Hants/Berks/Surrey Blogger Secret Santa!

I'm part of a Facebook Group called Hants/Berks/Surrey Bloggers and this year a Secret Santa was organised for people of the group. I for one love doing Secret Santa's not for the gifts that I receive, but because I love giving gifts to people! I finally picked up my gift which had been delivered to my mum's house, and I couldn't wait to see what I had gotten. I was surprised with how heavy the package was, and with how much there was inside the bag. I had six gifts in total, which considering the price guide was £10-15 I was seriously happy with!

I know you are all dying to see what I got, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer...

The first thing I opened was cute and Christmas themed, it was this pair of Reindeer ears and some cookie mix, which is brilliant as we all know how much I love baking.

My sister was sitting with me when I opened my gifts, and was seriously jealous when she saw this super cute notebook. I love Disney, it's one of my biggest passions, and doesn't Minnie Mouse look so hipster on this? My Secret Santa even included a pen, and as the title of this notebook is 'Blog' I am guessing that is intended for planning blog posts. This is actually a godsend as I don't currently have a notebook for blog ideas!

Next I opened this gorgeous Frozen fleece blanket! I am obsessed with Frozen, I mean come on guys, who isn't? I actually re-watched it last weekend with Tim (it was his first time seeing it the whole way through), so when I saw this I had a little giggle to myself. This is perfect for snuggling up on the sofa, especially as it's quite cold in our flat, as we are trying to save money!

This lovely little decorative sign was the next thing I opened. It's funny because I have been singing this to Tim over the last few days as he has never heard the song!!! It's also perfect because I love baking (how many more times do I need to mention this). This has immediately taken pride of place in the kitchen, and can't wait to see it in our own place when we move in a few months.

Excuse the weird angle of this picture, I was trying to avoid glare from the lighting in the room. This is a book on how to make some mini treats. I love all things sweet, and everything is so much cuter in miniature right? It also comes with a few accessories to assist you with your creations.

Finally I opened up this Mary Berry book, as soon as I saw the words, 'Mary Berry' I got excited is she is my absolute idol, and I don't think I will ever be sick of getting presents related to her. This is a collection of Christmas Recipe's which is perfect for this season. Also just look how cute Mary looks on the cover of this book, and also how giant the Turkey is!

I have to say a massive Thank You to my Secret Santa for getting me some amazing gifts, I honestly don't know how you got all this for under £15, but I am glad you did! You really must have taken the time and care to read my blog and get to know me a little bit, and I am so thankful for that. My sister was sitting next to me when I opened the gifts, and even she was so impressed with how well you understood me. I cannot wait to use my gifts, and I hope that you have a really lovely Christmas. If you would like to come forward after Christmas then I would love to send you a Thank You card!

Let me know in the comments if you have taken part in any Secret Santa's this year?

Whittard: Hot Chocolate Selection

What seems like an age ago, but was only the beginning of the month, Tim and I went to Bristol to do our Christmas shopping. We both have a soft spot for Bristol, with it being our first holiday away together and also the first time we said THOSE three words... So going to Bristol for Christmas was a no-brainer for us.

Whilst we were there we made our way into a Whittard store. which I have seen around plenty of times, but have never wandered into myself. I initially went in with the purpose of taking a look at their coffee, as I have come to enjoy the odd coffee every now and again, however I happened upon this Hot Chocolate Selection and thought it would be perfect for the winter months!

I can't remember exactly how much we paid for this, and unfortunately cannot for the life of me find it on their website. I did manage to find it on Debenhams website and they are selling it for £18.50, but I am sure that the weekend we went in they had 30% off so we got it a little cheaper.

It comes with 8 different flavours of hot chocolate and there are three servings in each box, meaning you get 24 servings out hot chocolate altogether. You also get a box of mini marshmallows to go with your chocolate, and who can resist those right? 

The flavours it comes with are:

• Mint Hot Chocolate
• Luxury White Hot Chocolate
• Praline Hot Chocolate
• Luxury Hot Chocolate
• Orange Hot Chocolate
• Christmas Pudding Hot Chocolate
• Caramel Hot Chocolate
• Dreamtime Hot Chocolate

I was honestly drawn to the Christmas Pudding flavoured and the dreamtime hot chocolates. Having never seen something that is Christmas Pudding flavoured other than Christmas pudding, and always being on the lookout for something to relax me before bedtime. Sadly I have not had a chance to try either of these yet, but I plan to remedy that tonight! I have however tried the Luxury Hot Chocolate and can vouch for it being amazingly tasty. One thing I would like to say it make sure you follow the instructions! Tim and I heated our milk and then tipped the hot chocolate in, and had some serious trouble mixing it, as it just seemed to want to float on the top. After reading the instructions I found out that you are supposed to pour the milk over the hot chocolate powder. I haven't had a chance to try it this way yet, but I'm sure it will be better than our mixing experience last time.

Honestly I think this gift set is a little overpriced for what it is, and I wouldn't have bought it had we not gotten a discount on it, but if you are looking to try several new flavours of hot chocolate and do not want to buy them in full size before being sure of them, then this is definitely for you.

Let me know in the comments which flavour you would most like to try from the list above!

Sum Up Sunday #4

From Top Left to Bottom Right: Limo Crash, Family Christmas Meal Out, Tesco Camembert sharer bread, Cute chalkboard decoration, Hot Chocolate Selection, Work Christmas Party, Christmas Came Early for One Little Boy, Tigger didn't like the wrapping paper, Selfies with Jared.

This week has definitely been a fun one, and the Christmas spirit has finally spread to everyone else around me! HUZZAH!

Tim and I were minding our own business on our laptops last Sunday when Tim heard an almighty crash. He ran to the kitchen window to see what it was an this Limo had crashed into a parked car. Now I don't think I've told the story of the Limo as of yet, but basically this guy parked his limo along the side of the road by our flat taking up 3 cars spaces, and he had been parked there for a month. This meant that now everyone was struggling to find parking, whilst this guy has his own PRIVATE driveway just down the road. Anyway, Tim and I jumped at the chance to be nosey and took the recycling out so we didn't look too much like we were gawking (even though we were), and I actually knew the guy who's car had been munched by the Limo, thankfully he will be getting a company car from work shortly, so it doesn't make much of a difference to him. After a little bit more poking I found out that the limo had simply come out of gear and rolled back into his car!!! I know it's naughty but Tim and I couldn't help but giggle at the Limo driver's misfortune, especially after all the trouble he had been causing us.

Then last Sunday night Tim and I got both our families out together for a Christmas meal at Strada, which was seriously good, despite them adding a £35 "optional" (but not really optional) service charge to our meal, which I thought was ridiculous considering how much our bill was already! Other than that it was really delicious and every one had a great time. I ended up having a mini pumpkin risotto, Chicken and mash, and apple tart. Speaking of good food, I spotted this caramelised onion Camembert sharing bread from Tesco on the Metro website and knew that we had to try it. Best of all it was a mere £5! It's only available until the 31st of December so if you want to try it, I suggest you go out and grab it now.

On Tuesday I attended my work Christmas party which was held at Newbury Racecourse (how posh), and we got a free two course meal out of it, and who can really turn down a free meal right? When we turned up there was complimentary champagne, of which I had two glasses, and then there were three bottles of wine on each table and considering only three of us were drinking, we had plenty. In fact I didn't purchase a single drink that night, and I was quite drunk by the end of it!

This weekend was my favourite for a long time as Jade and Jared came to visit! Now I haven't seen Jared since March and I cannot believe how much he has changed since then. He's so much taller, and talks a lot more than he did back then. He comes out with the funniest stuff... He said my mum was tapped!!! We all almost died it was so funny... Anyway on Saturday we spent the whole day in town with them, and then went back to Mum's to give them our Christmas presents, and as they live so far away, and we all wanted to see Jared with his gifts, Jade let him open them. I bought him clothes and a pair of red Dunlop High Tops for Christmas, as Jade said he had plenty of toys, but not a lot of clothes. He opened the clothes first, and he must copy what he's heard other's say when they open gifts, because without really looking he gasped and said 'Woooooooooooow'. Then proceeded to drop them on the floor an pick up his next gift (children, eh?). I helped him open his shoes, and once we'd ripped the wrapping paper off of the box I flipped up the lid and he gasped, 'NEW SHOES' and he grabbed them out of the box and took them to Jade to show her. Honestly melted my heart watching him open those presents, and Christmas didn't just come early for Jared, but also for me for getting to spend time with him. 

This Week I'm...

Reading: 5Ib's in 5 Days: The Juice Detox Diet - Yes I am planning to go on a Juice Detox. As you may or may not know a few months ago my dieting was going strong, and then I got my new job, and things just went out of the window. My plan is to follow this 5 day detox, take a short break of 4 days, and then get straight back into my diet. I will be writing all about my juicing experience so watch this space!

Listening To: The Frozen Soundtrack (again), Tim and I watched this again the other night and I haven't stopped listening to the soundtrack since.

Feeling: In the Christmas Spirit!

Looking Forward To: Christmas! I mean come on, who isn't looking forward to Christmas right now, it's four days away!

I Want To Get Away...

I haven't been on a proper holiday in a good few years now, and I'm certainly dreaming of getting away from it all and escaping somewhere exciting. Especially with it getting so cold and dreary in the UK at the moment, so I thought I'd share my top three dream holiday's.

We all know how much I love Disney, and I am absolutely desperate to go to Disneyland. I would love to be able to go all the way to Florida, but honestly I would settle with Disneyland Paris. I went to Disneyland Paris when I was about seven, and I remember it being one of the best holiday's ever (despite me dislocating my sister's arm, and getting so scared in the haunted house that my teeth chattered for an hour afterwards). There's something about Disney that takes me right back to my childhood, and makes me believe in magic all over again, and I am dying to relive that.

I've always been intrigued by cruises, especially considering the amount of stuff they cram onto them these days, including the giant swimming pools etc. My number one Cruise destination would have to be the Caribbean, with the blue seas and white sands, it would just be magical. Thankfully I've never had seasickness so would be fine on a cruise and I'm hoping that I would get to go on one in the near future. I didn't even know that you could take cruises from the UK to some top destinations with Fred Olsen... pretty exciting stuff really!

I'm not that big a fan of massive cities, but I do really want to visit Tokyo. I think Japanese Pop Culture is so interesting, and I would love to witness it myself first-hand. Even though I probably wouldn't understand a single piece of Japanese, I'm sure I would still have a pretty good time.

So there you have it, three places that I am hoping to visit in the next few years (If I am lucky), let me know in the comments if you are as desperate to get away as I am, and where would you go?

A-Z of Me: F is for Food Obsessive

Believe it or not, I actually used to be a very fussy eater. In fact I went through a period in my life where all I ate for dinner was peanut butter on toast, and also another phase where all I ate was plain pasta with cheese on it. Thankfully since going to Uni and having to fend for myself a lot more, my tastes seem to have developed. I still can't stand tomato ketchup or baked beans, but beyond that I have made progress.

I think it's really since Tim and I have moved in together that my passion for cooking has grown. We got ourselves a subscription to BBC Easy Cook magazine, and that gets dropped on our doorstep once a month, giving up plenty of new ideas!

I really feel like the thing to remember when you try a new recipe, is that you have to eat it, so if there are any ingredients in the recipe you don't like, then replace them for something you do like. Secondly it's important to not be afraid to try new things, and slightly more complicated recipes. As long as you follow a recipe step-by-step then it should turn out pretty decent. However if you don't have time to cook, then having a ready meal once in a while won't harm you either...

Here are some of my favourite things to cook (and eat):

• Lasagne
• Hunter's Chicken (chicken stuffed with cheese, wrapped in bacon, with BBQ sauce)
• Cowboy Stew (BBC Food recipe)
• Paella (Schwartz Flavour Shot)
• One Pan Roast (BBC Food Recipe)

Here are some foods that I would like to eat more of, along with a recipe I plan to try:

Fish: I've never been a massive fan of fish, but whenever I see TV chef's cooking it, I think it looks so yummy. Recently I watched Mary Berry's Absolute Christmas Favourites and she showed off her Christmas Eve fish pie with a crouton topping. It looks seriously delicious.

Eggs: I've always been a bit funny with eggs, not really liking them to be runny, and as such I don't really often cook any egg based recipes, though I really feel like I should. A lot of people debate about what kind of eggs to buy nowadays, but for me I just like to make sure that they are British Lion Eggs, that way I know they are safe for me. I also know people used to worry about the cholesterol in eggs, but to be honest those kinds of things never worried me. Having a look on the BBC website I came across this recipe from the Hairy Bikers, that sounds to die for...

Vegetarian: I went veggie for a whole month a few years ago, and it opened my eyes to a new way of cooking and eating. Since then I haven't really tried to continue eating vegetarian, but I think sometimes it makes a nice difference to have it. This Sweet Potato Curry sounds right up my street, I wonder if I could convince Tim to eat this...

So there you have it, I hope you've learned a little something about me and my eating habits today, and please let me know in the comments what food you would like to eat more of.

Sum Up Sunday #3

From top left to bottom right: Being almost front row for Paul Hollywood, Tim feeding his niece, our fully decorated Christmas Tree, my best haircut ever, our personal Christmas ornament, Gerbil Snuggles, Red Velvet cupcakes from work, Expert Christmas wrapping, Christmas pants, Putting presents under the tree, Tim has a friend, My brother and Dad washed my car.

Seeing as I didn't write a Sum up Sunday post last week, this is a Sum up of the past few weeks. Starting with going to see Paul Hollywood! We bought our tickets from Wowcher as they were half price, as such we didn't expect the seats to be that good, however I was pleasantly surprised to find we were three rows back from the front. When Paul came out all the older ladies in the room were swooning, I'll admit he does look pretty attractive, it's those piercing blue eyes... He was very normal, he was just like he is on the Great British Bake Off, blunt, serious, and a little childish at times. He spoke about Mary a lot, much to my joy. He even tricked us into thinking that she was backstage and was coming on to bake with him (as they had been together at the BBC Good Food Show the day before), but alas he was lying, there was no Mary. Still it was interesting to watch him do his stuff, and he even did a challenge with 4 lucky audience members, and stood looming over them watching their every move just as he does in the Bake Off. I really didn't know what to expect when I bought the tickets, but I'm so glad I went as it was so much fun, and we've been given some interesting new recipes to try out.

Before we went to see Paul we popped in to Tim's parent's place to see Tim's sister for her birthday. Much to our delight Tim's brother was there with his daughter Olivia. She has grown up so much since we last saw her! We got plenty of cuddles and everyone managed to bully Tim into feeding her dinner, which I know he secretly enjoyed. I always love being around Olivia, because she is so cute, I'll admit it does make me broody, which Tim doesn't like so much!

Last week I spent a lot of my evenings wrapping Christmas presents, seeing as we had bought all of them (except each other's), we thought we may as well wrap them all. This year we decided to try and level up our Christmas wrapping skills with the addition of some nice quality paper, and Ribbons and bows. I was happy to find that my skills have improved since last year, and our presents are looking very neat and tidy under the tree! It so nice to walk into the living room and see them sitting under the tree, it makes me feel 100% more Christmassy. 

On Saturday 6th I booked myself in to a salon to get my hair cut properly, after about 6 months of having nothing done to it. Normally I go to somewhere that's cheap, because I never seem to get the cut that I want anyway so I don't see the point in spending a tonne of money on a cut I didn't really like anyway. However I decided enough was enough and that I needed to go to a proper salon, and pay a little more to get it done properly! I wasn't disappointed, I went to a lovely little salon near where I live that was recommended to me by a few people on Facebook, and they treated me so well. I got my hair washed, cut, blow dried and curled, and the girl doing my hair really took her time with me. I had taken a picture in of the style I wanted, and at every stage she asked me questions about how I wanted my hair. I came out of the salon and I was in shock. My hair was so perfect, and still is. It's the exact length I wanted, it looks beautiful, and it feels healthy, I will definitely be going back there!

This week I also had my first eyelash tint, by a mobile beautician, also recommended to me on Facebook. See was doing a pamper package of a Manicure, Eyebrow Wax and Tint and Eyelash tint for £23. She came over on Thursday and talked me through the eyelash tint as I had never had one before, and it was honestly probably one of the weirdest experiences. When I saw them though, I wondered why the hell I hadn't had them done before, they frame my eyes perfectly. Again I was satisfied, and I will be calling her back when I need my eyelashes done again!

So there you have it, that's what I have been up to the last few weeks, let me know in the comments what you have been getting up to!

This Week I'm...

Reading: Nothing, I really need to start a new book...

Listening to: Christmas playlists on Spotify to get me into the Christmas Spirit.

Feeling: a little bit ill, but battling through it.

Looking Forward To: My Christmas meal with my family and Tim's family tonight!

The Christmas Tag!

I can't believe it's only 13 days until Christmas, are you feeling ready? I've managed to get myself pretty much ready, and I feel like I'm in a good position this Christmas. In comparison to last year, where I bought all my presents only a week before Christmas (whoops).

1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie/s?

Easily Home Alone, we watch the Home Alone films, one and two ONLY, every year about 10 times each, and they never get old. My family has gotten to the stage where we religiously quote this, and my brother does the best impression of Kevin ever... My second favourite would have to be The Grinch with Jim Carey in it, he is just a legend...

2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning?

I don't know anyone who opens their present's on Christmas Eve! That's just silly!

3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory?

One of my favourite Christmas memories was the year that the Wii was the hottest Christmas Gift, and my brother, sister and I were desperate to get out hands on it. Mum and Dad hadn't been separated long, and mum told us we probably wouldn't get a lot for Christmas. So she gave us all our individual presents, and we opened them, and I remember her saying she had gotten a present for all of us to share, and she brings out a present for us to unwrap together. Of course it was a Wii, and I was very excited, but also very cross at mum for spending money she didn't really have.

4. Favourite festive food?

Pigs in Blankets.... They make my Christmas dinner... Other than that I guess Christmas Pudding is pretty good too.

5. Favourite Christmas gift?

My dog, Maizey was a Christmas gift from my mum, and if you want to read more about here you can do so here.

6. Favourite Christmas scent?

I don't have a particular scent in mind, but anything orangey, and with cinnamon, is always a hit with me!

7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions?

I have never had a Christmas Eve tradition, but since Tim and I are actually living together this year, I think we probably should start one. If anyone has an suggestions then please let me know!

8. What tops your tree?

I did a Haul of all our tree decorations on my Youtube Channel which you can watch here. Otherwise I can tell you that we have a white and ivory pearl Christmas Star on the top of our tree this year. 

9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received?

For me it was always a horse. I had a couple of riding lessons when I was quite young, and from then I was obsessed with having my own horse... Of course I never got one!

10. What's the best part about Christmas for you?

Honestly the best part of Christmas for me is watching people open their presents, especially ones I have bought for them. Oh and also the fact that on Christmas Day you can start drinking as soon as you get up and no one will judge you!