Blogmas – I Missed a Few…

I’d had it all planned out, all the posts for the whole of December and I was doing so well up until last weekend when I had a few impromptu days of visitors and spending time with friends that catching up on Blogmas was nearly impossible.

It isn’t often that I have last-minute plans and lose a few days of blogging but it was really nice to spend time with friends who I haven’t seen for years and spend the time catching up over a few glasses of wine, eating lovely food and just spending quality time together.

Then, before I knew it, Christmas was upon us!  I worked Monday and Tuesday, zooming home after work each day to finish writing cards and wrapping presents that I had forgotten about, packing a bag for myself and Roxy and travelling to my friends on Christmas Eve to spend Christmas Day there.  I headed back on Boxing Day, then gathered some things, had a shower and drove to my Mum and Dads house to have our Christmas with my brothers, sister in law and my niece and nephew.

I had a really lovely time seeing the kids open their presents, spend time chatting with all of the family and eating lots of lovely food, including lots of cheese (sorry Dad!) before arriving home and heading to bed.

On Friday I had to go to work but the day was easy and quiet with only a few of us in.  It was the perfect atmosphere to get all of the loose ends tied up and ready for Januarys payment to be made.

I got home from work around 4:20pm and cleaned the house and tidied up before heading to bed early, both Roxy and I were shattered!  I was up early on Saturday and whizzed the hoover around as my brother, sister-in-law, my niece and nephew were popping by before heading back to London.

It has been a hectic, mad and brilliantly fun festive period but I am so glad that we only do this once a year!  I’m now on count down to the New Year!  I have so many plans and ideas for the New Year and I can not wait to get everything underway and started!

How was your Christmas?  I hope you all had fun!  what are your plans for New Year’s Eve?

Blogmas – My Christmas Decorations

I finally got around to taking some photos of my Christmas decorations!

What were your decorations like?  I’d have liked to put more up but as I wasn’t going to be here for Christmas Day I decided to only put up my absolute favourites!

Blogmas – Christmas Day

Happy Christmas! I’m sorry I have been quiet on the blog front for the past few days, I had a few unplanned but really lovely days that were spent with visiting friends!

I hope you all have a lovely day! Much love to you all and your families and friends! Xxx

Blogmas – Surprise Saturday

It’s another Surprise Saturday and I’m really surprised about a few things, number one being that it is the last Saturday before Christmas and the second, that I am pretty much ready for the day itself!

I got the last of my gifts purchased and am waiting on delivery so I can get them wrapped, the cards are written (the few that I send) and waiting to be hand-delivered, all of the decorations are up and, yesterday, I had my first Christmas Celebration with my friend who is going to be away over Christmas visiting family!

I had a really nice day yesterday, my car passed its MOT so I collected it in the morning and then went to get some food for dinner.  It is a bit of a tradition now that my friend and I have our Christmas before he goes away.  We spent the day preparing dinner, talking, playing games (mainly Dobble), setting up my Wii, watching Christmas films and eating lots of lovely food!

I prepared prawn cocktail for starters then had a roast dinner before tucking into a dessert of cherry pie and ice cream.  The main course consisted of mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, roast carrot and parsnip, cauliflower, sprouts and a Quorn Roast.  It really was the best day!

How are your plans coming along?  Have you had any Christmas celebrations yet?  Let me know in the comments about what you have been up to, I’d really love to hear about it!

Blogmas – Festive Friday

We are edging ever closer to Christmas and this Festive Friday my thoughts are on desserts to be served after dinner on the big day!  There are so many different desserts to choose from and every store seems to create a fantastic show-stopper of a dessert that it is really hard to choose any single one!

I am a huge fan of any kind of dessert, seriously, it’s my favourite food group!  The problem I have is whether to choose a fruit-based dessert or chocolate or caramel!  I have come to a conclusion though, after a lot of thought… after a big meal, something that is light and fresh is a good choice so I am thinking of serving something like a lemon mousse or meringue, or even some sorbet or ice cream after dinner.

I have seen a lot about serving 2 desserts, one after the main course and then one later on with coffees, and I really like that idea.  The great thing about this is that you can serve a richer dessert later then with the coffees.  A dark chocolate torte would be the perfect accompaniment to coffee!

What are you thinking of serving as dessert on Christmas Day?  Let me know what you would suggest in the comments!

Blogmas – Top 10 Christmas Songs

There is nothing better than whacking on some Christmas tunes while you tick off tasks on your Christmas preparations list and today’s Top 10 is a list of my favourite Christmas tunes!

• Warm This Winter – Gabriella Cilmi
• Stop the Cavalry – Jona Louie
• Fairytale of New York – The Pogues
• Last Christmas – Wham
• You Make it Feel Like Christmas – Gwen Steffani
• The Christmas Walts – Frank Sinatra
• Candy cane Lane – Sia
• Winter Things – Ariana Grande
• My Only Wish – Britney Spears
• Christmas Lights  – Coldplay

What are some of your favourite Christmas songs?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Blogmas – Wishing Wednesday

What is on your wish list for Christmas?  It’s always something that I am asked by family and friends both for my Birthday and for Christmas and usually I don’t really have any solid ideas of anything that I want and never really have an answer for.  Over the past few years, I have compiled lists using Amazon Wish List to add things to that I see and like so that I can answer this question fairly easily, either by scanning the list or just sending the list to people for them to pick something from.

A few things that I am wishing for this year are new earrings, clothing, a necklace, a tin opener and a cheese grater as well as a few items for the home including a multicolour chandelier.  On my list are a ton of dinosaur-themed things from jewellery to t-shirts as I love dinosaurs, there are rainbow coloured items and items that have an ethnic feel to them too.  I also have on there some fragrance and body care items, makeup and incense/room scent things too. (My Wish List in case you were wondering!)

When we were little, my brothers and I used to be so excited to get the Argos catalogue and prepare our lists for Santa, often circling almost every item on the page!  I still get a bit excited to look through Christmas gift guides, especially the Boots and Superdrug ones but the catalogues are becoming a thing of the past as the internet gains even more momentum in the shopping area.  A lot of the times, when I stumble over something that I like, which gets added to my list, it is often found because I was looking for something else that I intended to buy and I often wonder, if I wasn’t such a big user of the internet and shopping sites, whether I would have any kind of wish list at all…

What is on your wish list this year?  Let me know in the comments!  I’d love to hear all about your Christmas wishes!

Blogmas – Tinsel Tuesday

I love seeing peoples window displays over Christmas, whether it is a bit of fake snow sprayed to the glass, lights twinkling or an elaborate Christmas scene set up on the windowsil for passers by to see, travelling home from work on a dreary, dark evening and seeing these sights can really make me smile.

I don’t tend to do a lot with my window decorations aside from hanging a net of lights in them but I have seen some really imaginative things done as window displays at Christmas.  One of my favourite’s is a scene from the Nativity that is set up in a window not far from where I live, and there is another further along with snow men.  In London, in the neighbourhood where my brother lives they have a neighbourhood advent where each day a new window display that has been set up in homes, is unveilled through December which I think is a really lovely idea and brings together the whole community.

Do you ddecorate your windows for Christmas?  I’d love to know in the comments!

Blogmas – Merry Monday

I know most people will have already got their Christmas decorating under way but I still find it useful to have a list of things to check and refer to as preparations are underway!

I usually make a list of the rooms that I want to decorate with all my festive things so that I can see which rooms will need the most preparation (like a full clean, hoover and dust) and then make a list of the items that I want in those rooms, for example – Living Room – Tree, Fairy lights, hanging decorations etc.  Once this is done then decorating can begin!

Things to check before putting decorations up

• Check that all fairy lights work before installing anywhere
• Check if decorations need batteries – if so what type?
• Buy batteries for all decorations that need them (I usually opt for 3 x the amount needed in case they run out)
• Check that you have the right equipment – eg, steps or a ladder if you want to reach the ceilings
• Cotton thread is always useful for adding to baubles in order to hang them
• Do you have the right sort of decoration hangers (eg window suckers or blue-tack)
• Scissors are always really useful to keep nearby
• Where are decorations going to be placed?  Keep in mind that they need to be placed safely, where they won’t fall over or cause a hazard to anyone.

What sort of things do you do in preparation for putting decorations up?