Another Rock 'N' Roll Christmas...

Evening lovelies,

I hope you all had a perfectly wonderful Christmas, and aren't suffering from a food hangover from indulging on all those Christmas treats. I can't believe how quickly it passed this year!

I can't deny that I didn't have the Christmas I'd envisioned. I had a lovely run up to the day throughout December; shopping for and wrapping the perfect gifts, and decorating the house. I had a great Christmas Eve spending almost an entire afternoon out of bed; I did return to bed for a couple of rests, and after baking my Christmas desserts with a little help from my Mum, I spent the rest of the afternoon lying on the sofa watching Home Alone 2 and eating some nibbles. However, Christmas Day didn't quite go to plan.

My Sister woke me up at half six, and I'd only had two hours sleep as I couldn't drop off. I came downstairs, attempted to put my ipod in the dock to play some Christmas music, but it slipped from my hand and shattered an expensive musical glass snow globe, which was one of my Mum's favourite ornaments. I still feel so awful about it. 

I got some amazing presents this year, and my family were all thrilled with the gifts I gave them, which I'm so pleased about! I love seeing the look on their faces when they open gifts I give them. After opening presents I was so drained and sore, I went back to bed and slept until almost eleven, which I was upset about as I didn't get to enjoy all the little things I've always done each Christmas morning. 

We had a lovely Christmas dinner together around the table, and the home made Christmas crackers went down a treat with my family. The desserts I made were delicious, and after relaxing on the sofa with a bowl of trifle, I ended up retiring back to bed at 3:30pm. My back was causing me so much pain and discomfort I felt sick and couldn't move for the rest of the day/night. Truth be told I felt sorry for myself spending the rest of Christmas alone in bed, but I did have a lovely chat to my best friend on the phone, and a great BBM conversation with my close friend Ros, which helped raise my spirits immensely. Considering I hadn't sat downstairs or been out of bed so much in a year I managed a lot and more than I was expecting, but I guess I'd been imagining I'd have the Christmas the old, healthier me always had. I guess I forget I'm not the person I used to be, and that's frustrating. Don't get me wrong, I did still have a lovely Christmas, but it was just short and sweet. Hopefully next year I'll be in a more mobile condition so I can enjoy it all properly.

Our Christmas tree on Christmas Day. The dog found the most inspired 'hiding' place for her Christmas present!

And now a little OOTD...

I wore my Christmas outfit for all of four hours before crawling back in to bed in my pyjamas mid-afternoon.  I think Christmas calls for some luxurious velvet and a Christmas knit! I actually wore the cardigan open over a simple black vest, but closed it to show you the fairisle pattern. I've had this Dorothy Perkins cardigan for two or three years now, I think, and it's one of my Winter wardrobe favourites; it's so warm and cosy. I wore it with my amazing New Look Inspire velvet cosmic skater skirt, and my berry Evans tights as it needed a bit of colour. The skirt is swiftly becoming one of my new favourite garments, and it was such a bargain, too. Apologies for how rough I look in the photos; I was struggling with the pain at this point.

I accessorised with my swarovski crystal star ring and earrings, as I like to wear them on special occasions. I bought these beautiful pieces of jewellery on two separate occasions from a stall in the indoor Camden Lock Market. They're hand made and I just think they're so beautiful. They glisten a beautiful pale blue in the light. I think I paid £25 for each piece, and as far as I'm aware the stall is a regular in the market, so they're worth checking out if you're ever in London. I have two other rings from them as well.

Not a very good photo, but you can see how the ring shimmers, as well as the detail to the skirt, and my Christmas manicure. I did red and green nails with glitter to the tips.

Christmas Day Outfit Details:

Skirt: New Look

Cardigan: Dorothy Perkins

Vest (underneath): Dorothy Perkins

Tights: Evans

Ring: Camden Lock Market

Earrings: Camden Lock Market

I've already shown this in an OOTD, but this is a reminder of my Christmas Eve outfit.

Christmas Eve Outfit Details:

Dress: Matalan

Cardigan: Matalan

Tights: Evans

Bag: Topshop

Brooch: Cath Kidston

The tree at the beginning of December.

The tree lit up and swamped with presents on Christmas Eve.

My Mum altered the fire place display with some holly branches she picked from the garden. It looks so pretty.

I also decorated my dressing table a few days before Christmas. As I never got around to buying a little Christmas tree for my room, I decorated my jewellery mannequin instead! I also dotted my snowflake decorations around my bedroom. I may actually keep the little droplet decorations up all year.

This Christmas I made up lots of beauty boxes for my friends and Sisters.

And I also made home made Christmas crackers with my older Sister this year. I was going to do a tutorial type post for them, but we left them until the 23rd and I thought it was a little late to turn them in to a post. 

The Christmas crackers were from Hobbycraft and we filled them with cheap nail polishes from MUA and/or chocolates. Most of the Thorntons sweets were given to my best friend and her son, and we also added in Lindt chocolate bears and Ferrero Rochers. They were great fun to make and were well received.

This is my older Sister's dog, Holly. She went in for an operation at the vets last week, and unfortunately isn't very well. She currently looks fit and healthy, so you really wouldn't know anything was up, but the poor six year old puppy has cancer and 20+ tumours growing in her organs. We're just hoping she'll be around when my brother-in-law returns home for a couple of days from his detachment in March. She was put in the Cone of Shame while we had our Christmas lunch as she started licking her stitches, but otherwise she's been behaving herself and hasn't needed to be put in the cone too much in the daytime. Here she was using those puppy dog eyes to beg for more pigs in blankets. How could I refuse?

I made my Blackberry and Apple trifle on Christmas Eve, and I was so impressed with how it turned out. I think it may be the best one I've ever made in the six or seven years I've been making it. It was delicious. I can't tolerate cream, so had to eat around it, which explains the messy photo above. 

And I also made my Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake. Well, Nigella's. I had a slice of it on Boxing Day, and I have to say I'm pleased with how this one turned out as well. It was the perfect consistency, and delicious, too. You can find the recipe here, along with the recipe for the trifle.

I didn't actually take many photos on Christmas Day that are worth showing, but that was the summery of my Christmas.

How was your Christmas? How did you celebrate?

Was Santa kind to you this year?

I hope you enjoy the rest of the week if you're lucky enough to have a few more days off, and if you're back at work already, don't work too hard!

I hope you all have a great New Year!