What I Got For Christmas Haul 2017

I know I'm really late to the party (how was Christmas more than a month ago already??), but today I'm going to show you what I got for Christmas this last year. One of these days I might actually blog something on time, but hey, it's better late than never, right?

I guess I'd better begin by saying, I'm not writing this post to show off or try to make anybody jealous; I'm simply sharing a snippet of my life that I thought you might be interested to see. I personally love reading Christmas present hauls on other blogs, and enjoy writing one every year, and while some of you don't, I know many of you do enjoy them, too. If you do, keep reading! If you don't, you may prefer to click the 'x' button in the corner now. No hard feelings; I'll catch you next time.

So... this Christmas, I was spoiled rotten by my loved ones, and received some really lovely, thoughtful, and gorgeous gifts on Christmas morning that really made my Christmas. I probably received less than ever before, as my family collectively agreed to stop exchanging gifts with our extended family this Christmas to ease some of that festive financial strain, but I actually think I was given some of the best presents ever as they were all from the people who know me best- my best friend, parents, sisters, and brother-in-law. They all lavished me with far more presents than I deserved.

My parents bought me the Tarte 'Good For You Glamour' Make Up Collection, which includes the Lady's Night Clay Palette, Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara, Lip Sculptor Lipstick & Lipgloss duo in 'Sass', Clay Stick Foundation in 'Fair Beige' a powder brush, an eyeshadow brush, and a purple make up bag. I haven't tried any of them yet as I still need to take photos so I can blog a review of them, but everything looks amazing- especially the eyeshadow palette- and I can't wait to try everything. They also gave me the most beautiful set of patterned Tarte 'Artful Accessories' make up brushes, which was the best surprise as I'd been coveting them for months, and hadn't expected to receive them at all. It has to be my favourite present from Christmas 2017- but don't tell the others!

From my parents, I also received a beautiful pair of star-shaped silver earrings, a pink floral patterned Joe Browns cardigan, three pink flamingo plates, a dark red OPI nail polish in 'Love Is In My Cards', plus a chocolate orange, Toblerone, bag of chocolate coins, and a tube of Pringles. I don't know why, but it's been a tradition for my sisters and I to be given a Terry's Chocolate Orange, and a tube of Pringles from our parents each Christmas for as long as I can remember. It wouldn't be Christmas without finding them in my stocking now!

My little sister, Sarah, gave me two awesome novelty bags from Forever 21- a strawberry and a rainbow, which she said she'd bought for me all the way back in May.  The sweet little strawberry is my favourite, but the rainbow is ridiculously cute, too. I can't wait to use them! She also gave me a set of two Cath Kidston pouches- one floral, and one with the cutest bespectacled guinea pig on it, the Stranger Things soundtrack (which I totally forgot to photograph), and a seriously amazing Elliot the dragon soft toy from The Disney Store. Pete's Dragon was one of my favourite Disney films growing up, so it's basically the best soft toy ever!

From my older sister, Marie, and brother-in-law, Steve, I was spoiled with a gift bag full of lots of lovely little things. They gave me a set of five festive Yankee Candle votives in some of my favourite festive scents, a DKNY 'Delicious Night' perfume (one of my favourite ranges of perfumes ever), two gorgeous Folklore necklaces (a deer and a bear), a Cranberry Crush Hand and Nail Cream and a Winter Berry Lip Balm from a German beauty brand called Accentra, a Milka chocolate Santa, and a box of German Kinder chocolate.

On Christmas Eve, Marie also treated me to the cutest pair of squirrel gloves from Accessorize, which technically weren't a Christmas present, but I've included them anyway as it was another gift I received at Christmas time. Look how adorable they are!

And my best friend, Angela, sent me a set of Temple Spa 'Spa Attraction' skincare products that included the Repose Aromatherapy Resting Cream, Truffle Noir Skin Rejuvenator, Bosom Pal Bust Firming Treatment, and Exalt Firming Neck Gel in a little teal case. I've never heard of the brand before, or tried any of their products, but I'm looking forward to trying them all out, particularly as they're products my best friend enjoyed using herself and wanted me to try. I'm sure I'll do a review of them once I've trialled them all.

And that is everything I was treated to this Christmas.

I love everything that I was given this Christmas, and I'm so grateful for every present I received. My family and best friend were way too generous, and spoiled me rotten! I definitely didn't deserve all these lovely things, but it certainly helped make my Christmas extra special. 

I'm sure I'll review many of the presents I received in time, but if there's anything in particular you'd like me to review, please let me know!

What did you get for Christmas this December? If you've written your own Christmas haul post, leave your links in the comments below so I can have a nosey!

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What I Got For Christmas Haul 2013

Christmas 2017

It feels like Christmas was a lifetime ago now, but I still have a couple of festive posts to share that I haven't yet had the chance to blog. Today, I'm going to share some snippets from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

I've actually been trying to put this post together all month, but my laptop screen is broken (and some idiot didn't buy laptop insurance) and it's making it difficult to edit photos because the screen is dark and I can't see what I'm doing. I suck at photo editing at the best of times, so I'll apologise now for how atrocious today's photos will look. Just pretend it's 2012, and everybody still posts whatever dark, grainy photos their camera phones can take! That's probably what they're going to look like... haha!

I had a lovely Christmas at home with my immediate family and the dogs. My sister and brother-in-law came home from Germany for the week with their dog, Mia, and it was lovely to have the six of us, plus our pets, together for the holidays again.

On Christmas Eve, my family would usually go to my Auntie's Christmas Eve party, but she decided  not to throw it this Christmas as nobody really felt like celebrating after losing my cousin to cancer in late November, and with my Uncle's parents both ill in hospital. Instead, we spent Christmas Eve at home for a change, just the six of us, and it was lovely.

Marie and I popped in to town around lunch time so she could finish off her Christmas shopping and pick up some last minute supplies from the supermarket, and then came home to enjoy the rest of the day. We basically all ended up vegging in front of the TV watching The Snowman, The Snowman and the Snow Dog, and The Muppets Christmas Carol together, and spent the early evening grazing on a buffet my Mum had put together. Later in the evening, I wrapped up the last few presents I'd picked up that day, got in my new festive PJs, and watched The Vicar of Dibley's Christmas Lunch Incident with my sister, Sarah from my bed. There's always a festive Vicar of Dibley episode on BBC1 on Christmas Eve night, and it's become a tradition for us to watch it every year. It never gets old.

On Christmas morning, my Mum decided to drag my sister and I out of bed at quarter past seven (excited much, Susan?), apparently more eager to start Christmas than we were. It's amusing when you get to an age when your parents are more excited about Christmas morning than you are; she's been like it for years! I still love waking up on Christmas, but I kinda miss that childhood desperation for Christmas to begin at three in the morning, and the Christmas Eve agony when every second 'til Christmas morning felt like a millennium. Childhood Christmases were so magical.

I sleepily gathered together all the presents I'd kept under my tree for my family, carefully wrapped in Cath Kidston paper, ribbons, pom poms, and jingle bells this Christmas, and made my way downstairs to find my other sister and brother-in-law had already arrived for the day from their hotel. Apparently my family are allergic to sleep.

My wonky Christmas tree swamped with presents awaiting Christmas morning.

My Mum had laid out presents for us on the sofas, like she's done every year since we were kids. I got some gorgeous Tarte make up and make up brushes, and lots of other lovely things which I'll give you a peek at in a 'what I got for Christmas' post soon. My parents always give us a chocolate orange and a can of Pringles at Christmas; it's been a tradition since we were little.

With six of us and two dogs in our tiny living room, there was no room to swing a cat (not that I would ever swing a cat, you understand), so I couldn't organise pretty photos; what you see is my real, uncurated Christmas.

After I'd opened presents from my parents, my sister, Sarah, eagerly waited for me to open presents from her. She thoughtfully gave me a couple of awesome novelty bags from Forever 21, pouches from Cath Kidston, and a large Disney Store Elliot the dragon teddy, from Pete's Dragon, which was one of my favourite Disneys growing up.

My older sister, Marie, and brother-in-law, Steve, gave me an assortment of lovely goodies. I got a set of Christmas Yankee Candle votives, DKNY perfume, a couple of necklaces, and German chocolates and toiletries. I was spoiled rotten.

Once everyone had opened all their presents, we were able to let Rosie back out of her crate, and it was her turn to open presents. She was so excited, she climbed head first in to the giant gift bag to get to them! It was hilarious. She had so much fun ripping open the paper, and liberating her new toys and treats. She loves opening presents, so she was one happy puplet.

Marie bought her a bandana and a Christmas tree hair band from Accessorize for Christmas, so I wasted no time in dressing Rosie up in them. Her happy little face melted my heart. We tried the hair band on Mia, Marie's German Shepherd, too, but she so wasn't amused. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo without a family member in the shot, so I can't show you her hilarious expression of disdain and humiliation.

We spent the morning lazily watching Deck The Halls and The Santa Clause while eating croissants and pain au chocolats for breakfast. By eleven, I began setting the table for dinner while my Mum cooked, Dad went to church, and the sister and brother-in-law took the dogs for a walk. 

It's been my job to set the table for Christmas dinner since I was little, and in a weird way, I sort of enjoy it... even if none of our stuff matches. If it was my own home, it probably would, but it's my parents dinner table, and nobody gives a shit what the table looks like as long as the food tastes good, because we're just a normal family. We've had the table cloth and table mats for as long as I can remember; they're so retro, and I love it. I added my handmade Christmas crackers to the plates, and popped the table favours I made in to the wine glasses. Once I'd finished, I went and got ready while watching Santa Claus The Movie; the best Christmas movie ever.

We all sat down for our Christmas dinner at 3pm, crammed in to our tiny dining room, and ate roast turkey with all the trimmings, with my Mum's apple pie and my blackberry and apple trifle for dessert. It was the best meal I've had in ages. Marie bought us all silly Christmas hair bands from Accessorize to wear during our meal instead of paper crowns. We looked awesome. There was a mixture of sequined elf and Santa hats, and glittery holly leaves. I went with the latter, as it looked pretty damn cute with my outfit. 

After dinner, we all fell in to a food coma in front of the TV (but of course, soon found room for some chocolates), and cuddled up with the dogs. And that's where we stayed for the rest of the day; watching festive TV, grazing, and relaxing. It was lovely. After being subjected to Doctor Who and Strictly, I was in so much pain I had to get myself back to bed, but I was pleased I'd managed to spend a good thirteen hours of Christmas celebrating downstairs with my family. I usually only manage an hour or two out of bed at most. I crawled back in to bed, broke out a heat patch, and spent the rest of Christmas Day watching festive TV in bed, crafting felt gingerbread men (for my garland), and eating turkey sandwiches.

We couldn't put the big tree up this year as Rosie would have destroyed it, so we bought a cheap 5ft artificial tree, and raised it up on to the kitchen island so we could still have one. The family tree always looks like the eighties threw up on it. Don't ask me what was going on with that tinsel as I have no idea! (Seriously, Susan; WTF is that?)

Why do Christmas trees always look so pathetic once all the presents have been opened on Christmas Day??

It might sound like a pretty boring Christmas to you as it was hardly rock 'n' roll, but I had a really lovely Christmas with my family. I was spoiled rotten with presents, ate delicious food, and got to spend some quality time with my family and my dog; what more could anyone ask for? We only ever spend Christmas Day with our immediate family, and a low-key day together suits us perfectly. It's always a relief to finally take it easy after such a busy month preparing for the big day. I'm only sad it was over so quickly. 

Christmas Day is always over too quickly.

How did you spend your Christmas?