Blogmas 24 - Christmas Eve and Primark PJs

Hello there,

It's finally here! By the time this post goes live Christmas Day will be nearly here and everything will be wrapped and ready for delivery.

Christmas Eve was a quiet day. Not everything went quite to plan (cue the last minute dash out to Asda) but overall, it was a lazy relaxing day.

I started off by wearing my absolute favourite jumper of the season. It's a Primark special and to be honest I haven't worn it as much as I would have liked as it's just been too flipping hot here in the UK! I think though it should be worn on Christmas Day - whatever the weather.

As there were no plans to set foot outside the door for the rest of the day - it was was time for pajamas and real relaxing. I bought this set from Primark a couple of months ago thinking it would keep me warm. Well it certainly did that - I nearly expired wearing it!

The detailing is so cute! These were an 18-20 and fitted just fine.

From about midday onwards, it was time to track Santa on the Norad web site. This is a tradition we do every year. It was something we started doing it with friends in Australia a few years back so that we could all see at the same time where Santa was at various points throughout the day. I can't imagine a Christmas Eve without it now.

And now, the Sephora Advent Calendar. The last 4 days had a body wash, ribbon (?), nail varnish and finally an eye shadow for the 24th.

Overall, it's not been a bad calendar. As it's the first ever beauty type calendar I've ever bought, I've really enjoyed seeing what goodies there were each morning. Like most, there's been a few odd days, but overall, I'm quite pleased. Next year though, I already have my eye on the Body Shop one. After watching some YouTube videos of it, it looks amazing.

Finally - a very big THANK YOU for taking the time to read my Blogmas posts. I managed to do more days than I thought I would so I'm pretty chuffed.

I hope you all have a peaceful and happy Christmas xx

Cathy
xx

Blogmas 21-23 - Last minute shopping and cooked breakfast

Hello there,

Only a few days now until Christmas and it seems to be a whirl of last minute food shopping and hunting for the last present I forgot to buy (why does that always happen? I even have a spreadsheet for present buying as well - arghh!).

A couple of months ago a TXMaxx and HomeSense opened about 10 mins from me. Excellent for shopping - terrible for my purse. I spent a good hour or so on Monday morning having a browse around.

 
Some beautiful evening dresses too - not many plus size though :-(

 

Tuesday was a real errand running kind of day, whereas Wednesday was the start of Christmas! No work for anyone now until next week, so the chance for a few days of unwinding.

We started the day off by having a cooked brekkie at our local Toby Carvery - seemed like a perfect way to start the festivities.

The grounds of the pub are right next to the Itchen River, which was flowing pretty well after all the weather recently.

As you can see from the carpark, it was pretty busy, even early in the morning.

It's really starting to feel Christmassy now. An afternoon of movies and final bits of present wrapping helped with that. Plus this little guy has been varnished ready to be given as a gift on the big day.

I'll do a final round-up on the last few days of the Sephora Advent Calendar in my final Blogmas post tomorrow. Like most of the month it's been a bit up and down, but I have high hopes for the final day - lets hope I'm right!

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Blogmas 16 &17 - Winchester Christmas market and festive nails

Hello there,

I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but I work from home. This is great 99.9% of the time, but at this time of the year, I do miss the Christmas parties and Secret Santas etc. I used to enjoy planning what to wear and all the anticipation etc.

Well, the Secret Santa was sorted this year when a number of us plus size bloggers got together to do one between us - you can see my post about that here. And on Wednesday, some friends who also work from home got together in Winchester for a spot of lunch and a catch-up before Christmas. Not strictly a festive meal at all, but it's the closest I'll get to a works Christmas do - so I donned my Christmas jumper, painted my nails and headed out.

I'm so pleased with my nails! This was the nail varnish I got in my Secret Santa with some Barry M glitter over the top. It's lasted nearly 2 days now without chipping which for me is a minor miracle. I love the contrast of a dark colour on short nails, esp at the time of year (plus short nails makes opening tins and bottles so much easier...)

By the time lunch was finished, it had turned into a pretty dark and miserable day in Winchester, so excuse some of these looking a bit dark.

To be honest, most Christmas markets are similar and tend to sell the same things wherever you are, but what makes this one different is the beautiful location in the grounds of the Cathedral.

How beautiful were these little ceramic houses for burning incense in? This was one of those 'I wish I'd bought one' moments!

The Christmas tree on the High Street - I seem to have chopped the head off - oops...

And finally, a round up of the last few days of the Sephora Advent Calendar. I have to admit, it's been a bit disappointing lately. I love the travel samples and miniatures, but the little booklets on beauty tips do nothing for me. I'm really hoping I've found all of those now and there's only good things ahead.

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Blogmas day 10 - candles burning bright

Hello there,

I think I am developing a bit of a candle addiction! I seem to be gathering a growing collection and this morning I decided it was time to dig out some of my Christmas ones.

My absolute favourite scent at any time of year is cinnamon, but it's been so hard this year to find a good cinnamon scent that doesn't have clove as well (which isn't so nice and reminds me of the dentist too much).

I bought this little candle from Primark a few weeks ago on the off chance it would be good. Oh my goodness - it's better than good. For something so little, it works so well. The whole house smells of cinnamon and it's lasting really well. I'm heading back to Primark soon to try and buy some more, but I have a sneaking suspicion they may all be gone.

I was so pleased though when I received the Winter Berry candle from my Secret Santa - Thank you! You picked a perfect pressie

I have a little side table that I use to keep candles and bits and bobs on, when they're all lit, it makes the whole room feel warm and cosy.

I've had the house candle burner for years now and it makes me smile every time I unpack it.

Sephora Advent Calendar update - day 10 was another travel shower cream, peony scent. I have quite a collection of travel and sample sizes. For me, it's a really good way of trying something before you commit to the full size product - plus it's handy for weekends away.

Thanks for reading 

Cathy

xx

Blogmas day 8 & 9 - Chichester Christmas market

Hello there,

I can't believe we're at the end of the first week of December already!

Day 8 of Blogmas saw us taking a trip to Chichester for a bit of Christmas shopping and some lunch. I've mentioned Chichester before on the blog. It's a lovely little town that's just far enough away to make it feel like a day out, but close enough to get there in around 40 mins from Southampton. It also has a great mix of the normal high street shops you'd expect to find plus a good selection of independent shops. It's become a Christmas tradition to have a day out there every year (more about traditions next week).

We didn't realise that the Chichester Christmas market would be there which was a lovely surprise. It's very different to the normal German type markets that seem to the popping up everywhere at the moment. This market was showcasing local producers, food, crafts and even had donkeys and hot chestnuts. I could have spent hours (and a small fortune) here.

Some of the items for sale were beautiful, this large wooden horse was one of my favourites

Who remembers Bill and Ben the flowerpot men? I certainly do

I was tempted to buy one of these spiders as a Christmas present - I wish I had now - d'oh!

The town of Chichester is so pretty any time of the year, but Christmas always seems a bit more special

The market even has it's own Mary and Joseph with donkeys - from Hayling Island Donkeys

Bad blogger that I am, we stopped for lunch which I just ate with no photos - but take it from me - it was yummy!

I'm combining day 8 and 9 as day 9 just consisted of lots of queuing at the Post Office and general pottering.

Sephora Advent Calendar update, day 8 was very cute red note cards with 'I wish' written on them. I can see me using these easily and pining them onto the fridge or above my desk

With the notecards from day 7 - these were odd.....

Day 9 was a beautiful red nail varnish called 'Cherry Popsicle' - this might just be my Christmas Day choice

Hope you're enjoying my version of Blogmas. I'll try to update every day or at least every other day, but if work overtakes me - it might be a bit late!

Thanks for reading

Cathy
xx

Blogmas days 6 and 7 - quiet days and Christmas music

Hello there,

The last couple of days have been pretty quiet, which doesn't make for exciting Blogmas material. So during this lull (aka normal life) I started thinking about Christmas music.

I have all the Christmas CDs in the car right now and I find I keep playing the same ones over and over again. So here's my top 5 favourite - what do you think? Are there any here you love or hate?


(Yep - Die Hard 2 is a Christmas movie in our house)

I remember being in New Look in Oxford Street once when this was playing. The two young girls next to me were so horrified - they thought it was so rude! I think it's kind of beautiful and very sad.

I like this Mariah Carey song - and I'm proud of it.

This anti-war song seems even more relevant this Christmas.

Finally, this is a such a classic and is Christmas all wrapped up for me in one song.

I could have done way more than 5 - maybe I'll add some more later in the month. 

Sephora Advent Calendar 6 was a cute mini bath bomb - very good! Day 7 was place cards (I think...) photo to follow for that.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx

Blogmas day 5 - Mottisfont Abbey

Day 5 of Blogmas and I decided to get out and about. The plan was just to tackle the local supermarket (on a Saturday before Christmas? Madness). But eventually decided to go via Mottisfont Abbey and have a little walk around the grounds.

Mottisfont is only about 30-40 mins away and situated in a beautiful part of Hampshire right next to the River Test. With some of the weather we've had lately, the river was looking pretty high but nothing was flooded (yet) so it was an uneventful trip there.

It's that time of year where the Santa hat and gloves come out.

A horse made of chicken wire - so lifelike I had to look twice

The obligatory silly pose...

Mottisfont is a beautiful place to spend a winter or summer day. It's owned by the National Trust so unfortunately isn't the cheapest place to visit. But if you can, there's plenty to look at and see. They're doing a lot of work over winter building a new restaurant so we may do a repeat visit in the summer.

As for the Sephora Advent Calendar for day 5 - this was a little booklet on how to do your make-up. Not that impressed tbh. Especially as it was so small I needed my glasses to read it! Hopefully the following days will be better. But I guess that's the risks you take with a calendar like this.

Thanks for reading

Cathy

xx