Christmas – Page 4 – Clairey Sweetie

Hey Sweeties,

In this Blogmas process, I would so far have to say that the weekends are when I struggle/almost forget that I need to post something as I am out and about and blogging to be honest, is the last thing on my mind.

So today was my last game of hockey for 2014 and although I would say it was one of the better matches for me in that I enjoyed it from the off, it was also the worst as we lost when we shouldn’t of done and (*hangs head*) I missed three goal opportunities. Two were just unlucky, the third really was no excuse for. But like I said last week, sometimes you just don’t get the opportunity or you simply have crap days. Today was a crap day.

Moving on.

Once I got home, because the day was so gorgeous outside (crisp and clear -the perfect winter day) I knew I couldn’t stay indoors so after a quick bit of food and a cup of coffee, I decided I would venture out to Hobby Craft in Staines and see what else is out in that part of the world as I’ve not been there before. Although the name let’s it down, Staines is actually quite a nice place and I’ll be definitely going back for a better look once Christmas mania has passed.

I am not sure if I have really explained Christmas to you guys before but I’ll give you the low down. Basically, for the last few years my family have pretty much stopped doing presents; we’ve relaxed a bit recently as we’ll slip each other the odd small thing but really, we stand by a no gifts policy. To begin with it was a little bit to do with finances, now it’s simply because we just don’t see the point of buying for the sake of buying. I can imagine this sounds unbelievably scrooge like but bear with me. Basically my brothers and I are now at an age where we really don’t need anything and if we do, we’ll buy it ourselves or ask it for our birthday. Also, as a family, we love buying things spontaneously for each other so Christmas in this sense doesn’t fulfil this as you are essentially, forcing yourself to find something to give. When this rule first got implemented, I hated it as I am someone that absolutely loves buying for others; I also hated it while I was at Uni as that’s when I could’ve got things I really needed like textbooks etc. Now, I feel just the same as the rest of my family, I walk round town and I just question all the consumerism.

Yes I could easily make a Christmas list and Ian and I still buy things for each other but -and I know how ridiculously cheesy this sounds- for me the best thing I could be given is time. I live away from my family and rarely see them and all four of my best friends live away from me so again, I don’t see them as much as I would like to so yes gifts would be lovely but a day with each of them would be more valuable and precious to me. So, this Christmas my family will be getting vouchers that equal in a day out with each other i.e. a girly day with my Mum, a Daddy-daughter day (with my Dad)… For my friends, I am giving them a little handmade decoration; something personal & something they know I’ll have spent time creating and these will be given in person as I am fortunate enough to be seeing them each over Christmas & early January. This is why I had to venture to Hobby Craft…

While in Staines I bought a few other Christmassy bits for the house as we’re hosting Christmas this year and also a gift for my Secret Santa at work which I know they will just love!

What have you guys been up to?

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

I’ll be honest, I haven’t been formally ‘tagged’ to do this post but today I discovered Emma over at All About the Style and she did the Christmas tag on day 2 of Blogmas. She then tagged everyone doing Blogmas and I took that as my cue to join in too!

Before you read the questions, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed writing this post –amazing really for something so simple. I initially didn’t think I had a specific Christmas memory but when I was answering a couple of the other questions I was reminded about old times with my brothers when this time of year was full of innocence and genuine excitement. Although Christmas is still a great time of year for me, it changes and means different things when you grow up out of your childhood.

Enjoy.

1. What is your favourite Christmas film(s)?

Father Christmas, Mickey’s Christmas Carol and The Snowman have been family favourites for as long as I can remember and for me these are hard to beat.

More recently, The Snowman and the Snowdog has become a firm Christmas film staple and I am hoping this year to get properly on board the Elf bandwagon…

Do you open your Christmas presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

Christmas morning, always.

Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?

I think for me it would be Christmas morning when my brothers and I were still young enough to get super excited about Christmas and Santa arriving that they would always wake me up at about 4AM to show me something from their stocking. I of course then would not be able to fall back to sleep so would end up opening my stocking too. It all changed when we became teenagers and would lie in instead to a more appropriate hour.

Favourite festive food?

Mice pies… once you allow yourself to buy a pack from the supermarket or have one over a coffee/hot chocolate in Costa/Nero or Starbucks I believe it shows that you have accepted Christmas is on the way and it’s time to get festive!

Favourite gift?

In recent years my family have calmed down with gift buying but to be honest, there is no one thing I have received that tops everything. For me –more so now at this time of life where you don’t really need anything- the best gifts are genuine surprises whereby it was never asked for but maybe something someone secretly noted how much you liked the look of and has thus bought it out of thoughtfulness.

Christmas scent?

Freshly cooked/warmed up mince pies and anything with cinnamon always makes me feel Christmassy.

Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

When I was younger and living at home we always watched a specific set of films –Mickey’s Christmas Carol, The Snowman and Father Christmas. (A Muppet’s Christmas Carol was added into the mix in later years occasionally). After the films, Dad would read my two brothers and I three stories –The night before Christmas, Frog & Toad Christmas Eve (best to Google it), and Wake Up Bear It’s Christmas. We would then put out a mince pie and a carrot before sleep.

What tops your Christmas tree?

At the moment I have topped my tree with a beautiful blue and green peacock decoration I bought from Liberty of London (see Blogmas Day 4), until I find a star or maybe an angel. My family have always had a star at the top.

As a kid, what was the one (crazy/wild/extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?

A pony… I’m still waiting.

What is the best part about Christmas for you?

Now I have moved away from home, I totally appreciate the importance of family. I don’t see them enough as it is so for me Christmas is not about presents; it’s about the coming together of your loved ones (apologies for the cliché). I am excited for the future when both Ian’s family and mine come together for the occasion and even better when the next generation gets born; Christmas really does come alive with Children around.

So there you go, Christmas Tag. Done!

I will follow Emma’s instruction and I too now tag all those doing Blogmas! Let me know your responses by sharing your links in my comments so I can check them out. Please also feel free to invite me to participate in other tags; whatever they are as they are not only fun but also a great way to get to know each other.

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

On Monday I showed you my Christmas tree that had been assembled and decorated merely minutes before the post went up so I thought I would show you in a little more detail the decorations I have so far… or some of them anyway. As I said in the original post, I have been picking up Christmas decorations from here and there for a couple of years now but it is only this year that I have been able to finally put them on a tree which for me has been really exciting. Although my collection is still tiny, together with my tree I think it all looks so pretty and I am excited to pick up more decorations over the years to come.

I also thought I would keep the word content in this post short and let the pictures do the talking as I am conscious I have done some quite lengthy posts lately. If you’re happy to read longer posts that’s great and do let me know in the comments but every now and again I’ll try and remember to keep things short(er).

A reminder of what my tree currently looks like

Liberty of London

The first decorations I bought this year were surprisingly from Liberty of London. I say surprisingly as when I went to look at their Christmas shop I didn’t think I was going to be able to afford anything but actually, they have some very affordable decorations, so much so that the most I paid for one was £4.95! In all I came out of the shop having spent £20; the image above shows what I bought for myself and I also bought a couple of others that will be presents from my besty and parents. Here is how they look on/against the backdrop of the tree…

When I went into Tesco I picked up a few decorations along with the tree itself and again, all very reasonable prices…

Candy Canes -5 for £1

This box of decorations was £2 I think?

You can’t have a Christmas tree without at least one Santa decoration, I have 4!

Left -bought in Las Vegas. Right- Pack of three from Tesco

A few years ago I was lucky enough to visit Vienna during December and Christmas markets in Europe are just beautiful. While I was there I bought a selection of tiny, delicate wooden decorations like the below…

I picked up a box of four of these baubles from Paperchase last year; they always have some really stunning decorations in store so always worth a look in.

I have two polar bears -I love animal decorations! The white one (nearest the bottom) was bought in Las Vegas while I was there last year and the other bear was bought in Tesco last week.

Cute!

And finally, not on my tree but I thought I would quickly show you the gorgeous Advent Calendar my Mum sent me from The Contemporary Home (seen below on the right). I have yet to put little chocolates in the each of the draws but I will do so in the next day or two. It’s so beautiful and will become part of my Christmas traditions for many many years to come. On the left is the calendar from my besty, Paula and I love the little scented tea lights that are behind each new door. The nutcracker stood in front was also bought in Las Vegas.

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

You will remember I bought this when I visited The Cosmetics Company a few weeks ago. I have so far given my verdict on Bobbi Brown’s French Pink blusher, now it’s time for Smashbox!

I have been looking forward to trying more products from this brand for ages so this ‘try it kit’ has been absolutely ideal for doing so before I decide if purchasing full sized items is worth it.

So, what does the ‘Try it Kit’ contain?

L-R: BB Cream, Halo Powder, Brush, Photo Finish Primer

Let’s start with the primer…

Primers are something I am still getting to grips with. I completely appreciate their purpose but as to the good and bad ones I am still a long way off from being able to offer a firm opinion on this. The first primer I ever used was Mac’s ‘Prep & Prime’ following a consultation with them and I used this for a while after but eventually this slipped once I pumped the last of it from the bottle. Until recently, I have been using samples of Benefits ‘Porefessional’ which despite quite enjoying, I am unlikely to purchase a full size tube once I run out. It’s good, but I can live without it.

Smashbox’s Photo Finish Primer however, I am likely to miss once I run out of it therefore once I have squeezed the last from this sample, I will likely buy it full size. Even if I go on to not purchase it again thereafter, at the moment I feel I want to give this product a really good shot at working and committing me to it. I have used this primer both underneath the BB cream as well as my routine foundation and in both instances it provides a really smooth, secure base to layer further products on top of.

The BB cream is also really nice and provides a light, medium (ish) coverage. I do normally prefer something with a slightly fuller coverage, particularly in winter but for weekends when I want to give my skin a bit of a breather from my weekday look, and in summer when I don’t really want anything, this BB cream is perfect. I can apply it quickly with my fingers and the product is beautifully creamy and blends well. As to whether I would purchase it again, it’s certainly on my list but I still feel I have other BB and CC creams to try out from other brands before I commit to one or any in particular.

The last two products in the kit are the Halo powder and the brush.

The brush we can instantly sign off as although the texture is nice and it actually applies the powder well, it also malts and there is nothing worse than having tiny little black hairs scattered across your face.

My first impressions of the powder are much better. I haven’t ever actually used a loose powder, always favouring pressed powder instead but that is more down to preference than experience with either type. Despite being slightly messier, I would actually almost go as far as saying loose powder is easier to use and apply. For one, you can clearly see how much you are applying and I find it easier to blend. This does give me the confidence to try a loose foundation in time but let’s not get ahead of ourselves here! Would I purchase this powder from Smashbox? Yes… but again I think there may be cheaper alternatives out there that perform as well so we’ll have to just watch this space.

Overall, I think this Try it Kit was well worth the money and the time given to it to try. I don’t feel I now need a professional consultation to explore the brand further except maybe for colour matching foundation and things as this kit and the lipstick I purchased a little while ago now have allowed me to taste enough to make confident future purchases without heavy guidance.

Have you guys tried anything from Smashbox?

Until tomorrow x

Hey Sweeties,

Blogmas has officially begun! I am so excited, I have been looking forward to this for ages but admittedly I don’t think the full scale of what I am doing has really dawned on me yet but so far, so good..ish!

My Instagram feed –certainly this morning- was dominated by pictures of people opening the first day on their advent calendars but I always like to open mine in the evenings as my mornings are such a rush to get out of the door and feed Lola before I do so, that opening the calendar is the last thing on my mind. Last year my Best Friend Paula surprised me with a calendar from The Body Shop which for me was the first of its kind to make into my possession. Dare I say I had boring ones in previous years? Well against The Body Shop, anything before it did firmly have its arse whipped!

So this year, when a package arrived from me over the weekend with familiar handwriting and instructions not to open until 1^st December, I jumped in both excitement and anticipation and I have been extremely patient all day until I could finally open the gift this evening. And this is what I opened… Ta Dah!!

Yankee Candle Advent Calendar!

She knows me so well!

Also over the weekend I bought our (Ian and I) first tree and I have dug out my box of decorations I have gathered over the years and combined them with my new ones and here is the end result!

Our First Christmas Tree

The tree is from Tesco and cost £15 but what I will add here, is that if you are a Clubcard holder, providing you have vouchers worth/multiples of £5 getting them doubled up in Tesco’s special scheme is well worth doing. Ian and I had saved up £25 in total across the year and this turned into £50 worth of vouchers to spend in store (just not on food) by Christmas Eve! We’ll be going back to fill in any gaps with decorations and hopefully afford a smoothie-maker or something as a little Christmas gift to ourselves! This time of year is so expensive and let’s be honest, we all feel the pinch so it really is worth spending that extra time seeking out those schemes and things that will save (or in this case create) more money for you.

Anyway, apologies this post is uploaded a little later than initially planned -who knew assembling and decorating a tree would take so long eh?! Tomorrow I have a beauty review to upload for day 2 of Blogmas so I will see you then!

Until tomorrow x

Blogmas Day 13: Last Game of Hockey & some Christmas Shopping

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