5, 4, 3, 2, 1! - Happy New Year! - 2015

Hi!!!

How are all of you gorgeous people doing on this New Years Eve? Good, I hope. I do like New Years Eve and I wanted to have a bit of a chat with you about it because, hey, why not?

Very, very soon, 2014 will be done and dusted.
All twelve months are nearly filled, all 365 days are nearly done but, not to worry because a whole new set of twelve months and 365 days lie ahead of us in the form of 2015.
 I find the idea of a whole new, untouched year to be a bit exciting. It is something truly special to look directly ahead and see time just waiting for you to fill it and spend it.

 

I was saying on Christmas Day at the dinner table that I feel as though 2014 has been a "really cracking year".
I won't say there haven't been some moments that made me cry, feel angry or feel a bit drained but that can't be helped and you need to dust yourself off and crack on.
I hope that 2014 wasn't full of many moments like this for you all and that, rather, it was good.
But, onto the good stuff because if you're always looking down, you're never looking up and there have been sooooooo many ups this year.
The ups of 2014 have truly stood out far beyond anything else.
Its been ace.

 

2014 has provided me with some incredibly amazing times. I have done so many amazing things.

For starters, I have travelled to some pretty cool places.

I went to Normandy, as you might remember, in October with some of the most awesome people and I had such an amazing, unforgettable time.

I also conquered my fear of flying and took a trip back to my favourite place/"home" (read: Northern Ireland) and had such a brilliant time as I hadn't been there in years. I saw family friends while there, revisited my favourite places and recreated lots of childhood memories.

I spent lots of time with my family who live near London which was lovely and also meant that we went into London a lot this year, too.

Then of course there are all of the wonderful days out, weekends spent, all of the time I have spent in the company of family and the company of friends. 

There are all of the lazy days and nights as well as all of the time spent singing loudly, dancing.

 The time spent in PJs, the time spent in dresses and the times in jeans.

The times eating lovely food and the time talking to the amazing people I know. The time spent listening to them.

 The time spent working, the time spent learning.

The time spent moving home, the time spent in the car.

The time spent celebrating things, spent wallpapering/falling off ladders. The time in the theatre, at gigs, at stand up shows.

The time pampering, blogging, watching countless episodes of TV shows (shout out to Modern Family, Big Bang Theory and HIMYM) and movies.

The time in National Trust properties and strolling round gardens. The time cooking, baking, at exhibitions.

 The time exercising or taking selfies or jumping round the garden like a five year old.

The time with family, the time having photos taken and taking photos.

 The time spent meeting new people, helping with important events (like doing a family friends Prom makeup/countless trials for it).

The time wearing crazily bright/colourful lipsticks, the time in Nandos.

The times doing lots of festive things.

The time drinking cups of tea at Elf Girl's house after failing at bike rides or shopping or just any other day.

The time doing daft things that make me smile like colouring competitions between myself and friends, sitting on the edge of a half filled/cold hot tub and singing Green Day with Elf Girl, discussing hedgehogs with Lauren in a car park.

The time lolling around on the sofas with family just talking.

 The times that brought me closer to the people I love.

I sincerely hope that 2014 was good to all of you lovely lot and that 2014 is a brilliant year for you. I hope you find all of the things you need and are searching for. I hope you have lots of fun and experience lots of wonderful things. I hope that you find happiness this year.

Thanks for your support for this blog throughout this year. Your support as readers, followers and commenters really does mean so, so much. I hope that you stick around for 2015 and watch the archives on the right fill up. I hope you enjoy the new content and enjoy this slice of internet.

Happy New Year to you and all of your families and friends.

Here's to you, 2014, thanks for being good.

And, here's to you 2015, I hope you're a good'un. xxx

 

 

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have enjoyed this post. I will see you all again in the new year!

What are your New Years Eve Plans? What was 2014 like for you? Do you have any stories from 2014 you'd like to share? Any comments or suggestions for posts in the New Year? Let me know in the comments.

Happy New Year, lovely people!

 

Have a great, very happy day and New Year!

 

GingerSnaps xxx 

 

 

So, To Sum It All Up - Festive Summary.

Hi!!!

I haven't been around much throughout December which can be blamed on moving house (AKA no WiFi for about a week and a half) and then not having a functioning computer (big thank you to my lovely family for buying me a lovely new laptop for Christmas). There are no more excuses now so feel free to shout at me next time I go MIA.

Anyway, since I was on a hiatus during December, I thought a festive round up would be nice and I could make up for all the "Holidays Are Comin'" posts that I missed. Annnndddd BEGIN... (Warning: this could be a very long post, so you might want to grab a drink..)

You might remember from (THIS) post that my Mom and I went to see White Christmas a few weeks ago.
 It kind of kicked off our Christmas as it was one of the first, major festive things we did this year. It was an amazing show - I shall be reviewing soon to give you a better idea - and I had such a lovely time (give or take me wanting to scream at the idiot of a woman who was sat next to me - the nightmare of all theatre goers... ARGH!). The show was truly enjoyable and fantastic.
White Christmas holds a special place in the hearts of my family and so it was a special experience to go and see it.
Thanks to everyone for an amazing show and thanks to my beautiful mother for coming with me to see it.

I did take some time to Christmas shop, drink hot chocolates, have the occasional festive Costa and brunch throughout November and December.
Christmas shopping got stressful at times, I won't lie to you, because the shops seemed to have nothing and then I was poorly and so a lot of the time that I spent trying to shop, I actually spent wanting to go home to bed. None the less, I feel like I bought quite well for everyone and I did enjoy spending some time in a festive but relaxed type of way.
 Also, the Cheeseboard Panini at Costa is pretty awesome, just so you know.

This year, I went North Pole style on all of my Christmas presents by wrapping them in brown paper with red and white twine, white string, red string and red and white string all making appearances for decoration.
 I was chuffed to bits with how they turned out and am glad that I shopped around for the perfect paper.

We decorated our new home for Christmas for the very first time and I honestly think it looks beautiful.
I feel so cosy, festive and happy looking around at the great job we did decorating.
It was really nice to just decorate since nothing had a proper place yet although I was nervous that it wouldn't look or feel right and that I'd end up awake in the middle of the night rearranging garlands and candles and all sorts but it turned out in such a way that I am so pleased with.
I'll be sad to take it all down and find the rooms looking so bare as when you actually consider it, we've had the decorations up more or less since the day we moved in and so I won't be used to living in the rooms without decorations.
I'm also pleased with how the decorations I have in my bedroom look - the little pink, fluffy tree I have has found it's home and my mistletoe fairy lights have been on every night. It all looks magical.

I also decorated the Christmas tree in my Nanny's (not like Mary Poppins, like my Grandma, just in case you felt confused) house and I think I did a cracking job with it. My Uncle B put up the other decorations like the Father Christmas in the hallway, too and it looks lovely in the house.

An adorable thing I enjoyed throughout December was my Boofle Advent Calender.

Then, of course there was the writing of Christmas cards.
This year I bought some lovely vintage looking cards in Marks and Spencer to write out for my friends and I took ages carefully selecting cards for family members in Clinton's.
 I was very pleased with the selection of cards I found and hopefully receiving them put a smile on people's faces...

I spent lots of time admiring Christmas adverts on TV.
My personal favourite was the Sainsbury's one which you can view (HERE). It brought a smile to my face and a tear to my eye all at once and I think it was just so beautiful. Other lovely adverts include (THIS) one from John Lewis, (THIS) one from Aldi and (THIS) one from M&S.
All those involved in the creation of the adverts should give themselves five Brownie Points and a big pat on the back.

We headed down to the London area throughout December, one of these occasions was a few weekends ago when we had a lovely "early Christmas" with some of the family.
 We had brunch with everyone, got to catch up and chat for ages all sat around the living room in the very comfy seats and open some Christmas presents.
I also went to the park in the morning with my younger cousins, all while wearing one of my fabulous Christmas jumpers.
I had a fantastic day with everyone and hope they all did too.
Also, I'd like to say a big thanks to all of them for the wonderful gifts I received from them - I love them.

I gave some of my friends their Christmas presents before Christmas and most of them opened them in front of me.
I really hope they all like them and will enjoy using them.
They also gave me some wonderful gifts - they were all very thoughtful and I'd like to say a big thanks for those.
 There was also a Secret Santa on the go between a bunch of us and we all met up a few days before Christmas to exchange gifts. I received a great gift from my Secret Santa - although in fairness, it wasn't much of a Secret by the time we exchanged gifts as we presented each other with them; I'm glad I know who it was as, I got to thank them personally that way.
 I hope the recipient of my Secret Santa gift likes it very much.
 I had a great day out with everyone (especially the colouring competition we had... don't ask, I don't know either!)

Pantomime is yet another festive thing that took place this year, as is tradition.
 This year, we went much closer to Christmas itself than usual, but that was quite nice.
 I did my makeup - a gold eye with silver glitter winged liner and grey kohl on the waterline with my favourite red lippy - and dressed up in my blue and black dress and bright red shoes. I felt quite glam. The pantomime itself was absolutely excellent - we went to the Birmingham Hippodrome to see Jack and the Beanstalk.
 The cast were brilliant, the panto was so hilarious I lost my ability to breathe for a while and the costumes and sets were very good. There was a whole section in 3D (I'm not spoiling anything by saying that, you know about it when you are handed 3D glasses on the doors) and that was so cool.
 The whole thing was awesome and it was a great night - thanks to Auntie S and my Mommy for coming with me!

Christmas Eve, as I said (HERE) is typically a day of table laying and things like that and then a relaxed evening in Christmas PJs watching our favourite festive films. However this year was a bit different - in a good way!
 I went to my Nan's and met up with the festive Dream Team (mentioned/explained in the previously linked post). I laid the table, had a mini crisis over napkins before getting the hang of it and doing pretty well, if I do say so myself. There was cooking done that day, some last minute shopping at the supermarket, some serious Christmas jumper wearing (yes, I have a variety) and then off to a family friend's to see people and have a bit of food. And thhheeenn off round to Elf Girl's house for (terrible) singing to our favourite Christmas songs, a few games on the Wii - we are excellent at tennis - and dancing before heading home at a time that is quite late in my usual Christmas Eve terms to put on my brand new Christmas PJs.
 My new Christmas PJs were a gift from my Mom - they are the same kind of pattern as my blog, red with white polka dots AKA my favourite print - and they are so comfy and cute and I love them.
 No films were watched as it was fairly late and we needed energy for the next day but I did have a lovely time.

Christmas Day was wonderful.
 I was lucky enough to receive all sorts of wonderful gifts and cards throughout that day - thanks everyone! - and I hope that everyone loves the gifts I got for them, too.
 The food was great, crackers were pulled, films were watched, photos were taken and I think a good time was had by all.
 I hope everyone had an awesome time like I did.

Boxing Day was a day of a buffet style lunch and travelling back to the London-ish area to stay with my Auntie.
 That was a very enjoyable day.
 It began to snow while we were inside. I didn't notice because all of the curtains at my Nan's house were drawn and the Christmas tree takes up any space you could see from. I was carrying something out to the car and as I opened the front door, I saw huge snowflakes falling from the sky and a blanket of white on the ground.
Snow is my favourite and I was absolutely delighted to see it - it counts as a white Christmas in my eyes.
 It slowed right down as we were leaving and despite my hoping it would stay for when we got back, it apparently didn't stay for very long at all.

We got up on Saturday morning and left my Aunt's house to go into London.
 We usually go before Christmas but, as I said, I was a bit poorly and didn't quite feel like it.
We went in to Oxford Street, saw all of the lights, went to Selfridge's and looked around a lot of the shop (I do LOVE Selfridge's) before heading further down the road to John Lewis.
I had heard about there being a "rooftop garden" there and my curiosity drew me inside.
When we reached the roof, I must say I was greatly impressed.
An enchanting little "forest" greeted us, with Christmas trees lining all of the pathways that had been set up. There were lots of clear areas from which you could see the fabulous views of the city, a little bench where you could sit with Monty the Penguin - from the advert - and have your photo taken, a little snug in a "shed" filled with lots of lovely homely bits and bobs, a little house filled with biscuit decorating opportunities, festive sweets and competitions to win electrical goods, a Hotel Chocolate hot chocolate stand - gingerbread hot chocolates are amazing! - and a big space filled with chairs, tables and benches, a big screen with footage of an open fire playing and a whole big basket of blankets for you to sit with.
It was an enchanting experience and I had a wonderful time exploring.
We headed also for Carnaby Street - who have cool decorations this year - and Liberty.
We proceeded, as always, to explore every square inch of Liberty's and I must say, I was highly impressed by the way they had decorated the store to look like a pirate ship.
 I had a lovely time but what could I expect - I totally adore Liberty's!
We then set off for Covent Garden for a dander round and dinner at my beloved Porter's.
 I was, however, devastated to find out that Porter's in Covent Garden is closing down but my spirits have been greatly lifted again as I found out today that a brand spanking new Porter's is opening in the new year.
For more information, mosey on over (HERE).

We spent Sunday with some of the family, eating lots of yummy food (including Mince Pies - made by Heston... Obvs) and chatting lots about all sorts of things. It was a very nice day, it was great to see everyone and a good, relaxing time was had by all, I think.
I had a wonderful time, I hope everyone else did as well.

Yesterday was spent shopping for all manner of amazing things but you'll hear more about that soon. It was a lovely day, though, so thanks to my Auntie and my Mom for a good time out shopping!

And, so, I think that is all for my festive round up - I do hope I have included everything! I know that was a very lengthy post but at least it will make up for me being away for so long.

What festive things did you get up to? Anything similar to me? Do you have any festive traditions you'd like to share? Any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments below.

Thank you for reading. I'll speak to you again tomorrow.

 

Have a completely and utterly brilliant day!

GingerSnaps xxx



We Wish You A Merry Christmas! - Merry Christmas 2014!

Hi!!!

Today is Christmas Day! Christmas is my favourite and I wanted to give you a festive message, consider this my Christmas card to you.

Christmas Day is a day for giving, receiving and being kind and good to all. It's also a time for friendship, love, happiness and festivities. 

I hope that you're all having a brilliant time, that you're stuffing your faces with all of your favourite festive food, that if you bought people presents, they love them, that if you are lucky enough to receive presents, you love them and that you enjoy films, TV and time with those you love.

And, while you are enjoying yourself, I hope that you take a thought to remember what Christmas is truly all about, and I hope you think about all of the less fortunate people who don't have the wonderful things we do at this time of year...

Merry Christmas to you all, and to all you families and friends. I hope that your day and night is fantastic. Thank you for all your support with my blog! Have a magical time! I love you all. 

That's all for today, everybody. I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy yourself.

What are you up to today? What is your favourite part of Christmas Day? Any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments! 

See you soon!

Have the bestest day! 

GingerSnaps xxx

It Was Christmas Eve, Babe... - Christmas Eve 2014!

Hi!!!

Today, it's Christmas Eve but hopefully you knew that already! I always enjoy Christmas Eve as a day on the whole and wanted to share some of my thoughts with you.

Christmas Eve, in my family, is a day spent relaxing. 

I'll be baking some muffins for my family to eat on Christmas morning and I might bake a few more things - we'll have to see! 

I'm spending my day festively attired in a big ol' Christmas jumper and will be laying the table, making a start on lots of the food with my Mom and my Uncle B (we are the Christmas dinner DREAM TEAM! Repeat DREAM TEAM!). 

I will be also be taking some time out for myself. I will be enjoying some pampering but I have no idea which products to use yet - there are so many to chose from! Although, I do know that no matter what products I chose, it'll be lovely to have a pamper evening - I've not had one in a while. I'll be trying some festive nail art, too, so cross your fingers that it looks how I want it to! 

Then there's the traditional Christmas Eve film, as I am sure you are aware of by now. We normally only watch two or three films but this year I have upped the anti and the Sky Planner (other TV thingys are available) is full of all our favourite Christmas films like Nativity!, Love Actually and Miracle on 34th Street (90s with Mara Wilson) as well as the Snowman (with or without Snowdog) which will be on TV. It'll be an awesome back to back movie night with a little stop round at my bestest friend Elf Girl's house, too. It's all going to be lots of fun. 

I'm so excited for tomorrow, and I hope you are too. There is nothing better than Christmas!!! There's a special magic in the air this year, I think and it is making me so happy. I love Christmas and can't wait for the big day!

I love my Christmas Eve activities, and I find it such a relaxing day. I hope you all have lovely days and evenings whatever you get up to.

Do you have anything planned for today? Do you have a special Christmas Eve film ready to watch? What is it? Are you as excited for tomorrow as me?!? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments below.

I will speak to you all tomorrow! In the meantime, have a lovely day and I hope that Father Christmas pays a visit to you all tonight! x

Have an excellent day, everybody! 

GingerSnaps xxx

So, To Sum It All Up - November Summary.

Hi!!!

Welcome to my November Summary, lovely people. I'm so excited December is here because CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!! Let us proceed with this lovely little summary, I hope you enjoy!

Doing Some Festive Things...
 

During November, I've been to see White Christmas at the Dominion Theatre in London, I've been shopping for bits and bobs and have been drinking many a festive Costa.
It has been so great to be able to kick start my Christmas with such a variety of lovely things - even if the journey from White Christmas resulted in not getting out of the car until 3:00 am and having to stop for a brew a few times on the way - and its been great to share these experiences with a number of different people.
I've had my Christmas tunes on and I've been bopping away as well.
I cannot wait to do even more in December and for it to get closer and closer to Christmas.

To see a post about my excitement for Christmas, take a look over (HERE).

Celebrating People's Birthdays...

It was my Mom's Birthday this month and we all went out for a carvery as a family to celebrate with her and we all went out for my Nan's birthday too..
I hope that everyone had a lovely time and that my Mom had a great day!

To see a post about my Mom's birthday, mosey over (HERE).

Supporting Charities...

The CiN telethon was this month and it was lovely to be able to see via the totalisers how much everyone was willing to help others.
It was heart warming and also a great night and I think this year was one of the bestest ones yet.

To see a post about CiN, go over (HERE)

Bonfire Night...

Fireworks are my favourites and I had a brilliant time at our favourite display.
The fireworks were beautiful, the bonfire was a bit epic and I really enjoyed my night.
I hope you enjoyed yourselves and stayed safe.

To see a post about Bonfire Night, click (HERE).

Remembering Those Who Serve(d)...

I think, as you all know, that Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day are incredibly important things.
This year, as it was the Centenary Anniversary of the beginning of WW1, the celebrations were beautiful and very tasteful.
It was brilliant to see everyone so involved in remembering those brave people who have served, who served and who died serving their countries in the Armed Forces.

To see a posts about Remembrance, see (HERE) and (HERE).

My Favourite Blog Posts From November.

This month, since we've been moving house - we're officially in today!!! YAY!!! FINALLY!!! - I haven't had any WiFi/internet access except at Auntie S's - she's been kind enough to let me blog from her house, thank you - and so I haven't read any blog posts. Therefore, I'll link some of the blogs I like so you can check things out for yourself.

A Rosie Outlook: HERE
Charlotte's Web: HERE
What Olivia Did: HERE
Little Winter: HERE

I will sub this category however with...

Some of My Favourite Songs of November.

The Man by George Ezra, (HERE).

Great song, catchy, great lyrics, great music, great voice, so listen!!!

Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, (HERE)

I love this song, brilliant music, lyrics and voice - an instant classic. Love, love, love.

To see more of my fave songs from November, click (HERE).

So, I hope you enjoyed this post everyone. I'm excited for December and Christmas and all sorts and would like to thank November for being great.

What were your favourite parts of November? What did you think of what I got up to? Did you enjoy the posts I recommended? Any thoughts about this or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments. 

See you guys soon....

Have a totes amaze day!

GingerSnaps xxx