Tag Archive | New Year

The 12 outfits of Christmas

Christmas is my favourite time of the year, not least because it brings everyone together and helps you to really appreciate the wonderful people that are a part of your life. Christmas also makes it legitimate to wear as much glitter and sparkle as possible! The shops begin Christmas sometime in October but I refuse to get too into it until December.

On 1st December, out came the advent calendars, including one for Rufus of course, which by Christmas Eve he had completely annihilated!

This was also the day of the first outfit of Christmas as we enjoyed a festive curry with friends that evening. I wore a navy glitter dot dress from Oasis with navy suede heels from New Look and a matching clutch from Boohoo. I even had my nails navy with the ring finger glittery. The dress was a surprising disappointment on the quality front, particularly given my love for Oasis and the usual excellent quality. The glitter shed itself all night, adding plenty of sparkle to the curry house and the next passenger in my husband’s car!

I always like to arrange a trip somewhere to really get me in the mood for Christmas, so this year I chose one of the best and most famous Christmas markets in the UK – Bath. My second outfit of Christmas comes in here. I wore a red dress from Oasis with a mid brown funnel princess coat also Oasis and some black suede, calf high, slouch boots (yes you guessed it – Oasis) that I have been lusting after for a couple of years so finally treated myself to.

Bath is somewhere I have wanted to go for some time and it didn’t disappoint although sadly the weather did. Rather than a nice crisp winters day with a few light flurries of snow that would have made it the quintessential start to Christmas, we were treated to drizzle!

The market stretched for miles through the Georgian streets, selling everything from paintings and crafts to hot chocolate and waffles! I was drawn by the smell of citrus fruits and cinnamon to a beautiful Christmas wreath stall. We also got a couple of unusual presents for people.

While in Bath you have to visit the Roman baths it is famous for. The baths are one of the most visited historical sights in the UK. The thermal spring rises here meaning the baths flow naturally with hot water. Bathing was a major part of Roman society and culture and this sight has been remarkably well preserved.

From Roman times to the late 1700’s, we had afternoon tea at The Regency Tea Rooms above the Jane Austin centre. Jane was fascinated by bath, mentioning it in all her novels and even making it the setting for a couple of her stories. We enjoyed the ‘tea with Mr Darcy’ served by waiters and waitresses in period costume, and avoided the worst of the rain.

After more shopping we warmed ourselves with a drink at the Abbey Hotel’s Apres ski bar.

As darkness fell, the beautiful streets and chalets were lit with pretty fairy lights and we finished the day with carols at the Abbey.

The following day, inspired by our trip, we put up all the Christmas decorations at home, while enjoying a snowball of course!

Mum and I went to see the Tina Turner musical the weekend before Christmas, so this was outfit number three! I wore a navy glitter knit dress from Warehouse with a pink shearling coat from Zara. After the fantastic show, we took in the lights of Covent Garden as we headed for dinner at Browns.

Outfit four was for Christmas drinks with friends and was a black blouse with gold spots from Oasis with black leggings, also Oasis, with black stilettos with a bow detail on the back from New Look.

We had an early Christmas day, on the Sunday before, at my Mums with my gorgeous nieces and for this I wore my soft animal print dress from Oasis with purple Ugg boots.

Christmas Eve arrived and we had both sets of parents over for dinner. I wore my gingerbread men christmas jumper from Oasis with a velvet mini skirt from New Look. We had a great meal, followed by a board game and then headed to midnight mass.

Christmas day was spent as a couple this year. We had bucks fizz and scrambled eggs with smoke salmon for breakfast. We cooked a wonderful Christmas dinner in the evening and in between pigged out on nuts and sweets while finally wrapping the rest of the presents. This year I decided to get crafty with my wrapping. I wrapped the presents in brown paper and added red and white twine, stickers from a Kikki K book and fancy tags, finishing with a slice of dried orange.

Christmas day saw me wear a fun Christmas t-shirt I got from River Island some years back and a checked mini skirt from Oasis. I was spoilt rotten with beautiful gifts, as was Rufus, who had a Christmas eve box, his own Christmas dinner and a blanket with his name embroidered on it from spoilt rotten pets!

Boxing day was a total chill out day, spent in our pyjamas on the sofa watching DVD’s so outfit eight was lounge clothes and cute slippers from Oasis. I did move from the sofa briefly to make some gingerbread men!

We met Mum’s family in London on 27th for a delicious meal at The Parcel Yard in Kings Cross station. Afterwards my husband and I sipped champagne at the champagne bar at St Pancras. I wore a knitted stripped sparkle dress from Oasis with the same mid brown coat and slouch boots I wore to Bath earlier in the month.

An afternoon with Phil’s family was spent in black skinny jeans from New Look, slogan t-shirt from Boohoo and a grey cardigan from Oasis.

My Mum and I had the great treat of taking my nieces to the pantomime which was Cinderella this year. For this I wore a mustard jumper and denim pinafore – both Oasis but to complete the look wore the wonderful Cinderella shoe necklace that my parents-in-law got me for Christmas.

All too soon, it was New Years Eve and I must be getting old as I turned down various invitations, to spend the evening in pyjamas, watching DVD’s and drinking fizz with a glowing log burner and my Yankee candles to add a bit of hygge.

So I saw out 2018 in outfit twelve of my Mary Poppins pyjamas from Marks and Spencer. New Year always marks a time of reflection on things achieved and those still to achieve. Once again I made a long list of New Year’s resolutions. This year I am determined to at least achieve one and it’s a big one – to lose nearly three stone in weight. I’m the heaviest I have ever been. Weight is sneeky – it creeps up on you and enough is enough. I started well with a seven mile walk around Riverside Country Park on New Year’s Day! Let’s see if 2019 is the year I finally achieve that.

What resolutions did you make and how are you doing with them so far?

Own your destiny

Feb18

So another new year dawned and is already whizzing by. I can hardly believe we have already had pancake day and Valentines day for another year! I’m sure the older we get, the faster time passes. Mum turned 70 in January which was a big wake up call of how fast the years pass, with the realisation that I am now half way there myself! I still feel the same as I did at 18 but the reflection in the mirror tells me otherwise! After all, you know you are getting old when Radio 2 plays your era music in the afternoon!

This year, I made some of the usual and most popular resolutions such as to lose weight which I have so far showed little commitment and therefore little success at. I guess I’m not alone with that, given only 8% of people stick to their new years resolutions.

It’s funny, growing up, we think that once we are an adult we will be able to do whatever we want, but that doesn’t always bring you happiness. Life is full of boundaries and consequences; yes you can eat that extra slice of cake, but you won’t be slim. Everything is a choice and a new year is the perfect time to reflect on our choices and make positive changes. You only get one life so you need to take charge of it.

I did for the first time do Dry January. Dry January is a recent term which came into existence after Alcohol Concern’s first Dry January in 2013 and became a public health campaign in 2015. I must admit I have always thought of January as a depressing month, so why make it any worse by not drinking?! However this year I decided to do it and raise money for the National Autistic Society. It is a wonderful cause and particularly close to my heart, being that my nephew suffers from it. As much as I love a drink, I felt a month’s abstinence would be a minor sacrifice compared to the difficulties that he overcomes everyday. I managed to raise an incredible £377.50 which far surpassed my expectations so a big thank you to everyone who supported me! It might not have turned me off the booze for life but has definitely made me review the quantities I was putting away. Statistics show that 64% of people who do Dry January are drinking less, even six months after it’s finished.

Teetotal

New Year can be a good time to clear out your past that has perhaps been weighing you down. Too often we live in the past and look back through rose-coloured glasses. It’s human nature to reflect on the paths you have chosen and how different things could have been if you had only picked another. Essentially though, you can’t change the past but you can change the future.

A spring clean can be a good way to de-clutter your mind and set you on a path of change by letting go of the past. I felt throughly cleansed after clearing out the cupboards and also spent time down memory lane while going through my parents loft where, amongst other things, I found my old diaries and also my first shoes!

Reflecting on new starts, I revisited a great book – The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. I first read this in 2007, when I was going through a relationship break up and felt I had reached a crossroads in my life. It talks about the power of positive energy and attracting things to you and advocates creating a vision board. A vision board is like a collage of our dreams and helps to inspire and motivate as well as attract these things to you. I made one back then and when I revisited it recently, I noticed that at least 75% of it had come true. So I decided to make a new one, some ten years after first reading the book. I bought a lovely board from Maison du monde and some affirmation cards from Kikki K. I’m looking forward to finding images of what I want to bring into my life as well as reminders of places that have made me feel happy and content in order that I continue to attract those emotions.

Hopefully 2018 will see me achieve some of my dreams and I will end the year a better person than I started it.

I’d love to hear what resolutions you made and if you are still sticking to them. Remember, we are all in charge of our own destiny’s and life really is what you make it.

Season’s Greetings

Jan2

Happy New Year Readers, let’s hope 2015 is a good year for all. I was rather sad to say goodbye to 2014 being that it was the year my husband and I got married and it’s going to be hard to top that with anything this year – but perhaps a new home may be on the horizon.

I find myself once again considering New Years Resolutions despite the fact that a study in 2007 found that 88% fail at their resolutions. I only really have one and it’s one I set every year and that is to lose weight. I have managed to put on nearly all of the weight I lost for my wedding and am really quite disappointed in myself. I am however going to start the diet on 12^th January so as I have time to finish off all the Christmas goodies in the house. I am sharing this resolution with you all as the same study also found that women succeed 10% more if they share their goals with friends and family. Better enjoy the chocolate and nuts whilst I still can!

My homemade Christmas cake and chocolate log

So another Christmas is over and done with again and the reality of going back to work is looming. This year my husband and I got into the Christmas spirit by visiting Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, London on 21^st Dec. We visited the ice kingdom there, which took over two weeks to create by over 50 artists and is the largest exhibition of its type in the world. Of course it is even more of an attraction with the current popularity of the Disney film Frozen (the DVD of which was one of my Christmas presents). The kingdom is kept at -8 degrees and it really was cold – we purchased a hot chocolate from the bar made of ice in order to warm up after posing on the ice thrones. The exhibition also included a large magic mirror of ice which you could pose behind – I had to do this as it was a nice reminder of our fairy tale wedding theme. We also browsed the stalls in Hyde Park and couldn’t resist a new addition for our Christmas tree.

Christmas day was very different for me this year as it was the first time in my life that I didn’t spend it with my parents; they were invited over to my brother’s family. After the initial childish reaction I felt to the news, I finally came to the conclusion that it may be quite nice to spend our first Christmas married, just the two of us; and it was although it felt as though most of the day was spent in the kitchen. Cooking Christmas dinner is hard work I discovered and I was happy to relax on Boxing Day at Mum’s with a second Christmas dinner!

Christmas Day

I was fortunate enough to receive most things that had been on my Christmas list – including The Great Gatsby DVD, a Luigi purse and an Urban Decay eyeshadow palette but my husband also surprised me with a Pandora charm bracelet which was totally unexpected and a lovely thought – he also picked a charm meaning passion for it. A novelty present I received was a personalized wine glass with small glass, large glass and Krissy’s glass printed on it. All my presents from my husband were wrapped in shoe paper – he knows me so well.

My parents bought me some Biba homeware. Biba as I have previously mentioned were a big fashion label in the sixties with a store in Kensington. They have had somewhat of a revival and are celebrating 50 years this year. Their homeware has quite an Art Deco air about it. I dressed the table with it for our New Year’s Eve dinner party with my parents and the in laws.

I also treated myself to a little Christmas present. Everyone who knows me, will tell you I am a shoe addict as well as an avid Sex and the City fan so you can understand why I couldn’t resist these shoes, designed by none other than Sarah Jessica Parker and named after her character, Carrie.

January is historically known as the most depressing month and the return to work certainly makes me inclined to agree – the fun of Christmas is behind us for another year but a new year also provides an opportunity for some great new fashion trends. So what fashion delights will 2015 see? It seems that the 1990’s nostalgia will continue as will the nod to the 1970’s. Red is also going to be the colour of the season so looks as though I purchased wisely with the above SJP shoes.

Enjoy the sales and keep an eye out for those new trends. Once again happy new year and good luck with your resolutions – I give mine until February at best!