George Secret Santa Swap

I go absolutely bonkers for Christmas and very little excites me more than a gift swap Secret Santa style so when I was invited to take part in George at Asda's Secret Santa, I was over the moon!

Each of us were given another blogger to buy for and sent off to stalk our giftee, picking their gifts from the extensive range at George. Then came the wait as the elves packed up everyone's goodies and sent them on their way. The jolly postman left me hanging and made a surprise 6pm delivery a week later.


I'll just shoosh and show you what I got shall I?

I adore this package! It has a gorgeous cushion and matching tealight holders. (I don't know if the colour coordination was intentional but I like to think it was.) There's also a Maybelline Red Siren set which I am really looking forward to trying this Christmas. You can never go wrong with all the red! I was also sent an AMAZING scented large candle. It's Baylis & Harding in Midnight Fig and Pomegranate and it smells utterly divine. I've not even lit it yet and the scent wafts around the room as you walk in.
And of course, the piece de resistance, the spotty Christmas tree jumper with red sequin stars. I've worn this a few times but I've been a bad blogger and not taken any photos. You'll have to wait for Christmas Jumper Day to see it in all it's glory but I'll tell you now it's bloomin marvelous.

Unfortunately we weren't told who are Santas were but I want to thank them for such a wonderful gift. So if you're reading this, Santa, thank you!

Charitable Christmas Colouring In

In recent months I've become a teeny bit obsessed with adult colouring books. I find it very therapeutic and soothing to channel my anxious energy into something calm and creative.

It's truly wonderful to see how popular these "mindfulness colouring" books and pages have become. Maybe it's because I've always been a big kid at heart or maybe it's because it's because I now have kids of my own that I can appreciate the innocence and simplicity of losing yourself in your own creative world. Just for a little while.


One of my favourite illustrators, Johanna Basford, already has a trilogy of incredible books to her name (Secret Garden, Enchanted Forest and Lost Ocean) and has now created some festive colouring pages for us to download and enjoy this winter with all proceeds going to Scottish charity Mary's Meals who feed starving children the world over.

Take a look at the video below to see Johanna talk about her drawings and her chosen charity then pop over to her Just Giving page and donate any amount you want to receive the link to your printables.

(As a rough guide, it costs around £12.20 to feed a child for a whole school year. BUT between now and December 28th, the UK government are doubling donations made so you could feed two children for a year if you donate the same amount of money. Amazing!)

The four seasonal printables come as high quality PDFs (ie large files, mobile and tablet users) and are an absolute joy. Though I'm now realising I need better pencils and some nice pens. Something to put on the Christmas List!

Afternoon at Bluewater feat Scarlett & Jo

In the buildup to Christmas there is one place I absolutely must visit; Bluewater Shopping Centre.

My husband and I found ourselves with a couple of hours to spare this weekend so we drove to the surprisingly uncrowded shopping mall with the intention of just buying my Christmas present (which for the first time ever is not an item of clothing).

Of course with Christmas being Christmas and Bluewater being Bluewater, we couldn't just buy one thing and we came away with five additional christmas presents for the kids and a refurbished PS3. Doh!

And yes of course I did get my gingerbread latte.

Since I was already in the vicinity it would've been rude not to pop into Yours Clothing to check out their Scarlett & Jo dresses. They had a lot of the stunning velvet maxis but I chose to try on the more prom-style dresses. (Please excuse the minimal makeup!)

This first dress (Black & Gold Lace Prom Dress) was my favourite of the two I picked up. Classic S&J prom dress with a sheer yoke and sleeves giving plenty of stretch for those of us with big chests and/or upper arms. The thin ribbon tie details draws to the waist and the full skirt skims my belly wonderfully.

The second dress (Black & Red Jacquard Prom Dress) comes with an elastic belt to give the same look as their 2-in-1 dresses. I love these as they define my waist quite nicely. The jersey wrap top has a lot of stretch so it's perfect regardless of your chest size (but I think I'd need a pin to hide the bra) and the slightly gathered skirt is a lovely below-knee length. Perfect for those indoor Christmas parties where you don't want tights or leggings.

So all in all a nice productive day at old Bluey, followed by a tasty Chinese takeaway. Perfect!

Christmas Bucket List

Good evening folks!
Do you, like me, enjoy making lists? My usual starts as a well meaning To Do List first thing in the morning which eventually turns into The Big List Of Everything You Didn't Do Today by mid-afternoon.

But there's something about this time of year that makes me want to do a Christmassy bucket list. So without further ado, I present to you The Little List Of Things I Probably Won't Get Around To This Christmas.

What are your "must do" plans for the holidays? Do you have a Christmas bucket list? Let me know what you'd add to the list in the comments below!

So This Is Blogmas

Hooray, it's December!

One day into Advent and I've already put my poor young boys in their Christmas jumpers, made a gingerbread house (out of paper, not actual gingerbread so... just a house) and sat them down to watch Polar Express with hot chocolate and marshmallows. To say I'm feeling festive is something of an understatement so I've decided to channel my Christmas cheer by taking part in Blogmas this year.

Every day from now until the 25th I'll be posting to the blog. It won't necessarily be about Christmas every time but I'm fairly certain I'll cram in as much festivity as possible in the next 3 and a bit weeks. Here goes!