Paname, The City of Lights, The City of Looove...... PARIS... is what I'm talking about.

Since however long ago when I was surprised with the trip, I've been counting down the days till myself and Patrick leave. Now we've only a week left, and I almost don't want to go. Only because when we come back, there's going to be some serious 'session depression'.  

Contrary to the escapades of my fellow centennials, I have never been to France, let alone Paris. However, this is only one of the few reasons why I cannot wait to get up and go already. The second: I'm being brought by Patrick, who lets on he's a local Parisian to me. I'll decide whether that's extremely annoying or not when I go and actually see him interact in this supposed 'customary' environment. And thirdly: I'm such a foodie. I mean, I LOVE cheese.

A short list of the preparation I've carried out or failed to do (as of yet);

A Prospective Plan and a Map. 

Usually, I'm quite lazy at home. But when it comes to trips away, the thought of being ill-prepared terrifies me. If I don't already have a map, the minute I get there it's the first thing I study. Call me crazy, but I got a map a few weeks ago. Rather, I made one with the help of google maps and a printer. I like to have a list of things I want to visit before I go to a place. And with Paris, obviously this list is a vast and extensive index of museums, and gardens and other minor tourist spots. It's so effective if you just mark these spots straight onto a map. Not only is it easier to navigate but it's good to see exactly where everything is on a large scale.

Know key phrases, or just get yourself a guy who can just speak the language. 

I studied French in school, but does that mean I can speak it? Simply, no. I'm horrific. In comparison to the french that I frequently hear around me. I probably know more than I think I do, but I'm not prepared to test that out and immerse myself into a conversation with a Parisian. No way. I've got Patrick for that. Yes, I'm using him and yes, I might be a little lazy, but I can already feel the  forewarned embarrassment of my attempted french accent. I'm somewhere between Mr. Bean trying to speak french and Joey Tribbiani making an equally good attempt.

Stock up on some Chic Clothes. 

Or just as chic as you can do. In my case, not a lot. Luckily for me, colour blocking is in which is completely my taste. Solid coloured clothes have always appealed to me as I tend to veer away from delicate patterns. So I've invested in some comfortable and versatile outfits that can be dressed up with a pair of boots or down with a pair of trainers. Recently, I've gotten a real hankering for comfortable trousers and denim.

Save.

I swear my money just disappears. I can't remember what I've spent it on, but I know that I don't have it anymore. I'm feeling the pressure now. I'm terrified I won't be to partake in some of the things that I have planned. It does not help when the first thing people say upon hearing where you're going is and always will be, "oh Paris? You know its not cheap over there?". So just a smidgen of advice; have more money than you intend to spend, because having less gives me the sweats when I'm trying to organize things to do.



Watch the Da Vinci Code. 

There's not a lot to say about this one, It speaks for itself. Visually, nothing excites me more for this trip than this movie. When I heard we were going to Paris, the Church of Saint Sulpice was top of the list right away. I don't expect to see any murderous albino catholic monks or the sarcophagus of Mary Magdalene, just the film locations and scene-stills are enough to thrill me to the core.





For now, that's all I have. I'm already talking about Paris and I haven't even gone yet. My next post will definitely talk of everything that myself and Patrick got up to. And if I haven't thanked him enough, I'll say it here at least one more time. This trip will be all the more memorable because I'm going with him. I can't express how happy this trip has made me and will make me.

All my love,
Lauren

I love my friends and my boyfriend, and consequently they love me too.

Quite an intense heading to begin with but how and ever. I’m emphasizing all the my’s in the above title because lately I’ve been triggered, maybe prompted is a better word to use, to write a post like this. First of all, I, in no way, want to glorify any of what I’ve experienced. I know that in the past year, I haven’t had the best track record of what I’ve said about my friend’s relationships, but they’re my friends and to that extent I’m only saying what I’m saying because I care. But it tremendously annoys me, to the point of where I can’t speak about it without squinting my eyes and using vulgar language, for people to express how annoying it can be for other people to completely devote themselves to their partner.

I’ve heard and seen too many statuses and tweets and whatever else, to not convey my own opinion on the subject. Whether it’s a ‘can’t relate and don’t want to’ or girls being told to get over themselves because they like ‘boasting’ about their relationship. Note that I’ll be saying girls a lot rather than boys because the majority of this, well as much as I know of, is of girls. They’re not boasting and they’re definitely not trying to rub it in your face, it’s called pride, or more like self-satisfaction, that you’re able to spend your current time with someone that you experience to be amazing.

Which brings me onto the next thing that kills me to read. And it’s when people are accused of dropping their friends the minute they get a boyfriend/girlfriend.

I for one, never really took part in the fascination of the opposite sex when I was growing up. I was the last of my friends to ever kiss a boy. And when I did, the fuss and the attention that swarmed around me was enough to put me off for another while, anyway. I’m not saying any of this for consolation, I’m just offering some of a background to what I plan to say later. Through my years of secondary school, I was never sought after and the boys that I did like, I was way too anxious to even attempt to talk to them. During this time, I was surrounded by girls, some who are still my close friends, who were constantly in and out of relationships and talking about prospective boys and what not. And I sat there with all that I could offer which was simply a set of ears because I could never offer an opinion. This was so much the case, that some were reluctant to talk about anything, for lack of better word; intimate, with me because they thought that it would repel me. I was never ‘dropped’ by my friends. I’m talking about my close friends now. I was always introduced to their subsequent others. If I ever did feel slightly alone, I never really reacted in a vindictive way. Maybe I was dropped, I don’t know, I just was never bothered enough by it because it was something that I understood I didn’t have an opinion on.

During fifth year, I finally found a boy that I myself could advance with. That’s not to say that it was easy for me, we used to go two and three weeks without seeing each other and I’d cease up if any of my friends inquired about him. Upon starting a relationship with him,  I was blamed for dropping my friend/friends.  Before I go any further, this is not backlash at all. I’m not sneering or trying to be nasty by saying any of this. Now looking back on it, respectively, it probably seemed like I abandoned that person/persons. But for me, he was the most fascinating thing, and he still is. Maybe it was because I had never done this before with anyone, that I wanted to completely allot a huge part of me to him. But I think that if I was able to allow my friends space away from me so they could spend more time and energy with their partner, then surely, I should be granted that too. And not just me, but everyone.

That’s why I hate when people are accused of this. Undoubtedly, if someone is entirely engrossed in a person then they’re friends should understand. Envy is fine until it starts to turn hateful. And these indirect ‘if you drop your mates as soon as you get into a relationship, you’re stupid’ comments are only attempts at trying to belittle whoever they’re intended for. Just bloody be glad or at least supportive for your friend, who obviously means a deal to you, that they’ve found somebody that they want to give themselves completely up for.

Not going to say an abundance about how it’s just jealousy and that if you experienced the same happiness they are, you’d understand, because I don’t really care about those specifics that much. To me it’s on the opposite end of the spectrum. If you decide to think that someone has intentionally dropped you because they’ve picked up something better then that’s probably something deeper, in regard to the friendship you both have with one another. It’s hard to write a post like this without using names and continually saying ‘someone’ or ‘they’, but I’m trying my hardest.

I’ve seen so much of this recently and as someone who has felt completely alone while her friends have been in relationships. I would consider it common decency to offer them as much space as they wanted. Yes, I don’t want to be used, but I care enough to hang around and take what I can get regardless of the terms. If you want to be a part of someone's life, then don't use the excuse like; they're in a relationship now and they don't want me anymore, just continue making an effort and fathom, if you will, that starting a relationship with someone is an important thing. 

This post is probably offensive as much as it is relatable, but it’s my opinion and if I can say it to some people surely, I can write about it.

Just a few tweets, as evidence of what grinds my gears. 

No hard feelings I guess, you do you. Just offering my opinion, apologies to any conniptions this may cause. 

The Social Aspect of My First Year.

All day today I’ve been reading other people posts about their first year of college, and I can say that my first year of college has been a stark comparison. The majority of these posts have raved and rhapsodized about meeting new people and gaining independence and finding yourself etc etc.

Before college, while I was still in Secondary school, Art and English had been my favourite subjects so naturally I excelled in them more than any of my other classes, because I genuinely liked going to them. I always thought that I would start an Art portfolio, but when it came to the deadlines, I had nothing to show for. Myself and my sister have always been creative. However, when she left school, she started a course in graphic design. I don’t think she’ll mind me saying that she dropped out but she did in any case because it just wasn’t for her. She’s always been better than me in that artistic sense and so I was kind of turned off the idea because I assumed it would also happen to me. Whenever I told anyone that I was really interested in doing something art-related after the leaving cert, it was always followed by them asking “what do you mean?” or “yeah but what’ll you do if you graduate?”. I dropped the idea anyway, and started thinking about what else I could do. I considered science after a while, but then I realised that the only reason I liked the subject was because me and my friends never had a class where we didn’t laugh. 

Coming up to the CAO, 9 out of 10 of my options were English-based. Fortunately for me I was offered a course in DCU called Media Studies and English. I accepted, happily. On my choices list, I believe I listed it second. I think, I can’t really remember. 

So, I knew no one going into my course. And that scared the crap out of me because I don’t really try new things unless I’m forced to. You might think yeah well me being entirely alone, with hundreds of other people who are feeling identical to me, might force me to try and make friendships or whatever. It didn’t, I preferred to take the seat that was next to nobody. I always had the campus map in my bag, so I never had to ask anybody for directions. I literally had never been put in a place so full of bustle yet have absolutely nobody to talk to. I remember I saw so many girls from my secondary school, and I was ignored straight away. So, naturally for me, I ignored them too after a while. Luckily for me, two of my closest friends had also gotten courses in DCU. I remember during freshers week, I was constantly texting our groupchat wondering where they were and if they had free time. The one time I think we managed to meet up, Mary-Jane had brought two stragglers that she had befriended and I of course had just brought myself.

This kind of gave me motivation. I started trying to put myself out there. On a tour of the second campus that I would be studying at, I luckily made friends with a girl called Ellie. A girl who I have not stopped talking to, for that I’m thrilled. She is studying Media Studies and Irish or Gaeilge or whatever it is. In first year, I had like 2 classes with her every week. You will not believe how much of leech I was, I messaged her before we were to go to lectures to see where she was. Through her, I now have a few people that I could have easy conversations with, If I see them, because she’s friends with literally EVERYONE.

Onto the second person. Sammy, Sam, if he reads this he definitely won’t tell me because he’s super modest about how super cool he is. Someone up above obviously saw how pathetic I was, and said you know what Sam won’t look good in a court dress and a grey wig, no way, let’s put him in Media Studies and English. We vaguely knew each other. And one day the creep came and sat beside me and totally blew my whole ‘unsuspecting genius loner’ charade. He’s the light of my life and if I didn’t have him, I’d probably drop out.

And that’s about it for my first year. I never went out on college nights out. It takes me about an hour and a half to get home from college, so it’s a miracle if I don’t fall asleep on the bus. I think I did 17 hours a week, but that feels like a lifetime when you add like 3 hours of travelling onto every one of your days. 

However, dismal the post seems to be. I’m actually surprisingly happy with how my first year of college has been. I just thought I’d share my experience because I haven’t come across one like mine YET. The reactions I’ve gotten from family members are still snide but I’m grand and I like what I’m doing. I do however, intend to do more during my second year. Patrick’s also forcing me to do so because he thinks my being a ‘recluse’ isn’t healthy, although I think he’s just getting tired of me plaguing him. 

Ciao Adios 

An amazing start to the rest of my summer

When the results for DCU's first year exams came out, the solace that came with passing the majority of my exams was quickly outlived by that one resit that I was due to carry out in August. While my friends celebrated all of their passes, I was met with the fact that my summer still really hadn't begun. Whenever I went out, in the back of my mind there was always this niggling thought that I should be studying for that one exam. Before my resit came, I wondered if what happened to me was probably worse than doing the exam itself and failing, because I could've just went in and got it over with. During my exam week, I decided to treat myself to a spice bag to commemorate passing the halfway mark. I'm not sure if I had food poisoning or what but I wasn't able to leave my bedroom, let alone my house. Anyway coming up to this resit I got super anxious because I was afraid that I was expected to literally ace this exam after been given weeks and weeks to study. Not the case at all, I sat on my computer printing out pages and pages worth of answers for questions that weren't guaranteed to come up. Days before the exam, my brain literally started to shut down and so I figured that if I did anymore it would probably do more harm then help.

When it came to exam itself, it was completely the opposite of what I was expecting. Everyone else in there was in the same boat as me. There was no embarrassment. We all just wanted to get in there and finish what should've been done months ago. Honestly, I can say that resits are so much more relaxed than the actual exams themselves. Literally all of the apprehension and anxiety that I had conjured up waned as soon as I walked into the room. 

It appears my exam acted as some kind of defibrillator. I've attempted to do something with every day that I have because I've only got from now until the end of September,before college starts again, to pour four months of summer fun into one. And this week, notably this weekend, has been the perfect beginning to all that. 

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I was always afraid that when I left school I would fall out of touch with most if not all of my friends, not because I wanted it to happen or anything of the sort but I was just always given the impression that that's what happens when you go to college. I literally could not have been more wrong. Going to college and realizing how hard it was, for me, to make friends made me appreciate the ones I already had, all the more. 

Aoife Traynor has become one of my closest friends the past year and I think that the fact we only see each other every two or so weeks has made that happen. She is never in a dull mood and every moment spent with her has you peeing your pants and laughing your head off. One of the things I admire most about this friend is how level-headed she is. No matter what the circumstance, she's up for it. On Saturday evening, Myself, Aoife and my Boyfriend had one of the chillest, like most authentic, evenings in a long time. Aoife never acts like the 'third wheel', which is so important to me because myself and Patrick try our hardest to never do that. Everything with Aoife is genuine. 

On my list of people to spend a night drinking and eating wings with (in this case not wings because I was way too hungover for that), it's these two. 

Also If I haven't raved enough about how I love being able to spend time with my friend and my boyfriend at the SAME time, they both did equally as shit as each other in a best-friend v boyfriend quiz. Love. That. 

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I don't want to depreciate what I've said earlier, but I'm about to talk about one of the best days that I've had in a long time. 

On Sunday, the 13th of August, I spent the bulk of the day walking around The National Botanic Gardens, hand in hand, with my favorite person in the entire world. I'm always keen to visit the Gardens and I hadn't done it in maybe a year or more. So I decided that Patrick would be the victim that I drag out to Glasnevin, forced to walk through multiple glasshouses and rose gardens with me in tow. With a bag full of snacks and obviously the funniest and most witty girlfriend ever as company, I like to think that he enjoyed himself rather a lot. That's if you disregard the fact that he walked into a cactus and made it out to be the equivalent of a bullet wound. 

                                                                                                                                                                There's not a lot that I can say other than I walked around one of the most beautiful gardens with the most amazing person ever. I won't dote because that's annoying and I'm sure I told him that enough yesterday. Instead I'll more or less fill the rest of this post with dazzling photographs of Patrick and flora. A surprisingly marvelous duo. 

 

If you've come this far and looked at all of my photos then I should just thank you now and spare you the other hundred that I wanted to put up. 

Thank you so much for reading, until next time I guess 

Less of a recipe, more of a 'Listen to what I tried to do.. '.

It's the ninth of August and my summer has officially started. I finally sat my last exam today, and I could not be more at ease right now. In true style of 'Typical Lauren Celebration', I planned to spend my day in the city center, surrounded by the two loves of my life. Patrick, my boyfriend, and Yamamori's finest sushi. 

Anyway, my dream was crushed because I forgot to tell him my plans and he wanted to stay local when he came home from work. After a short squabble, which I won, he agreed to buy me a tonne of ingredients in the hopes that we could make some sushi a fraction as good as what we're used to. 

Before I delve into the process itself, making sushi is the stickiest operation I've ever attempted to do. Prepare yourself for matted hair, and the moaniest kitchen help ever because it's no easy task. It's messy and time consuming and I probably wont ever do it again. 

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A list of essential ingredients that you will probably not have lying around and will definitely have to buy; 

• 2 cups of sushi rice
• 3 cups of Water
• 1/4 cup of Rice Wine Vinegar (realistically you don't need the vinegar and the sushi seasoning, one or the other will work fine, just adjust the measurement to half a cup)
• 1/4 cup of Sushi Seasoning
• 1/4 cup of White Sugar 
• 1 tablespoon of Sunflower Oil (or vegetable oil)
• 1 teaspoon of Salt
• Sheets of Nori

When I go out for sushi, I'm a huge fan of Salmon and Cream cheese, Crayfish and Spicy Mayonnaise and Spicy Tuna and Kimchee norimaki. So here are just some ideas for the toppings you could use; 

• Salmon and Philadelphia Soft cheese
• Crab Meat and Avocado (because you cant make sushi without making California rolls)
• King Prawns with homemade spicy Mayonnaise and sticks of cucumber. 

I alternated a lot between all the ingredients, so no limitations. If for some reason it doesn't taste too good, you just have to drench the sushi in teriyaki or soy sauce. Problem solved. 

Some of the extras I used 

• Spicy Mayonnaise (Homemade - mix original mayonnaise with a touch of Tabasco and paprika OR a bit of Sriracha sauce)
• Pickled Ginger
• Kikkoman Soy sauce (best soy sauce in my opinion)
• Teriyaki sauce (store bought or just mix soy sauce, honey and vinegar if you're lazy like me)

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Getting on with it now..

1. Rinse your 2 cups of sushi rice in a sieve and do it really well. It's going to take a while but you have to keep rinsing until the water that comes off it, runs clear. 
2. In a reasonable sized saucepan, 2 cups of rice is enough for about 3 or 4 people, combine the 2 cups of sushi rice with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil then turn the heat as low as possible. Cover the pot and set a timer for 20 minutes.
3. While the rice is simmering away, you're going to have start making the solution that binds the rice together. In a small saucepan, mix a quarter cup of rice wine vinegar and a quarter cup of sushi seasoning ( or if you prefer a half a cup of just either one). Add a quarter cup of sugar, one tablespoon of sunflower oil or vegetable oil and a teaspoon of salt. Put all this over a medium heat and stir gently until the sugar dissolves. When this happens, take it off the heat and leave to cool slightly. 
4. By the time you've done all this, your sushi rice should be just about done. Pour your solution into the cooked sushi rice. At first it's going to look super wet and gloopy, but keep mixing and gradually it should dry up as it cools. 

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From here on out, it's really up to yourself. One thing I will say though. I didn't have a bamboo rolling mat. If you fold a tea towel into four, and wrap cling film around it, it works just fine. When you're rolling your sushi, you want to face your nori shiny side down on the cling film. Apply a thin layer to the sheet of nori, as thin as you possibly can, just make sure you can't see the nori through the rice. Leave a 2 cm gap of nori free of rice on the far edge of the sheet. Apply your fish and veg to the edge closest to you. I can't really tell you how to roll, it'd say a lot of people are disparate. All I can say is that it helps if you make the first roll with a blunt knife and your good 'ol fingers I guess. Your makeshift bamboo mat does the rest of the work, roll the sushi as tight as possible to create a good roll, visible when you cut it later. When you get to the section of nori with no rice on it, just wet the back of a spoon and run it across the seaweed. When you roll your barrel of sushi over this, it should stick and secure the entire roll. 

Overall, the procedure of making this not so attractive sushi took up a a good chunk of my day and I did have fun, so evidently it was a success. I ate so much that I felt physically ill, which always means that you just enjoyed yourself too much. I gobbled my sushi up with a G & T, my bf and The Princess Diaries. 

So I wont make it again and I'll appreciate the chefs in Yamamori so much more, but it let me write up this second post and that makes me happy. 

Talk soon,
Lauren 

Hey guys, this is Lauren! Lauren, this is ...

*Trying to think how brief a brief introduction should be.*

My name is Lauren Greene, I'm 19 years old and I was born with my hand temporarily stuck to my head on the 15th of October, 1997. I'm currently living in Dublin's fair city in Ireland. 

I study Media Studies and English in Dublin City University. So understandably I have a keen interest in writing, in this case via the media phenomenon of 'Blogs'.

I have a computer and a camera, and enough friends that I can actually go out and experience things. So evidently I think I have enough of a life to start documenting it. 

I've tried to do this several times, but it's just resulted in the deletion of every single post that I've, well, posted. This time around, I'm determined to make it a habit. This is me indirectly saying that I'm not used to posting my thoughts and experiences, regardless of what they are, so, be patient yeah. 

Saying that now, I could be fooling myself. I have an exam tomorrow that I'm supposed to be studying for and this whole thing could just be a humongous horrible manifestation of, yeah you got it, procrastination. Hey look I'm a poet and I didn't even know it. Which is exactly what I have tomorrow. 

Anyway, this is it for now. I hope to hell Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman do me a solid in the morning. 

Thanks for reading.

Lauren