Home. My home is my safe place, it's filled with a million memories, and I can't believe I'm moving out. It will be sad but it's the next stage of life and for that, I'm excited.


#12 Make a Difference. Growing up, I used think that we were all following the same 'path' consisting of education, working, getting married, having kids, working, retiring etc. It was a boring path that we followed throughout our lives. That's probably why I was afraid of growing up. But life is so much more than following a 'path', we have a voice, we can make a difference in the world and to have the opportunity to do that, I am extremely grateful.

There are lots of things I do now that I never thought I'd do. I can't think of them of all of them but this was quite a list. It's fun to think how we've grown as people. How my mind has widened. I've learnt so much and I'm continuing to learn and do things that surprise me. I feel extremely grateful and privileged to be doing some of the things I'm doing.

What things do you do now you never thought you'd do?

Love, Aoife x
My holiday to Lisbon was a massive game changer for me. It changed the way I viewed travelling and the way I saw everything. Portugal is beautiful, absolutely stunning. Lisbon is a great city of culture, beauty and so many damn hills! Aside from trekking up all of the hills, I had a beautiful time and I really want to go back. I travelled with one of my best friends and we stayed in the Lux Lisboa Park hotel. A 4*, very modern and techy hotel (think touchscreen panel for the lights). It was in a good location with travel nearby. It was also on top of a massive hill! Not great at 11pm and a bursting bladder!

I took so many photos; a balance of touristy photos, outfit photos and photos of beautiful things. Instead of writing a very long post on the tales of my holiday, I thought I'd show you some snaps from my hols along with a little commentary.


I could have taken a picture of 90% of the roads in Lisbon.



On our first day we decided to explore the Alfama, it was one of the must-do's. Think steep hills, beautiful alleys and two kids lost. We had no idea where we were going but we hoped it was in the direction of Castelo Sao Jorge.


Ice-cream break!

On the second day, we travelled down to Belem and we did every. possible. thing. you can do in Belem. From the Monestry, Botanical Gardens, Art Collective, and Pasties de Belem. It was beautiful and relaxing walking around Belem. Lovely hot weather, it was perfect!




Of course, we couldn't go to the Monestry and not copy the Estee Lalonde pic from her Lisbon Travels.


The Botanical gardens were beautiful. I got really excited at the palm style trees like any Brit.



I'm not a big fan of custard tarts but everyone I asked had told me to try the famous Portuguese custard tarts. They were so delicious with a sprinkle of cinnamon and icing sugar.




Sintra was one of my favourite places to visit and I have a post coming up on that soon. It was gorgeous and magical. Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery and stupid me forgot my charger so I had to switch over to my phone.


This was a sad day for my skin. I got sunburned in the most ridiculous places and shapes. On the positive side, the beach was beautiful. It had a tropical feeling and the atmosphere was the polar opposite from an English beach.



Our last day was an emotional but welcomed day. We visited all of the places we hadn't a chance too including the Time Out Market. If you ever visit Lisbon, I definitely recommend going here. It's an indoor food court with fantastic quality food at affordable prices. I chose Codfish cakes with Tomato rice.

So that's my Lisbon Holiday wrapped as small as I could. Well done, if you made it to the end and are reading this. It was so fun to travel with a friend and I definitely need to go on more girls holidays.

Love, Aoife x














I can't believe we've reached August already! I know that's a cliche thing that everyone says at the beginning of each new month but it's true. I feel like because my year has been so jam-packed full of things that time is flying by. Results day is looming and soon I'll be starting university (not something I want to be thinking about right now).

I suppose August is my last month of 'Freedom' and I've got a few goals for the month ahead that I'd like to set myself. I've also decided to set myself a challenge of not buying any books this month, I have to either read the books I have, or borrow from the library. In hope I can reduce my spending. Anyway, back to my August goals:

#1 Take it Easy. I'm the type of person who gets involved in every possible thing. And whilst it has really paid off this year with getting into uni, I never get any time to spend on myself. So throughout August, I want to slow down and take it easy, remember how to breathe and relax.

#2 Complete my bucket list. I wrote a bucket list of all the things I wanted to accomplish this summer before uni back in May and I don't know what's happened to it. I've definitely completed some of it already, I just have to tick the other things off. I can't wait for all of the adventures coming my way. Here is what's remaining: Be Carrie Bradshaw for the day, Go on an Adventure, and Have a big reunion with friends from Secondary School.


#3 Write More. It's one thing blogging but it's another thing writing. I recently found some excerpts from stories that had I had written a few years ago. And surprisingly, they're really good. Like REALLY good. I want to get back into writing like that and tap into the Author inside of me. Whether it's little pieces, like scenes, or something else, I'd love to explore more and get back into it.

#4 Be Youthful. Youth is such a beautiful thing and to be able to keep a part of your youth in your heart is so important. I'm 18 now, basically an adult, and one thing I never want to lose is my youth. So whilst I spend the summer acting like an adult and being 'sensible', I want to keep that innocence and discovery that a youth has.


So there you have it, my four goals for August. I know four is a silly number to end on but I suppose those were the main goals I wanted to achieve. Any ones after that wouldn't have been very good. I've never written goals for the month ahead before but I think it will help me to improve myself and make life better. Maybe you could have a go?

Love, Aoife x





People handle freedom differently. It seems the way I handle freedom is to go out and buy lots and lots of books. Books that I don't need to buy because I already have a huge TBR pile. But we won't worry about that. My book picks for this summer are light-hearted beach/ holiday reads. I didn't want anything too heavy since as I've spent most of my time this year looking at tragedy and crime novels for my Literature A-Level. So to brighten up my reading, here are my six summer TBR's:

Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland
There's something about buying a newly published book and reading it. I'm so excited to start reading this, I love Louise and I can't wait to read her new novel. I'm hoping this will be a laugh out loud type of novel. 

Goose by Dawn O'Porter
This book is a couple of years old and I managed to pick it up for only £1. The book is about two characters who are exactly the same age as I am and in the same position of finishing A-Levels and thinking of going off to uni. I can relate to these girls and some of the issues spoken about. I've already started reading this book and it's a little scary how much I can relate to these characters already. Another reason for buying the book is I love reading Dawn O'Porter's articles in GLAMOUR. 

Falling by Jane Green
I'm always seeing her name in the library and everywhere else I look for books so I naughtily picked this the other day to add to my list. It's about a woman called Emma who answers an online ad, meets a man and 1+1+ 2. I love a good romance novel and this seems like a sweet one. 


About Last Night by Catherine Alliott
This was another impulse buy. Reading the blurb, I'm not sure if this book has much of a plot but I think it will be an interesting read. From what I've gathered, Molly moved away from her life to suit her husband's but now he's dead, she wants to try and get her life back. The way it was. I think it will provide a nice escape. And I love the front cover (even though they do say not to judge a book by it's cover). 

Girls on Tour by Nicola Doherty
I picked this up whilst trying to find a book for my friend. It was only £1.99 and it sounded like good book. It's about these four girls who all go on separate holidays and then they all end up in Manhattan (along with some drama that snuck in their cases). 

The Last Piece Of My Heart by Paige Toon
I'm getting more and more embarrassed to say just how many impulse buys are on my shelf. I picked this one up when I bought Wilde Like Me. I can't help it when I'm faced with rows and rows of books. I'm not entirely sure why I bought the book, the blurb suggests it's a sweet story and the way it's written, creates the perfect escapism. The reviews from her other books suggests Toon is a great author of holiday reads. So we'll see. 

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I hope my book lists have been helpful, either encouraged you to read or provided some to add to your own TBR's. These are my summer TBR's (well, some of them) and I'll write mini-reviews to let you know how I got on. See you soon.

Love, Aoife x


In the world of blogging, it seems silly to move to a blogging platform more limited than the one you were originally on. There are so many bloggers out there who started out on Blogger and are now interested in moving their blog over to WordPress. So, I guess the question is why would I want to move my blog over to a platform that provided me with more restrictions.

The answer is simple.

All I wanted to do is to blog. I'm not interested in using my blog for commercial purposes. I'm not trying to turn into a business. If that option came further down the line then I might consider. But for now, when I spend more days feeling like a goldfish in the ocean, I'm only after the simple life. I want a platform that allows me to blog, express my opinion and to do that, I made the decision to move over to Blogger.

WordPress is great. It provided me with a lot of opportunities when I first started back in 2013. I'll forever be grateful and I could never hate Wordpress. But for reasons I don't think I can quite explain, moving my blog was what was good for me. It was what I needed to do to move forward. So here I am. My first post on my new site.

I've uploaded all of my old posts from aoifecaitriona.wordpress.com so your able to see them. And I'll keep that site live too. Life is like a journey and sometimes we have to make decisions and change it up a little, in order to keep moving forward. So, I hope you'll stick around.

Love, Aoife x