Hi lovelies! Today I thought I'd share with you all a few of the lovely things I got for Christmas this year. I got lots of lovely bits and bobs from my friends and family, but in this post I just wanted to share a few bits and pieces with you all instead of doing an entire 'what I got for Christmas' post, as I don't want to come across braggy (aaaand I've already used/ put away a lot of my presents and getting them all together to photograph seems too much like hard work!!). So, first up is this gorgeous Ted Baker purse, which was a gift from my lovely boyfriend Darren. I love the baby pink and white design, it's lined with the classic Ted Baker french bulldog lining too, this purse could literally not be more perfect for me!


This HP Laptop was my main gift from my parents (Santa) this year, which I actually got a little bit early, as my poor old Dell finally gave in and died forever. This one is just perfect though, windows 8 is a little difficult to get used to, but it's super fast and has alotof storage, making it perfect for blogging!


This gorgeous perfume is the Juicy Couture 'Couture La La' perfume and it was a gift from my Grandparents. I love getting perfumes for Christmas and this one had been on my wishlist for quite a while. I love the scent of this one, its super girly and fresh and the bottle is just beautiful. It always helps when a bottle looks good on your shelf doesn't it?


Many of you will already know that Darren gave me an early Christmas present this year, which was the Yankee Candle 12 Christmas Sampler set. These scents are my absolute favourites from the set, 'Snowflake Cookie', 'Merry Marshmallow' and 'Christmas Cookie'. I'll definitely be picking up more of these in the sales as they're all so yummy smelling and it makes me sad that they're only around at Christmas time.


This stunning YSL gift set was a gift from my Grandparents and I looove it! I adore Touche Eclat, but my purse cries when I have to buy it myself, so it's such a fab thing to receive for a gift. This set also comes with a mini Mascara, which is really lovely. I'm not sure which mascara it is exactly, but I really love it, it's super black and clump free, which is great for those mornings when you don't have too much time to do your make up and it's pretty fool proof!


This lovely little Benefit kit was a gift from my sister Hannah, this is the 'Cabana Glama' kit, which I was suuuper excited about for two reasons, one, it's Benefit (duh) and two, it contains 'Hoola' Bronzer. I'd never tried 'Hoola' before and this is a perfect way to give it a go before taking the plunge and buying the full size. It also contains the 'Some Kinda Gorgeous' foundation in medium, which looks like a perfect summer shade/ fake tan shade for me, 'Posie Tint', which is an old favourite of mine and threebeautifuleyeshadows. Why had I not tried Benefit shadows before? These are just perfection, I feel like I need more Benefit eyeshadows now, these are just so buttery soft and gorgeously pigmented, amazing, just amazing.



Take a moment to absorb the cuteness. Done? This little lunch box tin was a little stocking filler from my parents and I just love it. Boo the dog is my hero and I'm in love with this.


Another gift from Darren is this super adorable little Me to You bear dressed as a snowman. It may be Christmassy but this gorgeous little guy is definitely staying on my bed all year round. I never grew out of the teddy bear phase and I love receiving them so much so this was really lovely of him.


A bit of a strange one to show you all, as this isn't really a 'big' present, but I wanted to share the awkard but funny story with you all. I don't know about anyone else, but every single year, my mum gets me and my sister underwear as a stocking filler - and every single year, we open them under the table/ behind our backs to avoid awardly flashing lacey knickers to our Grandparents! I do love these though, she chose some super cute ones this year, so awkwardness aside I was pleased with these!

I'm so grateful for everything I received this year, I loved absolutelyeverythingthat my friends and family had chosen for me. If by any chance you are a friend or family member reading this post and I didn't include your gift, it's probably because I've already opened it/ used it or put it away and it in no way means I didn't love your gift just as much as these ones!!

What do you think? What did you get for Christmas this year?

I don't know about you guys, but I really do love this time of year. By that, I don't just mean Christmas, I mean Autumn/ Winter in general, particularly November/ December. October 31st kicks it all off by being mine and Darren's anniversary, then November has a few family birthdays meaning lots of parties and meals out. It's also (obviously!!) the start of the Christmas period, so this time of year means lots of time with friends and family, which I absolutely love. It's also a fab time for me at work, as a lot of you will know, I now work with Children and there's honestly nothing more magical than Christmas time with kids. They're all so lovely and excited and hearing them talk about Santa Claus, Christmas lists and what they're going to be in the Nativity play melts my heart a little. I think it might be due to being around kids day in day out that I'm in such a festive mood this year. I've had a fab time decorating the house, going on several shopping trips,
wrapping presents (blog post on this coming soon) and driving Darren mad with Christmas songs.
This week, I also watched my first Christmas film of the year (Four Christmas's), next up will be Home Alone, followed by Elf and then The Holiday isalwayssaved for Christmas Eve. I'm also determined to make a gingerbread house this year, me and Darren tried two Christmasses ago and it was just all kinds of failure. Hidden question for those who actually read all of my random rambles, have you ever made a Gingerbread House? Comment and let me know! I've finally finished my Christmas shopping this year too, which is very exciting for me. I love shopping for gifts, but I do panic a bit when it gets to December, particularly if (like this year), I'm not too prepared. I felt really disorganised this year for some reason, so finishing my shopping has been a relief. This might sound really early to some people, but I wanted to be finished before the Christmas Holidays (ahh, the perks of working in a School), so I've now got the last two weeks of term to concentrate on seeing friends, parties and family time (and wrapping up of course!!).

How's your November and December been? Are you feeling super festive this year too?

What's your favorite thing about Christmas?
Hope you enjoyed this tag, definitely let me know if you do it!