How to survive a Long Distance Relationship

Hey everyone!
I recently started a relationships seres on my YouTube Channel. I've decided for this one I would write a blog post along side it so let's get cracking! To watch the video you can click here.

The Background 

As you might know I went to Brussels in Belgium where I studied for 3 months as part of an Erasmus programme. This of course meant that I was apart from my Boyfriend of a year and half(at the time of leaving). Although some of you are probably rolling your eyes thinking 3 months- that's nothing! Well then good for you and I'm glad that you think so but for me it was a really scary thing. Seán and I live very close to each other so it's very easy for us to see one another on a very regular basis we also met through mutual friends so our nights out with friends would mean we were both there too not because on a plus one deal but because they are both of our friends. Basically, we spend a lot of our time in each others company. Oh and did I mention we are madly in love so believe it or not we really enjoy being together?
At the end of the day this was an experience I couldn't pass up so I decided to put 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' to the test.

Tip One:
Have open, honest communication. This is a must for a relationship full stop but for long distance it's the key to succeeding. Before you or your partner go make sure you talk about how you're feeling about the pending separation. Is your partner supportive of the change? I don't think I could have gone if Seán hadn't been so encouraging of it. I would have felt guilty for leaving him behind which I did anyway to an extent but knowing that I had a cheerleader at home made me feel so much better.

Tip Two:
Skype. Skype became my best friend while I was away. Viber is great for phone calls(so I've heard I don't use it) as is Facebook calling which we used when the internet wasn't as strong in my apartment but nothing beats seeing each other. Seeing the smile you love and not having to imagine their body language and facial reactions. We had dinner dates over Skype and we watched TV shows over Skype(timing to press play proves difficult with time delays!). It's the closest thing you're going to get to being in the same room so take advantage. I personally hated using my phone for Skype/Facetime. Having your laptop sit open in front of you means a bigger screen and if you're like me free's up your hands for those grand hand gestures you need for telling stories.

Tip Three:
Make plans. Whether this is plans for when you/he/she returns makes plans as to what you're going to do. Are you going to move in together? Are you going to go for a weekend away together? or if they are coming to visit make plans for that trip. Seán came over to me for a week during Easter break and we spent the entire time I was away up until that point planning it. His flights were booked before I even left for Belgium so straight away we had something to look forward to.  We organised day trips we would take, over night trips, what we would do on Easter... the list goes on! It was fun planning it together and even more fun doing it all together when he arrived. I also loved being able to show him around where I had been living, what I had been doing and the people I had been hanging out with.

After I picked him up in the airport

Tip Four:
Make time for one another. Of course don't sit at home all day on the phone to your partner but you have to set aside a time that is dedicated to talking to them, replying to an email or whatever it is you plan on doing to communicate. It's easy to let your schedule get too busy and miss out on time with your loved one. Long distance is not easy and it takes work so make sure you clock in your hours. Also if you are living in different time zones you need to plan a lot more, I was lucky because I was only an hour ahead of Seán but someone I know that was over 8 hours ahead said what she did was email when she went to sleep and he would get it when he woke up as a first morning smile. Something like that anyway!

Tip Five:
Have an end goal. For me this was obviously coming home at the end of the 3 months but I wanted to just quickly add this one because if you are in a long distance relationship with no end in sight what really is there to look forward to? Long Distance Relationships can go on for years but ultimately you can't have one forever you will have to be together at some stage so really think about where it's heading. Will one of you move to the other? If not maybe you need to reconsider a few things.

Verdict:
I can now testify that absence does make the heart grow fonder or at least when it came to my Relationship. It was the most difficult 3 months of our relationship with tests and trials but ultimately the reason it was so hard was because we missed each other a lot because we love each other a lot. I am so glad I went away for many reasons but believe it or not I being away from my Boyfriend is one of the positives because now I know I don't want to be without him and if that's not love I don't know what is.

If anyone has had an experience with a long distance relationship, how did it work out for you? What are are you tips that I didn't include and do you disagree/agree with mine?

Make sure you check out my YouTube video on this topic incase you didn't already read enough!

I hope you're all well,

Love,

Alice X

Under Armor Gear- Alice Proof phone case

Hey everyone!

It's been longer then I can remember since I did a review for you all but today I have something that I'm quite excited about to show you.

I was asked to review an Urban Armor Gear (UAG)phone case a few months ago and of course the day it arrived I sent my phone off for repairs so when I finally got the two together I wanted to give the case the ultimate test over the last month before making any conclusions.

Let me start off by saying this case is officially 'Alice Proof'!
What Is Alice Proof? Well there is a long running joke amongst my family and friends (joke for them not so much for me!) where if I am ever given a phone to hold that is not mine everyone will warn the person before hand that it might not be a good idea, if I am lent a phone(Like recently when I sent my phone off for repairs) I am very quickly told to get a case on it immediately and finally if anyone else breaks their phone they exclaim that they have pulled an Alice...
Ok so I don't have a good history when it comes to phones without a case. I may have smashed my iPhone at least 3 times. I may have then decided to get a new cheaper phone as I was sick of breaking my old one only to break they cheaper ones screen within a week of buying it but hey! We all have out faults!! My current phone is the Samsung Galaxy s4 and I love it so much so I don't want anything happening to it. (The crack on the screen is from when my Boyfriend had the phone before me so I can't be blamed!)

I understand that I have small crack on the screen- This was 1) not my fault and 2) before I had the case.

This company claim to meet military drop test standards and although I personally couldn't test that I have dropped my phone 3 times today alone and not even the case is scratched.
I chose the colour valkyrie as I liked the pink finish, the material is really smooth which worried me and made me think that maybe it was a little slippy (too smooth?) However I don't think I've dropped the phone anymore then usual(even if this is a lot normally..)

The case that I got for my Samsung Galaxy s4 would normally cost €31.15 which next to popular brands like otter box is a little cheaper so any way to save a few bob is good for me!
I used to have a LifeProof case which I reviewed in the past. It was a great case while I had an iPhone but it is very expensive in comparison to the UAG case so unless you really want a case for going underwater the UAG case is the one for you(and a lot less bulky too)

When buying your next phone factor in the cost of a good case because if you're anything like me you will ultimately be saving money by investing in a case like the Urban Armor Gear one and not forking out €50 at least for a new screen every once in a while.

What is your favourite phone case, are you as clumsy as me when it comes to protecting your phone? I want to know I'm not alone!

I hope you're all well,

Lots of Love,

Alice May XX

*

Adventures in Brussels

Hello everyone!

I've just looked to see when my last 'proper' blogpost was and it was over a year ago! Yikes! Where dis that time go!?

I can't say what I was doing for most of that time because I really don't have any reason but since the end of january I have been living in Brussels, Belgium!

I'm currently home for 10 days before I head back to my tempory home for a final 2 weeks.

But what have I been doing there?

As you all(should) know I'm studying to be a Montessori teacher and as part of that I was offered to go on an Erasmus programme to Brussels for 3 months. 

So of course I jumped at the idea!

I have actually found it extremely tough being away from Ireland, we are such home birds aren't we? I think I'll try and do some posts talking about what I found hard and how I overcame it to maybe help soemone else who is mocing away from home specifiacally for a short time like 3 months. 

For now here are some of the things in Brussels you simply can't miss. 

Like in the picture at the top and these two pictures. the number one place to visit is Grand Place.. you really can't miss it! It's kinda the centre of everything! I love it, so beautiful and always a pleasure to see!

Atomimum was built for the 1958 world fair and is pretty cool. The view from the top is amazing but the stricture it's self is a great sight. 

This photo does not do the Galleries justice, I have now realised that i need to take a better picture when I go back in.. 9 days. 

My favourite two things in Brussels are Grand Place and The Galleries. The Galleries are lined with chocolate shops and boutiques that are too expensive to even to step into but I always love walking through here with my University on the other end I would do the walk quite frequently. 

Finally we have the famous Manneken Pis statue. This is a little boy statue that is simply peeing! 

He always has a huge crowd around him trying to take selfies with their selfie sticks. There are a lot of legends about him but the one that is the most feasible is that there was a bomb in the middle of the city, this little boy urinated on the fuse of the bomb which then put it out and saved everyone. The End. Woohoo! It's a fun tourist attraction anyway!

So there are some of the things you can't miss in Brussels!

I hope to do more blogging but don't want to make empty promised.. I'll try!! 

Lots of love,

Alice May.

Moist Chocolate Cake Recipe

Hello my lovelies!

Today I have the most amazing cake recipe to share with you all, this is honestly the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted. It's moist, rich and just oh so mouth watering! 
I've made it twice now and both times have I had many people ask for the recipe and have nothing but good things to say about it.
So here we go!

You will need:

• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• ¾ cup cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or you can put 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then fill the rest up with milk; let   stand 5 minutes. This is what I do)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla essence 
• 1 cup hot coffee 
• Fresh Cream
• Mateasers or whatever you want to use to decorate 
• A food mixer, I use a Kenwood 
• A rubber spatula
• 9 inch round cake tin x2

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and grease your 2 cake tins. Pop on the kettle for your coffee as well.

First you need to add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt 

Then mix in the eggs, milk, melted butter, vanilla essence until smooth

Do this on high power for a few minutes

Brew your coffee and add it to the mixture(make yourself a cup too). This is the most crucial step to having your cake be moist. I swear that there is no taste of coffee in the finished product, every single one of my friends where shocked to hear of this ingredient! 

Mix it altogether using a rubber spatula 

Pour the mixture evenly into both tins. The mixture will be very 'runny'.

Place your cakes in the oven for 35 minutes (The little heart was in the oven for just over 15 minutes)

Place a toothpick into the middle of the cake after the time, if it comes back with no batter, you're good to go! Leave them stand for 15 minutes.

 Run a knife around the edges and flip them onto a cooling tray. You can not ice or put cream on cakes that are not fully cooled.

You can make butter icing(which I did for the last cake) but I wanted something a little less heavy and also didn't feel like making a bigger mess so I just got some fresh cream from Centra.

I only used one small thing of cream for my cake and it was just enough

Put one cake on a plate and spread cream on the top of it

It looks like a lot but it just covers the top however I would use more on this layer then the top layer.

Place the top cake on top creating a 'sandwich'. Spread the remaining cream on the top and decorate if you wish. I used maltesers. 

Serve and enjoy!

That is the recipe! It's nice and easy and tastes absolutely amazing! I brought this to my friends who was making dinner for us all and it went down a treat as well as the leftovers being wolfed down by the girls in college. 

Jumana also made a Nutella and Oreo cheesecake for desert for us all so I had to include a picture of it here!

Please let me know if you try this out and send me pictures on twitter if you do. Also do you all like recipe posts and would you like to see more like this? I know I haven't been posting regularly however I have been a little better over on YouTube so be sure to check that out!

All my Love,

Alice May xx

*Original recipe found on foodsess.com