Bye bye 2010!

I have scheduled a proper New Year's post for tomorrow morning but I just thought I'd pop on here and and wish you all a very happy New Year.

I have enjoyed blogging and reading your comments a *huge* amount this year and it feels appropriate that I should end 2010 writing a little blog post for you folkies to read.

I hope that you all have a lovely night tonight whether you have big, wild plans or little, quiet plans like me and I will see you next decade, in 2011!

Image credit: weheartit.com

Favourites of 2010

It seems appropriate to do a little sum of the products that I've most enjoyed using over the last 12 months given that 2010 is now coming to a close.  I've pinched this post from Lauren because hers was so great and I hope she doesn't mind!

So here we are- the products that have impressed me over the last 12 months.

Skincare

Cleanser - Clarins Pure Melt Cleansing Gel

Moisturiser - Garnier Soft Essentials Day

Exfoliator - The Body Shop Facial Buffer- one of my absolute favourite discoveries of the year. 

Lip Products - Lush Mint Juleps Lip Scrub and Burt's Bees Honey Lipbalm

Body Moisturisers- Soap and Glory The Righteous Butter and Sanctuary Kyphi body butter.

Haircare

Shampoo and Conditioner- Paul Mitchell Lavender Mint products

Conditioning Treatment- Lee Stafford Hair Treatment for Hair That Doesn't Grow Past A Certain Length

Make up

Foundation - Revlon Colorstay, Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect and Estee Lauder Doublewear

Concealer - Benefit Boi-ing and Collection 2000 Iluminating Touch Concealer

Blush - MAC Dollymix, MUA blushers as they are amazing for £1 and Sleek Rose Gold.

Powder- MAC MSF Natural in Light

Bronzer- Rimmel Sun Shimmer Compact Bronzing Powder in Light Matte

Eyeshadow - Urban Decay Naked Palette and Sleek Storm palette- I love my neutrals!

Mascara - Lancome Hypnose, Chanel Exceptionnel De Chanel mascara in Smoky Noir and Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara.

Lipstick - Too many to mention but I've loved Rimmel Colour Show Offs, Revlon Colourbursts, Chanel Coco Rouge and also I've started collecting MAC lipsticks.  My favourite MACs would currently be Impassioned, Girl Next Door, Pink Nouveau and Chatterbox. I love pinks!

Lipgloss - Revlon Super Lustrous Lipglosses and my Sephora lipgloss are well used. 

High-end Brands - Urban Decay, Benefit and MAC.

Drugstore Brands - Sleek, Rimmel and Revlon.

Others
Perfume - Stella by Stella McCartney, Lola by Marc Jacobs and Chloe by Chloe

Shower Gel - Dove Go Fresh bodywashes and anything by Sanctuary.

Nail Polish - China Glaze Evening Seduction, lots of 17 polishes and Barry M Dusky Mauve

Hand Cream - Soap and Glory Hand Food

Miscellaneous

Magazine - Red

Album - Kings of Leon- Come Around Sundown

Song- Eliza Dolittle- Pack Up

TV Show - Glee and Grey's Anatomy- I never miss an episode of either.

As you can, I've linked up my posts so you can see what I've written about these lovelies this year- hopefully you'll discover a few gems yourselves.  Have you done a post like this?  Link me to it if you have, so that I can start 2011 off with a few new discoveries myself.

I hope you all have a great time celebrating tonight, whether you are at home or out and about.  I'm not a big fan of NYE myself so will be havng a quiet night in with Mike, his parents and a curry which I can't wait for.  What are you doing to see in the New Year?

FOTD Christmas Day Makeup

If you saw my post yesterday on the presents I was given for Christmas, then you will have seen I was really happy to be given Darkly My Dear blusher and Hot House by my Mum.  I didn't have the pennies when the Venemous Villans collections was released and so I told her which items I liked the look of for Christmas.  Waiting a couple of months did nothing to quell the excitement so I was very happy to finally be able to play with them!

This is how I looked on Christmas Day.

As usual my base was my mix of GOSH and Bourjois foundations, Benefit Boi-ing concealers and MAC MSF Natural powder to set it.  A dusting of Darkly My Dear was all I used on my cheeks.

My eyes were simple as I was being called to do a zillion different jobs, so I slapped on some UDPP, and then used Sin from the Naked Palette all over my lid and a little bit of Smog along my lashline.  I then used my L'Oreal Super Liner in Carbon Gloss and finished with 2 coats of Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara.

This is just one coat of Hot House Lipglass so you can see it's really pigmented and such a lovely shade.  You can just see my dress in this picture and the purpley fuchsia shade really complimented the green shade.  The only thing I don't like about it, is that it was LE and it's such a small tube, I'm going to go through it really quickly!  As it was originally released as part of the Strange Hybrid collection and has been repromoted, I'll just have to look out for it in future collections though.  Or, if anybody has it and isn't keen, I'd be happy to take it off your hands!

I do love a lipgloss or lipstick that stands on its own and makes such a statement with very few other products being necessary-it's so useful when I'm running late in the morning or am just feeling lazy.  What are your favourite products for when you're running late?

Christmas Goodies!

You may have seen so many of these posts that you're getting a bit bored of them, but as so many other people have done, I thought that I'd do a little post of some of the goodies that I was so nicely given for Christmas.  These are in no particular order by the way, I'm not that organised, but here are some of the goodies that I'm super stoked to have been given.

I love this beautiful red bag that my Mum gave me from Oasis and I was thrilled to open it on Christmas morning.

My Mum kindly picked me up Darkly My Dear and Hot House lipgloss from the Venemous Villans collection when I was skint-love her!- and Mike bought me Pink Nouveau which I was been lusting after for ages.

Stella is seriously my favourite ever perfume so I was jumping for joy when I opened this from Mike.  And I didn't even tell him that I wanted it.

These Accessorize slippers, also from Mike, could well be from favourite present- bright and snuggly, they are my new best friends.  However cold it gets, my feet will not be cold this winter!

My two favourite things- a Lil Lush Pud and a chick lit book to read in the bath.  Bliss.

This sign, from my friend, gave me such a laugh.  I'm going to hang this somewhere that I see every day so that I get a giggle from it.

Mike is such a doll and bought me Seasons 1-3 of Mad Men which I'm so excited to watch- I may disappear from blogging for a few weeks while I devour the set- and then also some Soap and Glory goodies (I've only used Hand Food until now, bad beauty blogger!) and another Burt Bees lipbalm- perfect for this chilly weather.

I love me some smellies!  My brother gave me the Yankee Candle Vanilla Lime tealights, the Christmas Cookie tealight came from Mum and the reed fragrance diffuser and Santuary shower gel came from Mike's Mum.  Lovely people :)

Speaking of staying warm in my slippers- my scarves and gloves will also do the job!

I love this jersey top from Oasis- I had actually chosen it for myself but then forgot that Mum had bought it so it was a lovely surprise on Christmas morning.  Silly me.

This knitted waistcoat, from Next, is seriously snuggly warm and although I need to find a few things to wear with it, I think I'm going to live in this for the next few months.  Again, I had indicated to my Mum that I liked it, but this time I remembered that I'd asked for it!

This stunning mirror came from my brother's girlfriend, Kat, and I love it.  The floral print is stunning, it has a gorgeous little case and I massively needed to replace the hangbag mirror that my brother gave me for my 17th birthday as it was getting more than a little tatty after 9 years in my bag!

And after all of the Christmas madness (and to be fair, the continuing madness of visiting loads of in laws and friends down at Mike's) this is exactly what I need- aromatherapy roll ons.  These are awesome and if you spot the set in the Boots sale, I'd pick one up as this would make an excellent birthday gift for someone in the New Year.  The case it comes in is lovely and perfect for travelling with.

So that was my whistle stop tour of some of my presents.  I also received vouchers, some bits for the kitchen and loads of choccies.  Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, the most important presents of all.

My Mum gave Mike and I the gift of training a midwife in the Middle East and Mike Aunt and Uncle gave us the gift of immunising a child.  I love these charity gifts because they remind us, at a time of the year when we all get so caught up in buying "stuff", that there are people that can benefit so much from a relatively small donation.  I'm going to make sure to include at least a few of this type of gift in my shopping next year.

What were your favourite gifts?

Highs and Lows - 2010

2010 has been a year of change for me, and that's just the way I like it.  Don't get me wrong, I've found it difficult at times but the end of the year finds me happier than I have been in a long time and for that I am very grateful. 

I'm an introspective person anyway but this time of year makes me mull things over even more as I like to acknowledge what I've achieved and where I can improve.  I'm an ambitious person, both in my working and personal life, and I think that part of achieving is being honest about how you've done.

So, I thought I'd sum up my year, both for my own sake and for anyone else who is interested.  Here are my highs of 2010.

• I started blogging in January, which was one of the best things I did all year.  I cringe now looking back at older posts as my writing style has changed so much, but I'm just glad that I jumped in, with both feet, and gave blogging a go.  Seeing people comment on my posts and my stats improving is such an amazing feeling and I look forward to develoing my blog further next year. 
• I visited Northumberland, Menorca and Sherwood Forest Center Parcs this year and although these weren't exactly exotic locations, I had a brilliant time at all 3.  I love spending time with Mike and my family.
• Although I never doubted that he'd do well, not even for a single second, Mike still surprised me with just how well he didi in his main exams.  I've been told not to divulge just how well he did but believe me, he did extremely well!
• We booked the wedding venue in August!  A date has been set for 26th May 2012, so I now have something to count down to and time is speeding by.
• My brother graduated in July and starting working as a PE teacher on a 1 month contract at a school he loved.  Luckily they made him permanant within a few weeks and I'm so proud of what he's doing.  Seeing him do something that he loves is pushing me to work out what I'm meant to do with my life. 
• My diet and exercise plan meant that I lost over a stone in 8 weeks and very nearly reached my target weight.  To do this in a healthy way was so exciting to me and I can't wait to get back to it in the New Year.
• I qualified as a solicitor at the end of October, and promptly stopped working in Law.  I made the decision whilst sunning myself in Menorca and although it sometimes felt stupid to be leaving a career path so early on, I knew in my heart of hearts that it wasn't right for me and so I prefer to think that I was brave, rather than stupid.  Two months on and I have no regrets.
• We moved to Nottingham, to coincide with me starting my new job there on 1st November.  I'm now very settled in both the flat and job and I know that I made the right decision.
• My best friend Vic got engaged to her fantastic boyfriend Matt a couple of weeks ago and I'm so thrilled for them.  They are so wonderful together and I have no doubt that she will be very well taken care of.  Congratulations guys.
• This Christmas has been the best one that I can remember.  I'm putting that down to the amount of alcohol consumed and the amount of Singstar played :)

Phew!  When you write it out like that, it's been a busy old year with plenty of wonderful things going on.  Luckily there aren't many lows but here are the two things that I consider to be the difficult times of 2010.

• The stress and worry related to me and my brother finding jobs.  It's still difficult trying to find work at the moment and we both gave our Mum, and ourselves, a few sleepless nights over it.  It's easy to gloss over this time when it works out in the end, but that was a tough couple of months.
• The decision to leave my career is both a high and a low.  The decision itself was easy, and by the time I left I was happy, but the 3 months inbetween were long, difficult and extremely upsetting because of things that I found out about how I was perceived by some people at work.  Luckily my family were behind me and I didn't let it get to me.

See, I'm a very lucky girl.  I may have been stressed for much of the year but that stress has only related to work and I have had amazing support to get me through it.  I'm looking forward to seeing what I can achieve in 2011 now that I had shaken off the negativity that comes from working in a job that's not right for you.  Fingers crossed that my list of highs will be even longer in 2011!

What are your highs and lows from this year? 

Image credit: weheartit.com

Christmas Frolicks

Happy Boxing Day lovelies!  How are you all doing?  I hope that you had a great Christmas with your family or friends and that those of you who are poorly at the moment get better soon, because it's so rotten to be ill at Christmas.  I was ill for from 23rd Dec until 2nd Jan two years ago and although it was miserable at the time, it's certainly made me appreciate my health at this time of year. 

Thankfully I have been well this year and although I didn't finish work until 2.30pm on Christmas Eve, Mike and I were at my parents by 3.30pm, ready to start on the mulled wine and mince pies!  I love my Mum and Dad's house at Christmas by the way, she decorates it so beautifully and so I thought I'd put a few pictures on here.

The small, artificial tree in the dining room.

The large, real tree in the living room.

The best bit for me- a real log fire to curl up in front of.

Although I love spending Christmas with Mike's folks on alternate years, there's really nothing like spending it here.  We'll be spending New Year with Mike's family though, so we do our best to balance things and keep everyone happy!

Christmas Day was spent opening presents, drinking Bucks Fizz, playing with my new make up, getting very tipsy on rose wine, belting out a tune or two on Singstar (I got my best score on Candi Staton's Young Hearts Run Free), playing the Catchphrase game, watching Get Him To The Greek and giggling like idiots whilst playing charades.  My acting out Sweeney Todd was pretty gruesome but awesome, I must say. 

I think I'll do a little post this week on my Christmas presents, as I received so many lovely presents and I will also be doing a few posts looking back over the last year and forward to 2011.  Although I'm not a big fan of New Year's Eve, I do love the beginning of the year, when I start with the best of intentions. 

How has your Christmas been?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Just to let you know that I will be blogging over Christmas ans have lots of great posts coming up.  I've been so busy this week that I haven't had time for most of the things I had planned but after I finish work this afternoon, I will set that right!

I hope that you all enjoy yourselves however you're spending Christmas.

Wise Words

A few pictures that sum up how I feel, or at least try to.

And lastly, the quote that I say *all* the time:-

What do you try and live by?

All images from weheartit.com

Monday's Good Stuff

Happy Tuesday everybody!  How is everyone today?  Cold?  Snowed in?  Feeling festive?  I hope it's just the latter but I know that a lot of people have been badly affected by the snow so I will keep all my fingers and toes crossed that you get sorted for Christmas and get to celebrate as planned.  I'm not sure whether my Mum and brother will be able to get up to Glasgow to fetch my Grandparents down to Lincoln because of the weather and I'll be upset if they can't make it, but I wouldn't want them to put themselves in any danger so I do understand.  They'll get their pressies at some point if that happens.

I'm sorry this is a day late, but I was at my work's Christmas do last night and ran out of time, what with beautifying myself, but even though it's Tuesday, there's always 5 good things so I'd better get on with sharing.

1) There's only 4 more sleeps until Christmas!

2) Last night's night out was fun if a little short as it was a school night.  We're planning to have a few more nights out in the New Year though which should be great.

3) For once, I really liked my hair and makeup last night, I went for curly hair with the top pinned back, and smokey gold/bronze eyes with nudes lips.  I think that this look will be a staple over the Christmas period as it looked nice but not overdone, perfect for seeing relatives etc.

4) I saw our friends Lucy and Olly last week for dinner and they were kind enough to, amongst other bits of loveliness, give me more Yankee Candles!  My obsession grows!  I received samplers of Eggnog, Happy Christmas and Winter Wonderland which is now my absolute, all time favourite, Yankee Candle.  Good choice guys!

5)  I am now all ready for Christmas, having finally received our last few presents from Amazon yesterday.  Well, I do need to find 5 minutes when Mike's out of the way to wrap his but I'm as good as ready.  I can't wait to finish work on Friday (the rumour is 2, or 2.30pm finish) and head back to Lincoln to start the festivities!

Sorry this was quick, I'm typing this in a rush before I head to work!  As I haven't got any appropriate pictures ready, how about the puppy that I still *really* want?

Image: weheartit.com

Adorable!

Mir Skincare

I have had these products in my "to try" pile for so long, it's getting ridiculous.  And I don't know why I haven't used them.  I've certainly bought other facial products in that time and for some reason I've not reached for these, until now. 

First impressions are very good, but I'm going to take these home with me over the Christmas holidays
so that I can give you a more in depth review in the New Year.  I'm posting this to remind myself to take them home with me, and not leave them in my drawer any longer, but also to ask if any of you have tried Mir skincare products and what you think of them?

FOTD with MAC Girl About Town

My MAC lipstick obsession has cooled slightly but since I moved to Nottingham, which has an actual stand alone MAC store, I thought that it's be rude not to take a peek.  There are still tons of shades that I want to pick up but last week I went with Girl About Town, a fabulous fuchsia according to the MAC website, as I thought the pinky purple loveliness would compliment the green dress that I was wearing.  And I was right :)  Go me.

Keeping everything else simple, and wearing a little less powder that I should have in hindsight, this is the look I was sporting last Saturday night.

Lashings of Lancome Hypnose Drama and Max Factor 2000 Calorie mascara were applied and I also used Superdrug's MUA blusher in shade 1- a great purpley pink that I thought would compliment Girl About Town nicely.  I'm not usually right about these things but I think this worked well, no?

This was actually a trial for the make up for my work's Christmas dinner which I'm going to on Monday but as much as I liked this, I've totally changed my plans and will be rocking a smokey gold eye instead.  Hopefully I'll have a better picture of me in my lovely dress for you next week.  I took one on Saturday but I look insane in it and will have to work on my full length poses before I subject you to that. 

Aside from a little more powder, I really think that this look would have rocked far harder if I was wearing false lashes.  This would require me to be able to apply them however and despite a fair amount of practice, I seriously suck at application.  Where did you guys learn to do it?  Are there any good tutorials out there?  And what lashes are good for practicing with?  Link me up girlfriends!

Holidays are Coming, Holidays are Coming!

Eek, Christmas is so close now and I'm so excited!

My advent calendar has been full of lovely Christmas treats again this week and I've been doing my best to fit it all in but some things have been rejigged because I just keep running out of time!  Christmas is such a busy time of year so perhaps it was a bit unrealistic to think that I'd be able to fit in something every day, but I'm feeling more Christmassy every day and as that was the point of the calendar, I'm happy.

We got up to 10th December last time so let's pick up and see what I've had behind the windows for days 11 to 18.

11 - Visit Nottingham Christmas Market

Photo: bbc.co.uk

I drank mulled wine and watched the ice skating- lovely!

12 - Wrap up and go for a walk

Photo: janiwall.com

I haven't done this yet so will have to try and fit it in this weekend.

13 - Watch Narnia.

Photo: hollywoodcostumesandprops.blogspot.com

I didn't fit this in because I scheduled it for Monday when Mike's out and he wants to see it too.  I think we'll go next week.

14 - Buy Christmas food for taking to Lincoln

Forget the food we've bought- I want these singing snowmen!

15 - Watch Nativity!

Photo: mirror.co.uk

Done and done.

16 - Wrap Christmas presents.

I've wrapped all of Mike's family's presents to send down to Wycombe this weekend but I have my family's to do this week. 

17 - Drink mulled wine

This I have managed more than anything else.  Well, maybe I've eaten more mince pies.

18 - Write the Christmas Quiz

Photo: dog-paw-print.com

This is what I'm doing this evening.  I love writing the quiz that I'll do with the family between the courses of Christmas dinner.  Every one has at least one grumble at the questions- my Mum knows very little about sport, my brother doesn't care about celebs and my grandparents don't know any of the music I refer to but it's still a lot of fun.  I'm going to make it easier this year though so fingers crossed they all enjoy it too! 

Thank You!

Just a little post, as I sit drinking my hot chocolate after my night out (how rock and roll am I?), as I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy at the moment because of my lovely followers. 

I genuinely love the fact that you take the time to read my ramblings and comment on them too.  I might not have the biggest blog, with a whole heap of followers, but I love each and every one of you.

Thanks for stopping by :) 

Oh and here's some sweets because you're great.

Favourite Foundations

I've been listing this combination in pretty much all of my FOTD posts for months now and I'm still in love with the effect so I thought it was about time that I shared my discovery with you guys.

This combination was born from having 2 foundations that had disappointed me. 

GOSH X-Ceptional Wear Long Lasting Make Up in 11 Porcelain is very pale and thick.  I thought this is what I wanted when I picked it up but even in the winter, this is too pale for me and applied on its own, it's like using emulsion paint.  On the other hand Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation in 71 is a good shade on me, smells delicious and gives a lovely dewy finish but it's too light for me, apart from in the hottest of summer months.  So rather than chuck either one or leave them to gather dust, I mixed them together, using only the teeniest amount of each one.

The shades don't look very different like this, GOSH on the left and Bourjois on the right, but you can see that the GOSH is a very cool toned shade and the Bourjois is a little warmer.  I simply mix it around on the back of my hand and apply with my fingers.  I sometimes add a little more 10 Hour Sleep Effect over the top to keep the look dewy but most often just apply MAC MSF Natural to keep it all in place for the day.

It's hardly a revolutionary approach but the combination does give me enoough coverage with leaving me looking like I've been plastered in make up.  And the best bit?  I'm getting through them both so slowly because I use such a small amount each time.  I've been doing this since I bought them both back in June and I'm only halfway through them.

I'm planning on picking up some Estee Lauder Double Wear soon as I tried a sample and bloody loved the stuff but this combination will remain my go to foundation for daily wear until they're both used up. 

What's your current foundation?  And what's your all time fave?

FOTD My Current Make Up

Since my birthday, when I was lucky enough to get given some great new products, I have been rocking the same look every day.  This is partly done to how much I love them and partly down to the fact that I am exhausted in the morning and in major need of a few days off (roll on Christmas).

So this is how I have been looking pretty much every day.

Now the flash has washed me out a bit, I am wearing bronzer if you can believe it, and my lipstick isn't quite as pale in real life but you get the idea.

The products that I have been using again and again are:-

Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect Foundation in 51 mixed with

GOSH X-ceptionnel Foundation in 11 Porcelain

Benefit Boi-ing concealers in 01 and 02

MAC MSF Natural in Light

The darkest of the No 7 bronzers from the kit I got for my birthday

Sleek Rose Gold blusher

UDPP

Various shades from the Urban Decay Naked Palette- in this picture I'm wearing Sin on my lid, Virgin as a highlight and Darkhorse in the outer crease and smog along my lower lashline.  Not that you can see this with my hooded lids.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Whiskey or Zero

Lancome Hypnose Drama Mascara

MAC Myth lipstick

The Body Shop Cranberry Joy lipbalm over the top of Myth

I love the pale colour of the Cranberry Joy lipbalm but it can look a bit too much on its own so I like to pair it with MAC Myth as it adds a bit of colour to Myth and stops me looking quite so washed out.  I know pale lips aren't to everyone's taste and this picture probably doesn't sell it to you but I only dab on a teeny tiny bit of Myth so my lips aren't totally concealered out. 

I just wish I didn't go out in the morning and come home in the evening when it's still dark because it's difficult to get an accurate, flattering picture because I'm not even getting time at weekends at the moment.  I do love this time of year but being this busy doesn't make it very easy to fit in picture taking and blog post writing.  I can't wait to have a few days off over Christmas- I'm going to have to find a quiet corner with my laptop and write all the posts I've been thinking up recently.

How are you getting on preparing for Christmas?  Are you all ready?  And are you finding it difficult to find time to blog in between work/Christmas parties/shopping?

Monday's Good Stuff

This is going to have to be a super quick post as I can't describe how tired I am.  But that only because...

1) I had an amazing weekend!  And if that's not a good reason to feel like a pile of crap then I don't know what is.  I saw my friends Jane, Sophie, Tom and Phil at various points and consumed a little too much wine but had a great time catching up with everyone so the exhaustion is worth it.  That said...

2) The fact that I made it through work today is one of my good things.  I felt so tired by 3pm that I thought I was going to throw up.  Nice.

3) I have now wrapped 50% or so of my Christmas presents.  I have, as usual, realised that I have bought far more than I realised, but hey, if you can't spoil people at Christmas, when can you?

Photo: weheartit.com

4) I received a lovely letter from my friend Amy today, who I haven't seen in ages.  It was lovely to come home to a real letter and I'm going to find the time to sit down and write a reply soon.  It was a lovely surprise to see that she reads the blog, so hi hun, if you're reading this!

5) I have the house to myself tonight which is great timing because when I'm tired all I want to do is curl up on the sofa and watch trashy TV.  In all fairness that's pretty much all I ever want to do but I feel that tiredness is a good excuse for it and it helps that Mike is playing football tonight.  I'm going to try and be productive and do a bit of ironing and some more present wrapping this evening but I fear that it might be a bit of a write off, followed by an early night. 

What did you do this weekend?  How was your Monday? 

Days 7 - 10 Feeling Festive

So the countdown to Christmas continues and this week I have been...

Image Credit: stumbleupon.com
writing my Christmas cards- these aren't the cards I'm actually sending but I wish they were- they're gorgeous!

drinking gingerbread lattes

Image Credit: macdonalds.co.uk

having a Terry's Chocolate Orange McFlurry and

Image Credit: imdb.com

watching Love Actually.  Well I haven't actually seen it yet and may have to move that to next week some times as I'm not going to fit it tonight but hey- it's what was behind today's door and it will be watched this weekend.  Probably after Sunday lunch now I think about it. 

I've just this second realised that I didn't show you a picture of our tree after I put it up on Monday night.  Well that's fix that right now.

Isn't she a beauty?  I've gone with a red and gold colour scheme this year and it really is stunning.  It always makes me laugh how big a real tree looks when you get it in the house though.  In B&Q, surrounded by other trees, this looked pretty small but at home it's huge!  I wouldn't have it any other way though.  For me, Christmas isn't Christmas without a real tree. 

And on top of all of this Christmas excitement, it's the weekend!  I have a fabulous one planned.  My friend Jane who I used to work with is coming over for some shopping, Mike's mate Phil is around tomorrow and one of my old uni mates is up from London and we shall be meeting up for a drink at some point too.  So much fun! 

What do you have planned this weekend?  And have you got your tree up yet?