As I say pretty much every year- I can't believe Christmas is already over! I guess it just always goes way too fast. A midst all the fun and excitement I took a few (a good few actually haha) photos to capture some special Christmas memories! I made a post just like this one last year, and I still flick through it from time to time as it's lovely to remember all the happy moments from Christmas Day! Again, a quick warning that this will be a pretty lengthy, picture-heavy post! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy a little collection of pictures from Christmas at our house!
On Christmas morning, like most families we usually have a look through our stockings (me, Andrew and gran... our adopted sister for the day because she has a stocking too haha) and then head downstairs for some breakfast and present opening!
This year, just like all the others, we were both super lucky and enjoyed some absolutely beautiful gifts! As we opened our presents it became so clear just how well my parents know us... might sound obvious but they literally made both mine and Andrew's Christmas morning the most special one yet! There were so many meaningful presents for us... to the point there were a few tears on my part haha. As always, I kind of feel the need to touch on the whole gifting-at-Christmas thing as it is often misconstrued as something that 'spoils' people (very old fashioned religious word to use if you think about it) ... when really, it's about celebrating the people around you by showing love and appreciation whether that be in the form of gifts, words, gestures... who knows... it's just a time of making others (and yourself!) happy :)
I thought this summed up in one photograph every beauty enthusiast's dream Christmas moment haha... Santa (Mumsy) exceeded all expectations at this point!
This was one of my favourite gifts of all... and it was here that the happy tears began to flow for me, mum and gran on Christmas Day (yup, that's us, crying over a cushion!)
I guess for every gift that needs an explanation... it means it has lots of meaning to it- which is always the best kind of present to give and receive! This little symbol has become quite important to me over the years, as it's come to symbolize one of the most important things to me, and Matthew, as he too shares this little philosophy of... adventure :) We've always seen life and special trips or travels as adventures and I think this just captured the whole thing perfectly... as did mum's little speech when she gave it to me (hence lots of tears!)
I guess for every gift that needs an explanation... it means it has lots of meaning to it- which is always the best kind of present to give and receive! This little symbol has become quite important to me over the years, as it's come to symbolize one of the most important things to me, and Matthew, as he too shares this little philosophy of... adventure :) We've always seen life and special trips or travels as adventures and I think this just captured the whole thing perfectly... as did mum's little speech when she gave it to me (hence lots of tears!)
Tears wiped away... and onto the next tree (in my room!) when Matthew arrived!
A very happy Matthew opening his stocking right there haha...
I'd wrapped Matthew's presents up all special to the point where he felt a little reluctant to tear them open (oopsy!) but it was soooo amazing to see his face when he saw them! We actually filmed most of his present opening so there weren't many photos of this... but in case anyone is curious as to what's inside, I made a quick screen shot from the video...
He got his GoPro! I loved seeing him so happy... and mum gave him a little bag full of all the cool attachments to use with it so he'll be able to do loads of cool filming! I thought this would also come in really handy when we go to any cool places as we do lots of videoing so with this it will hopefully come out really amazing! A few of the YouTubers we watch have got some really good shots with these so I'm just as excited as he is to try it out!
Next up, it was my turn to open my gifts from Matthew and I think I'll have to keep his little drawing forever... I love it!
Inside the Santa sack were the most perfect presents, I felt (and still feel) so so lucky! My most special one, was a cake decorating lesson!! I still can't believe how thoughtful this was, and it was probably the best present I've ever had... ever! I can't wait to go there! With this, he also got me a copy of the lady's book where she shows lots of cool baking techniques that I can hopefully learn by myself before the lesson :) There were so many laughs and tears when I opened all my gifts... the spaghetti fork will come in very handy for pasta-queen over here! And Matthew always finds it hilarious when I try to rap along to biggie smalls songs... hence the notorious DVD :D! So many special things that I will keep forever- still trying to find the right words to say thank you properly!
Listening to some Phil Collins :)
Dad and I gave mum some tickets to see Olly Murs next year (she really loves the guy!) and she spent the entire Christmas Day with them pinned to her shirt haha... think it's safe to say she's excited!
For the past couple of years, I've loved collecting all my cards and gifts into a corner of my room and setting them all out so I can look at them all! Although, I never want to tidy them away as I love them so much so this can be counter-productive haha. I just want to take this moment to say another huge thank you to my lovely family and friends for making my Christmas morning so exciting and special! I love each and every thing up there in this photo and I'm so glad you all liked your gifts from me too :D
Apologies for the iPhone quality on these photos! Just thought I'd include a couple of photos of me in my Christmas dinner attire... new snuggly jumper from Next, Mac's 48 false lashes and Mac's politely pink lipstick with boldly bare lip liner were the stars of the show for me this year!
Now for the best part... Christmas dinner!! Again, feeling very lucky to have such yummy food and a wonderful mum to make it all nice for us! Gran and I were well and truly stuffed!
What's that? More food? ... Having the essential leftovers feast in bed later that night with my best buddie! :) We accompanied this with some cheese and crackers as well... not sure if our new clothes will fit us anymore haha...
After another really special Christmas Day, we just relaxed and spent time with family with warm hearts and full tummies!
The next day (Boxing Day) we cut the Christmas cake that I made which was kind of horrible to watch haha... but it tasted good and everyone enjoyed it which was lovely!
Afterwards, Matthew and I headed for the sales over in Nottingham... which turned out to be far from as good as last year so we only picked up a few things- got some half price lush bath bombs which is always a winner! Also, I wore my new scarf from my gorgeous friend Loucie, which I love! It was so cozy and I don't think I ever want to take it off...
On route home, we stopped off at Frankie and Bennies and enjoyed yet MORE amazing food... we even managed to finish every single bit here! Yum yum yum...
When we got home that night... there was a lovely Boxing Day surprise and it started to snow!! As usual, we quickly regressed to aged 6 and ran outside to play hahah...
So that's another Christmas been and gone! But what a wonderful time we all had! I think if Matthew or I ever eat another turkey sandwich we might keel over and grow wings haha... we'll be staying away from those for another year :D
I hope you had an amazing Christmas filled with loads of happy memories! I've really enjoyed writing this post as a reflection of all the excitement that just whizzes by so fast that it's sometimes difficult to take it all in until you sit back and do something like this! Anyway, happy holidays and hope you're excited for NYE! :D
I hope you had an amazing Christmas filled with loads of happy memories! I've really enjoyed writing this post as a reflection of all the excitement that just whizzes by so fast that it's sometimes difficult to take it all in until you sit back and do something like this! Anyway, happy holidays and hope you're excited for NYE! :D
