London Life | The Official Move

Over my past few internships in London, I've posted a series of 'London Life' blog posts.. so it seems fitting to resume with the series, now that I've moved back (long-term!!)

It's been nearly a month since you guys have heard from me (apologies), but I swear I have been super busy! Currently in my sixth week working for ROKSANDA and living in London and I'm absolutely loving it...

With everything happening so fast, in terms of getting offered the job and moving, I didn't really have an option, other than to dive in head first and make the most of it. I arrived in London on Friday, the 31st of March, moved into my new flat on the 1st of April and started working on Monday the 3rd. I've been so fortunate that I ended up living with two amazing girls, both so sweet and welcoming and have truly made the transition so much easier. Similarly, I'm so grateful for the incredible team that I get to work with every day at ROKSANDA, every single person has been so welcoming which has really helped me find my feet in the new position.

As my position as Office Manager at ROKSANDA is a permanent position, I don't think I will document it quite as closely as I would have with various other internships that would have been short intense experiences. However, I would still like to share the show experiences and all the exciting parts that I know you guys have enjoyed before. So I suppose content on here, might move towards weekend adventures or events in London, maybe some personal thought/motivation posts as well any design work I plan to do on the side (hopefully I should have something happening with this very soon!)

After a week of shadowing the former Office Manager, I was left to sink or swim and I haven't drowned (yet!). The last few weeks have been really interesting, learning more and more about the running of the company and applying myself to the role as much I as can. From organising the office to running a sample sale, the role definitely covers a wide range responsibilities which is exactly what I wanted and needed at this point in my career. 

After three years of design (which I do love and enjoy), I was still intrigued to whether there might be another area of the fashion industry that I might strive more in and this position gives me that opportunity, all whilst being paid and allowing me to move to London and provide for myself (independence has always been quite an important thing for me!). So needless so say, I'm absolutely loving the new job and I'm so incredibly grateful for every opportunity that led to this and to everyone that helped me get here (shoutout to Katie and Emily, in particular!)

In terms of the weekends... I've spent as many out of London, as I have in London so far. Two weeks in, I spent Easter weekend in Windsor with two of my favourite people, Blaithin and Alex. It was great to catch up with them and see their new place, right next to Windsor Castle! It was so nice to spend my first Easter away from family with people who are practically family.

The following weekend was the first weekend of the National Irish Dancing Championships (Craobhacha Oscaile na hEireann 2017) which were back in Dublin which unfortunately I wasn't going home for. I had flights booked for the following weekend, the May Bank Holiday weekend for the main event of Championships. After missing out on the first weekend and feeling a bit homesick about it all, I changed my flight to the early hours of Saturday morning so that I could be there for the whole day of competitions on Saturday, rather than arriving late Saturday night. 

Arriving, very sleep deprived on Saturday morning, I gave everyone a bit of a surprise. I was very glad that I had the extra time to catch up with everyone and support them all in their competitions. Our Dance Drama competed on Sunday and won the competition which we were absolutely ecstatic about, so proud of all our dancers. Our awards were on, on Sunday evening, where I placed 4th in my category and one of my best friends, Paula, became a Champion which was so well and truly deserved. Monday was the last day of competitions, when we had our Championships where I placed 3rd in the Mens Under 23 championship. It was an amazing weekend of results, one of the best we've ever had and it certainly won't be forgotten for a long time.

Which brings me up to this weekend gone by, my friend Katie, who you'll remember I interned at Giles with, who I stayed with in Paris for the ROKSANDA internships and who I absolutely love to bits. She's in final year in Parsons in Paris (glam, I know!) and she asked if I would come over and assist her for her photoshoot, which of course I was more than willing to do. Only issue being, after a month of moving and getting settled in London, I had to wait until payday to book the flights, so while I was in Ireland (a week before her shoot) I booked the flights. 

Flying from Gatwick, after work on Friday, arriving in Paris at 12. The photoshoot was scheduled for Saturday morning but unfortunately got cancelled due to bad weather, so randomly enough we went on a trip to a forest to do various activities from zip-lining and blade running to sumo wrestling. After a very energetic morning, we went back to Parsons and added some finishing touches. With an early flight on Sunday morning being by far the cheapest option, I left Paris at 4am and got back to my flat by 9am and slept for the day!

That's pretty much been the last six weeks in nutshell, a bit crazy but I'm not complaining. If there's anything I've learned in the last few months, is to grab every opportunity and go for it.

As I said earlier I'll probably be re-directing my content slightly in the coming weeks but if there's anything in particular you would like me to focus on, I'd love to hear it!

Thanks,
Barry

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