Better Late than never, here is a run down of what I got for Christmas, due to my husband actually having some time off, lots of work  and other circumstances I have not been able to log as often as I had promised, expect to be overloaded!

I haven't had time to do a full post on all my presents this year, but suffice to say that I had a lot, I was very spoiled by everyone and got a hell of a lot more than I expected.

My Main Presents off my husband were a beautiful white gold necklace and a Kindle Fire HD, which I'm in love with and he has become a Kindle Widow, ha, and he now wants one for his birthday.

I've been a very busy lady, meeting and greeting and shopping and working, I have barely had anytime to myself in the last week. I do apologise to you if you are a regular reader to the lack of interesting or amount of posts over the last two week, and I promise that in the new year this will go back to normal!

I have been out today getting a charger and a case for my kindle and looking around the sales, which as far as I could tell look quite crap. I remember when almost everything in a shop would be reduced for the boxing day sale, now its a few little racks or shelves. I did manage to pick up a top and a pair of slipper, got my husband another game and a pair of jeans, but all in all i was pretty disappointed.

With the New Year approaching, there is still lots to do and only really time to start relaxing on Jan the 2nd.

What did you get for Christmas? would love to hear about your presents or plans for the new year!

2 more sleeps, one more day, last minute rush and the final calm before the storm. Christmas is almost here, as my friend has said this is Christmas Eve eve!

I love 6pm tomorrow night, when all shops (bar a few corner ones) close and if you haven't remembered or have missed something then its tough cookies, It's just time to relax and calm down and try and enjoy the few hours peace before Christmas day is upon you.

I will be (after a day of drinking and gossip with Laura) having a nice glass of baileys and trying to get ready for the next day where I have to drive over half the city, meeting family and doing different Christmas day activities such as going to church, trying goose for the first time, and stuffing my face with all the junk food I can (Plus lots of presents)

Right now bed is calling me and I can't wait til about 7pm where I get to open 1 present early, I am such a Child!

This is a pic of what my 'Secret Santa' has got me.

This is the first time that I have ever taken part in a Secret Santa and I have to say it is kind of fun.
It's part of my work trying to make it more festive and give staff more Christmas spirit. So far I have enjoyed it, I found it hard to buy for the person that I pulled the name out of the hat for, but thanks to a few suggestions from Laura, I found something that I think she will love (and if not I will happily take it back and keep it for myself).

When we put the gifts in a pile and picked ours, it ended up as not much of a 'secret' everyone was asking the other and I figured out who mine was just by the handwriting, I can say that it did spoil the fun a little bit, but it was a really nice way to bond and have some time as a team instead of just running around like looney's and chasing after customers.

I really hope that we do this again, or that I do a Secret Santa with another group. It is a really nice way to be more inclusive and to try and enjoy the holiday, its like a little teaser. I can see the fun in not knowing who picked out what and trying to guess.

Have you ever taken part in a 'Secret Santa'? would love to hear what you got?

To anyone who reads my blog religiously, I must apologise for being away for so long and for such sporadic posts, I normally only leave it two days between posts. however this week I have spent the better past of the last 3 days in work, and when I wasn't in work I have been out and about, meeting friends and shopping.

This pattern will unfortunately continue to be my weekly life until the new year. I will try and blog as often as possible and I will make time to do a post of what I got for Christmas, but other than that I don't think I will be posting more than once a week. I feel bad for this as I love coming up with new things to say.

I will be going food shopping tonight, was originally going tomorrow morning, but have just found out my partner is off work and he want to help me to lug it up the stairs to the flat, and who said that chivalry is dead? Once this is done all I have to get is some alcoholic bit and pieces for my Christmas eve fun with Laura and to top up the car with petrol to last me over the festive period.

In my life , the countdown has begun and with all but a few presents to wrap and a big shop to do, im in a good position for Christmas this year and I can't wait!

What are you plans for the next two week?

I've not had an eventful week, bought some nail polish that I have fallen in love with, some Kate moss 107 Lipstick, dressed up for work as a Christmas Chef and had to wear a hat. Bought some lights for the bath, to have a relaxing bath when needed as the light in the bathroom is super bright and not nice when you need to be soothed. a pic of my fav Christmas card I have received so far and the presents I have bought for my best friend all wrapped and ready to tease her!

There are so many different traditions that people do, I have read many different ones and my favorite that I've heard is my friend who moves an elf statue around the house and tells the children that the elf will report to Santa and tell him if they are being naughty. This is fabulous and I may have to adopt this when I have any children.

My first Christmas tradition is putting the decoration up on 30th November ready for December. I don't know why this has come about, but it is what I do every year. My parents were not so strict with the date, but I am.
As soon as all the presents are wrapped they go under the tree, even if their for other people (this makes me look more popular than I am LOL). I always arrange to meet people to exchange presents within two week before Christmas, I can't abide doing it any earlier. this is just my nature, I feel that any sooner and it ruins the run up to Christmas. Though there is one particular friend (Laura) who would open them as soon as she got them so I do my best to get hers to her as close to the big day as possible, this year we are meeting up on Christmas eve.

My best friend and I (Laura - as mentioned above) also have a tradition of buying each other a Christmas Tree decoration each year, This way our decorations grow and we have our own personal story to tell, I would love to start doing this with more of my friends, but then it wouldn't be so special.

I always open one present on Christmas Eve, I never choose a big one, but just something to open to tease for the next day, My husband has embraced this tradition with some rather zealous enthusiasm as he is a giant kid. This has been a tradition for as long as I can remember, My parents used to pick the present for me, to make sure it wasn't my main present, but as an adult I now choose.

I still have advent calenders always given by my mother in law and I have to have a stocking. Once again the big kid was happy to adopt this. I love waking up about 7/8 and opening my stocking, and we always put on our Christmas hats and wear them until we have opened the gifts. Then while I adjust (as I'm not a morning person) Nick makes me a cup of tea/hot chocolate and turns all the lights on as I come into the living room. Then we start to open our presents, we always take turns one at a time and try and have fun and make it last as long as we can.

When I had a dog, we'd always give him the paper to play with, that was the dogs Christmas, paper to eat! After all the present fun, I start to prepare for dinner, peel & cut veg, get stuffing mix ready and normally start cooking about 11. With dinner/cooking comes some alcohol, normally Baileys or Disaronno and Coke an of course some Crackers, and then wear the stupid cracker hats for an hour or two.

These are my tradition and I'm sure there are many others that do this and more,
What are your traditions, I would love to hear what makes your Christmas special!

With Christmas now less than two weeks away I wanted to do a post on ideas you can still get for anyone who you have forgotten. I Have Stuck under £10 though most of the gift Ideas come in under £5, if your like me, your strapped for cash. Two of these may not arrive in time for Christmas as they are on ebay, but still great ideas for gifts either for next year or for birthdays.

My Pointsetta, Munchies for the girls night in, Bright lips for the impromptu night out, Pornstar Cocktail choice, My hair being perfect when I have done nothing too it but it had to go in a pony, Why I love make up - It covers circles and bad skin, A touch of craft work by making peppermint creams and hand made marzipan roses and finally all the lovely presents and not a single one is mine!

I have had a very busy week since the last post, I have been for a meal with family and at a church, Watched a Choir, cleaned, Worked, finished shopping for Christmas, cleaned some more, wrapped more presents, Made a few presents, Put my car in a Garage, cleaned yet again! met up with friends, done a secret santa (first one ever), had a girls night in that turned to a girls night out and killed my back in the process and finally cleaned and then spent all of sunday watching fantasy movies, hoping to watch some Christmas movies this week!

Christmas is coming fast and every year Christmas is getting more and more expensive, so I thought that I could share a few things that I do or have done in the past, to try and help cut the costs.

Cheap Christmas Present Ideas:
If you have the time why not make something simple, like gingerbread men, all that is really needed is ingredients that will prob be in your cupboard and some ribbon to tie around the gingerbread men's neck, this is a cheap but personal gift. You could also make a batch of Mince Pies or a Christmas cake and personalise it.
Seperate things that are in packs, for example, socks (i'm not talking about a normal pack, more the big fluffy Christmas pairs that tend to come in packs of two) or lip balms. by seperating you can give something that would normally only be for one person and make into two or three presents, most of the time all you need is a little ribbon to retie the socks and viola extra presents. This can also be done with earring, provided you have a spare box.
You could just buy a Pointsetta (aka the Christmas Rose) they are pretty and cheap, ranging from £1.50 for a small to £4 for a large (well at Tesco anyway) and this is a good way to give something nice, festive and not break the bank.
Shop online or on Ebay, a lot of the time you can find the same things as in store and it most of the time it comes in cheaper, and that's including posting to you door. I have saved a lot over the years doing this as the pounds will start to add up.
For anyone with children there are free services that give your child a letter or a video call from Santa (yes free, beats spending £10 for a crappy postcard), making them feel special and all it cost you is some time, Here is the link and information if your interested.

General tips and tricks:
Reuse any bags given to you, all you will need to do is tear of the old label and attach a new one, as labels are cheaper than bags this will save you a few pounds.
Don't throw away tinsel if it has gone ratty, if you have children they can use it in craft projects or you could use it to tie around cheaper crackers to spruce them up. if your really crafty I have seen people turn old tinsel into garlands that are amazing, its really up to you.
Turn last years Christmas cards into decorations such as these amazing baubles. Or cut off the back and turn them into Christmas Postcards, save on buying lots of cards and maybe even the postage costs as larger cards may cost more to send.
If you have some baubles or ornaments that are slightly damaged why not make them into a table centerpiece or a wreath (as shown in pics above).

Food Tips:
When making your Christmas dinner, if there are only a few of you in your household and have bought a load of vegetables, then I would sugest that you freeze what you havent used in the mean, this is a good way to save money and have more food in the house for future meals.
Also unless you are having a huge party with lots of people I would not suggest buying a huge turkey, My husband and I have bought a large turkey crown for £10 that would easily feed 6 people with bits left over for later. No need to be extravagant especially if you spend loads and it ends up going in the bin.
Whatever is not eaten, put in the fridge and make a fry up the next day, Trust me Bubble and Squeak is amazing with all the bits and pieces of a Christmas dinner in it.
start your Christmas pop/munchies shop in September, If you buy bits and pieces that are on offer early, you have a whole heap of goodies by Christmas and you wouldn't have noticed the few extra pounds a week split over the 3 months before. Of course fresh has to be done closer to Christmas. But brand items are not always better, Aldi and Lidl offer some amazing like for like product at half the price. Also I suggest going to your local market, you can get twice as much fruit and veg as you can in a supermarket for around half the price!
Deserts do not have to cost the earth and I can tell you that just because the product may say 'Finest' does not mean that it is better. Go to Iceland or if you have time make your own with ingredients in your kitchen, after a large dinner it may end up being left, so don't wast money on products that are anything but fine!