// google work experience

Transition Year's the year to be experiencing more, trying out new things, growing up. If you've been reading our blog for awhile you'd know that I did work experience from observing how a dentist works to working at veterinary hospital to working at one of the busiest hospitals in Ireland, but this week I was given an opportunity to work at one of the biggest tech company in the world, Google. I was so lucky that I was given a chance to do work experience at the Google Headquarters in Dublin for a week. 

When I went for the first time, I was honestly shitting myself, like literally shitting myself. I was so afraid that I wouldn't be able to make friends but it turns out everyone's just so open and friendly. I was so happy that I actually made 40 new friends! 40! Ha! Everything about google was honestly amazing! The architecture, the food. Oh don't even get me started on the food! I think I probably gained the "google stone" (everyone who just recently got hired to google gains a stone because of the free food!) The food was all for free and they're all so good! 

We got a tour of the Google Campus which was absolutely outstanding! There's 3 buildings in the Google Campus and each floor had different themes so you won't really get tired of seeing the same environment everyday. You can tell that Google invests on making everything look pretty and aesthetically pleasing.

Did I also say that they have outdoor swings! I honestly just fell in love with google when I saw the swings. In Google, everybody's just so chill and casual. I just love it so much!

Here's a few pictures I took throughout the week with my fellow "nooglers" (new Googlers). I didn't want to flood you guys with my pictures so here's a few that I really liked.  So if any of you guys get the opportunity to do work experience at Google, don't give it up like I was planning to do before. I swear to god you won't regret a single bit of it! 

You're probably wondering where Isha and I have been. How come we're not posting that often. I am apologizing for not posting, I'm not going to reason with you guys because I just don't have a good reason. Isha's been busy with studying as her Leaving Cert is just around the corner. I on the other hand have no good reason. I've been feeling like I am not creative enough and I was feeling uninspired to write a blog post. But I am going to be trying to post every. (No promises! Haha). 

Hope everyone's having a wonderful week, let me know in the comments below what you've been up to. Thanks for reading. :) <3

// book review + discussion: fans of the impossible life by kate scelsa

Title: Fans of the Impossible Life

Author: Kate Scelsa

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Book

Format: Paperback, 336 pages

Goodreads // Amazon // Book Depository 

Synopsis: 

This is the story of a girl, her gay best friend, and the boy in love with both of them.

Ten months after her recurring depression landed her in the hospital, Mira is starting over as a new student at Saint Francis Prep. She promised her parents she would at least try to act like a normal, functioning human this time around, not a girl who sometimes can’t get out of bed for days on end, who only feels awake when she’s with Sebby. 

Jeremy is the painfully shy art nerd at Saint Francis who’s been in self-imposed isolation after an incident that ruined his last year of school. When he sees Sebby for the first time across the school lawn it’s as if he’s been expecting this blond, lanky boy with a mischievous glint in his eye.  

Sebby, Mira’s gay best friend, is a boy who seems to carry sunlight around with him like a backlit halo. Even as life in his foster home starts to take its toll, Sebby and Mira together craft a world of magic rituals and secret road trips, designed to fix the broken parts of their lives. 

As Jeremy finds himself drawn into Sebby and Mira’s world, he begins to understand the secrets that they hide in order to protect themselves, to keep each other safe from those who don’t understand their quest to live for the impossible.

A captivating and profound debut novel, "Fans of the Impossible Life" is a story about complicated love and the friendships that change you forever.

Review:

Special thanks to Department 51 for giving me a copy of this book. Warning: This review contains spoilers!

To be honest, I haven't even heard of this until Isha told me about it. I didn't research this book, so I didn't know what to expect. I only read the synopsis at the back of the book. I wasn't expecting to like this books as much as I like this book now. I was expecting it to be a romantic book and even a love triangle between Sebby, Mira and Jeremy. All my expectations were proven wrong. It was not a bisexual love triangle nor a book about romance. It's a book about misfits/broken people trying to keep it together and clinging to each other for hope. I have to say this book is one of the most splendid and most diverse book I have ever come to read about.

Fans of the Impossible Life is told from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspectives. I haven't read any book that is told from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person perspective and I didn't think that this was possible but Kate Scelsa made it possible. This was something that made the book more interesting in my opinion. I loved how we got to really got to know the main characters and their thoughts.

This book touches on depression, low self-esteem, drugs, alcohol and many other themes that are very important to us. Each character has their own story that will keep you wanting more. I honestly hold each and every one of them dear to my heart. They are teenagers still trying to discover their place on earth, which a lot of people can relate to. The chemistry between them was great and it was another thing that made me love them more. 

As I was nearing the end of the book, I swear I thought that their friendship would be destroyed. I thought that was the end for all of them. What I loved most about this book is how it wasn't predictable at all. For once in my life, I predicted something wrong. Am I the only one who liked the open ending? I don't know, I feel like it is now up to me to think of how I want to end the book. 

All in all, I absolutely love this book and I recommend that you go to your nearest bookstore or amazon and buy this super duper amazing book if you haven't read it. Let me know in the comments below if you've read the book and if you agree with me or not. Thank you for reading! :) <3

// ootd: turtle neck and highwaisted jeans

What's up guys? I know we haven't posted in awhile. I've been busy this month, to trying to balance school with my social life to doing work experience at one of the biggest hospitals in Ireland. And I wasn't feeling inspired to write or publish any posts. 

As I was doing work experience at a hospital, I had to dress appropriately and classy or at least I think is classy. I was wearing this during one of the days. I was following a gastroenterology team when they were doing ward rounds and I was grateful that I wore this during that day, not only was I fashionable, I was really comfortable as well. 

 Turtle Neck- Bershka

Jeans- Forever 21

Boots- New Look

Coat- Forever 21

Scarf- Burberry

Sunnies- Sunnies

// my monthly music playlist: january

I was brainstorming the other day, and I got this cool idea to share my monthly playlist with you guys! I like knowing what other people have been listening to so I was like why not. Here are the songs that I've been playing on repeat for the month of January!  

1. PILLOWTALK by Zayn

 I didn't know what to feel when I first heard it, but I decided to give it another chance and I haven't stopped listening to it ever since. I even got Isha to listen to it and now she's in love with it. 

2. Weak When Ur Around (Acoustic) by Blackbear

Discovering Blackbear is one of life's treasures for Isha and I. We're both immensely in love with all of his music (as you see, he appears particularly a lot in our playlist for this month). Who doesn't love a guy who knows his way with songs tbh? 

3. Disappointed by Julius

OMG, THIS SONG. I was on the dart, on my way home when I first heard this song. Instead of actually being disappointed, I felt good haha. 

4. Slide Thru by Blackbear

5. Valley Girls by Blackbear 

6. Never Be Like You by Flume 

7. American Boys (EZRA Remix) by Estelle 

I'm sure everyone has heard the original version of this song some point in their life. I remember singing this when I was younger but I have to say I prefer this version of the song. 

8. Baby Blue by Drumaq

9. IDFC (Acoustic) by BLackbear

This is a song that Isha said she can really relate too. She's probably going on through some midlife crisis lol. Both the studio version and the acoustic version are fab, do give it a listen!

10. Oh Lord by Blackbear

11. September by Earth, Wind & Fire

I was at a house party and one of my friends started playing it. It's an old song but a nice song to "bop" to. I was asking my mom if she used to dance to this song. Haha.

12. Lock It Up by Marc E. Bassy

13. Ride by Twentyone Pilots

I love Twentyone Pilots so much!! So when I heard it, I immediately added it to my playlist. Y'all should listen to this if you liked Tear in My Heart, I promise you won't be disappointed. 

What about you? What songs have you been listening to for the month of January? Let us know in the comments below! Thank you for reading! :) <3

// blog tour: the girl who fell by shannon m. parker + giveaway

Title: The Girl Who Fell

Author: Shannon M. Parker

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary

Publisher: Simon & Schuster//Simon Pulse

Format: Arc Ebook 

Release: March 1st

Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Book Depository // Kobo

Synopsis:

His obsession.
Her fall.

High school senior Zephyr Doyle is swept off her feet—and into an intense relationship—by the new boy in school.

Zephyr is focused. Focused on leading her team to the field hockey state championship and leaving her small town for her dream school, Boston College.

But love has a way of changing things.

Enter the new boy in school: the hockey team’s starting goaltender, Alec. He’s cute, charming, and most important, Alec doesn’t judge Zephyr. He understands her fears and insecurities—he even shares them. Soon, their relationship becomes something bigger than Zephyr, something she can’t control, something she doesn’t want to control.

Zephyr swears it must be love. Because love is powerful, and overwhelming, and…terrifying?

But love shouldn’t make you abandon your dreams, or push your friends away. And love shouldn’t make you feel guilty—or worse, ashamed.

So when Zephyr finally begins to see Alec for who he really is, she knows it’s time to take back control of her life.

If she waits any longer, it may be too late.

Review: 

I would like to thank the author herself, Shannon Parker, for giving  me an e-ARC in return for an honest review! 

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. Isha just asked me if I could read a book for her as our blog would be part of a blog tour. But I would like to thank Isha for forcing me to read this book! I absolutely enjoyed reading this book!  

Can we talk about how beautiful the cover is! If I saw this when I was younger at a bookshop, I would have probably bought it straight away. Have you heard of the saying, "Don't judge a book by its cover"? I'm sure everybody has. Needless to say this book doesn't only have a pretty book cover but also is a fantastic book! 

Shannon Parker's writing is enticing that I felt like I was in an emotional roller coaster ride when I was reading The Girl Who Fell. I just got sucked in Zee's and Alec's world that it was really difficult to put the book down. (Well in my case, shut off my MacBook) There were times in the book where I wanted to throw my MacBook because I was getting really frustrated. There were times when I would stop reading because I could sense something bad was going to happen but of course, I didn't because I needed to know more.

Thank you to Stefani @ Caught Read Handed
for making this really cute quote graphic

Shannon shows you what and how it feels like to be in a toxic and abusive relationship. This is one of the reasons why I like this book. It puts in to light that toxic relationships like this actually happens in real life. I feel like every teenage girl should read this as a repercussion in the future.

I mean, I wouldn't say I could relate to this book because I've never been in a relationship where the guy would control me because I am not all about that shit. But I know people who are in a relationship where one of them would control each other, to the point where they would tell their partner  who they're allowed to talk to to what they couldn't do. And just seeing them do that, annoys the hell out of me. So, there were times in the book were I was getting really annoyed because Zee and Alec's relationship was getting out of hand and really unhealthy not only for them but to the people surrounding them as well. 

Overall, I enjoyed getting to know every single character in this book. (Maybe not Alec, haha) But you should definitely pick this book up when it's released. And we can all be emotional together. 

Meet The Author: 

Shannon Parker lives on the Atlantic coast with a house full of boys. She’s traveled to over three dozen countries and has a few dozen more to go. She works in education and can usually be found rescuing dogs, chickens, old houses and wooden boats. Shannon has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies and ridiculous laughter—ideally, at the same time. The Girl Who Fell is her first novel. Find her at www.shannonmparker.com




Author's Links: Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

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// ootd: denim skirt

I've been debating for a few months whether to purchase a denim skirt. I was so worried that denim skirts wouldn't suit me or that I have nothing to wear it with. It's funny because before I made a purchase, I really did a lot of research on how to style it and what it goes it with, etc. Denim skirts are definitely a timeless piece. I think I remember seeing Rachel from Friends wear it once. Finally I gave in and finally got one from Stradivarius. 

Photos: Isha Camilon

Top- Bershka

Skirt- Stradivarius

Tights:- Dunnes Store

Boots- New Look

Let me know in the comments below how you style your denim skirt and if you have one? Thank you so much for reading! :) <3

// event recap;; jandy nelson signing + giveaway

I am so happy to have gotten to meet and take pictures with one of my favourite authors, Jandy Nelson. If you guys didn't know who Jandy Nelson is, you're definitely missing out! She's the writer of one of my all time favourite books, I'll Give You the Sun. It was on the 27th of September (I know, ages ago) and to make things ever sweeter, we got to catch up with one of our dear friends, Aisling.

The book signing started with a Q&A with Jandy. She is honestly the most jolly and happy person I've ever met. Then she told us where she got the idea for the book, her writing process and even told us she was superstitious like Jude. She even showed pictures to show us  her ideas. I loved it. She's unlike any others I met. If you've read I'll Give You the Sun (which you should have by now), that Jude is an Art student who is doing a sculpture. Jandy told us that she herself took a sculpting class for it and that she wasnt really good at it, but at least she had fun! She's currently working on a project that is due to be out next year and she's currently taking baking classes at the moment for it. She even proudly show us a picture of her souffle! I love how she get involved in the process of her writing. 

But f you haven't read I'll Give You the Sun yet, you could get it or order it from the links below. It is such a beautiful and heart-wrenching book filled with so much love and everyone should give it a read.

Goodreads // Amazon // Book Depository

But you can also join our giveaway if you haven't read I'll Give You the Sun, as we are giving away a signed copy of the book and an I'll Give You the Sun t-shirt! Thanks for reading! :) <3

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