Christmas is over, New Year is on it's Way

I haven't had time to do a full post on all my presents this year, but suffice to say that I had a lot, I was very spoiled by everyone and got a hell of a lot more than I expected.

My Main Presents off my husband were a beautiful white gold necklace and a Kindle Fire HD, which I'm in love with and he has become a Kindle Widow, ha, and he now wants one for his birthday.

I've been a very busy lady, meeting and greeting and shopping and working, I have barely had anytime to myself in the last week. I do apologise to you if you are a regular reader to the lack of interesting or amount of posts over the last two week, and I promise that in the new year this will go back to normal!

I have been out today getting a charger and a case for my kindle and looking around the sales, which as far as I could tell look quite crap. I remember when almost everything in a shop would be reduced for the boxing day sale, now its a few little racks or shelves. I did manage to pick up a top and a pair of slipper, got my husband another game and a pair of jeans, but all in all i was pretty disappointed.

With the New Year approaching, there is still lots to do and only really time to start relaxing on Jan the 2nd.

What did you get for Christmas? would love to hear about your presents or plans for the new year!

Countdown....It's almost over!

2 more sleeps, one more day, last minute rush and the final calm before the storm. Christmas is almost here, as my friend has said this is Christmas Eve eve!

I love 6pm tomorrow night, when all shops (bar a few corner ones) close and if you haven't remembered or have missed something then its tough cookies, It's just time to relax and calm down and try and enjoy the few hours peace before Christmas day is upon you.

I will be (after a day of drinking and gossip with Laura) having a nice glass of baileys and trying to get ready for the next day where I have to drive over half the city, meeting family and doing different Christmas day activities such as going to church, trying goose for the first time, and stuffing my face with all the junk food I can (Plus lots of presents)

Right now bed is calling me and I can't wait til about 7pm where I get to open 1 present early, I am such a Child!

Secret Santa

This is a pic of what my 'Secret Santa' has got me.

This is the first time that I have ever taken part in a Secret Santa and I have to say it is kind of fun.
It's part of my work trying to make it more festive and give staff more Christmas spirit. So far I have enjoyed it, I found it hard to buy for the person that I pulled the name out of the hat for, but thanks to a few suggestions from Laura, I found something that I think she will love (and if not I will happily take it back and keep it for myself).

When we put the gifts in a pile and picked ours, it ended up as not much of a 'secret' everyone was asking the other and I figured out who mine was just by the handwriting, I can say that it did spoil the fun a little bit, but it was a really nice way to bond and have some time as a team instead of just running around like looney's and chasing after customers.

I really hope that we do this again, or that I do a Secret Santa with another group. It is a really nice way to be more inclusive and to try and enjoy the holiday, its like a little teaser. I can see the fun in not knowing who picked out what and trying to guess.

Have you ever taken part in a 'Secret Santa'? would love to hear what you got

Story of a Self Confessed Tech-illiterate

I love to pretend I'm great with Technology and new Social Networking sites, when the truth is that I am crap at it all.

I have had a smart phone for almost a year and only in the last two weeks have I found out how to do a screenshot on it! I take ages doing the most simple things such as uploading on instagram and I can not cope with all the wifi products that connect to anything and everything when I have only just got the wifi figured out on my phone! Im supposed to be able to link all different sites and updates to the people on my phone where I can view their activites just by looking at the person, but be damned if I know how the hell to do it.

By the time I catch up on the technology I own, I'm about 3 generations behind on what the new thing is. To anyone out there like me, who tries and tries and still finds most things confusing, then just fake it. When people start talking to you about wifi capabilities of your toliet (which will happen before long- Mark my words - or don't) Just nod and say 'ahh, now that's interesting, but it will be obsolete as soon as its released, as a newer version will be just round the bend!'

Tell you what pisses me off, are the instructions now. I bought a laptop that had no instructions with it, and my phone came with a booklet the combined size of a sheet of toilet paper (god I seem to be obsessed with toilet analogies in this post!) with a 'Quick Start' guide. They seem to expect that everyone can understand how to use these items without being shown, we are just supposed to know! Hence why I prob use my phone and laptop for only 5% of what they are capable off, as I'm not Tech-savvy and never will be!

I have plenty of friends who could pick up a new Samsung or Iphone and be off in a matter of seconds, not me, I'd struggle just to get the names in the phone book. Alas, even though I suck as such things I still try and won't ever give up trying to stay 'In Touch' with the world.

Long time no see!

To anyone who reads my blog religiously, I must apologise for being away for so long and for such sporadic posts, I normally only leave it two days between posts. however this week I have spent the better past of the last 3 days in work, and when I wasn't in work I have been out and about, meeting friends and shopping.

This pattern will unfortunately continue to be my weekly life until the new year. I will try and blog as often as possible and I will make time to do a post of what I got for Christmas, but other than that I don't think I will be posting more than once a week. I feel bad for this as I love coming up with new things to say.

I will be going food shopping tonight, was originally going tomorrow morning, but have just found out my partner is off work and he want to help me to lug it up the stairs to the flat, and who said that chivalry is dead? Once this is done all I have to get is some alcoholic bit and pieces for my Christmas eve fun with Laura and to top up the car with petrol to last me over the festive period.

In my life , the countdown has begun and with all but a few presents to wrap and a big shop to do, im in a good position for Christmas this year and I can't wait!

What are you plans for the next two week?

My Week

I've not had an eventful week, bought some nail polish that I have fallen in love with, some Kate moss 107 Lipstick, dressed up for work as a Christmas Chef and had to wear a hat. Bought some lights for the bath, to have a relaxing bath when needed as the light in the bathroom is super bright and not nice when you need to be soothed. a pic of my fav Christmas card I have received so far and the presents I have bought for my best friend all wrapped and ready to tease her!

My Christmas Traditions

There are so many different traditions that people do, I have read many different ones and my favorite that I've heard is my friend who moves an elf statue around the house and tells the children that the elf will report to Santa and tell him if they are being naughty. This is fabulous and I may have to adopt this when I have any children.

My first Christmas tradition is putting the decoration up on 30th November ready for December. I don't know why this has come about, but it is what I do every year. My parents were not so strict with the date, but I am.
As soon as all the presents are wrapped they go under the tree, even if their for other people (this makes me look more popular than I am, LOL). I always arrange to meet people to exchange presents within two week before Christmas, I can't abide doing it any earlier. this is just my nature, I feel that any sooner and it ruins the run up to Christmas. Though there is one particular friend (Laura) who would open them as soon as she got them so I do my best to get hers to her as close to the big day as possible, this year we are meeting up on Christmas eve.

My best friend and I (Laura - as mentioned above) also have a tradition of buying each other a Christmas Tree decoration each year, This way our decorations grow and we have our own personal story to tell, I would love to start doing this with more of my friends, but then it wouldn't be so special.

I always open one present on Christmas Eve, I never choose a big one, but just something to open to tease for the next day, My husband has embraced this tradition with some rather zealous enthusiasm as he is a giant kid. This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, My parents used to pick the present for me, to make sure it wasn't my main present, but as an adult I now choose.

I still have advent calenders always given by my mother in law and I have to have a stocking. Once again the big kid was happy to adopt this. I love waking up about 7/8 and opening my stocking, and we always put on our Christmas hats and wear them until we have opened the gifts. Then while I adjust (as I'm not a morning person) Nick makes me a cup of tea/hot chocolate and turns all the lights on as I come into the living room. Then we start to open our presents, we always take turns one at a time and try and have fun and make it last as long as we can.

When I had a dog, we'd always give him the paper to play with, that was the dogs Christmas, paper to eat! After all the present fun, I start to prepare for dinner, peel & cut veg, get stuffing mix ready and normally start cooking about 11. With dinner/cooking comes some alcohol, normally Baileys or Disaronno and Coke an of course some Crackers, and then wear the stupid cracker hats for an hour or two.

These are my tradition and I'm sure there are many others that do this and more,
What are your traditions, I would love to hear what makes your Christmas special!

Wish List, Technology and Makeup

Most of this I will never afford, This is my dream List and If there was ever a person out there that wanted to give me all my hearts desire this list is it!

I want a kindle, I hated them to begin with and now I have decided I cant live without one!
Induction cooker, yes please, only heats up when the pans are placed on them, if you touch it with your hand it feels cold, the ultimate in safety and good for idiots like my husband.
I have always wanted an American style fridge freezer, just seems so much more elegant.
A cyber mirror for the bathroom, wifi equipt so you can watch anything you want and it's a mirror behind it, I need this in my life!
I mac, yes please.
Toshiba 3D tv, No Glasses needed, first one commercially in the world, only £7000!
Of course I need a nice big house to fit it all in!
My two make up wants (much more realistic) is the Urban Decay Naked Palette and Pretty Much anything from Benefit to do with highlighting or coverup!

Kate Moss 107 Matte Lipstick

Rimmel Kate Moss matte lipstick, 107. RRP £5.49

I first tried this on my friends birthday, a very talked about product in the beauty world, but I shied away from it. I was under the misguided and incorrect delusion that it was Kate Moss there for it was crap! Oh how wrong was I.

I tend to suffer from being overly stuck up sometimes and will refuse to even try a product based on the name, Thankfully since I started blogging I have become less of a snob and more adventurous. 3 months ago I would have never picked up suck a dark color, not even just to test it. Now I find that I'm interested in darker color, esp on my lips. I was also not a fan of matte color, but now I can see just how lovely it can be, My eyes are now open to the wonder of matte.

For starters the packaging is lovely and simple, I like that its not bold or all silver, it keeps with the actual color. It is a pure matte and this just adds to the beauty of it, its a wine/dark red and is perfect for the autumn/winter season. Once applied it has a velvet look about it (just a warning, you will need to clean your lips before applying as otherwise it will clump up any dirt/leftover gloss). it is comfortable to wear and feels rich and moisturising. I find it has pretty good staying power, but does need to be reapplied after drinks or food, but then again, most lipsticks arn't 100% drink proof.

I will be wearing this for all my Christmas events and will keep my eyes and the rest of my make up simple to make the lipstick pop. For the price you pay, I would say this is a fantastic lipstick and good value for money.

BarryM Nail Paint Review

Please excuse the bad paint jobs as I have never been very good with my nails. I picked these little beauts up on a whim, they were 3 for the price of two, so I bought 2 for me and 1 as a present.

It was the red one I was after but I decided to give the gold a go as well. They are £2.99 each and have an excelent choice of colors to choose from.

This was the first time to my memory that I had ever bought any BarryM Nail Varnish and especially as the price is quite on the cheap side I was sceptical, I was wrong.
It took two coats of each colour to achieve good coverage and its stated on the pack that you should apply over a base coat. I applied the coats very thick to see about the drying time and I was pleasantly surprised with the speed, They dried to the touch after only a few minutes and even after the first coat the color was almost true to the bottle, however the second coat added a little more color and sparkle to the nail.

---

The red I was cautious with and after applying and drying I didn't really do anything for almost a day to let them dry, I did knock one nail not long after finishing them and it dented the polish, I added a drop and was very careful. The next day I washed up, cleaned my flat made dinner have knocked and tested them and apart from a little wear on the tips from picking things up, there are no chips or dents. (all this without even covering in a top coat of clear varnish)

The feeling of the red is very strange almost like a very fine sandpaper or when you rub grains on sand in your hand on a beach, its not unpleasant but unusual.

For the price you pay and the wear you get I would highly recommend these BarryM nail paints, for their hard wearing, great color and coverage along with fantastic value for money. If you are not into glitter they do plenty of matt/plain colors without glitter. I will be wearing this vanish in work on the weekend for Christmas dress up and I wont be worrying that they will end up looking scruffy. I'm very pleased with my whim!

Last minute Gift Ideas for Christmas

With Christmas now less than two weeks away I wanted to do a post on ideas you can still get for anyone who you have forgotten. I Have Stuck under £10 though most of the gift Ideas come in under £5, if your like me, your strapped for cash. Two of these may not arrive in time for Christmas as they are on ebay, but still great ideas for gifts either for next year or for birthdays.

Barry M Nail Paint RRP £2.99 Great for girls and ladies, the red is a great color for Christmas.

Lindt Lindor Chocolate Box RRP  £4.50  Smooth and silky, a great addition to a  Christmas stocking or great for just a  stand alone gift for him or for her.

Fluffy Socks for her Pack of 2 RRP £3.50 Tesco Great as a stocking filler or just as an extra present to keep feet warm this winter.

Character/Novelty socks for him, Singles Range from £2-£4 a pair Great extra, and what man doesn't love some funny socks.

F&F Knitted Beret RRP £5Ive seen this in about 3 colors and I think it would be a great Christmas gift, Its something I would love to get myself.

Family Guy Christmas Tshirt RRP £8 I haven't met a man yet who doesn't love family guy!

F&F Raindeer PyjamasRRP £8 (they are normally £11 but most PJs have been reduced for Christmas)I think a set of Pj's are a classic and you can't go wrong, I always love having them esp with a Xmas Theme.

Mens Skeleton stainless auto Mechanical Wrist watch Price £10 including P&PA Beautiful piece of equiptment, I'd say its guaranteed to keep any man happy who likes his gadgets. (may not arrive in time for Xmas but great gift idea)

Beautiful Heart Shaped Watch Ebay RRP £5comes in bronze and silver, old fashioned styled lovely little gift. (may not arrive in time for xmas, but great gift idea)

Hetty and  Henry Face  Mugs  £3.99 Each Great Little funny gift for couples or for either a man or lady, bring a smile to their face on Christmas morning.

Daily Make up

On days when I'm going to work, or shopping, I don't have and extensive make up routine, I wear 3 things and these three simple items can make me feel good about the way I look. They can make me feel happier about my outfit and more pretty. It's pretty amazing when a few simple things can make you feel a lot better about yourself. I would also recommend this routine if you are short on time or not a big make up fan, but want to do something small to you appearance.

I use 3 products, the first one is Garnier BB cream, it's a moisturiser with some foundation in it, It is also a mild sun scream SPF15. It does not cover heavy blemishes, but for evening out skin tone and covering a little spots it really does the trick, as it is a moisturiser it is good for your skin, especially on these cold winter days. For £7.50 and combining 3 into one its a good price and lasts me about two/three months.

I also use some Mascara, I just use MUA in black, Its cheap, lasts a while and gives good coverage, for £2 its a good price for everyday wear. My eyelashes have clear ends and without mascara they look stubby and like nothing, but with it really brings them out and makes my eyes pop. I find that even just adding Mascara some days brings out my confidence, and my eyes.

Finally I use some lipgloss, I may use some collection 2000, with some glitter in it or I may just use a clear gloss, it really depends on my mood. Adding a sheen to the lips makes them look bigger and stand out a bit more.

Doing this takes me no more than 3 minutes, Its simple, natural, quick yet effective for changing up your look and honestly it makes me feel like a whole new person for very little effort.

Do you have any simple tricks or make up items that you use that makes you feel great?

My Week

My Pointsetta, Munchies for the girls night in, Bright lips for the impromptu night out, Pornstar Cocktail choice, My hair being perfect when I have done nothing too it but it had to go in a pony, Why I love make up - It covers circles and bad skin, A touch of craft work by making peppermint creams and hand made marzipan roses and finally all the lovely presents and not a single one is mine!

I have had a very busy week since the last post, I have been for a meal with family and at a church, Watched a Choir, cleaned, Worked, finished shopping for Christmas, cleaned some more, wrapped more presents, Made a few presents, Put my car in a Garage, cleaned yet again! met up with friends, done a secret santa (first one ever), had a girls night in that turned to a girls night out and killed my back in the process and finally cleaned and then spent all of sunday watching fantasy movies, hoping to watch some Christmas movies this week!