December Scavenger Hunt

Getting into the Christmas swing of things, the December scavenger hunt is bigger, better and festively themed. Kathy has set us the challenge of an A-Z of Christmas. Well, here is my attempt. Slightly early, because I am now busy/away until the end of December, but it's here!

A is for...alcohol

Um, I don't know why we have seven bottles of Prosecco for two people...


B is for...beaded baubles!


Made by my own fair hands. This is the tasteful layer of the tree. It's a wonderfully colourful mess lower down.


C is for...cards

Woop, it's Beard-fàçê Santa.


D is for...decorations

What, you don't decorate your stairs? For shame people, for shame.


E is for...earrings

A small but rather nice collection methinks.


F is for...film

We shall be watching Cary Grant on Christmas Eve. Heaven.


G is for...Gaudete

My joint favourite Christmas carol, along with the Coventry Carol.


H is for...homemade goodies

Bloody Florentines. When I was making this batch I ran out of flaked almonds and spent over an hour finely chopping blanched almonds...then I found another bag of flaked almonds. D'oh! Apparently they taste good though, so that's the important thing.


I is for...Irregular Choice

My most festive pair. Aren't they beautiful?


J is for...jingle bells

Arm-warmers knitted by my friend Sharon, complete with jingle bells.


K is for...kitsch decorations

It's Spot the Dog. Nuff said.


L is for...Liverpool style decorations

Well hello there festively wrapped Superlambanana, and a Merry Christmas to you (and to my Auntie Diane)


M is for...my small festive treat to myself

I like to read something nice in bed on Christmas Eve. I like Rob Ryan. Perfect combo.


N is for...nativity.

A tiny, tiny one!


O is for...Oscar

He is everso fond of the curly ribbon.


P is for...(new) pj's

Thank you H&M for having them on sale in mid December.


Q is for...the Queen's Speech

I have no idea if we'll actually be watching it this year or not.


R is for...Rockin' Robin.

He's older than I am.


S is for...Secret Santa


I have been extremely good and resisted the temptation to open my presents from the lovely Curtise, courtesy of the FHC Christmas swap. I don't think you can quite see it in the photo but next to it is another present courtesy of the Secret Santa that Char organised there too. I shall report back on what they contain!

T is for..tv


It's one of the traditions: sitting down with the bumper edition of the Radio Times and a pen and marking off everything you want to watch/record.

U is for...a uniformed toy soldier on the tree


He's got moving arms and legs and everything.


V is for...visiting pals


I love my girls but we're all a bit scattered now, so we don't meet up as often as we'd like. I've seen them all over the past week though - hurrah! I got to hold Baby Jack too. Can you see the terror in my (weirdly squinty) eyes? He is absolutely adorable but I just don't know what to do with babies.

W is for...wrapping

I did it all in one night. Bish bash bosh.


(um, this is where it gets rather far fetched...)


X is for...you lot being eXtremely disappointed if I don't feature some odd socks

Christmassy ones, natch.


Y is for...yoghurt.


Oh what else was I supposed to do? Dairy-free house - we don't have Yule logs and suchlike! I put some curly ribbon on it...


Z is for...Zen-like calm

There is nothing better than sitting in the peace and quiet with a cup of coffee (star jumping cat mug optional) and just the twinkling lights of the Christmas tree to keep you company.


Here's wishing you all a very merry Christmas.

Shopping. At This Time of Year?

Don't worry gang, it's not one of those posts about how to buy the perfect last-minute gift for your second cousin twice removed who's invited himself round for Christmas dinner. Does anyone even do that, or is just one of those things that the magazines would have us believe?

It's just about me and what I've been buying recently.

I'm not one of those people who subscribe to the school of thought that when buying Christmas presents you MUST get yourself something nice as well. For starters, I buy presents throughout the year and I'd be constantly skint if I went down the one-for-you-one-for-me route. Then you hit the issue that shopping in November and December is always dicey - don't want to ruin someone's beautifully chosen present by buying the same thing for yourself. Also, I'm not 6 years old any more. I don't automatically have to reward myself for getting things done.

It is extremely nice to have money spare in December though. For me, it means not having to stress about January (which is when I bitch and moan almightily at the prospect of spending upwards of £800 on car insurance). It means I can donate money to my favourite charities, especially those who are in extra need of it at this time of year. It means that whilst I'm doing fun things during my time off like visiting friends and popping out for lunch, I can mosey around the shops and if I wish to pick up a few things, there's nothing stopping me. Plus you know, the sales all start before Christmas now. I don't want to be sitting at home crying over my bank statement until payday.

A few things that I've been able to purchase recently:


This beautiful little necklace from a charity shop. It might just be an abstractly painted pebble but I look at it and think of lakeside scenes and the Chalet School books and smile.


Also from a charity shop, an old school scarf. Needs a spot of darning but that's easily done. Thanks Timothy, whoever you are!


Rather lovely Dune brogues, half price in TK Maxx. I had no plans to buy more brogues, having only recently bought the glittery M&S pair, but these are proper leather (I can hear my mum saying "they'll last you years if you polish them properly!") and were too nice to leave behind.


A big cosy stripy jumper from Dorothy Perkins. Not only was this half price in the sale, it was also buy-one-get-one-half-price on everything in store so I got another pair of my beloved skinny jeans for all of £7.50. Bargaintastic.

Also these two tshirts from Threadless:

Dandy Lions

M!aw

All stuff that I could afford, I'm confident no-one else will have got me and that is going to fit very nicely into my wardrobe. That's how December shopping should be.

Sequintastic

I don't really do glam.

Most of the time it's just far too much like hard work and so my efforts are limited to wearing excellent shoes and putting lippy on occasionally. Glam girls, I salute you. How do you find the time for all the hair and makeup shenanigans?

It's fun to try it at least once a year though and it was the work Christmas party this week, so the time seemed right. It's probably still extremely moderate on some people's glam scale but I felt fab (and quite pouty, but I'm blaming the lipgloss for that one).





I'm usually a little too frightened of a bodycon frock to even pick one up off the shop rail but Motel Rocks asked if I wanted to try something from their site and I couldn't stop looking at this beauty. Perfect for a party, isn't it? Super comfy to wear as well. There's none of that nasty itchy scratchiness you get from cheapo sequinned things. This is properly lined and feels lovely.

If you've seen it on other bloggers (and you may well have done because it seems super popular) then they're probably a lot skinnier than I am, but what the feck. I have a stomach and a bum: there's no point donning a sack and trying to hide them. Instead I covered them in sequins, drank a lot of wine and danced my ass off.

If you wish to follow my example and clad yourself in sparkles, or just generally to treat yourself to a nice pre-Christmas present, pop in the discount code SEQUIN15 at the checkout - valid until 18th December.

Just for Kezzie, another smiling photo.
Do we like the back?


If you don't like the shoes there's no hope for you. Gold heels, amazing sole...


Dress - c/o Motel Rocks
Shoes - Irregular Choice
Clutch - New Look
Earrings - Mikey (I think - I've had them for years)

As for the makeup, I could pretend that I did it myself but that would just be a giant lie. I took advantage of the fact that I needed some new products anyway and went to MAC to get it done. It was £25, but that cost was redeemable against anything I bought so really, it's a totally moneysaving way to do things. Honest it is. Now if only I could win the lottery and buy myself a makeup artist, I could have eye makeup this beautiful every day.

Apparently I have lovely eyelids. Who knew?

Not the best (or best lit) photo in the world but it is hard to take photos of your own face! I'd never make a beauty blogger, would I?

A Festive Frock

Gosh, apologies for the recent lack of bloggage! It has been an insanely busy week at work and I'm still not quite finished with it yet as I have to work Sunday afternoon as well. However... I am then off work until 3rd January which is going to be brilliant! I love my generous holiday allowance. When all the stress is out of the way, my thoughts can properly turn towards Christmas.




I've already got cards and presents sorted and posted, the tree is going up tomorrow night and in an extreme fit of organisation, I've even picked what I'm wearing on Christmas Day. Tis a tradition in our house that you have to have a new outfit for the big day (and also new pj's the night before - does anyone else do this or is it just us?). You'll probably see about 90 million "dressing for Christmas" articles and features at this time of year but here's my take on it.

It's not exactly complicated. Go on a hunt around the shops (High St/online/charity/supermarkets) and look in their party dresses section. Pick one that meets the following three rules:

• Number One - it must be comfy. Nothing bodycon (that can be the Christmas party outfit), nothing tight. It's not Christmas if I don't eat my own bodyweight in roast potatoes and pigs in blankets and I don't want a stupid waistband making me uncomfortable.
• Number Two - is a fairly simple design that doesn't need too much dressing up. If I'm lucky enough to get fun accessories and jewellery as presents then I want to try them on straight away and not have to wrestle off a cardigan and 3 necklaces first.
• Number Three - Looks good with a pair of excellent shoes you already own. If that's a pair of Irregular Choice then all the better.
  

Chuck in some simple but pretty accessories and that's it all sorted. Sparkly tights! Amazing, yes?



I don't wear gold jewellery very often but this bracelet was my grandma's and I like to wear it on special occasions.


Dress - c/o George
Tights - Marks & Spencer sale
Shoes - Irregular Choice
Rings - Dorothy Perkins sale and Next sale

I think I picked well with this one. Not only is it awesome, it also goes surprisingly well with a jaunty pair of jingly reindeer antlers. You know I'll be busting these out on Christmas Day.

Fighting the Elements

Summer seems like a long, long time ago doesn't it? Well maybe not if you're lucky enough to live in Spain or somewhere equally warm and sunny, but I live in Liverpool. Today it was 2 degrees and when it wasn't hailing, it was pissing down with rain. By all rights I should have been in galoshes and oilskins but I refuse to give into such things. Instead I whacked on the red lippie and the red shorts (Shorts: Not Just For Summer) and debuted a new pair of boots. They aren't exactly galoshes but they are waterproof.

Now don't fall over in shock, for I know I am not renowned for practical shoes. It took work to track down black wedge boots that weren't a) suede or b) hideous. I like them lots, even if I did get confused by the zip placement and put them on the wrong feet when I first tried them on...

Jumper - Gap sale
Shorts - H&M
Boots - Aldo, via ASOS
Necklace - market stall in Dubrovnik