bookshoplaura

As part of my ongoing campaign to be less hermitty I agreed to go to a charity fashion show with a friend. With all the rain and the miserable sort of feeling it brings I was feeling the very pressing need to get out of my apartment. I am not great about giving to charity in general but then again when you're trying to figure out how you're going to magic up some money for your ESB bill then somehow being charitable seems less important especially when  the streets of Waterford are littered with charity muggers looking to take up much of your valuable time and money for a small bit of commission. Honestly, if I was in a position to give money regularly to charity the thought of giving it to people who get a portion of my charitable donation just annoys me. Seeing as I don't have cash to spare it's a bit of a moot point but I do occasionally get annoyed thinking about it. Sometimes I am not the most rational of individuals. When I was in college, studying social care...

Tonight My internet got fixed and I was so pleased I almost kissed the UPC man, almost. Its an important distinction. I haven't had proper internet since Saturday evening ( well if you don't count the week at home using only 3G, like some sort of heathen. ) and I wasn't enjoying it even a little bit. It doesn't help matters that my apartment appears to be some sort of black spot where mobile towers can barely reach and I am treated to occasional 3G in parts of the apartment and sporadic phone reception so when my wifi goes down I get a lot done. Now I was really missing the internet, possibly feeling a little frustrated about the things I was making do without like the websites I couldn't access, updating my blog from my phone (the sheer inconvenience of it), finding out on facebook who won the crossfit games instead of streaming the live footage at a ridiculous hour with my delightful 25mb broadband, the tv shows I usually downloaded being put on hold. You get ...

I am without question one of the least sporty people you will ever meet, most likely to be heard muttering there's a match on? What sport are we talking about whenever someone is discussing the all Ireland final of whatever. I believe it was something involving a ball but I'm just guessing here. Now I would be lying if I said that crossfit had changed all that for me because I still tune out whenever some starts talking sport but as the crossfit games roll round I find myself taking a vested interest in a way that I never have before. Last year I had been crossfitting just over a year and I remember being vaguely aware that the games were on but couldn't have named an athlete competing if pushed. In the 12 months since then things have changed. Last summer I got a new job With more flexible hours and suddenly I was free to go home during the week and do more crossfit classes than ever before and the more I do the greater my enthusiasm for it. somehow I found myself e...

So tomorrow one of my nieces turns five and being the terribly unprepared aunt that I am, I was waiting until I got paid today to buy her present. Normally I'd try and get most of it in work partially because of the discount and as someone who is perpetually broke, it helps. But also because it's a lot less hassle that way, I already work in the children's section so I can be carefully making my selections while I work. Due to some bad planning on my part and my week off work, I was far too broke to make this happen so this is why I found myself driving up to World of wonder, the nearest aptly named mega toy store. Naming it just a toy store seems almost like a misnomer as it's not a toy shop as I remember them but this giant warehouse with stacks and stacks of toys towering above you in every aisle. Having had the dubious pleasure of panicked present buying here before I feel qualified to say that a large percentage of what they are selling is total and utter rubbi...

Okay admittedly I was already a convert to the wonderful ways of coconut oil but I found a blog post today that gave me loads more uses for it. I had recently bought a new jar because I had found out it had spf properties and at €5.99 for a big container of it I thought I couldn't go wrong. Sadly the sun did a runner shortly after this purchase so I didn't get much of a chance to try it out but I have since discovered it only has an spf of 4 which is pretty low so it's probably for the best. Luckily I stumbled across this blog and now have a million more uses for it so it won't be going to waste. Now many people have never used coconut oil and a lot more aren't even aware of it's existence but you folks are missing out because it's like the new super food except it can be used for so many other things too. The main reason everyone raves about coconut oil is that the saturated fats in it comes from medium chain triglycerides. These shorter fat chains are ...

As someone who has lived alone for about 8 months, the idea of a night home alone shouldn't really bother me. For the most part it doesn't. I'm used to my apartment and the surrounding noises; the doors slamming, the neighbors shouting, the dogs barking and none of it bothers me too much anymore but this is different. I've decided to spend a few days of my week off down in my parents house. I can go to the gym, I can see my nieces and just generally relax. My parents however are also on holidays this week in Kerry so until the weekend I am down here by myself and honestly I've only been here two hours and it's a little spooky, So my parents live on the outskirts of town but their house is up a dark slip road so we don't get street lights or much traffic up here and they have a reasonable sized garden so you can barely see, never mind hear the neighbors. The house is a lot bigger than my apartment and a lot older too. You know what the worst thing about...

I'm often chastised for not really knowing what's going on in the world. You know that one news story everyone is talking about, that scandal or murder that's in all the papers, yes well I haven't seen it. When everyone is sitting around discussing the details I am looking on blankly trying to work out what I've missed. Many people will say it's impossible to miss the really big stories because if you don't read  newspapers then there's TV and radio but I live in a news less bubble. I tried reading the Irish times in my first year of college. Our social studies lecturer suggested we read at least one paper a week but oh it was so boring and depressing that it pained me to even skim over the articles. I like to read, no actually I love to read but I want to lose myself in someone  else's world and not get bogged down in the details of the miserable world we live in. So on break in work everyone else has picked up a paper and I'm making my wa...

It seems nowadays that every time I pick up a magazine or a book there are frequent mentions of the landmark lists people are looking to tick off before a deadline. Things to do before you die or things to do before you turn 30 or whichever comes sooner. I don't have such a list. Honestly, I'm not sure that if I'd written one that I'd have gone ahead and done anything on it with any sort of haste so perhaps if I had a things to do before I was 30 list hidden in a drawer it would just be a testament to my own bitter regrets, not that I'm bitter per se. All I have is a vague list of things I'd like to do and haven't done and even though I'm not yet dead yet I'm not sure that I ever will. I don't mean that to sound grim because it's really not supposed to but I have become so accustomed to my finances dictating almost all my decisions that it's hard to imagine a time where I might have more money at my disposal and this list of hopes and...

Today down by the beach I watched my 4 yr old niece make some new friends by standing by a group of kids in her swimsuit while casually playing her recorder badly. Five minutes later they were all playing together. I can't help thinking that life would be a lot easier for me if I only possessed that same easy confidence now. Mind you if I was to don a bikini and casually play a recorder whilst leaning on a nearby pole I very much doubt people would be asking me to come hang out. It would be like a scene out of anchorman except the laughter wouldn't be the good kind. I find there's a sort of awkwardness to meeting new people when you're wondering what to say and what to hold back on. And if you're like me you'll get nervous and make an inappropriate joke that not everyone will laugh at. Time has erased that self belief and the assumption that people will like me. As adulthood dawned I came to realize that not everyone is going to like me and it won...

I'm not even sure that I made any new years resolutions prior to the new year. I may have made some vague plans and had notions of changing my life or my lifestyle but I didn't follow through. I think that's the thing with new years resolutions though, no one actually keeps them so we enter into this contract with ourselves knowing that in all likelihood it will be broken and this allows us the freedom to be as ambitious as we'd like.  Now I know it's a bit late in the year to be adding things to my list especially given that I'm not quite certain there ever was a list to begin with but I won't let that stop me. I realized recently that I have become so introverted that if it wasn't for work I'd be in danger of becoming a hermit. I leave work feeling tired and hungry and usually curl up on my couch reading or on my laptop until I cook dinner and then spend the rest of the evening in my own little bubble reading or catching up on shows I've do...

This week I wont be making it to the gym as I'm using my days off to go to Dublin. My dislike for going to Dublin has gotten so bad that Its been a whole year since the last time I went to stay with my sister. Now the downside of this aside from the three hour bus journey I have awaiting me is that to avoid turning into a giant lump over the next week I actually have to motivate myself out of bed and into completing a full workout at least a few days a week. I want to get fitter and skinnier, I really do but when it comes down to it, sometimes I want to lie on my couch eating an entire jar of almond butter more. I find I go to bed with the best of intentions. A reasonable workout is written out where I'll see it first thing and my workout clothes are already laid out, my water bottle is full and my kettle-bells are waiting but then my alarm goes off and I wake crankily (is there any other way?) and find myself debating resetting the alarm and just curling up under my duvet ...

Perhaps it's an over exaggeration to refer to it as a season, after all with my work schedule it's more like two days of the summer where my pasty skin braves a bikini. Then again the world and their cat is out there lapping up the sun so just because I'm a little late to get in on the act it doesn't mean there's not a veritable army of women braving the beach to perfect their tan lines.  I only bought my first bikini of the summer mere days ago because last years were too big and have long been disposed of and I suppose without the luxury of a garden to lie about in it's not as though I'll be wearing my bikini in the park. As a side bar I do remember a friend of mine telling me about seeing a girl sunbathing in the local park a few years back and the girl was wearing one of those string bikinis that has strings at the sides holding up the bottoms and and strings holding the top together. Anyway two of her friends thought they were being hilarious and pu...

Don't get me wrong, this mini heatwave is great. I can't get enough of the good weather and I'm out in the sun as much as work will allow me but there are some aspects to it that I could happily do without. Take last night for example I was in the park in the evening with some friends, delighting in the fact that I only needed a light cardigan and I wasn't even cold, yes it doesn't take much for an Irish girl to get  Excited when it comes to Anything vaguely summery. I do remember complaining about the midges, it's just the sort of weather that attracts them. But when I woke this morning I realized the midges were more than a vague annoyance because it would seem as far as midges are concerned, I am absolutely delicious ( like catnip for midges or midge nip if you will ) and I would be flattered ( sure it's nice to be liked) if not for the fact that I am covered in angry red bites and now have a lovely chemical aroma thanks to the cream I have lovi...

I think everyone is familiar with the saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions as its trotted out anytime someone mutters something about only having good intentions. Funnily enough people generally protest this when something goes terribly wrong even though they meant well. I don't quite think I'm on the road to hell , well not yet anyway but sometimes I feel my ambitions exceed the capacities of my will power.  I have great plans in terms of my diet and overall fitness, amazing plans, a whole bucket full of things that will improve how I look and feel in a multitude of ways. Unfortunately where I excel is making lists and not so much on following through on my great plans. So I'm back to day two of trying to eat clean. so far so good but it's not even lunch time yet so probably best to hold off on polishing my trophy just yet. Last week I went on a bit of fitness blitz and I was doing small workouts plus running and walking a lot but I was also eati...

I'm a bit like a magpie in my affinity for shiny things but I'm not drawn to sparkly jewelry  considering my inability to keep a pair of earrings from Top-shop  I wouldn't trust myself with anything of real value. I'm not really a fan of shimmery clothes although I did pass by a pair of intriguing looking hot pink shiny trousers this evening in Tkmaxx and when I say intriguing let's just be clear on the fact that I really mean awful but briefly considered trying them on so I could get a hilarious photo but then immediately dismissed this as it was far too much work for a joke. I did however come home with a new face highlighter. Just what I needed or didn't need but really sort of wanted and these are the shiny things that are my downfall. Technically I think a face highlighter loses much of it's effect when you highlight half your face but I've occasionally gotten carried away when distracted by the allure of all that shimmers. I think it begs t...

It's getting to that point in the sunny weather epidemic where people have started to complain it's too hot , what a miserable response to the best summer we've gotten in years. Now I will admit it's getting a little stickier and sweatier than I am comfortable with but I hope the sun keeps on shining and dream somewhat naively of an actual summer. When you're like me and too broke to be taking a sun holiday anytime soon the promise of good weather is all you to hold on to. Tomorrow I'm back to work but I really made sure to lap up the sun on my day and a half off. Trying to take it all in plus a little extra to keep me from cracking up entirely in the sunless corner that is the children's section of the bookstore.  Yesterday I sat outside in the sweltering heat attempting to read my book and feeling as though I was actually melting but in a good way, sort of.  And then I berated myself for my chocolate eating ways and made myself go to the gym...

So I've been running or trying to run. There's no point in getting excited about it because the novelty of running will probably have worn off by the time I've finished writing this blog post. There's exactly two things I like about running. One It allows me to let off steam and two when I go for a run I usually take a circular route so I have to keep going until I get home which makes it a lot harder to just give up and retire to my couch. On the other hand the list of things I don't like about running is much longer so here goes. 1. I am terrible at running. yes it's a thing and it's a valid reason to not like it. I like things I am good at. These are the types of things I persevere with and running is not one of those things for me. Allegedly if I keep it up I will eventually get better but I've yet to see any evidence of that on the few occasions I've tried it. Perhaps the problem is that I run for a few days and then give it up only to redis...

After admitting I had a problem with, ahem, calorie counting, I quit but it turns out that wasn't working for me either. I started eating way too many calories and lo and behold my weight started creeping upwards. The real issue is my relationship with food is pretty damn dysfunctional and people who are not even a little bit weird around food confound me somewhat. So One week in I'm back calorie counting and generally feeling better about my diet which is all well and good until hormonal Laura pops by. Ever since I can remember I've readily used that one week a month as free for all on chocolate. As though the calories don't count except they do. So now not only I was I very bad today but I have an exact number to put on my badness, the calories consumed, the sugar digested. If I were a rational human being I'd have probably chalked it up to a bad day and said better luck tomorrow because stumbling isn't quite the same as falling. Instead I used my gluttony...

My hair had started to reach the stage where it was closely resembling a mop. It was hanging limply from my head in a most unattractive fashion and no matter what I did with the rest of my face I couldn't seem to detract from this. Now I used to go to a regular hair salon where you made an appointment in advance with a stylist of your choice but when your hair is looking like such a sad sack there really isn't time to wait until someone is available to cut it. This is one of the main reasons my hair gets cut in the only salon that provides a walk in service. So when I have the overwhelming urge to tackle it myself with a scissors I can just hot foot it to the hairdressers and allow a professional to take over before disaster strikes. Anyone who has seen the childhood photo of me with a triangle missing from my fringe knows what I am capable of. I know better than to judge a hairdresser by her hair. Even if her hair is really terrible, like washed out pink with pale blue e...

You know when you meet someone and instantly click with them, like they get your sense of humor and say all the inappropriate things you've been thinking (while privately chuckling away to yourself and thinking no, it's best if I don't actually say that out loud). Well say if it wasn't a person you met as such but a someecard you read, like a really good one that makes you think damn that's funny and it's led me to believe that me and the writers of someecards should be friends.  Like an single, childless adult woman who's avoiding examining her life (in case it brings the onset of severe depression ) I spend a lot of my free time distracting myself. Reading and watching tv shows and a whole lot of scrolling the humor feed on pinterest. Not quite sure if there's a productive way to use pinterest but I generally use it to look at funny photos and save the best ones for sharing on facebook (or with my close friends depending on how inappropriate they a...

This is something I should get printed and stick somewhere in my apartment so  I remember not to be an idiot. Some women know how to act around men, they have their act together but sadly for me I do not fall into that category. I seem to either not be I interested in someone at all ( like right now. Stupid Waterford and its lack of attractive men ) or I like someone and it turns me into a bit of a loon ( but not in a bunny boiler sort of way)  When I'm not busy with other things I do spend a small amount of time bemoaning the fact that I never meet any nice men ( hardly surprising given the state of my social life. Apparently it helps if you actually go out) but its like I'm conveniently choosing to forget that liking someone is fraught with its own problems. first there's the wondering if the guy Is interested and I suck at working that out. Wouldn't life be a lot easier if people would just come out and tell you directly when they are interested. It...