It's that time of year again where I get to tell you guys about all of the wonderful things I received for Christmas! I have to say that I'm pretty pleased with this year, though it's been a busy one! I'll dive right in and let you guys know what I got!
I'll talk first about the Secret Santa present I received from one of my friends, Joe, that we did for Thankchrismukkah celebrations! I got three awesome gifts: a Hogwarts cushion, a Hufflepuff bookmark and a Hogwarts snow-globe! So many Harry Potter themed goodies, which made me VERY happy. While talking about presents from friends, I met up with Isobel & Catherine (friends from my school days) and they bought me three wonderful books! 'The Night Circus' by Erin Morgenstern, 'Three Dark Crowns' by Kendare Blake and 'The Woman In Black & Other Ghost Stories' which I'm really pleased about because they are so pretty!
But back to Christmas! I'll start with Mat's presents because those were the first I opened on the day! The biggest was my brand new vinyl record player, alongside three beautiful vinyls: The 'Game Of Thrones' soundtrack (Season 1), 'Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them' soundtrack and the 'Wicked' soundtrack. I couldn't believe my luck! I also received two Thorntons gift sets and the 'Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them' screenplay which is a stunning hardback! I was totally blown away and am so grateful to have a boyfriend who knows me so well.
My immediate family (parents & sister) bought me (and Mat in some cases) some gorgeous presents. The biggest and most exciting one was a luxury foot spa which I've been after for ages thanks to my continuing foot problems. I tried it out and it brought me so much relief, so big thanks for that! Also they bought me a whole host of other thinks including colouring books and pencils, Disney AND grammar-themed mugs, '642 Things To Write About', 'Hidden Huntress' by Danielle L. Jensen, a steam voucher, a DKNY gift set, a Bonsai Tree growing kit (something I have always wanted), 'Game Of Thrones' coasters, 'The Case Of Beasts' that looks into the filming of the 'Fantastic Beasts...' film, a literary tea towel and a notebook that says 'Careful, or you'll end up in my next novel.' which I found hilarious! Also, they bought me some vinyls for my record player too: two David Bowie albums and one Michael Jackson which is an excellent start to a hopefully huge collection!
The rest of my family bought me some great gifts too, and Mat and I were very pleased with what we received. Chocolates from my Aunt, money from my Nan & Grandad, a paella set from another Aunt which Mat is really looking forward to trying out, and individually from yet another Aunt I received a makeup palette.
Mat's family also got me some wonderful gifts, making me feel like one lucky, spoiled girl! Plenty of socks which are Christmas-themed (I'm not joking in the slightest when I say that makes me feel very happy). Chocolate of course to add to my ever-growing collection, a humidifier complete with essential oils to hopefully help with some of my allergy problems and make the flat smell nice, a candle, shampoo and a Lynx gift set, even MORE coasters shaped like vinyl records and a very pretty box!
It's been a great haul this year and I'm very grateful for everything I received, so thanks! I hope everyone else received what they wanted and had fun giving out presents and celebrating Christmas too!
I almost totally forgot about doing this post, but I received a ton of great things for Christmas this year so I really want to share them with you. Of course my Christmas has been so hectic that I can't really be blamed for the lack of post, I've been so busy! Especially on Christmas day which Mat and I divided between our two families. The pictures aren't overly clear, and because Mat came back a day later than me to London there are a couple of presents missing from the photos. Still, I love this haul!
So let's start with my family. My parents bought me a ton of books to read and I figured that will be the present you guys would want to hear about most! I asked for both non-fiction and fiction, as I really want to start reading more factual books and not just stories. They bought me Marina Warner's 'From The Beast To The Blonde: On Fairy Tales & Their Tellers' because I love learning about Fairy Tales, and Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces' which in essence psychologically analyses the structure of Myths, in particular a hero's journey. They also bought me Maggie Stiefvater's 'The Scorpio Races', Laura Whitcomb's 'Under The Light', and Ruin & Rising by Leigh Bardugo (I accidentally asked for the third book, not the second but I'll have no choice but to get a copy of Book Two now! Finally, a £50 Amazon Voucher was very much appreciated from them and I have no doubt that will be spent on Kindle Books for me to read!
My lovely sister also bought me a few great presents for which I am eternally grateful. Shall we start with the huge bar of Dairy Milk? I think so! Everyone knows I love chocolate and the larger it comes, the better! She also bought me some gorgeous smelling Cherry Blossom Perfume which I loved! Cherry Blossoms are actually my favourite flowers, they're so beautiful and smell divine. Big Hero 6 was next on my list from her and it's a film that I have wanted to watch ever since it came out. I can't wait! My last present from her came when we went out to town together yesterday. She bought me a Colouring Book! I'm particularly excited about this present because I've been wanting to try this out for a while! My Mum also gave me a ton of colouring pencils to take home so I'm all set for some major de-stressing!
From my Grandparents I received a £25 New Look Gift Card which I have no doubt will come in useful, especially when I need to update my wardrobe a bit. My Auntie Pam bought me a lovely storage box shaped like...a book! I could not be more pleased with it and I know I'm in desperate need of more storage containers. She also got Mat and I some tasty Gingerbread Men! My Auntie Jennie bought me some more make-up: an eye-shadow palette, bag and lip crayon! Auntie Karen got me a light-up pen and some sweet-smelling candles. The whole family received a yummy box of chocolates from my cousin Phil.
From Mat's family I received a huge bundle of presents: DVDs (the live-action Cinderella and Into The Woods to name a couple), a lovely mug to add to my collection (I now have four) and drink even more tea from, slippers, a tiger patterned onesie, chocolates and some more perfume! While I was there, I also won a Baylis & Harding Moisturiser from a Christmas cracker which I was pretty pleased with! I also forgot to tell you guys about the Secret Santa gifts I received from my flat-mate Tash! She bought me my very first Tote Bag, themed around Disney's The Jungle Book and a Bourbon shaped tree decoration (my adoration for the biscuit is famed). Meg also bought me some cute little chocolates.
I went to meet up with a couple of my old school friends also yesterday and received some wonderful presents from them. Catherine bought me yet more chocolate (I'm sensing a theme...) and Isobel chose another book for me (Robert Ryan's 'A Study In Murder') and some Magic Stars Hot Chocolate. Last but certainly not least, what did Mat get me? The answer: a hoodie and two tee shirts from my favourite tee shirt company 'Tee Turtle', an absolutely stunning 'Alice In Wonderland' themed Kindle Case, a huge box of Hotel Chocolat goodies (including chocolate tea!) and tickets to go and see Wonder.Land, a musical I've seen raved about at the National Theatre. All in all, a fantastic Christmas round-up which I am massively grateful to everyone for.
I hope everyone else had a great Christmas too!
Well this post is coming a little late, but that's because I've been quite busy today! It's my birthday! I'm home now and have had a lovely day with Mat and my family, and I'm blown away by some of the gifts I've received! I'll do a quick haul because some of you might be interested and there are a few books scattered in there which I'm desperate to fan-girl about! I must apologise for very poor picture quality!
These are the presents I received from Mat and I'm so taken aback! I'll mention these first because I have already spoken about most of them but I was so happy with them! I mentioned that he got me a cute Eevee toy and Totoro toy yesterday while shopping. I probably also mentioned the Chocolate egg which I got yesterday as an early present! Well the one I received today was so unexpected and I still can't believe he got me one but it's a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3! I knew he was planning something bigger for my 21st, but this? I did not see it coming! I'm so grateful for everything he got me, as well as the lovely four days in London he treated me to. I've been spoilt rotten!
Next up are some of the presents I received from extended family. My Nan and Grandad bought me a gorgeous necklace which I adore. they let me look at it when I visited them a couple of weeks ago to make sure I liked it, which of course I did! It's beautiful! They also got me one of the two big keys, all wrapped up in pink as a bit of a joke. The second key is personalised and from one of my Aunts! speaking of Aunts, I have two more. One of them bought be a lovely bracelet and key-ring, while I received lip make-up from the other. I loved all of these presents!
This is actually a really terrible photo but pictured are the lovely and exciting presents that my Mum and Dad got me! A book on the Stage Show 'Les Misérables' (which I watched and adored). The 'Sherlock' series 3 DVD (which I am so happy about, it was on one of my Wish Lists). Tickets to see 'Let The Right One In' in the West End which I knew I was getting but I'm so looking forward to the show. The Swedish film is great! And last but certainly not least, the entire Harry Potter book collection! This present was entirely unexpected too and I actually almost cried! These covers are my favourite too so I was really happy!
Now for some reason this picture came out really well but there's a lot to cover here so I'll list them all anyway! These are the presents from my Sister, Bev who also has a blog at Tutus And Ballet Shoes and I love them all. She got me the 'Frozen' DVD which made me actually squeal when I saw it! She bought a couple of Owl-themed notebooks because I need some for general blog planning etc. There was also a lot of chocolate because it's probably my biggest addiction! And one of my favourite presents from her was a beautiful Snitch pocket-watch that actually opens and has pretty wings and tells the time and it's gorgeous (I love my Harry Potter themed bits and bobs).Now for the books which I'm sure you're all dying to hear about! First, 'Scarlet' by Marissa Meyer. The second in the Lunar Chronicles, I now have extra incentive to read them! The first three books of the 'Peter Grant' series, 'Rivers Of London', 'Moon Over Soho' and 'Whispers Underground'. Man I want to read these books so bad but simply thought I'd never get round to owning them! And last but not least, the entire 'Game Of Thrones' series! Wow I want to read these so badly but I must resist and get through my other reads first.
And that about sums up my collection of Birthday bits! This is probably the longest Daily Shenanigans post I have ever written but it has been quite a day. I spent the evening with Mat and my Family, watching 'Harry Potter and the Order Of The Phoenix' which happened to be on. I've really had such a nice day, though it's back to reality with work tomorrow!
Well, it is finally here! Happy Valentines day everyone, I hope you have all had a wonderful day. Mine started off a bit slow, Mat wasn't getting back from Uni until mid-afternoon so I had a lot of waiting around to do. As today's lecture was cancelled, it meant a nice lay in this morning, followed by a whole lot of nothing. I took my Dad back to the garage so that he could pick up the car, and then when I was back home, I made an attempt to go through my Goodreads account and give small reviews to the books I've read. I entered a few more giveaways but that was about it! Nothing exciting really to report this morning, other than the horrendous weather.
Finally, the time to pick Mat up came and my Valentines day actually begun. Firstly, he gave me the presents that he had bought and I have to say that I was blown back by how thoughtful they were. They comprised of the two things I love most in the world: (other than him, I can get away with soppy words like that today, right?) chocolate and books! I got a lovely gift package from Hotel Chocolat which I am very much looking forward to tucking into! As for the books, they are such a sweet thoughtful choice and I almost cried when I saw them! They are 'Get started In Creative Writing' by Stephen May, which has received good reviews for being packed full of all sorts of useful advice for an aspiring author (like myself). In all honesty I needed something like this so that I can read up on the sort of processes involved in this profession. On a similar thread, he also got me 'The Elements Of Eloquence: How To Turn The Perfect English Phrase' by Mark Forsyth. This book is so beautiful. It is a gorgeous green hardback (my favourite colour) and I cannot wait to read it through, most likely over and over!
So what did I get him? I couldn't post about it before because obviously he reads my blog posts and the surprise would be ruined, but my presents for him were as follows: McFly's 'Greatest Hits' CD (as a reminder that we are going to watch McBusted in April), 'The Phantom Of The Opera' by Gaston Leroux (we watched it together recently), 'Les Misérables' by Victor Hugo (we are going to watch that in March), a Yu-Gi-Oh! Deck (oh yes I did) and a box of Lindt (an unhealthy tradition). He seemed to really like them and I'm glad that the organisation and thought that went into those presents was appreciated (I am so proud that I managed to get my act together that much in advance)! We went out for a lovely meal in a local Indian restaurant that we always go to on Valentines day. I had a chicken korma, peas pilau rice and honey naan bread! Don't knock it until you have tried it, it's absolutely delicious!
After our meal we snuggled up for the evening at mine and watched Disney's Hercules! A perfect end to a wonderful day, I have all of the songs stuck in my head now! That about sums up my day really, Mat remembered to bring 'If On A Winter's Night A Traveller' with him so that at the moment is my priority read as I have a week to finish it. Also, I found out that this year's Musical will be 'Jesus Christ Superstar' at Uni. I am seriously so excited about this news and I think I am going to audition, just to see how far I get! In other news, Elizabeth Yarnold won the gold in the ladies Skeleton at the Olympics! The weather is just getting worse and worse, and the lights have flickered ominously a couple of times tonight so I think I had better quit while I'm ahead.
