My Brother Turned 18!!!

There is just over 2 and a half years between my younger brother and I. When I turned 18, my mum threw a big party at the house and invited all the friends and the family she could possibly think of, decorated the house from top to bottom and ordered a huge Costco cake. When my brother turned 18 on the 25th of January, she did exactly the same but had to scale it back slightly - if she didn't tone it down, I reckon my brother would've killed her.

Stuart's birthday fell on a Monday this year so we had the party on the Sunday and spent his actual birthday celebrating just him, my mum and dad, me and his girlfriend. My mum's side of the family have a reputation when it comes to family gatherings. Well, to be more specific, it's my uncle, cousins and myself that have the reputation. Everybody usually gathers in the living room to eat and chat away at family events, not us, we gather either in the kitchen or the conservatory and we really get the party going. This year my uncle brought speakers, disco lights, spinning light bulbs, everything you can think of; including alcohol. The conservatory was where the party was at that night.

The night was a great success, we all danced, drank (reasonably), sang awfully and took an abundance of photo's. Even my mum jumped in a few of the pictures! Stuart had a really good night and he entered his 18th birthday having drinks and a good laugh with people he cares about the most.

On his actual birthday, I was supposed to be going back to university... like that was going to happen, Stuart had presents to open, we had a meal to go to and a movie to see. I was only missing introductory lectures anyways. I decided to get Stuart a personalised hip flask as his 'memorable' gift and then his favourite Def Leppard album on Vinyl because I knew my parents had bought him a Vinyl player, he was over the moon that I'd managed to track one down in such good condition. The facial expression that appeared when he opened the gifts made all the effort and money worth it. He now has a very decent and ever growing Vinyl collection, ranging from ACDC to Justin Bieber. 

Of course I couldn't go through the day without posting a whole bunch of my favourite photo's of Stuart and I on his Facebook for all his friends and the family to see. It was difficult but I eventually managed to pick after a few hours of searching through boxes and boxes of photographs.

In the evening, we had originally planned to have a meal at TGI Fridays and go to the cinema to see Ride Along 2 but when does anything ever go right to plan? We didn't have a meal at TGI Fridays, instead we ended up at a Carvery for Stuart to have his favourite dinner; sirloin steak. We also did'nt go and see Ride Along 2, that was replaced by the film Dirty Grandpa starring Robert DeNiro and Zac Efron. I'll be honest, I did not have high expectations for this film in the slightest because the trailers I'd seen were awful, however, it was actually really good and really funny. I would definitely recommend this film to anybody, especially those who find shows like Celebrity Juice funny. Plus Stuart has promised to take me to see Ride Along 2 very soon since I really wanted to see it!

Overall, I thought the birthday celebrations we had for my brother turned out great and thankfully so did he despite how fussy and particular he can be. I still cannot believe that he is 18 years old and can legally go out to clubs and buy alcohol now; both of which he has already done. My family have A LOT of big birthday's and celebrations coming up this year, this was just the first of the many to come. 2016 is definitely going to hurt everyone's bank balance!

xxx

Cinderella: The Ballet

I have always loved ballet even though I never got to try it as a child. Seeing a ballet performance has been something I've longed to see for as long as I can remember and I finally got to see one! My mum has never really been interested in ballet as she finds it confusing and hard to interpret but she does like the music behind the dancing. When the Scottish Ballet decided to perform Cinderella in Glasgow, it was perfect! My mum knew the storyline and would be able to keep up and I would finally be able to see a Ballet performance! I'd seen the advert for Cinderella: The Ballet online just after Christmas and was absolutely thrilled when my mum agreed to go, especially since the seats we managed to get were perfect.

The whole performance was two hours long with two intervals. The act followed the basic fairytale storyline of Cinderella but did incorporate a few twists to the tale. One example of a twist was that Cinderella's father did not die in this performance, instead he developed depression and an alcohol addiction from the loss of his first wife and struggled to cope under the authoritarian personality of his new wife. Another twist to the tale was Cinderella's spell breaking whilst she was still in the ball with the prince. Of course she managed to conceal her identity and escape leaving a glass ballet slipper for her prince like in the fairytale. The rest of the performance followed the traditional fairytale and a slight comedic element was employed with the step sisters competition for the prince and to impress everyone with their 'looks' and 'dancing abilities', it was very lighthearted and funny.

Beautiful is a somewhat pathetic description when discussing the ballet costumes worn. Each dancer looked elegant and impeccable, especially when gliding across the stage. The main focus of the entire performance was the Royal Ball. The entire second act was dedicated to the flawless dancing, lifting and spins of the dancers. The act was inspiring and stunning to watch. Even my mum - who doesn't see the beauty in ballet dancing - found the entire Royal Ball scene mesmerising, she couldn't take her eyes off the stage. Everything about the show was picturesque, even the programme is a visual masterpiece, all of the pictures are angelic and admirable. I would absolutely love to be in the audience of another ballet performance, I have heard that the Scottish Ballet are taking on a version of Snow White next so I'll definitely have to look into that further.

Seeing a ballet performance live has only excelled my love for it's beauty. I would love to have the courage to attend a ballet class myself as I genuinely believe I would be okay at ballet. Maybe I will start teaching myself, but for now I just want to see more.

xxx

Reminiscing and Looking Forward to 2016

I recently re-read the post I uploaded in January of 2015 about the goals I wanted to achieve throughout the year. I have been successful in some of them but others, not so much. There have been points throughout the year when I achieved them for a short period of time but I haven't always stuck with it.

One of the first things I wanted to achieve throughout 2015 was to give more and I believe that I have achieved this. I have been first aiding more (if that's possible) and I signed up to be part of the resilience team and internal support within St Andrew's First Aid but there is always more that can be done when it comes to first aid. However, this year I want to do more for myself, it'll be hard but I think it has to be done. I'd like to learn some new things, start scrapbooking and maybe even redecorate my room.

The second thing I aimed for was to exercise more, be healthy and take better care of my skin. I am very lucky in that I have quite good skin naturally, the only thing is that it has the tendency to be quite dry. I haven't stuck to any specific skin routine like I hoped I would but I have been taking better care of my skin, which is definitely an improvement. Being healthy and exercising more has had it's ups and downs throughout the year, some months I've been super healthy and gone to the gym two or three times a week and ate clean and then others it's been the complete opposite. I do enjoy exercise and generally eat healthily anyways but I have the tendency to set my goals to high and aim to do too much within a short period of time. This is why I think I had those 'less healthy' months. Do little but often is the strategy I'm going to have a go at in 2016, I think it will be easier to stick to because I won't be planning massive three hours gym sessions two and three times a week which can be extremely off-putting. By doing a little each day, I want to increase my fitness and my general health, maybe even get to the stage where it's a part of my daily routine.

Sleep is my main problem area. I definitely do not have a good sleeping pattern and I certainly don't get enough sleep. It will be hard but I really do need to try getting a proper sleeping pattern, that in itself will improve my general health a lot. Doing more during the day and less at night will hopefully help in getting more sleep. I am sick of wasting half of my days because I don't fall asleep until the early morning and because I procrastinate too much. It needs to change, I don't need to watch all the episodes of a television show in one night, I don't need to watch hours and hours worth of YouTube videos all at once and I certainly shouldn't be doing important work in the early hours. Managing my time better and procrastinating less is going to be the key to getting more sleep at the right times, I just need to find things that keep me motivated.

Read, write and blog more is one of the goals that has been achieved some months but not others. I started off the year quite well by reading quite a bit and blogging once a week but then my motivation dropped dramatically, not just for blogging but for pretty much everything. I didn't blog for nearly half of the year and I've barely read five books since May. Once I started Blogmas in December, my motivation returned and I am really pleased that I managed to blog every single day in December and I loved it. It was a challenge to begin with but after a week it became part of my day. I doubt I will blog every single day next year because 2016 has some challenges lined up for me but posting at least three times a week and reading a little each day sounds good.

The most difficult of my goals for 2015 was to be happier and more confident within myself. I can very proudly say that my confidence has improved a great deal which surprised me greatly because for the best part of twenty years, I had no confidence. I believe my confidence has is because of first aiding and the people I work with on a weekly basis. Everyone is always full of support and encouragement, believing in myself and my own skills was a huge step for me but it has increased my general confidence as well. I wouldn't give up my position as a first aider or the friendship I have within the company for anything.

Being confident and happy is an ongoing process, it doesn't just increase all at once but I truly believe that by this time next year, I will be even more confident and happier than I am currently, especially if I surround myself with the right people. I never thought I would have the confidence to work at T in the Park, take control of serious medical situations, not feel nervous when presenting in front of crowds or even something as little as promoting my blog on social networking sites and letting people I know personally read it. I did all of those things this year and there can only be more to accomplish next year.

xxx

Happy New Year!

Normally, my family and I bring in the New Year together at home and we would always watch the countdown live from Edinburgh on the television. This year I decided to do something different. I was actually in Edinburgh for Hogmany but not as member of the public, as a First Aider. I brought 2016 in doing what I love, with some of the best people I know and it was amazing (and extremely cold).

I left my house at 2pm on the 31st and didn't get home until 7am on the 1st. It was a very, very long and cold night. It was actually reasonably quiet first aid wise despite the volume of people there, I was expecting to treat a lot more people if I'm honest. Despite this, I still managed to miss the countdown and most of the fireworks because I was treating at the time, typical. I did catch a glimpse of the end and I watched the whole performance online earlier today, they looked incredible! The timing was perfect, the fireworks were awesome, it was all just amazing.

There's quite a few memorable points from my night, including somebody approaching me to thank and congratulate me on how fantastic I was in the Disney film Brave because I look like Merida. I've had people tell me I look like her before but I've never had a person actually approach me with a comment like that. Everyone, including me found it hilarious. Another, really good moment was discovering my T in the Park partner from the British Red Cross was there! It was great to see him and have a catch up since we got on really well back in July. However, by far, the best moment of the entire night was the genuine appreciation I received from an individual I treated, it really does make it all worthwhile when you are appreciated on that kind of level.

This post was short and sweet but I just wanted to say Happy New Year to you all, I hope your 2015 was good and that your 2016 will be great, be safe with all your celebrations and enjoy yourself.

xxx

Watching Mulan & Getting to Spend Hogmany in Edinburgh

So the Disney movie Mulan was released in 1998, I am nearly twenty one years of age and I have only just seen it. I genuinely wasn't sure if I would like it but it turned out that I really, really did and I might have already ordered my own copy on Amazon too.

So after our previous (pathetic) attempt at a Criminal Minds day, we still had a good few episodes left to watch. Laura and I decided to go ahead and have a second attempt at a Criminal Minds day. We did catch up on all the released Criminal Minds episodes which ended up being all the ones missing Dr Spencer Reid (Laura's fav), it definitely pained Laura to watch without him but at least those episodes are over with now. After we caught up, we decided to watch some Disney films. We ended up only watching one and I knew from the moment we decided to watch a Disney film that I was never, ever getting an option in the movie picking; it was going to be Mulan. Mulan is Laura's favourite and she's been nagging at me for well over a year to watch it and the moment finally arrived. I actually really enjoyed it, mostly because of Mushu the tiny dragon, I definitely need one of him in my life, especially when he is voiced by Eddie Murphy! When Eddie Murphy voices a character, you automatically know the character is going to be amazing and funny. and I probably would've watched the film sooner if I knew he was one of the main characters. To say that Laura was smug when I said I really liked the film is a complete understatement!

Tomorrow is the last day in 2015, I know, it's crazy! I didn't have anything planned for Hogmany, just staying in with the family and celebrating together. I did want to assist in providing First Aid cover at the street party in Edinburgh because I love being a First Aider, especially at massive events but my mum wasn't too keen. I have mentioned a couple of times how much I miss being a First Aider at T in the Park and how I have been jumping at the chances for anything similar, like Calvin Harris or other concerts. This street party would've been as close as I probably could have gotten until T in the Park 2016 and after a lot of convincing and promising to text every hour, my mum is finally okay with me going! I am so beyond excited, the atmosphere is going to be amazing and with a predicted crowd figure of over 100,000, I am bound to be kept busy, which is what I like the most.

I am over the moon to be attending Edinburgh's street party as a First Aider and cannot wait to bring the New Year in doing what I love most with some of the best people I know. My post tomorrow will probably be up a little earlier because I'll be in Edinburgh but there will definitely be one, I just can't be missing the very last day of blogging in December, not after blogging every single other day. Something tells me there will be a little bit of reminiscing in tomorrows post.

xxx

Boxing Day Sales Haul

Last year at the Boxing Day Sales, I bought A LOT of clothes and a few bath and body bits, this year it was the complete opposite. Most of the items I bought in the sales ended up being online and haven't actually been delivered yet but all the Lush and Body Shop products I bought in store, so I have them.

The first thing that I bought online was a juicer. I have been wanting a juicer for at least a year, I do have a pretty good blender but it's not the same. I've been nagging my mum to let me buy one for ages and she finally agreed on Boxing Day when we found a juicer reduced from £109.99 down to £29.99 on Amazon, plus it had really good reviews, so we bought it. I cannot wait to start using it!

When we went shopping in Braehead quite early on Boxing Day and the first place we went to was New Look. As mentioned in a previous post I normally spend a lot of time and money in New Look, this year I wasn't that bothered and I only purchased two things. I bought black dungarees because I have been wanting a pair to wear in the winter months for ages, they just seem like such a staple item. I also bought another flannel shirt, I probably have too many flannel shirts now but they are really nice and I suit them, plus they go with everything, so why not? The sizes I needed in these items weren't in stock in the shop but the woman serving me kindly ordered them online for me and arranged for the clothes to be delivered to my house, they are not here yet but they should be very soon. The dungarees were reduced from £34.99 to £14 and the flannel shirt was reduced from £29.99 to £14. It was a good deal, especially since the materials felt like really good quality and was thick but also soft, perfect for colder weather!

Lush was where I spent most of my money and the shop was so busy! There was a queue out the door and round the corner! The workers even had to use a one in, one out system to keep crowds to a minimum. Nevertheless, I got some amazing deals. I always stock up on Lush products on Boxing Day because of how pricey the products can be normally. The Christmas Gift Sets were on sale as well as the bath bombs this year and basically everything was half price. 

I managed to pick my mum up a gift set full of the products she likes - Candy Mountain Bubble Bar, Rockstar Soap, Luxury Lush Pud and Snow Fairy Shower Gel, can you tell she favours the sweet scents? We picked her up a good few bath bombs as well, including three Butter Bears, another Candy Mountain Bubble Bar, two So White bath bombs, three Magic Star bath bombs and a Magic Wand Bubble Bar. We also picked up my brother some bath bombs since he is a huge (secret) Lush fan. We got him three Butter Bears, a Luxury Lush Pud, two Reach for the Star bath bombs, three So White bath bombs and two of the Magic Star bath bombs. 

Now I'm the one who really went a little crazy and got loads of products. I managed to find the two gift sets that I had really wanted for Christmas; the Butter Bear Tin that comes with six Butter Bear bath bombs inside the cutest tin ever and the Christmas Favourites gift set which has a Peeping Santa bubble bar, a Father Christmas bath bomb, a Dashing Santa bath bomb and a Golden Wonder bath bomb. I was so lucky to get these gift sets as they where 50% off and the last ones there! I bought each gift set for only £7.50! Outwith the gift sets I also picked up quite a few bath bombs (understatement) and a medium bottle of Snow Fairy. I picked up two So White bath bombs, two Cinder bath bombs, another three Butter Bears, three more Father Christmases, two Candy Mountain bubble bars, two Magic Wand bubble bars and a Luxury Lush Pud. When Lush has a 50% sale, you have to make the most of it.

The Body Shop was next and I knew exactly what I was looking for so we were in and out of the shop in under five minutes. I picked up a few of the Glazed Apple scented products as it is one of my favourite scents and it had dropped in price by 40%. I got two shower gels, a hand cream and a lip balm and I cannot wait to start using them. Another scent I love from The Body Shop is the Virgin Mojito which is a really citrus and fresh scent. They still had the Body Scrub and the Body Moisturiser left in this scent and they were also reduced, so I bought them.

The last shop we went to before we had to rush home was Schuh, mainly to find my brother a pair of decent trainers for his 18th and me a pair of all black converse. We found Stuart a really nice pair of trainers but they didn't have much of a selection of their Converse trainers on sale so I got a pair of Vans instead. I have never really been interested in Vans as I much prefer Converse but when I saw these reduced from £54.99 to £34.99, it was tempting. It was the fact that I got a further £8 off because I am a student that sealed the deal. All in all, I only paid £25.99 for the Vans. I just couldn't resist them, especially when they are navy and checkered, exactly my style!

Despite having to leave the shopping centre after only a couple of hours shopping, I got some amazing deals and I am completely happy with what I purchased. I just can't wait for everything to arrive! The Juicer will definitely come in very handy for when I try to be healthier and I cannot wait to start using it! I didn't spend as much money as I did last year and I certainly didn't buy as many clothes as last year either but I really wasn't that interested in the clothes this year at all, it was all about the bath bombs and the Juicer!

xxx

Best Moments of 2015

I cannot believe there is only three days left of 2015! Where has the year gone? It doesn't feel like a week has gone past never mind a whole year. So much has happened this year but there has been a few memorable moments that have made the year better.

Firstly, I met Louise Pentland, or more famously known as SprinkleofGlitter. She is a YouTuber; a very beautiful, sarcastic and funny YouTuber.

Louise was in Glasgow for her 2016 Diary book signing and as I go to university in Glasgow, I couldn't not go to her signing. I was first in the queue and everything! A professional photographer was there and he took picture of Louise and I since I was at the front. Sadly, I still have no idea where those pictures are but I would absolutely love to see them. I did bring a small little gift for Louise and her daughter Darcy but it wasn't anything special, I just wanted to show her my appreciation. She was so lovely! I just wish I wasn't as much of a nervous mess as I was, I couldn't stop babbling. If I get another chance to meet her, hopefully I won't be as nervous.

Another memorable moment was seeing Jessie J live (again) at the O2 Academy in Glasgow at the very beginning of the year. I queued outside, in below freezing temperatures for over eight hours to be able to get a barrier spot and I did. The show was incredible, Jessie was amazing and so friendly as always and I even got to kind of meet her after the show. A large group of us went and stood at the back entrance of the venue for ages until she came out, she came over, talked and even took a few selfies with people. I nearly got a selfie with her, she had my phone in her hand but her security guards pulled her away to leave. Just my luck! The whole day and night was incredible though, plus technically Jessie J held my hand so I was over the moon with that.

If you have been reading my blog posts regularly, you may have noticed that in my Winter Favourites, I mentioned that my mum and I had been going to quite a lot of musical shows. Well, the night we went to see Legally Blonde: The Musical was one of the best times we have spent together this year. Legally Blonde is one of my favourite films so naturally I loved the musical as well. Since then we have been to see Sister Act (another favourite film of mine) and we are going to see Annie in April which my mum doesn't know about just yet but it'll be great.

St Andrew's First Aid is an amazing volunteer run company that I am extremely proud to be a part of. All of the members are very good friends of mine and great assets to the company. We have had many experiences together from difficult and tough casualties to deciding which drink or shot to get next. They are all a great bunch of people, more like a family and they make each year that goes by that little bit better. 

T in the Park has got to be the top First Aid memory from this year. To say that it was an experience would be an understatement! That is a most definitely good thing though. During those five days I was faced with serious casualties that I treated and helped to save. That experience would not have been anywhere near as good without the rest of the incredible first aiders that I am lucky enough to volunteer with on a weekly basis. I miss T in the Park each day; the busyness, the hectic shifts, the casualties, everything. The people make the company. There is more to the company than just being first aiders and providing support at events all the time, there are nights out as well. The Conference and the Annual Awards Night are two incredible evenings with A LOT of dancing, drinking, selfies and the occasional pizza ordering at 3am. Nights like this are the best, full of fun and happy people.

I am so proud and overjoyed to be a part of such an amazing organisation and my years are always made better by the organisation, they are like my family. They have made my 2015 and I am sure that they will make my 2016 just as good if not better!

xxx

What I got for Christmas 2015

Christmas this year was good. There was family time, lots of food, presents and we even played a few boardgames too! I am extremely thankful for everything I received this year for Christmas from friends and family, I love everything they got me and I think they loved everything I got them as well.

It was hard to get the perfect picture of everything I got for Christmas but eventually, after a good while, I managed it. I knew about a couple of the gifts I was getting but my mum definitely surprised me with a few gifts as well. My mum completely surprised me with Shrek: The Musical on DVD, another pair of Cheryl heels, a microwavable toy pug (so so adorable!) and the Tanya Burr products. I was so surprised she managed to get the Tanya products because I couldn't find them in any shops when I looked, I guess we got a bit of luck.

From my Nana, I received a mermaid print shirt from Zara and rose gold shoes from Ted Baker. These items are absolutely beautiful and definitely my taste, my Nana knows me well, as does my mum since she bought the Winter version of Cheryl's perfume; Storm Flower Noir. I had only mentioned Tyler Oakley once to her whilst I showed her the Disney challenge between him and Zoella but she must've really listened since she picked up his book for me which I have been wanting to read. I was really surprised my mum got me any books at all since she is always complaining that I have far too many, yet she got me Wake, a book about mermaids that I added to the Amazon Wishlist a couple of months ago too. The last few things she got me included the Real Technique Sponge, a pug tea diffuser, the deer shawl from Lush and the new Demi Lovato album which I did know I was getting because I pre-ordered it months before it was due for release, I'm just a little bit of a fan.

Pretty Little Liars is one of my favourite shows and my brother bought the fourth season for me along with one of my favourite true movies called Perfect Body, it's about a gymnast who develops an eating disorder. My brother also got me some Jelly Belly sweets in all the best flavours which I'm sure won't last much longer.

There was some Zoella products in my stocking! I got the body scrub, the Let's Spritz body mist and the Blissful Mistful solid perfume. There was also Tanya Burr Lashes, Mini Real Technique Brushes and some No:7 products. The No:7 products included an eye brush, a cream eye shadow in the colour Glistening Ray, a cream Instant Radiance Highlight and a Pop & Glow Cream Blush. I cannot wait to try out all of these products because they all look amazing. Gingerbread House was the one thing from the Tanya Burr Christmas Collection I really wanted to get my hands on. It is just so me but I couldn't find it anywhere and it sold out online almost immediately. The same occurred with the Candy Glam Beauty Essentials Palette but my mum managed to get both! The names of the eye-shadows in the palette are adorable, names like snowflake, ballet slippers, chandelier and baking brownies. They are all colours I would wear and the lip gloss is a perfect shade for my very pale skin colour. My mum did very very well with her detective skills and choices with all the make up.

What is Christmas without a couple of pairs of fluffy socks? I got the softest pairs in a gorgeous turquoise blue and white from my Aunt along with some fudge (currently eating) and a bracelet which I gave to my mum because she liked it better. As you have probably noticed, I have a thing for pugs, my mum has noticed this too and although she doesn't see the appeal in pugs but she still bought me fluffy socks with cute pugs on them. More pug items to add to the growing collection, maybe one day I'll get a real pug.

There are two last gifts that didn't arrive in time for Christmas that will hopefully be here soon. A black Parka from New Look and All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I have been wanting a black Parka for a long time, I have a Khaki coloured one but I feel like I would wear a black one a lot more and All the Bright Places is a book that everybody has been raving about so I've been dying to read it and now I finally can.

I am extremely grateful and thankful for all the gifts and money I received on Christmas Day, I was absolutely spoiled. I love every single one of my gifts and I will for sure use them all constantly. My family loved all the gifts from me as well which is a huge relief. My dad especially loved his Knight Rider seasons, he has been watching them non-stop since Christmas Day! I'm really glad my family all felt special, appreciated and we got to spend time together on Christmas since it doesn't happen often. I really want there are more times like that next year and not just on special occasions.

xxx 

Shopping, Drama & The Cutest Advent Calendar

Normally when I plan to get up early and get things done it never happens, well today it did and to say today has been hectic is an understatement. I was up, ready and at the shopping centre by 09:30am to begin the Boxing Day sale shopping only to rush home ninety minutes later.

I did only have the intention to visit five shops anyways; Lush, New Look, Schuh, Waterstones and The Body Shop. Unfortunately I didn't have time to visit Waterstones but I didn't really mind because I'd already got plenty of good deals throughout the morning. I will be doing a complete separate post on everything I bought today but the majority of it is bath and body related since lush had a huge sale on. Lush shops on Boxing Day are a complete shambles, people everywhere, grabbing, pushing, all determined to get as much as they can whilst stocks last. Last year I got quite a lot of bath bombs to last me a couple of months because there wasn't as much of a sale as this year. This year there was loads, even a good few of the Christmas gift boxes, so it is safe to say that I definitely stocked up! The Body Shop was next. The only reason I ever go into Body Shop on Boxing Day is for their reduced Christmas range items with the Glazed Apple scent, it is heavenly. Virgin Mojito was also a scent that was new to me but that I was actually quite fond of, it wasn't part of the Christmas collection but it was still on sale (bonus).

Usually I spend over an hour browsing through the New Look sales but this year I really wasn't that bothered. We only actually went into New Look to see if my brother could find any reduced jumpers or tops. In the end I did have a quick browse and picked up two items. My mum was really surprised at me since I normally buy a lot more from New Look. The only other clothing item I purchased was from Schuh. I was originally looking to see if they had any all black converse on sale or any burgundy converse on sale but they didn't so I found a different pair of shoes instead. You'll have to wait until my Boxing Day Haul post to see what they look like but I absolutely love them!

Unfortunately, after only being shopping for just over an hour, my mum got a call from my aunt to say that my Nana was being rushed into hospital. The situation sounded a lot worse than it actually was at first so we all panicked. After some blood tests and scans, she will be having a two course treatment of liquid antibiotics to kill the infection that's in her blood. The day was super stressful because everybody was so worried about my Nana but now we are all just extremely relieved that everything is going to be okay and we are all home again. We did lose most of our day but I didn't mind at all because shopping was successful, my Nana is okay and getting better, EastEnders was on again tonight and we had left over Christmas dinner, what more could I want?

Once I got home and began putting away all the bath and body items, I realised that I haven't shown my completed Santa's Workshop Advent Calendar yet. It is AMAZING.

I really enjoyed opening this advent calendar each day, despite it being for children. It created the most adorable Christmas scene that I can use as a decoration next year when I have another one to create - I will most definitely be having another one next year. I'm looking forward to sharing what I bought today as well as what I got for Christmas this year with you all, those posts will be up really soon and I aim to impress with my savings.

xxx