Monday, December 29, 2014

What I Received For Christmas | 2014 ♥

  Christmas is a time of year where I am reminded of all that I have in my life and how extremely grateful I am for it all, especially the love of my little family. It's also a time of year where I like to spoil my family and shower them with gifts, especially my fiance and our son. This year I received lots of lovely gifts from my family and I am so appreciative of them all, I'm a very lucky lady for sure. I wanted to share with you all what I received as I'm sure there will be lots of reviews of these products in the coming year where I'll be airing my thoughts on all these things and letting you know the ones I rate. Let me show you what I received...

 My main gift from Jacek was my Nikon D3200 DSLR camera and I can't tell you how delighted I am with it! I've wanted to upgrade to a DSLR camera for ages now having used a Canon bridge camera all along. I have to admit I'm finding it hard to adjust to using a new camera and trying to work it properly but I'll get there. I had to take these first three pictures with the Canon and the rest with the Nikon so hopefully you'll see a difference with the photo quality. This was such a generous gift and I'm extremely grateful to Jacek for it.

I've had my Pandora bracelet for quite a few years now and it's one of my prized possessions. Every Christmas and birthday I get at least one charm and this Christmas I was delighted to receive three charms from Jacek - the unicorn, fairy tale book and the snowman and one from my mother - the stamp. I love that every charm I have on my bracelet has a special meaning to me and these four are no different. I'll have a full update post on my bracelet soon as it's almost full.

 Now I know what you're thinking - why has a 24 year old gotten Sylvanian Families for Christmas? Well this was a bit of an inside joke between my mother and brother. I always asked Santa for Sylvanian Families at Christmas as a child and unfortunately they were too expensive for him to bring me, I've harped on about my lack of a SF and my disappointment for years now so my mother and brother thought it'd be hilarious to get me the nursery bus and the celebration cat family to go into it... I'm secretly (or not so secretly) delighted though! My inner child is so happy right now!

My Nana got me the Soap & Glory Soap For the Best! gift box and this is such a lovely little box, I'll definitely be storing some beauty products in it when I have these ones used up. It contains four medium sized products and a new pom pom - just what I needed as my last Soap & Glory one is in need of replacement!

 Jacek also got me Soap & Glory's The Next Big Thing gift box which contains 10 full-sized products, some of which are my favourite from the Soap & Glory range. I'll use everything in this box except for maybe the Heel Genius and the Sexy Mother Pucker - I'm not big into pampering my feet or wearing gloss but everything else will definitely be used up, especially The Righteous Butter - my favourite!

This Christmas I received a lot of LUSH products and I couldn't resist their Christmas sale either so I have 5 more gift boxes arriving soon... crazy I know! One gift box I received from Jacek was First Snow which contains 7 gorgeous products - Snowman Fun, Rock Star, Shimmy Shimmy, Bubblegum Lip Scrup, Snow Fairy, Baked Alaska and First Snow Dusting Powder. I've never used 5 of these products before so I'm looking forward to trying them out.

 I also got The Christmas Penguin, Magic Wand, Santa's Lip Scrub, Christmas Eve and Butterbear from Jacek.

Jacek also got me two of one of my favourite LUSH bath bombs ever - Holly Go Lightly. These are amazing, if your local LUSH store still has some of these I highly recommend picking one up, you won't be disappointed!

Jacek also got me two bottles of Snow Fairy - I'm stocked up for the year on Snow Fairy, yay! As well as Luxury Lush Pud, Magic Wand, Northern Lights and Golden Wonder.

 Jacek also got me the Snow Fairy gift box which contains 4 products - Snow Fairy, Godmother Soap, Snow Fairy Sparkle Massage Bar and Magic Wand. I love the box these all come in and shall be keeping it for storing beauty bits.

This Christmas I treated myself to a LUSH gift box (tell me I'm not the only person who does this?!) - Think Pink, not knowing of course that Jacek was going to get me so much stuff! This box really appealed to me as it was so pretty and contains everything pink from the LUSH range. The box contains 13 products - Bubblegum Lip Scrub, Turkish Delight, Think Pink, Helping Hands, The Comforter, Pink Fun, Twilight, Sakura, Godmother Soap, Creamy Candy, Rock Star, Mmmelting Marshmallow Moment and Fair Trade Foot Lotion. I can't wait to use them all, so much pink!

 Finally, my very generous Jacek also got me the Merry and Bright gift box from LUSH. This box contains 12 gorgeous products, eleven of which I've never used before - yay for trying new things! It has Sparkle Tooth Tabs, Celebrate Body Lotion, D'Fluff, Rub Rub Rub, Snowman Shower Jelly, Baked Alaska, Red Fun, Green Fun, Happy Hippy, Dirty Springwash, The Olive Branch and Magnificent Soap. Everything looks and smells amazing, I really can't wait to get using them.

I'm so incredibly grateful for everything I've received this Christmas. After a year of money worries and not being able to buy myself anything new it was so lovely to be gifted with so many lovely things, I seriously am overwhelmed by it all. I'd like to thank my family and Jacek for their beautiful and thoughtful gifts.

I hope you and yours had an amazing Christmas and have an even happier New Year!





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Wednesday, December 24, 2014

12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge Day #12 - Movies & Music ♥

It's day #12 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge, the last day, yay! Today's topic is movies and music - a good one for Christmas Eve I think as this is the day when I really immerse myself in all that is Christmas, especially the music and movies which I love to watch on this day every year. Last night we had a little family 'party' night where we listened to Christmas songs and watched The Grinch - one of my favourite Christmas films, Jim Carey plays the part really well. For Christmas I try to make a real thing out of movie nights, something I probably should do all year round (one for the 2015 bucket list maybe!), I was really looking for an excuse to use my pretty little star shaped dishes, I'm in love with them!

It really wouldn't be Christmas without some drinks and tasty treats, Prosecco and Ferrero Rocher for me! Isn't Tyler Lee Frozen 'champagne' the cutest thing ever?! It's actually sparkling apple juice and he loves it.

My favourite Christmas movies are - How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Elf, Love Actually (the film I went into labour whilst watching, it also doubles as a Valentine's Day film for me) and The Santa Clause - one I watched every year as a child. I also can't forget The Snowman and the newly updated The Snowman and the Snowdog, not strictly films but it wouldn't be Christmas Eve without watching them. I'll be watching all of these over the festive season.

My favourite Christmas songs are the classic, kind of cheesy ones which make me remember the magic of Christmas anytime I hear them. They are "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" - Wizzard, "Last Christmas" - Wham!, "Walking In the Air" - Aled Jones and of course my all time favourite (which shouldn't really be a Christmas song by anyway!) "Fairytale of New York" - The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl, it wouldn't be an Irish Christmas without "Fairytale of New York"... I just had to go and listen to it right now while writing this post. Enjoy for yourself and I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas!

"So Happy Christmas, I love you baby, I can see a better time, when all our dreams come true..."
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Tuesday, December 23, 2014

12 Days Of Blogging Christmas Challenge Day #11 - Christmas Decor ♥

It's day #11 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge and today's topic is decor. I've already given you all an insight into some bargain Christmas decorations I've bought this year but in keeping with the spirit of the challenge I thought I'd share some more of my decor with you all. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. These were all taken in our living room. The decor is simple as it's a small space but we love it and it's very cosy, especially in the evenings and night time.

 The Christmas tree and the mantlepiece are the main focus of decoration in our house. I have lots of candles and tea lights on the mantlepiece as well as some Christmas themed postcards in frames. Our stockings hang from the mantlepiece as as you can see they aren't in the traditional festive colours but I love them so much and they're handmade by a lovely lady too. Our nativity scene is on the windowsill with more candles, our advent calendar hangs off the bookshelf and our Christmas cards are hanging on bunting this year.

What do you think of our festive decor?







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Monday, December 22, 2014

12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge Day #10 - 'Surviving' Christmas ♥

It's day #10 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging and today's topic is surviving the holidays, now I don't called this time of year 'the holidays' as I celebrate Christmas and call it so. I don't shorten it to 'Xmas' either as I can't stand that - it's a little bug bear of mine, so December 12th until January 5th is simply Christmas to me. I don't look at Christmas as a time I have to 'survive' either as I find it to be an enjoyable time of year but I do have little bits and pieces which make this time even more enjoyable for me.

 A LUSH Christmas bath bomb. I think the whole world and his dog knows how much I love LUSH products at this stage and when Christmas time comes around I can't help but pick up a few products from their Christmas range, especially a few bath bombs for me to enjoy and have a relaxing soak with after a busy day. This year I have the Luxury Lush Pud, Golden Wonder and the Magic Wand to have some lovely soaks with.

Festive coloured lipstick. When it comes to Christmas time I like to rock darker, red and berry shade lip colours - ones which I stay clear of during the rest of the year as I'm not quite sure if they suit me or not. This year I've treated myself to MAC 'Rebel' as I've had my eye on this gorgeous, deep burgundy shade for awhile and it matches some of the dresses I have and wear a lot during the winter. I also have Clinique 'Scarlet' which I've had for awhile now but have never really worn before so I'm determined to rock it this Christmas.

Festive scented candles. Everyone also knows of my obsession with Yankee Candles and this year I've picked up a lot of their festive scents. Right now I'm burning North Pole which has a lovely minty scent to it which reminds me of yummy candy canes. Christmas Memories and Christmas Eve are two more of their scents which I shall be burning on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Chocolate and biscuits. It wouldn't be Christmas without a tin, or should that be tub now seeing as the packaging on everything seems to have changed in the current years, of Cadbury's Roses and Afternoon Tea biscuits - the latter being something I just can't seem to find this year, boo! I hope my mam manages to find a tin of them but I have us all stocked up on the chocolates including one of our favourites -  Cadbury's Selection Box and Toblerone! Everything in moderation of course!

A camera. I'm a bit of a photography addict and I never miss an opportunity to take a few pictures so what better time of year to take lots of family snaps then Christmas?! This year my amazing fiance has bought me a brand new camera, one I've been longing over for a long time now, the Nikon D3200 and I can't wait to get using it properly and capturing all our wonderful Christmas memories.

These are just a few things which I always have to have at Christmas time and which make the festive season even more enjoyable for me. What are your top products for 'surviving' Christmas?
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Saturday, December 20, 2014

12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge Day #8 - Book Advent Calendar - The Next Six Books ♥

It's day #8 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge and today's topic is books, an easy one for me as I've been doing the book advent calender with Tyler Lee and have been needing to update you all on the next six books we've read. We are now onto the last week of the book advent calendar, I cannot believe it's gone so fast! We've had lots of great stories these past few weeks and we've been reading other Christmas books during this time too, not from the calendar, so it really has been reading month in our house - long may it continue! You can see the other twelve books we read here.

 Richard Scarry's Best Bedtime Stories Ever
Jacek wanted to get this for Tyler Lee as he read these books when he was a child. This is a collection of Richard Scarry’s best loved stories, gathered together in the perfect bedtime storybook. Jacek read this to our boy so I don't know what the stories are, all I know is he was laughing at the old words such as 'vagrant' in a train car. It really is the little things which amuse him! You can buy it here.

Aladdin
Another of Jacek's picks. He saw all these Disney books in a local toy store and had to pick them up as they were two for one on offer. This tells the story of Aladdin and has screenshots from the film as illustrations. You can buy it here.

Santa Is Coming To Cork
This is such a lovely book which follows the story of Santa's visit to Cork and all the places he visits along the way. It was great seeing all the illustrations of famous places throughout County Cork, including the name and cathedral in our home town.

Enid Blyton's Bedtime Collection For Children
This is such a lovely collection of four books but the wonderful Enid Blyton. The book we've read before has been full of magical stories about fairies and toy boats who talk and we loved the imagination of it all. I can't wait to read the rest to my boy. You can buy it here.

Dumbo
This is a Disney film I've never seen so it was great to read the story to my boy before we both watch it together someday. This book follows the story of the film and the illustrations are screenshots from the film too. You can buy it here.

My Treasury Of Christmas Carols & Stories
This is a lovely collection of traditional Christmas stories and carols all with wonderful illustrations. This is one to read through every year for sure. You can buy it here.

We are almost halfway through our final week of the book advent calendar and I shall be sharing the final six books after Christmas. 

Have you read any of the books above?


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Friday, December 19, 2014

12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge Day #7 - My Favourite Gift Ideas ♥

It's day #7 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge and today's topic is gift ideas. I decided, instead of showing you all the fantastic things you can buy, once again, as I've shown in my other gift guides that I would share some of my favourite gift ideas that allow you to spend time with your gift recipient as well as giving you both a great experience to remember together.

Afternoon Tea For Two. This is one of my favourite gift ideas ever. Tell the person you're bringing for afternoon tea to get ready because you're going somewhere nice, then bring them to your chosen destination for afternoon tea and have them truly surprised by your gesture. Afternoon tea is a great alternative to taking someone out for dinner and it's actually so much fun getting to try different teas from around the world, different cakes, sandwiches and sweet treats and the optional (or in my case non-optional!) glass of champagne. Jacek took me for afternoon tea for our third year anniversary and it was a great experience for the both of us - getting to enjoy delicious food and drink in each others company, what could be better?

Concert Tickets For Their Favourite Band. This is another great gift idea as it's something you know they're guaranteed to enjoy. Jacek has actually gotten me a ticket to see one of my favourite bands in January and I thought it was such a great gift as he's coming along too as he also loves the band so it's something we can both enjoy. There are so many great bands with upcoming gigs at the moment including another band I really like - The Script. Judging by posts on Facebook I know one of my friends would love to get The Script tickets as a gift, so that might just be something I have to keep in mind for their birthday! Girly night out seeing a great band - yes please!

A Spa Day. I think a spa day is another great gift idea and is one which has been on my wish list for quite awhile now. It's an especially great gift idea if the person you're gifting this to has a very stressful job, is a busy parent, has just done exams, etc. and is need of a little bit of rest and relaxation. There's a gorgeous spa quite near to mine and Jacek's home and I think I just may have to bring him there one day, maybe for Valentine's Day because if anyone is in need of a bit of rest and relaxation it's him!

A Trip Away. This is another great gift idea and one I had been wanting to do for Jacek for ages and this Christmas I've finally managed it. I'm taking him to Amsterdam for two days in March (coincidentally it's the day after my birthday but it was the only time the two of us could go!). It's one of our favourite cities and we've already made out a list of everything we're going to do there - so excited to explore the city together! Taking someone on a trip away can be very cheap to do. I got our flights whilst they were on sale and used a price comparison site to find the best deal on a hotel. I managed to get us a really nice one in the main square of the city for a great price. We can't wait for our trip and Jacek was delighted with his gift!

A Gift Experience. Finally, I've written about Tinggly and their amazing gift experiences before, you can read all about it here, but I really do think giving someone the gift of a pre-paid experience of their choice from so many destinations around the world is such a great gift. It's another one I have gifted Jacek with this Christmas (he has been spoilt I must say but he's worth it!) and he thinks it's such a brilliant idea. I'm looking forward to seeing what experience he picks.

These are just some of my favourite gift ideas which allow you to spend time with your gift recipient as well as giving them a great experience too.

Have you ever gifted anyone with any of the above?



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Thursday, December 18, 2014

12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge Day #6 - My Beauty Must Haves ♥

It's day #6 of the 12 Days Of Christmas Blogging Challenge and today's topic is beauty must haves so I'm sharing some of my favourite beauty and makeup products which I use daily. You'll have probably seen most of these featured on my blog before as these are all products which I highly rate and rave about to family and friends.

LUSH Ocean Salt. I began using Ocean Salt during the summer and I am in love with the product and how clean and smooth it leaves my skin feeling after I use it. Ialways buy the self-preserving formula which I find to be more bitty which gives my skin a proper exfoliating scrub. I use this on my face very sparingly as it really does exfoliate well and it's especially great on the nose area for all those little black dots which people get (and hate!) on their nose so often. It gets deep down into the skin to remove all the nasties and dead skin leaving it smooth, deeply cleansed and feeling quite polished. I also use this product on the top of my arms for my keratosis pilaris and it gives a very powerful scrub leaving my skin feeling very soft and smooth. The lime scent the product has is lovely too and I love the rough sea salt, it's so good for the skin. This is a firm favourite of mine, I can't get enough of it.

Urban Decay Naked Palettes. I have all the Urban Decay Naked Palettes and I love each one of them. When I discovered Urban Decay eye shadows I couldn't get enough of them, the pigmentation is fantastic, they last for ages and the colours they have appeal to me much more than any brand I've used before - that's including my beloved MAC Mineralize limited edition shadows. I use my Naked palettes all the time, it's great having so many eye shadows together and being able to blend them to create different looks. I do think they're great value for money too.

LUSH Ultrabland. I really love Ultrabland, I think it is one of the most amazing cleansers I have ever used. At first it didn't really agree with my oily skin, I think the beeswax in it was just too much and it was making my skin even oilier but I stuck with it and now it's perfect for me. Ultrabland can remove any makeup look in a matter of seconds, even waterproof mascara and eyeliner. You simply massage the product into the skin and then cleanse off with a wet cotton pad and voila your face is clean and makeup free. The texture of Ultrabland means that a little bit goes a long way so I always get great value from this product. 

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in 'NC25'. When I discovered this foundation I instantly fell in love with how it made my skin look. The coverage is perfect for me and it's great that it's buildable for nights out too. It is on the pricey side of the makeup scale but I think it's well worth the money as it lasts for absolutely ages. There are so many shades available too so there's guaranteed to be something to suit every skin tone. I get the NC which is meant for warmer toned skin but there is also an NW range available.

LUSH 'Feeling Younger' Skin Tint. This is the perfect highlighter for me and I use it everyday. This is an amazing highlighter and I immediately fell in love with it when I tried it during The Cork Meetup in July. This can be mixed in with your moisturiser or your foundation to give a gorgeous, dewy glow to the skin. It can also be used under the eyes to combat dark circles - I always put it under my eyes so that I don't look so exhausted all the time, I also use this on my cheekbones to highlight my face and give my skin a bit of a glow on those drab, dull days. 

MAC Lipstick. I have a bit of an obsession with MAC lipsticks, I just can't get enough of the colours they offer. My favourite formula is Cremesheen as I love the slight shimmer those lipsticks have and I feel they don't dry out my lips as much as the other formulas do. I think any makeup look I do is completed with a MAC lipstick.

The Body Shop Body Butter. I always use The Body Shop body butters after a bath or shower and they leave my skin feeling soft and well moisturised. Right now I'm using the Glazed Apple Body Butter and the minute I opened this I immediately fell in love with the scent. It's smells like delicious sweet apple and is a scent which lingers on the skin - something I love when it comes to body butters. The Body Shop body butters have always been a firm favourite of mine with their thick, smooth textures which leave my skin feeling great.

What are some of your beauty must haves?

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