bookshoplaura

(Photo courtesy of Hailey K Stuart)  This Saturday just gone I found myself bravely heading out into the night on my own without the crutch of alcohol to steady my nerves. I was dressed in what can only be described as 70ish clothes. A patterned top and unflattering somewhat flared jeans with wedges that were hidden under the jeans and a fringed bag. I was on my way to the fourth Songs From the Parlour event which was 70s themed so I was not just dressing up for the fun of it but I had not pulled off the look with the same easy glamour that most women seem to. I had arranged to meet at least one of the women from Girlcrew in a bar beforehand but I was so unsure of who was actually going that I almost talked myself out of it several times before deciding to go and then rushing to get my very disobedient hair into flicking out and staying there. I just arrived at the bar on time feeling very self conscious and wishing I was ordering something more soothing than water. I was waiting

Anyone who knows me will know me as a reader and if you don't then the book tucked into my handbag and my excitement upon entering a bookshop should give me away. As with any avid reader my lust for books ebbs and flows depending on what else is going on with my life. My high point reading wise was during my time in the book shop when I had free reign over hundreds of books as they came in to the store and I read voraciously during that time. It has fallen off a little since I left because indulging my reading habit to the fullest extent would probably leave me unable to pay my rent. I also have the mitigating factors of my high stress job where I work many hours often leaving me too tired or marshmallowey brained to delve into a book of any worth, In the last few months my reading habits have changed a little. I am working my way back up to my usual speed of reading and slowly picking up the quality again after a few months of low brow crime and shamelessly bad chick lit. T

My boyfriend and I introduced a date night a few weeks back. I work crazy hours and my boyfriend has events almost every other weekend so we don't see a lot of each other and apparently watching me go to bed early is not considered a real activity. So we decided to have one night midweek as a date night, usually Wednesday and on that night we do something together like a normal couple. So far we have been out for food once but mostly we go to the cinema which is hardly terribly exciting but I've enjoyed the films we've seen and its nice to deliberately spend time together. Tonight after much debate we decided to go to Burzza. I was really in the mood for pizza and I knew they had a gluten free option. Initially we were planning to come straight home after and watch a movie together. We sauntered into Burzza at just after 7 and I had thought it being only Thursday that we would get a table no issue but the place was buzzing so we were lucky to get one.  We were atte

I should start by saying I don't live a particularly glamorous life, I just couldnt think of a better title. On Thursday night just gone my boyfriend and I headed to Wexford town for the premiere of the movie Staid. All I knew heading down is that several musicians we knew were on the soundtrack and I should probably dress up. Naturally I panicked and ended up in this floral number that was more cute than anything and looked like a child playing dress up. Seeing as I'm nearing my 34th birthday I should probably abandon any hope that I might get the hang of dolling myself up. We didn't account for the traffic crawling into New Ross as we joined the masses making their way home so we ended up in Wexford with only moments to spare. This is when I realised a crucial fact, I don't know how's to navigate my way around Wexford town at all which left us at the mercy of Google maps to direct us to the Opera house. It got us there through a maze of one way streets with no