Cork, Sweet Cork

Over the past four months, this blog has been filled with photographs from my travels all around Europe. However, I feel like I never got around to posting (or even photographing) too many photos around Cork City, except for this handful of posts and some snaps on Instagram. When you live somewhere for four months, I think it becomes easy to think of the place as "home" rather than as a destination or vacation. Once a place becomes familiar, there is no longer the same compulsion to constantly take pictures that exists (at least for me) when I am visiting a new place.

Even living in LA, I tend to photograph places that are "new and exciting" and have failed to document simple places like my favorite spots around the city, areas on campus, or even my current apartment (side note: once I am finished decorating, I will definitely make an effort to post some photos! :)). So, during my last week in Cork City, I made a conscious effort to take photos of our usual stomping grounds. The photographs above are my favorite places in the city—places that Andrew and I would visit almost every single day. Especially The Bookshelf...I can't tell you how much we loved The Bookshelf.

Cork was such a cool city to live for four months. While it wasn't the prettiest city, it definitely had a lot of character and there were new places to discover every day. Andrew and I have made a promise to each other that, one day, we will return to our Cork, sweet Cork :)

A Little Trip to Kinsale

Even though Andrew and I were busy writing papers and studying for exams during our last couple weeks in Cork, we still made time to go on one last adventure in Ireland before we left for Amsterdam and London. We took an early Saturday morning bus to Kinsale, a small coastal town in West Cork, and explored the area. We got breakfast at Lemon Leaf Cafe, walked around the town, and then headed over to Charles Fort for amazing views of the harbor. I was pretty stressed (8 papers and 4 exams can do that to you...), but I still had a lot of fun and I am so glad we were able to squeeze in a little day trip amidst all the last-minute-I-suddenly-have-to-"study"-abroad craziness.

Have a great weekend!

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Outfit Details:

Striped Top—H&M | Cardigan—H&M | Skirt—Anthropologie (remixed // similar)

Scarf—Forever 21 | Bag—Fossil (shop) | Boots—Marks & Spencer (similar)

Shandon Bells

Andrew managed to capture my intense focus while ringing the church bells quite well...

On a lazy Sunday morning, we decided to take a walk around town and visit St. Anne's Church, known for its Shandon Bells and 360-degree views of Cork. For a small fee, we were able to climb up to the top of the church unattended, and take in the wonderful view. Some parts of the climb were actually pretty terrifying (example: at one point we had to duck under wood paneling and climb up a rickety ladder in the small bell tower filled with live birds and plenty of their poop haha), but the view at the end made the whole climb worth it. I was especially proud of Andrew for making it to the top, since he has a strange fear of birds as well as heights :)

sending love to all my friends and family back home! (and in other parts of Europe...) MWAH!

Whiskey Connoisseur

{Chambray—Urban Outfitters (shop), Sweater—Urban Outfitters (remixed), Earrings—Nordstrom (similar)}

The other weekend, I went with a group of friends to the Jameson Whiskey Distillery in the small town of Midleton. The tour took us through the old distillery and gave a little history behind the whiskey brand. While I've never been much of a whiskey fan myself, seeing the long and painstaking process it takes to make a batch of Jameson made me appreciate it a little more :)

AND on top of that, Andrew and I somehow got chosen as one of the few people in our tour group to do an official "whiskey tasting" with Jameson, Scotch, and Jack Daniels. Now, let's be honest, the whiskey tasted pretty awful by itself (Andrew might tell you otherwise)...but we got personalized certificates and free drinks so I definitely wasn't complaining!

photo credit goes to my friend, Jason!