Wise Wednesday Words.

We made it to Ireland! There's something about the air here that's really good at blowing out the cobwebs and I'm looking forward to the next few days before getting back on the work wagon next Monday.

But before I wish the week away, here are a few wise words to brighten up your Wednesday.

Have a great day!

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Northern Ireland To-Dos.

Hello, I'm Ruth and I'm a perpetual list-maker.
Our visit to Ireland this time round is definitely designed to be a decompress and de-stress kind of trip but the planner in me does have a few things I'd like to do while we're there.

Things have settled down a lot now Moon's dad is based there more permanently and we'll be heading over that way more often as time goes on but I think because it's by the seaside, I'm always going to see it as a holiday and holidays always call for making a few plans.

I'm really looking forward to this trip as we'll be going it alone for a couple of days beforehand and it marks my last proper holiday until Christmas (I should think) before I start my new job.

Do you have any County Antrim travel tips that you'd be willing to share?
You can check out posts from my previous trips :: here.

:: Have you entered my giveaway to win tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show on the 20th September? ::

My Summer Reads

This summer was when I came out of my reading slump. At the beginning of the year I finally started reading books for pleasure again rather than because I had to, looking at Photography books is wonderful and researching subjects that interested me for my dissertation was fun too but since then, my main reading material has really been online.

Every time I used to read something would wind up distracting me, I'd end up watching TV or back on my computer, it's not something I'm proud of and I'm not saying reading books is better or worse than either of those things but given that it's actually something I like, it was a bit stupid that I'd denied myself something like that for so long.

A few of the blogs I regularly read, like Becky Bedbug and Vivatramp post book reviews quite often, and this kind of daunted me when it came to sharing this post with you. I wouldn't say I'm a slow reader but sometimes these girls are reading a whole book a week, A WHOLE BOOK, at a normal pace it takes me at least a month.

Maybe I've not quite found 'the one' since jumping back on the horse but here are the 4 reads I've managed to squeeze in since the end of June.


Ready Player One by Ernest Cline –

I put off finishing this book for such a long time but once it gets to the middle of part two, it gets really good and really intense. Ready Player One is set in a future where almost nothing takes place in the real world any more, people work, play and are even educated using a MMORPG called, Oasis. The creator of Oasis passes away and sets up challenges within the online world for users to complete in order to win his multimillion dollar fortune.

The comparison of how good someone's life can be online compared to how terrible everything can go in the real world was an aspect that I quite liked. There's lots of commentary on how far technology could go and how damaging it could be to have your life online but on top of that it was just a good teen novel with plenty of thrills.

Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk –

This was my holiday-read and the first book I've managed to read in under a week in the longest time. If you've heard of or read it, you'll know why I got a few raised eyebrows when my friends read it over my shoulder. It's kind of messed up, I'm not sure what I was expecting as it was the first Palahniuk book but I wanted something gritty and it definitely delivered.

Exploring so many grotesque themes, it was a little more adult that I was expecting too and it does escalate very quickly but it's also full of dark humour and social commentary (which apparently, I like). Set along a main narrative with short stories in between, I did actually quite enjoy it but felt the ending let it down because it just seemed like such a shrug after all the intense situations that the characters had been through together and shared with each other.

The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson –

This actually got Moon into reading more again and he banged on and on about it for the longest time before I finally caved. I can definitely see why he liked it and I actually found it really funny. It does get a bit preachy when it comes to the media showcasing 'the right kind of madness' and exploiting people on television but it's quite fun once you're around halfway through and going about trying to spot psychopaths in your day-to-day life.

I don't usually read non-fiction books for pleasure but this was really easy to get through - I even passed it on to a few people at work. I guess I really learnt that 'psychopath' is used so much in the wrong context in the everyday and you don't have to be a criminal to be one, which is the creepiest thing.

The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson –

I read quite a few reviews of this before picking it up and the cover intrigued me for ages. As a Swedish translation, it's a little dry in places but the story of adventure flows well.
I found there were a few historical references that I (shamefully) had to look up later but I really liked this fun story even if took me a little longer than I'd like to fully commit to it.

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I felt it was right that I share my little accomplishment with you and figured it would be a good way to motivate myself to get back to reading more again, there are some great books coming out in the next couple of months too.

:: Have you entered my giveaway to win tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show on the 20th September? ::

Smiling on Sunday :: Five.

[source]
This week has been one that's been full of second-hand stress but also excitement at the prospect of new beginnings and an(other) upcoming mini-break.

I'm not sure I know how to feel about finishing up my first proper grown-up job knowing that it's something that I wanted for such a long time. I'm really grateful for the opportunities they gave me and for the people I've met who have become friends. While I do feel sad about the state that it's in and leaving, I know it's the right time for me and it marks the beginning of something different.

I think it has been kind of difficult to find things to smile about this week because I've spent so much time feeling generally stressed and annoyed but there's something to be said about finding the good in bad situations.

IRL:

• Making plans for Northern Ireland - It's been pretty fun to pick and choose where we're going for our upcoming trip, naturally Pinterest has been a great help. I'm especially excited about a proper day in Belfast, as well as getting to spend some more time with some of Moon's extended family and maybe even go on my first ever fishing trip!
• Moving on to pastures new - As I said above, overall I'm not sure how to feel about it but I feel very excited about the progress that it all symbolises, maybe this time next year I'll be a real grown up
• Visits from friends - Even though we didn't manage to get even close to getting the whole 'gang' together last weekend, I do feel pretty blessed to have the friends that I do. As a self-confessed actual moody cat, I sometimes feel amazed that I've been able to maintain these friendships. It probably has a lot to do with what a great guy Moon is but I'm quite thankful for that too so...

Must-Try Recipes:

• Mexican Street Corn Croquettes - This is one I'm going to force myself to make before the day is done. I've been a bit obsessed with corn since my birthday dinner at La Bodega Negra and have wanted to try corn fritters for ages. This is the most hassle-free recipe I've found, does look like I'll be sourcing some panko breadcrumbs today though
• Blackberry Pie Bars - September is blackberry season and while I've not managed to find any brambles yet, you can bet I'm on the look out. Picking fruit is all well and good but foraging is all the more fun if you have a neat recipe to back it up
• Melty Ham, Brie and Peach Toastie - There aren't many words I can find for this one and I know it's not really a recipe but if you can ever go wrong with anything related to melted cheese I'd like to hear about it

Lovely Links:

• Clare's post about losing weight was a pretty brave one and I really feel for her both generally and because I had a similar kind of healthy-living epiphany at the beginning of the year
• Bee from Vivatramp's How to Get Out of a Reading Slump tips were really good. Having got back into the reading swing of things over the summer, it's nice to see that there are other people out there who slack in the book department sometimes too. After reading academically (yes, we do that on Photography degrees too) for such a long time up until I went away to Portugal it had been such a long while since I'd read book after book like I used to. Admittedly I put off reading my last book for quite some time but I'm hoping to be on to the next one once we're on the plane to Ireland
• How wonderful is Film4's re-brand? I must admit that I do skip over Film4 as a channel a bit because... well, films with adverts doesn't appeal but as a full-time film appreciator, their upcoming 16 shorts are really intriguing. Not only do they look stunning, they'll be full of cinematic references and the photo-nerd in me almost can't handle the fact they'll mostly be edited in-camera - can't wait!
• Emily Blincoe was featured on Mashable this week. I have followed her Instagram for a while now, I think I found her through one of The Dainty Squid's Friday Favourites posts, but I thought it was about time I shared her with you. Her work is just so satisfying to look at, I hear she's working with brands like Target now too which is so awesome
  

:: Have you entered my giveaway to win tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show on the 20th September? ::

Me and My Cousins (and You and Your Cousins).

Just a couple of pictures today of my sister and I with two of our girl cousins taken at my sister's 'leaving for Hong Kong' party last month.

I like to think that I'm quite lucky when it comes to family, although now we're now mostly grown and don't see each other that often when we come together it's just as good as catching up with old friends and I really love that. ♥

I know I'll probably get a serious Face-Time from my sister when she sees this complaining about her serious footwear problem, but oh well...

:: Have you entered my giveaway to win tickets to the Royal Berkshire County Show on the 20th September? ::