Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - Christmas at the Birmingham Botanic Gardens.

Hi!!!

It's Christmas Eve which means two things - 1) Christmas is tomorrow! and 2) it's Blogmas Day Twenty Four. Last night I met up with my friends for a Christmas outing. We went to the Birmingham Botanical Gardens to see their Christmas lights trail which I'm going to tell you all about today.

 

 

The lights are beautiful and they really make the best of the setting of the botanical gardens  - the trees are illuminated, the light reflects onto the ponds and every structure glitters.

 

The trail is about one kilometre in total but it takes a good hour or so (at least), especially if like us you'll be stopping for hot drinks, eating biscuits and posing for photos.

 

 

It was really lovely to go and see the lights and celebrate Christmas together and it was nice to do something a bit different, too. Now, not only do we have lots of lovely photos, we also have lots of lovely memories.

Thanks for reading Blogmas Day Twenty Four.
Where have you been recently? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.
There will be one more Blogmas post tomorrow, so I'll speak to you then.

Enjoy your Christmas Eve!

GingerSnaps xxx

Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - Birmingham German Christmas Market

Hi!!!

Good morning! For today's Blogmas post, I wanted to share what I got up to yesterday with you - expect plenty of festive photos to brighten up your Tuesday afternoon and fill you full of Christmas cheer.

My Auntie S and I went into Birmingham yesterday for a day of Christmas shopping and visiting the Christmas market. As someone who has always lived in Birmingham, the German Christmas Market will always have a special place in my heart as I've spent so many December days and evenings there. It does seem like there are less stalls than there usually are this year, but there are building works going on nearby which is probably why.

The first point of call was definitely to grab something to drink, especially since the cups that the drinks are served in are so photogenic - as are the tokens you are given to hand over when you give the cups back.

 

The German Market always look super festive with all of the fairy lights, Christmas trees, the carousel, the Santa Clause statuettes and Nutcracker dolls.

 

 

 

I also think that all of the stalls are super Christmassy, too. There's rows of colourful stalls selling everything from toys, tree ornaments and candles to jewellery and food. It's always a nice place to go for gift inspiration or just to look at all of the lovely things on offer.

 
 

My tips for visiting would be to go during the day if possible (as it will be a bit less crowded), to say yes to all of the food available (everything from pretzels to marshmallows to fried potatoes with garlic sauce and crêpes) and allow yourself to be present and take in all of the lovely Christmassy sights and sounds and smells.

Massive shout out to my Auntie S for letting me tag along on her Christmas shopping trip and for sharing fried potatoes and laughing at a singing moose with me.

Thanks so much for reading Blogmas Day Five.

Have you visited a Christmas Market yet? Do you have any other comments or suggestions for future posts? Leave a comment to let me know.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I'll see you tomorrow for Day Six.

I hope you have a great day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Oh My Life! - Tales of My Life and Times - A Visit To Warwick Castle (And Why You Should Visit This Summer).

Hi!!!

Today I'm going to tell you a little bit about a day out that Elf Girl and I went on back in April and also tell you why you should also go on a similar day out. We went to Warwick Castle, a popular heritage site that is local to us, and we had a great day.

I hadn't been to Warwick Castle for at least 6 years - I'd been on many a childhood family and school trip - and so I was excited to see the new features I'd seen advertised, and of course to spend the day pretending to be royalty with my best friend.

The first thing we did when we arrived was head over to the new Horrible Histories Maze. As Horrible Histories fans, and big kids, we were excited to see what it would be like.

 We weren't disappointed.

It was one of the highlights of the day. There are several sections within the maze based on different historical periods. It's more about finding those places than finding the way out and it is so much fun. There are plenty of photo opportunities, and lots of bitesize information, and it's fun for all ages.

When you leave the maze, there are two exits - one for the grown-ups, one for the children. The children's exit is like an obstacle course, and I can tell you first hand that it is a whole lot of fun, even if our heights did make it a bit complicated - I had to walk across the tops of the obstacles but I think it made it all the more enjoyable.

The State Rooms are open to visit, and so we saw a range from bedrooms to libraries to chapels.

The rooms are gorgeous, although I will say that there isn't as much information available in them or about them as there is at similar heritage properties, which is something to bear in mind if you love your history, like me.

However, they are still very much worth a wander through. Oh, but just to warn you, we did hear a really odd hissing noise in the library and we practically flew out of the room because our first conclusion was "It might be a ghost". It was hilarious, and probably not a ghost, but do let me know if you hear it on any recent visits, haha.

The Mound and the battlements give great views of the castle grounds and the Warwickshire landscape - which is beautiful - as well as allow you to be taken back in time to the castle' s history as a defensive site. I think my last visit before this was on a school trip that was centred on defensive castles - in the same year we studied William the Conquerer, so it was with that time period in mind - so it also called back a few memories to be up on the battlements again.

The grounds are home to several birds of prey, gift shops and restaurants (where you can stock up on sweets and toy swords), small archery workshops for children and lots of shows.

We saw an amazingly informative and totally hilarious Horrible Histories show, but at other times of year there are other cool shows - such as epic War of the Roses battles over the summer, which sound incredible. There are also falconry displays and trebuchet shows (their trebuchet is the largest working siege machine in the world) on throughout the year, which are awesome, and were a staple part of visits for me when I was younger.

There are several other cool things to see and do at Warwick Castle but I would recommend following our plan for the day.

I had so much fun - of course spending the day with my best friend probably helped a lot, but I'm sure the castle and it's grounds played their parts too, haha.
Oh, and there are Ben and Jerry's vending machine in the car park, and if that final statement hasn't convinced you, I don't know what will.

I had such a great time, and I'm so glad we went - you should definitely put it on your list for 'Days Out' ideas, it's well worth it. I mean, really, what's better than spending the day scanning round a castle in pretty dresses, pretending to be princesses with your friends? Not much, I'd bet.

I hope you enjoyed this post.
Have you been to Warwick Castle? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts? Leave me a comment to let me know.
Thanks so much for reading.

I hope your day is brilliant!

GingerSnaps xxx

Style It Out - Fashion, Style and Get Ready With Me's- A Festive Get Ready With Me.

Hi!!!

Welcome to the fourth instalment of "A Dash Of Ginger Festive Five". Today I wanted to post something a little bit different. I've had the idea for a little while - I wasn't sure I could make it work but I think that I've got this sussed now. So, welcome to my Festive Get Ready With Me. I know, right? I've never done a Get Ready With Me before so I hope that you guys like this.

A Festive Get Ready With Me.

 

Once I'd dragged myself out of bed in the morning and I'd had some breakfast, I grabbed a cup of tea and headed up the stairs. I got some Christmas tunes going at an obnoxious volume on the TV in my bedroom and went off to do all the basics (brushing my teeth, washing etc.). At this point, I'd talk you through a super detailed skincare routine if I had one - basically I wash my face with my cleanser from the Aloe range at The Body Shop and bam that's it. I headed back into my bedroom and chose my outfit while drinking the cup of tea which was at the perfect temperature by this point. During the festive season, my outfit could range from a Christmas jumper to a dress and so on but on this particular day it was a red pinafore with a white polar neck jumper underneath and some mustard coloured cable knit tights.

I went on to do my makeup (I don't wear makeup on a daily basis but I fancied wearing it that day). On this particular day, I opted for a red lip (hello MAC Ladybug) and really toned down makeup everywhere else so it really stood out. I wanted to do something with my hair so I whacked half of it up into a bun with the rest down using a red velvet scrunchie. I put on my watch and then sorted the room out a little bit (opened the curtains, made the bed and so on). Then I danced around the room to all of the Christmas songs and sang all the words very loudly because its Christmas. Finally, I padded back down the stairs, pulled on some boots and left the house for my latest adventure which was a trip to one of my favourite places, Charlecote Park which was decorated for a Victorian Christmas.

You can find some links here...

To find some of the Christmas songs I was listening to, you might like to check out (THIS) post.
To find The Body Shop, click (ME)
To find MAC Ladybug Lipstick (CLICK ME)
To find everything you could want to know about the lovely Charlecote Park, (USE THIS).


Tah Dah! I'm really rather pleased with this post, I hope it was a nice read. I'm off to a pantomime this evening which I've been looking forward to for ages - it's Peter Pan which is one of the only pantomimes I haven't seen.

What did you think of my first Get Ready With Me? What are you getting up to today? Do you have any suggestions for future posts or any comments? Do let me know in the comments below, I'd love to hear from you.

I'll see you all tomorrow, which is Christmas Eve - I can't believe it.

 

I hope you have an exceptionally great day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

Oh My Life! - Tales Of My Life and Times - Road Trip!, Disney Sing-a-Longs, Air Guitars, THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR, Gavin and Stacey Times and Mr Blue Sky!

Hi!!!

Today's post is a good'un! (I know, I'm so modest...) Alllll the way back in April, I went to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff with one of my favourites ever - of course, my ever fabulous best friend Elf Girl (find her tiny elf-self HERE) - and it was, as you can imagine, a pretty epic day.

From where we live, it takes about two and a half hours to get to Cardiff, but we know how to handle such road trips - with air guitars and rock songs and Disney soundtracks and selfies in traffic, which is just the best. Like, seriously, I had such a great time spending two and a half hours sat in a car!

When we got to Cardiff, we had something to eat before heading over to the giant blue thing that is the Doctor Who Experience.
We bought our tickets and then had a bit of a walk round, taking photos of the bits and bobs that are sat lining the queue.

Once you get inside, there's the Interactive Experience that gets you much more involved in it all. I don't want to spoil it for any of you Whovians out there, but it is awesome!
Do it the GingerSnaps and Elf Girl way and make sassy comments the whole way around, feel confused about why random people keep talking to you and always elbow your way to the front.

Upon leaving the interactive bit, we entered the Exhibition Hall which is where all of the sets and artefacts are.
We ran around like crazy people trying to see everything and take photos with everything and we did pretty bloomin well. We also had our photo taken in the TARDIS - twice - and saw lots of really interesting things. There is more up the stairs from here, from lots of more recent episodes, which is cool, and we had loads of fun being silly and trying to pose like we were "running away from the bad guys" which inevitably involved falling over! Ooops! 

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Mermaid Quay, which is right by the experience, entering the children's colouring competition at Starbucks - including a FRIENDS reference - and making it to the wall (!!!), and heading out to Barry to fangirl over Gavin & Stacey and to get ourselves on every kids arcade ride possible (including a rollercoaster simulator on which we nearly lost a purse!)

The way home included singing ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) and Queen at the very tip top of our lungs and lots of laughing.

So, thanks to Elf Girl for asking me to join her, I had such an absolutely brilliant time. Go and check out her excellent blog (HERE), and the posts she has done about our day (HERE) and (HERE), the latter includes captions of epic proportions for some of the photos seen here, and some of her own - should make you chuckle.

To find out more about the Doctor Who Experience, click (ME).

Thank you for reading, I hope that you have enjoyed this post, and that this was interesting - especially for the Whovians amongst you.

Have you been to the Doctor Who Experience? What did you think? Would you like to go? Do you have any comments or suggestions for future posts that you'd like to see? Let me know in the comments below.

See you all soon,

 

Have an superb day!

 

GingerSnaps xxx

 

So, To Sum It All Up - January Summary.

Hi!!!

How are we all, you lovely little people? I hope that we are all doing good. So, today, I shall be doing a January Summary. January seemed to go by in about a week - I do not know how this happened but we are in February already! What?!? Anywho, the Summary...

So what happened in January?

Starting the New Year...

I love when a New Year rolls around and you have all this time and space in front of you that hasn't been used yet and the start of this New Year was no exception.

We already have a few plans waiting within the next few months (like a holiday - so excited!) which is nice because there are already some things to look forward to.

I decided not to make new F5 Refreshes this year because I thought continuing on with the ones I made last year would be better.

I did a post about my F5 accomplishments from last year and my thoughts about this year and you can see it (HERE)

Going on Days Out...

I have been on all sorts of winters walks in this past month and they have been lovely. Wrapping up in long sleeved tops, my fabulous cable stitch crew neck (hand knitted by someone I know) and jeans or Super Cosy Tights from Primark and shorts or a skirt and walking around the local parks or lakes is so lovely.
It's nice to go out and do something simple and enjoyable like this, and it reminds me of the beauty of the places around me. Stopping for curly fries before heading home is great, too!

Going on a Night Out to Strictly Come Dancing...

My wonderful Auntie S got some tickets to go to the Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour earlier this month for Christmas. She invited me to go along with her and so all dolled up in the dress I got for Christmas and off we went.

 

The show was really good, Simon Webbe won the night we were there (rightly so, he's awesome) and I had such a brilliant night!

 

Highlights included: Dancing to Shake It Off, eating cupcakes, singing "Under the Sea" in the most on point manner, singing songs from Beauty and the Beast in the taxi home, "It's a Tommy Ten" (S will find that hilarious, you probably won't... sorry) and of course the amazing show itself - Simon Webbe's Tango anyone? How about Caroline Flack's Charleston? Craig Revel Horwood's sass? The singers? The sparkle? What an awesome time!

To read more about my Auntie S see (HERE) - also Happy Birthday for Tuesday!

For the Strictly website, click (HERE).

Also, huuuuuggge mega thanks to O for letting me have his ticket and go and spend a great evening with my lovely Auntie S, I really appreciate it!

Commemorating and Remembering on Holocaust Memorial Day...

The 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz was earlier this month and I think that it is very important that we all remember the things that happened there and all of the people whose lives were affected by the horrific things that happened there.

Remember, respect and know that there is nobody out there and nothing about you or your choices that can take away your value, your importance or your rights. Diversity makes us who we are, do not be afraid of what makes you different.

To see the post that I did about the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz click (HERE)

My Favourite Blog Posts of January

 

Anyone interested in some posts from my four favourite blogs? Here you go...

 

"I'd Swipe Right For You" on Charlotte's Web, (HERE)

Charlotte really shows off her funny, charming side in this post which is one of the reasons I love her blog.
 With lines like " “I love gammon!”  Don’t we all mate." appearing in this post, I dare you not to smile.

"We Liked: The Simple Things" on Little Winter, (HERE)

I am a major lover of the simple things so this post was right up my street.
I now want to print all my photographs and have a big collage somewhere in my house like Katy has on her fridge as well as some Mini Eggs.
Also, I own those PJ bottoms, just saying...

"A Much Needed Break" on Made Up of Little Things, (HERE)

I enjoyed this post.
It looked like Rachael had an awesome time and I felt like this post let me experience some of that fun, quirky but relaxing experience, too.

"A poem and a picture {02}"on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE).

Poetry is a great love of mine and I think that it was brave of Rosie to share this, as poetry is so personal to its writer.
A unique post and boy can Rosie put together a nice little poem.


A Favourite Songs in January

There were lots but this beaut made the shortlist...

Keep Your Head Up by Ben Howard, (HERE)

I have loved this song since it first came out. It is one of my all time favourites and you just need to listen.

 

Thank you for reading you beautiful little people.

What did you get up to in January? What do you think of what I did? Do you like the blog posts? How about the song? Any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments below.

So, see you tomorrow...

 

Have a wonderful day today!

 

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



So, To Sum It All Up - July Summary.

Hi!!!


Another month, another summary. I have no idea where the time is going because apparently, we're already on August. Can someone please explain to me what is happening here? Is it the wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff? If you got that reference, then go you!

Beginning to Move Our Stuff To The New House.


So, after such a long time of perfecting the house, we've finally started moving our things in a transit van and now have an actual sofa in the new house (as opposed to a row of garden chairs) and have put clothes into the wardrobes IKEA delivered and assembled as well as making the beds. It's all coming together and there is only one room to complete now and some more pieces to move.

Exciting times, especially considering that I can near enough guarantee we'll be moving this month!

To see all of my posts about moving house, (HERE), (HERE), (HERE) and (HERE).


Enjoying Going Out and Spending Time In The Sunshine.

Something I have no corresponding posts to link up with is spending time in the sun. And I don't mean sunbathing - I'm ginger, therefore pale, therefore no.

No, what I mean is spending time doing things, going to interesting places and in turn, enjoying the sunshine. 

It's been nice to get out and do things which are a bit different and a lot of fun,

The Commonwealth Games

Aah, the Commonwealth Games, which are wrapping up as we speak. 

The Opening Ceremony was fabulous as were all of the sporting events.

I have really enjoyed having the opportunity to see so many athletes from so many diverse countries participate in sport and cheering on my favourite althetes. 

It has been great.

To see my post about the Commonwealth Games, mosey on over (HERE).

My Birthday and Celebrations.

So, as you may or may not know, my birthday was last Thursday and I spent quite a bit of time celebrating with all of my wonderful friends and family.

I enjoyed myself a lot and  I recived some lovely things.

It was brilliant.

I had such an amazing time and I'd like to say a massive thanks to everyone for that.

To see the post I wrote about my birthday and celebrations, click (HERE).

Lots of Lovely Little Things.

As you know, I am always one for the little things and I find nothing better than feeling happy.

In July, I spent time enjoying a lot of lovely simple things which made me so, so happy. 

I think we should all spend a bit more time appreciating how sometimes even just some eggs and toast can lift your mood.

To see my post about some of the things that made me smile, click (HERE).


My Favourite Blog Posts Of July.

"Yarn Bomb Pics!!!" on Chronicles of the Red Herring, (HERE).

Elf Girl got her photography skills out here and took some great photos of the time earlier this month that our neighbourhood got yarn bombed (she explains the terms in her post). 

I found this fun, interesting and unique.

"We did: An Indoor Fort" on Little Winter, (HERE).

I love quirky little things like this and since forts were a massive childhood fave, I really like this post.

It's nice to see something alternative on a blog like this.

"A Seaside Weekend with Friends, and a Video" on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE).

I liked this post because of it's friendly feel and because it showed off some of the delights found near Rosie's home.

It's also nice to have a video to accompany the writing as it added something else to the post and made it more interesting.

"Cuckoo Clocks & Late Night Kisses" on Charlotte 's Web, (HERE)

I love when Charlotte writes like this.

It's funny, it's sweet, it's endearing and the ending is adorable. It's great and you should read it, too.

"Lead the Way" on The London Project, (HERE).

It's a good set of photographs that look great.

It's unique and interesting and one for the creative amongst you.

"Friday Round Up" on Made Up Of Little Things, (HERE).

This post is a very "real" post, as it truly is just a life update.

This post takes the good with the bad and pinch of salt, and that is appealing as it connects a lot with you. It's more a conversation than a presentation.

"What Olivia Cooked: Salted Caramel Popcorn" on What Olivia Did, (HERE)

I actually discovered What Olivia Did this morning, not last month, but this recipe looks so good that I had to share. I've been having a wee butchers at some previous posts and I like what I see.

This blog could become a new addition  to the reading list and the popcorn could become a fave of mine soon.

So, that's all for today then, I hop you have enjoyed. I look forward to getting back on the blogging bus this month and posting more, I hope you are too. 

Did you enjoy July? What were your highlights? What do you think of mine? Did you enjoy this post? Any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

See you all soon for a lot more posts.

Have the most wonderful day!

GingerSnaps xxx

Oh My Life! - Tales Of My Life and Times - My Birthday, Chicken, Photo Booths, Awesome Gifts and Cards and Cake... Lots of Cake.

Hi!!!


So, as some of you will know, my birthday was last Thursday and I thought that I would share with you all the wonderful things that I did.

I just want to make everyone aware of the fact that I do know how lucky I am to have family and friends like I do and who can/do treat me on my birthday. I am in no way posting this to make others feel bad or to flaunt how lucky I am, it is just because I like to give you guys an insight into my life and thought that this kind of post might be of interest as its the kind of post I enjoy reading. I hope you enjoy and we are all on the same page as to my appreciation.

My celebrations began on the Friday before last, when I spent my afternoon with Elf Girl (HERE), opening my birthday presents from her early.
She got me such wonderful things, all of which I love, and I'm really grateful to have such a brilliant best friend.
We proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon eating Pot Noodles and discussing Oasis, singing Disney songs, Paint (HERE) songs and Bowling for Soup - otherwise known as our skill set in a nutshell.
These are always such brilliant times.

My "celebration" celebrations began last Sunday, when my friends and I all went out to Nando's (that place is like our mother-ship, and you can find it HERE) to eat our usual (definitely the mother-ship) chicken burgers - beanie burger for Elf Girl - and chips with Peri-Peri salt and Extra Hot, Hot Sauce.

My friends (including Lauren - HERE - and H - HERE) gave me some lovely cards and presents, we all took far too many selfies and sneaky off-guard shots, posed for group photos and hugged lots.

Later on in the evening, after one of our friends, Z, had left and after we'd nipped to the loo's, we found a Photo Booth and jumped in (there were only 4 of us but it was a bit of a squeeze since it was an ID Photo Booth for passports...) and took a photo from the set each (because it was the same photo printed 4 times). We then went in in pairs and me and Elf Girl went all 2.0 on the pictures we did at Morrison's last year (HERE).

Then the others left and myself and Elf Girl stayed outside for a while, singing a very poor rendition of Copacabana (HERE) and rolling down a hill... We are such children it is untrue.

Thanks to all of my lovely friends for an awesome evening out and for the cards and gifts. I'm very fortunate to have them.

Then, it was left until my actual birthday to celebrate. I got up in the morning and opened some bits and pieces from my parents and opened all the cards that were sent through the post or dropped at the house by the sender. 

My parents truly spoilt me with a pair of Docs (Dr Martens - HERE) which I have wanted since forever as well as a load of other wonderful things - thank you!

My cards are really beautiful, with lovely sentiments, details and colours. Elf Girl got me a Moon Pig (HERE) card which looked like a cover of Vogue and had all of our inside jokes as the surrounding article names which was cool. 

My Mom and I went out in the morning and had some lunch from Pret (HERE) and then headed off to get ready. I sat and did my face/hair/nails while watching some of my reality TV guilty pleasures and then I got dressed up to go and have a meal with the family at my Nan's house.

I wore an Ombre, white and blue, dipped hem dress and my new Docs, wore my hair curled and used some Soap and Glory (HERE) makeup - which Lauren got me for my birthday - creating a white and blue eye with a nude lip.

I went to my Nan's house and met up with all of our family for curry, presents, cakes (I had three...)and photos.

The food was delicious, the (mainly juice based) Bucks Fizz was a treat and a half, the presents I was given were absolutely amazing and I had such a wonderful time.

I also liked spending time getting a couple of family photos with everyone dressed up and I just really enjoyed myself. I feel like a good time was had by all, even though we were fit to burst upon going home.

Thank you to all of my family for the wonderful day and for my gifts and cards. I'm very lucky to have such a brilliant family and very lovely things.

The final celebration was going to Belton House (HERE) with Auntie S (HERE) for a day out, a catch up and some library envy. Would deffo recommend for a visit.

I had a great time - thanks S!

That's it for today then, and I guess for this month. I'll see you tomorrow for my July Summary - it should be a good un'.

When's your birthday? What do you think about what I got up to? What is your favourite part about birthdays? Any comments or suggestions for future posts? Let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading.

Have a very happy day!

GingerSnaps xxx





So, To Sum It All Up - June Summary.

Hi!!!

Welcome back, guys. Are you having a good day? Hope so. Anyway, yet another month over (where is time going?!) so another summary for you to read and possibly even enjoy.

I've had an enjoyable June this year and thought I'd share.

The World Cup's beginnings.

Yeah, even though we got knocked out before we'ven finished all our matches...
I love the sense of community that the World Cup brings to everyone and the way it allows us to show talents.
While some players made very silly mistakes (biting is not cool, OK?), I believe that everyone has done themselves proud so far, overall.
I'm looking forward to what the finishing stages bring.

To see my post on the World Cup, head on over (HERE).

Celebrating people's birthdays.

As you might know, Lauren 's birthday was this month and it was lovely to get to spend it with her and all of our friends.
I hope she had a lovely day, likes the gifts and cards everyone have her and enjoyed the extended celebrations (more on that later...)

To see a post about Lauren 's birthday, go (HERE).

Going out to spend time with friends.

This one is a kind of branch from Lauren 's birthday, so thanks to her.
A big group of us went out the other day to eat Nandos (it's the spiritual home of our friends, apparently, hehe) and watch The Fault in Our Stars.
Elf Girl and I went into (what we shall call) town early to shop (including giving money to a busker who we weren't convinced was singing in English - he was - and being nerds in Waterstones) and bumped into other people from the group and went around with them for a while before meeting the others to eat chicken (or the Beanie selection for Elf Girl) and get overly emotional in the cinema.

I had a great time and it was a standout of June for me.

Links to the last time we went to Nando's, go (HERE).

Links to Lauren are (HERE).

Links to Elf Girl, (HERE) and (HERE).

Keep an eye out for a potential "Oh My Life!" on this.

Celebrating the first birthday of my blog!!!

My little blog turned one this month and I couldn't be happier about that.

I'm so proud of this blog and I love all of the people who read it, comment on it and who follow it.


I'm very excited to see what happens on this slice of the internet, and I hope you'll stick around and see.

To see the celebratory post, mosey on over (HERE).

My Favourite Blog Posts Of June.

"Pink-Slippered Smudgeness" on Charlotte 's Web, (HERE)

It loved this post.
The poem ("Pink-Slippered Smudgeness") itself is beautiful and all of Charlotte 's notes on love are very open. Also, her housemates sound awesome.
Lovely post.

"Life Lately, another catchup" on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE)

This post had a bit of everything and was a great post.
The photography was good and the bits and pieces of wedding updates were interesting.
I enjoyed this one much my.

"The Lazy Day" on Little Winter, (HERE)

I myself am a massive fan of lazy days, probably because I'm a bit of a lazy person, so this post was right up my street.
I liked the friendliness of this post and the pictures in it.
Good read.

"Friday Round Up" on Made Up Of Little Things, (HERE)

I love the Friday Round Up's on Made Up Of Little.Things and this one was a good'un.
The story about the notebooks in TKMaxx was one I found very amusing (probably shouldn't have, but hey!) and it just made me smile.

"Poems" on Chronicles of the Red Herring, (HERE)

One of the many fabulous things you can find on this blog is poetry. There is a very cool selection of poems in this post and so you can get a bit of scope about the writing style.
A unique kind of post.

"The See-Saw Handhold" on The London Project, (HERE)

I do like this photograph very much and the short and sweet qualities of this post let it stand out.
It was a nice, unusual post with a good photographic content.

Hope you enjoyed this post guys. I look forward to posting during July and seeing what happens with my posts.

What did you get up during June? Anything similar to me? What do you think of what I did? Any questions/comments/suggestions? Let me know in the comments.

See you soon!

Have a fantastic day!

GingerSnaps xxx

So, To Sum It All Up - May Summary.

Hi!!!

How are all you lovely people? I hope you are all well. I can't believe that it is June already! Honestly, I was writing the title for this post and wrote "April Summary" instead of "May Summary".

I would also like to just say a quick apology for my lack of blog posts in May. It is something I am sorry for, and I hope that you guys don't mind me taking a little break once in a while.

Onwards with el summary, then...

Retail Therapy...

This month, I created a wants/wish list of beauty products I had my eye on, and have picked up one or two bits from the list. It was nice for me to piece together some ideas, and organise the kinds of things I've been/will be looking for recently in the shops.

Also during this month, I took some time out to appreciate the kinds of adverts that are on telly at the moment. Sometimes, I think its easy to forget how hard people work in advertising and how much of an excellent standard there is in adverts.

Find a post (HERE) on my current wishes/wants.

Find the post that I wrote about the recent John Lewis advert over (HERE).

The Chelsea Flower Show.

The RHS Chelsea Flower Show happened in May and I honestly thought that it was brilliant this year.

The show gardens were really quite beautiful, the flowers/plants/vegetables/fruits/various other things in the Great Pavilion were interesting and everything else about it was superb.

My Auntie S and my Nan went to visit the show, and another one of my Aunties went along too. They all really enjoyed themselves - obviously - and their various stories/photos from it were lovely to see.

I'd like to, as an admirer of all things RHS-ish, a massive well done to everyone involved in the show this year, it was awesome.

To see my post on the Chelsea Flower Show, head on over (HERE).

Look out for/search for the interview with the Reverend William McMillan, he's one of the best people in the floral world, and the interview was brill. Do a YouTube search if you missed it.

Spending Time In London.

I went into London last Tuesday, with my Mom (who is the "we" that I reference here and in the review), to go and see Quietly, a play by Owen McCafferty at the Soho Theatre - my review is going up tomorrow, so be sure to check it out!!!

We spent the afternoon eating cupcakes, shopping and then chilling in the bar of the theatre. We had a lovely time - despite the drizzle - and the play was great.

My review of Quietly will be posted tomorrow, Tuesday 3rd June.

Family Time.

During May, I enjoyed a Sunday Roast with nearly all the family, a trip to soft play with my little cousins and lots of chatting/play time with them, and time, as mentioned above, with my Mom.

Its always really nice to have some real, good family time and it makes me very happy.

We've also seen family friends this month, and its lovely to be able to catch up.

My Favourite Blog Posts Of May.

(In no particular order, as per...)

"Music" and "Sometimes It's OK To Rant" on Chronicles Of The Red Herring, (HERE).

Both of the posts Elf Girl posted on Chronicles Of The Red Herring this month were interesting and overall just very good. They were lovely weekend reads and you should have a look.

"Just Bobbing Along" on A Rosie Outlook, (HERE).

I think you should look at all of Rosie's posts from May, as they were all very good, however this was one of my top posts.

I liked the catch-up, relaxed feel of the post, and the photography here is gorgeous. I also liked the honesty of the post, and the way it encouraged me to take more time to relax/to stress less.

"Something Sweet" on Charlotte's Web, (HERE).

I favoured this post for its content, its "Tinder based humour" and of course, how sweet and adorable parts of this post were.
It put a big smile on my face when I read it.

"Lovely Little Things" on Little Winter, (HERE).

You guys know I love "little things" and always try to take some time to consider them. I liked this post because it highlighted some little things that make people happy and this post in general made me grin.

"The Woods Are Lovely, Dark and Deep" on Made Up of Little Things, (HERE).

This post was wonderful. The references to poetry, the many great photographs and the blissful theme made this post for me. I also love to here about other people's happy places, maybe one of Rachael's favourite spots (which she talked about in said post) could become one of mine. Must visit.

And that's everything, all finished for today. Sorry this is a day later than usual, I was really busy yesterday and didn't really look at my computer. I hope you've enjoyed.

Did you like this post? What do you think of what I got up to? What did you get up to in May? What were your favourite blog posts of May? Any comments or suggestions? Let me know in the comments.

I'll speak to you tomorrow - when my Quietly review will be up.

Have a totally fabulous day!

GingerSnaps xxx