Student In The City : Dublin

My first & Other Stories purchase

Whilst in Dublin I did a spot of shopping and one shop I was really excited to go to was & Other Stories on Grafton Street.

So this was my first visit to & Other Stories and it's safe to say I'm hooked and in love with the whole store. If I had the money to spend I would spend all of it in that beautiful, wonderful shop.

The clothes, the jewellery, the bags, shoes, all of it is just wow!

However I didn't leave with the whole store that day (as much as I wanted to), I left with a classic striped top and a pretty sterling silver bangle/bracelet.

First of all, the way they package up your items is just so refreshing and makes you feel kind of special, like you've got something important! It shows that they really care about the clothes and customers. Its just something you don't get on the High Street but would be really nice to see more of!

The Striped Top cost £25, it is so pretty and instantly caught my eye when I walked in. The quality and feel is lovely as it's 100% cotton. It fits really well and looks great on. Its a perfect top to wear with jeans but I also think pairing this with a high waisted skirt would look just as good! Honestly can't say one bad thing about it.

So I do have some not so great things to say about the bracelet. Although it looks pretty and fits ok. With only over a week wearing this, the quality is already deteriorating. It doesn't look as shiny and is starting to scruff a bit. It cost £12 and yes that's not much for some people, but it's still a shame about the quality.

Also another thing to mention with the rest of their jewellery, especially the rings, is that the sizes they offer aren't ideal. They only seem to do small/medium/large in the rings and unfortunately for people with tinier hands and fingers the small just isn't small enough! so that was a shame because there wear so many rings I would have got!

Hope you enjoyed this little Review/Haul of my first & Other Stories purchase! I'll be back soon with another post!

Striped Top - £25

Bracelet - £12

Jess

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, by Unknown

In diet, Dublin

What I Ate In Dublin - As Plant Based/Vegan!

Day 1

So I started the day at home with a bowl of cinnamon porridge with strawberries, blueberries and a chopped brazil nut on top. This is my go-to breakfast, it keeps me full till lunch and was perfect for a day of travelling!

It was around Lunch time when we had to be at the airport so I picked myself up a Boots Meal Deal. I have to say Boots were pretty good for vegan options, and this rainbow salad caught my eye with all its pretty colours, so I had to try it!

We got to Dublin around 5.30pm and checked into our hotel. We stayed at The Gibson Hotel, which we've stayed at once before and fell in love with it. After we unpacked we decided to head out for some food. We went to good old Nando's, its a great restaurant if out with people that aren't vegan and you don't want to be that awkward person that has to order something specially made. I ordered the Veggie Pitta with no mayo and a side salad, it was delicious! I didn't manage to grab a photo but here's a photo of what I usually get from Nando's.

Day 2

Breakfast at The Gibson Hotel was great. Everything was clearly labelled with allergens so it made it very easy for me to know what I could and couldn't have. I ended up having two bowls of Weetabix and soy milk, topped with fresh and dried fruit, pumpkin seeds and strawberry jam.

At lunch time I was still pretty full from breakfast so I picked up a sweet and crunchy salad and carrots with houmous from Marks and Spencer and I also had a banana and a green apple from the hotel. Didn't get a photo because to be honest it wasn't worthy of a photo! Ha!

After a full day of exploring we went to Wagamama's for tea. This was the first time going there since I went Plant Based/Vegan. I used to get the chicken ramen so I was really happy to find out that they could make the ramen vegan! It came with tofu, mushrooms and rice noodles and Oh My Gosh it was heavenly. Definitely worthy of a photo. It was also HUGE, and honestly kept my feeling full (but the good kind of full, I didn't feel sick or stodgy) till the next day!

Day 3

So considering I was still pretty stuffed from the ramen from the night before, I only had one bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast and a green tea. It was the same as the day before and tasted just as good!

We checked out of the hotel around 12pm, but unfortunately on this day the weather was shocking! It was gale force winds and the rain was coming down on us. So after a bit of wondering in and out of museums/galleries/shops and looking rather windswept we headed to a Café Nero (one of my favourite chain cafes) and I got a green tea and tucked in to some fruit I got from the hotel.

It was soon time to head to the airport for our flight, we sat in a bar/restaurant and Dale ordered food from there whilst I went a grabbed a takeaway salad from this amazing healthy food shop called Chopped. I ordered a salad with mixed lettuce leaves, tomatoes, chickpeas, sweetcorn and quinoa with a squeeze of lemon. Again it was the size of my head and I had to stop halfway through eating it and have a break. at this point we were both really tired and we were nearly falling asleep on each other!

For the plane I picked up an Apple bag and Trek Cacao Chaos bar and happily had that whilst I was having an emotional breakdown from the book I was reading, 'The Nightingale' by Kristin Hannah. I managed to finish the book on the plane but wow I was emotional!

And that's what I ate on our weekend away in Dublin! Hope this helps some people and shows you that being Plant based/Vegan is NOT restricting whatsoever and more and more restaurants are catering for vegans now!

Speak to you soon!

Jess

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, by Unknown

In birthday, city

What I Wore In Dublin

It was my boyfriends birthday last weekend so I surprised him with a trip to one of our favourite cities, Dublin! We've been once before for my 18th, so I thought it was about time we came back.

We had an amazing couple of days, and as all good things do it went far to quick! When it came to packing I had to fit everything in to a carry on suitcase, and I wanted to travel as light as possible so that I'd have enough room for bringing a couple of things back with me. So I went for items that I new could all work well together.

Here are some really nice shots Dale managed to get of me and I took a couple of the surroundings whilst we were exploring Dublin. I've tried to link as much as I can for the items with either the exact item or something similar. Enjoy! :)

Airport Outfit

For the Airport I knew I wanted to wear something super comfy but also stylish so I paired some Smart/Casual trousers with my favourite roll neck jumper from AllSaints. There's nothing too tight so you can move around in them easily, which I think is perfect for travelling!

Trousers - H&M £29.99 Online (I got these for £7 in the Sales!)

Jago Roll Neck Jumper - AllSaints £68 in the sale (Similar)

White Frill Top (underneath) - New Look

Trainers - Adidas Stan Smiths £52 in last years sale (Similar)

Bag - TkMaxx (unsure of price)

Bomber Jacket - Mango £29.99 in the sale

St Stephen's Green Skirt

I wore this outfit on the first full day we had in Dublin when the weather was amazing! Although it was a bit chilly, the sun was shining and there was no wind or rain in sight! Great opportunity to get a skirt out! We had a lovely stroll through St Stephen's Green Park and took some photos. Both the Skirt and Jumper/Top are new purchases from Stradivarius, which I'm really loving their clothes at the moment! The loafers are new too from Asos. They we're good to walk around in for the majority, it was only at the end of the day that they started to hurt a tiny bit, but that's to be expected with most new shoes!

Skirt - Stradivarius £24.99

Flared Sleeve Jumper - Stradivarius £19.99

Bomber - Mango £29.99

Loafers - Asos £20

Tights - Primark £3 for set of 3

Bag - Tkmaxx (unsure of price)

Scarf - Primark £4

The All Black Outfit

This last outfit is one of my favourites! We were heading out for the evening so I wanted something a bit more on the warmer side. This was the first time I had worn those trousers and I have to say they were pretty comfy! I was sceptical at first considering leather look trousers are usually tight and a tad restricting, but these weren't too bad! And again I'm wearing my AllSaints roll neck jumper, and my Stan Smith which I think makes the outfit look really cool!