Let the Christmas (party) season commence!!!

Hi folks,

This last week at work has been so stressful and busy but it’s the run up to Christmas and as you can imagine – the start of the many work (and personal) Christmas parties I’m due to attend. This time last year, I wasn’t exactly doing the most glamorous of jobs back in Wales (see here) so its fair to say the Christmas party I attended last year wasn’t as much a Christmas party as it was an excuse to get drunk and give my liver a good battering.

A bit of a sidetrack here but I just remembered that I’ve not even begun Christmas shopping yet. I do tend to leave it till the last minute anyway so there’s nothing out of the ordinary there but for some reason, I’m starting to stress about it. I say stress but it’s more like I remember every three days that I’ve still not started and I try to look on Amazon/Selfridges/Play.com and eventually get distracted by the shoes or bags, which I end up never buying. It’s a vicious cycle.

Anyway, after a stressful week, I was looking forward to one of many Christmas parties and it was going to be a laid back event with lots of friends and promised to be a good night. I showed up at the event which was pretty swanky in my old jeans, heels, and a Beatles shirt I got from a thrift shop in Camden and a nice little jacket (lazy and laid back – just how I like it! lol) and I felt like the bees knees… until I walked into the room and realised it was a black tie event! Oh the shame... *shakes head* I literally have no idea how this happened.

I’m not the kind of person that doesn’t take dress codes seriously and I even asked a few times this week about what the dress code for the event was! It was so cliché I just couldn’t help but laugh (not all out crazy laughter – more like an inside laughter) I already looked out of place standing at the entrance of the venue dressed like I was going to a concert or off to do my laundry - there was no way I was going to let people think I was crazy as well.

I looked at my invitation, which made no mention of a dress code thought it did mention a champagne reception and a nice 5 course meal. Retrospectively, the fact that it was a 5 course meal should have sent alarm bells ringing in my head but hey ho… After about a minute of laughing and trying to compose my self, I decided there was only one thing to do – go in there, have a great time and drink my faux pas away! I did get a few (okay, more than ‘a few’) strange looks but all in all, it ended up being a fantastic night!

These are a few of my favourite things...

Another instalment in “These are a few of my favourite things”.  So, without further ado, these are the things that are either rocking my world or that I aspire to get to rock my world. Not the most exciting or adventurous of lists but winter’s round the corner and its hibernation time! Hahaha!

1.) Nandos – You can beat that Piri piri chicken. I swear I practically drink the sauce everytime I go. And I always go extra hot as well!!! Partly because I like it (I love spicy food!!!) but also partly to prove to my friends that I can!

2.) Champagne – Especially free Champagne! Haha! I like the bubbles – not so much the hangover the next day if you’re fortunate (or unfortunate – I can decide which) to get drunk on it.

3.) Open fire – I love going back to the country side and snuggling in front of the fire place. It’s like my favourite place in the house at winter.

4.) The Inbetweeners – H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S!!! Amazing show! And I fancy two of the guys! Joe Thomas (who plays Simon – hubba hubba!!!) and Blake Harrison (who plays Neil). Another ‘don’t judge me’ moment here – I looked on Wikipedia and it turns out they’re actually older than me, so there. Haha!

5.) D&G Mini Bag – Fantastic on a night out! Stores the essentials – keys, mobile phone… you get the picture.

6.) Orchids – These are, without a doubt, my favourite flowers! Sorry but roses just don’t cut it with these bad boys around. They take ages to bloom but they’re so worth it!

7.) Archie comics – these are such a throw back to me growing up and I like them as much now as I did before! I just stock piled on almost 40 of them for Christmas time. (I did say it was hibernation time)

8.) Chanel Watch – such a classic design! I want one! So much… So, er…. if you wanna treat me to something nice for Christmas… * hint * * hint *

9.) Pugs – Sooooooooooooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more!

10.) John Lewis Christmas advert - This is one of my favourite things mostly because it totally took me by surprise! I’d ignored it initially till one day I was watching TV and stuffing my face my pizza and I watched it properly. I was crying by the end of it – and I assure you, I don’t cry that easily. Not with adverts anyway. Lol! I expected a different ending as well, which added to the surprise.


And that’s all folks! Catch you soon! xoxo

Halloween Lunch

Hey people! Happy Bonfire Night folks! Well technically, that isn’t till later in the day but hey ho….

Anyway, so last weekend, I went out for lunch with some kinda old definitely-semi-friends and we had a grand old time catching up on what we’ve all been up to. Actually, I say catching up but it was more like showing off. By the end of it, I was kinda exhausted because it felt like I had been in a strenuous competition to see who had done the most exciting stuff or achieved the most since we last saw each other. That is one lunch date I’m not gonna be rushing into again... lol!

So after the lunch date, I figured I’d indulge in some Halloween shopping. I went hunting for inspiration for my costume. I’m so last minute with these things and so I was going to go with the first thing I found. Last minute and lazy. Its Halloween for goodness sakes! Its not like you’re supposed to take it too seriously. I promise to get better with the shopping at Christmas!

Anyway, so I finally found a fancy dress shop (Ting-Ting-Ting Jackpot!!! I could get all I needed from one place instead of having to trawl through the whole of Westfield for different items). So I got some face-paint, a snow white costume and some contact lenses (I decided to go as an undead-yet-dead snow white – don’t judge, I know what a rubbish costume this seems like in theory but in my head, this would be an absolutely genius idea once all put together – after a vigorous backcombing of my hair of course!) Somewhere in between this:

And this:

Anyway, shopping done! Time to go home, chill out and then get ready for the party. On my way back, I noticed quite a few admiring stares from people and I was thinking, “Damn, my military wrap dress and hooker heels were really paying off” (all 6 inches of them! Okay, they’re not really hooker heels but that’s what I like to refer to them as). I pretended not to notice and yet was showing off for my admirers. I even put on my sunglasses so I could check out the people who were checking me out without them noticing that I was checking them out. (Oh please!!! LOL! Don’t judge me - I’m sure we’ve all checked out people behind our sunglasses, perfectly pleased that they couldn’t see that we were checking them out!)

Needless to say, by the time I got home, I was on a high – “Damn, I’m hot!” I was thinking…. Till I caught a reflection of myself in my sunglasses as I was taking them off. Turns out I had some face-paint smudged on my face the entire time (dear goodness, I really really REALLY hope it was face-paint!)… OH THE HORROR! Oh the shame….*shakes head* Fingers crossed people may have thought that I was dressed up early for Halloween? One can only hope! Haha! *shakes head*