So, To Sum It All Up - December in Photographs

Hi!!!

How are you guys today? I hope you're all doing well. I spent December doing lots of fun things and I took a lot of photos and I thought I would share those things with you today - I figured that sharing some Christmassy snaps with you in January would be fine so long as I'm still in the Twelve Days of Christmas right now. I hope you like it.

Obviously I started my month by opening the first window on my advent calender - this one is the Cadbury one.

 I also opened a tub of Celebrations because Christmas. 

I went to see Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them with Elf Girl and one of our friends.

Elf Girl and I spent the afternoon in Costa - I had a Black Forest Hot Chocolate (one of many many more festive Costa drinks) - and taking photobooth photos until our friend could meet us.

We went for a meal at Chimichanga which I would highly recommend, for both food and decor (I had sea bass in case you were wondering). I enjoyed the film - I thought it was funny and charming.

I spent quite a lot of time Christmas shopping last month and went to several shopping centres on my mission.

The Bull in Birmingham was dressed up like a Christmas pudding which brought me far too much joy, and Coventry had some super snazzy decorations, shown below.

The beautiful ceiling lights were in Hemel Hempstead - I went shopping there while staying with my Auntie the weekend before Christmas.

December was filled with delightfully wintery weather, as showcased in these shots. I was running late one morning and cut through an alley way, but then got distracted by the pretty mist and fog and took photos - I made it with about ten minutes to spare so it all worked out fine. I just thought it looked really cool.

Later on in the month, while staying with my Auntie, it was really foggy again - it took us about one hundred years to complete the drive down.

Then of course there have been frosty mornings which I love having a walk around in.

There have also been some occasions to break out the sunglasses - I love those days when it's sunny but freezing cold.

I went for a meal with my friends before we all began our Christmas breaks. We went to a local Pizza Express and swapped gifts, ate pizza, pulled crackers and posed for photos, which was great.

We also had a walk around a local Christmas market and some shops (with plenty of time spent in Waterstones) before a final stop at Costa and heading home. I did all of these things wearing the paper hat from my cracker because those little hats make me so happy, I don't even really know why.

As I've mentioned, we had a pre-Christmas meal with one side of my family the weekend before Christmas.

We had a full turkey dinner with an array of puddings available to us which was lovely.

We then spent the rest of the afternoon exchanging gifts - watching my little cousins open presents makes me so happy! - catching up and eating enough olives to sink a ship (that last one might just have been me, haha).

I made my nails look all festive too - you might remember this from here.

I saw these Shetland ponies while we were there.

They were so sweet, I just had to show you.

My parents and I went into London while staying at my Auntie's. We went to see Hamlet and also to have a walk around. We went for a stroll along Bond Street to admire the window displays. We also went to Selfridges (which was a bit overwhelming on that particular day, I'm not going to lie - really crowded, really loud music...) and to Liberty where we bought Christmas crackers and I swooned over the pretty clothes.

We saw all of the Christmas lights on display. My favourites were these gorgeous angels on Regent Street and Jermyn Street.

Later in the month I went to Stratford upon Avon where I saw these lovely lights.

I ate this snowman cupcake.

I went to see a pantomime at the Birmingham Hippodrome with my Mom, Elf Girl, my Uncle B and Auntie A and had such an amazing time.

I love pantomime and the Hippodrome outdid themselves this year. It was so fun, so well performed and visually fantastic.

Oh and I had my first Starbucks since 2015.

It was a Fudge Hot Chocolate. It was really nice.

Not shown in photos:

Two of my friends celebrated their birthdays in December and I had so much fun at both.

I received some wonderful and thoughtful Christmas presents from my family and friends which I am super grateful for.

A relaxed, and very enjoyable, New Year's Eve.

And that was what December looked like for me.
What did you get up to last month? Do you have any other comments or maybe some suggestions for posts you like to see? Let me know in the comments.
I hope you enjoyed this post. Thanks for reading!

I hope your day is marvellous!

GingerSnaps xxx

So, To Sum It All Up - December Summary.

Hi!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Another month, another year (!) and therefore another Summary. Make yourself a brew and make yourself comfortable and (hopefully) enjoy...

CHRISTMAS!!!
 

I love Christmas, as you all know, and if you don't then where have you been?

 It really is the best time of the year.

I did lots of Christmassy things in December to build up the anticipation for the big day and spend time with my lovely family and friends.

The "three days of Christmas" as it were or Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day as normal people refer to it, were absolutely brilliant. I had an amazing time and I hope all of my family and friends did too. I hope you had an awesome Christmas as well and that you enjoyed some time out.
Also, massive thanks to my family for my lovely gifts and cards - I really am so fortunate - I hope you liked yours.

To see a post about my excitement for Christmas, click (ME).

To see a post about Christmas Eve, click (THIS) and for a post about Christmas Day click (THIS)

To see a Festive Summary that I put together (that basically summarises most of December for me), click (HERE).

Moving House...

Yes, applause please, because we finally moved house in December. We didn't move on the 1st like I had originally said on this here blog but we did move on the 5th. For real.

Moving house was an experience which took up more or less the whole of 2014 for me in some way or another and it seemed fitting in a way that we moved in December - like the end of the year, end of the moving house thing... That made sense in my head... Probably not in an actual sentence... Move on.

I didn't blog much about the move very much when we actually did move, but I may do a big guide type thing in the next few weeks - eyes peeled and all that jazz.

However, you may be interested in (THIS) post and/or (THIS) post from earlier last year concerning the move...

Supporting Charities...

Text Santa was on ITV in December.

Sadly, I was unable to do a post about it but I hope that some of you provided support if you could and you enjoyed the evening of lovely programming that they provided to urge you to help them out.

It was a brilliant one this year and it is such a great cause.

Spending time with Family and Friends.

I did lots with family in friends last month including lunches, celebrations, get togethers, going to Pantomime, giving and receiving gifts and all round having such a lovely time.

I love how December brings even more fun times with family and friends (I am very lucky to have them) and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves as much as me!

My Favourite Blog Posts From November.

Most of the reason this post has been delayed is that I was struggling to choose my favourite posts because everyone's posts were so fabulous in December.

I need to get this post out, I am starting to feel that I will be letting you down so I just think it will be easier to link all of my favourite blogs' December archive...

A Rosie Outlook (HERE)

Charlotte's Web (HERE)

What Olivia Did (HERE)

Little Winter (HERE)

Made Up Of Little Things (HERE)

I will add in the category below as I did in November to make up for a lack of detail...

Two of My Favourite Songs of December.

Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars, (LISTEN HERE)

This song is so, so good, catchy and such a great sound. I think it is a brilliant combination of inspiration from some years ago (music wise) and the modern day (lyrically). Love.

Fairytale of New York by The Pouges and Kirsty McColl, (LISTEN HERE)

I know this is a bit unseasonal for January but since December is the month of Christmas, how could a Christmas song not take a top spot here? So, whether you listen or not, I would like to say that I love this song - it is my favourite Christmas song and it is just awesome...

So, I hope you enjoyed this post everyone. January is a brilliant month and while my blogging start is delayed, I hope you are all having a Happy New Year so far! 

What were your favourite parts of December? What did you think of what I got up to? Did you enjoy the posts I recommended? What about the songs? Any thoughts about this or suggestions for future posts? Why not let me know in the comments. 

Speak to you all soon lovely people.

Have an unbelievably fabulous day!

GingerSnaps xxx

 

So, To Sum It All Up - December Summary.

Hi!!!

December has been a great month. I've managed to pack a heck of a lot into it and I've had a lot of fun. I want to share with you some of my December highlights, and also say HAPPY NEW YEAR! since it's now January, so not just a new month, but a new year.

Having "Booked Up" Weekends.

 

My weekends have been booked up fully all through December. One weekend, I was in Leeds, the next in London, the next shopping and a pantomime with my friends, and the weekend just gone I was staying with my Auntie and some of my cousins. I've loved packing my bags, the long journeys, and the amount of wonderful things that I have been able to do while staying at all these places/visiting these places. I've done so many awesome things this December, and I'd like to thank everyone that I've spent time with for contributing to that fact. Being so busy has meant that I have spent more time with the people I care about and that is something, I feel, should be recognised.

While I've loved being busy, I do look forward to a weekend or two off, to chill and "be bored".

 

Find a post from way back when about me being busy (HERE). 

 

Christmas and Festivities.

 

I love Christmas, as most people do. It's always such a lovely time. It is a time where we fill our days with giving, receiving, relaxing and happiness. Over this Christmas period, I have carried through my traditions, I've enjoyed lots of things and eaten lots of food. I've loved seeing everyone's faces when they opened their cards and gifts; I think I bought very well this year. I also received some absolutely wonderful gifts from my friends and family, I feel very lucky and grateful - thanks you guys!

To find multiple posts about me feeling excited for Christmas, look (HERE), and (HERE).
To discover some of my traditions, look (HERE).
Find my Christmas Eve post, (HERE), you can also find my Christmas Day post, (HERE).
Finally you can find my Boxing Day post, (HERE).

Pampering and Relaxing.

Since I've been so busy, I've tried to relax where I can. I've turned to some well loved brands to help me out. I mostly used Christmas Eve onwards to relax, because I've been so busy aside those days. Sometimes, even a simple shower with some great products, and some time on the sofa in your pyjamas, can make you feel so much more rested and relaxed.

Find a post about some great pampering products, (HERE).

Having Some Fresh Ideas.

I've had some ideas for things I can do and projects I can take on. I've started some already and I will be sure to keep you up to speed.

That's about it for this summary. I know this one has been fairly short but the things in each section have been big things for me, and have taken up lots of my time. So, I hope you enjoyed. Here's to the new year, and 12 new months to summarise.

My Favourite YouTube Video Of December.

I have watched little to no YouTube this past month - I've been too busy and I just haven't felt like watching any - I might catch up this month. Therefore, I'm going to have to link up the only YouTube video I've watched this month which is the Alexa Chung Makeup Tutorial by "Pixiwoo", (HERE). I like Pixiwoo videos a lot and I like Alexa Chung a lot so this was a good match. It was a nice watch. 

My Favourite Blog Post Of December. 

I always keep up to speed on blogs, so I have a lot of choice for this one. I've recently started reading "The London Project" - written by the lovely Charlotte, of Charlotte's Web, (HERE), fame. I liked Hello My Name Is Paul Smith, (HERE). Granted it isn't very wordy, but Charlotte is good with a camera and the exhibition is very cool.

 

As it's the New Year, I'll add in some blogs you might want to check out in 2014. I've enjoyed posts on A Rosie Outlook (HERE) - big surprise - as well as Charlotte's Web and The London Project, mentioned above. I'll link my friends Lauren, and Elf Girl, (HERE) and (HERE).

 

So, that's it for that summary. I really enjoy piecing these posts together. I hope you've enjoyed this post and that I didn't ramble on about blogs too much. I'll be speaking to you all very soon, and I hope that the New Year is treating you well.

 

Have a cool day!

GingerSnaps xxx