26 January 2017

Gifts Galore

I know this post is incredibly late and it's over a month now since we were all stuffing our face with copious amounts of mince pies and pigs in blankets. But who doesn't want to be nosy and see what people got for Christmas? I'm still reading a book set around Christmas, so I figured I could still write a post about it.
Yes I have books that are set around Christmas time, including a Murder She Wrote one with Jessica Fletcher saving the day once again. I save them up all year to read in my Christmas pyjamas and eat Lindt balls into the triple figures. I'm sure that makes me really high up on the coolness scale.
I had a great time with my family and was truly stuffed with my Mum's amazing cooking. These New Year's Eve puddings were to die for! I didn't ask for many presents this year, as I don't have much space in my tiny room (hint hint parents) for more things and frankly I couldn't decide what on earth I wanted.
Whilst looking at swatches for nail varnish to give my sister for Christmas, I came across this absolutely gorgeous ring.
Thankfully the blogger mentioned where it was from, so I went on the site Stella & Dot straight away. I've really been loving rings I can stack & wearing multiple small ones. Even though I'm not too keen on gold jewellery, I like the muted gold thin rings with stones in or other decorations, which you can wear several of at the same time.
Mr Boyfriend calls me Mrs. T after the bloke in The A-Team who wears all the gold jewellery. I used to wear big rings, but ever since my parents gave me my beautiful sapphire and diamond ring for my 21st birthday, the rings I wear have changed somewhat.
The rose gold Páve Spear ring was £29 and there were matching earrings available, which were beautiful and the matching necklace that I found on eBay as they didn't stock it on the website anymore.
I adored the ring but deliberated for so long, as I've never spent that amount on one piece of jewellery before.
I normally buy stack packets-10 rings normally for less then a tenner. After everyone telling me to treat myself, I finally decided to give in & asked Father Christmas for the jewellery. The fact that I found the Pavé Spear earrings and necklace on eBay for a much cheaper price then the RRP helped to convince me to ask for them.
I found the earrings for £25.25 including p&p when at the time they were normally £40 (along with £4.95 p&p). I managed to get the necklace for £31 instead of £50, which I was pretty pleased about. I can't wait to wear them, they look so beautiful.
I got some really snugly pyjamas from my parents and cosy slippers from a friend. My Mum picked me out some cute Millie Mae vintage pattern style socks, some nice lacy underwear and a pack of cat themed underwear. That'll stop Mr Boyfriend having to deal with me debating for 15 minutes about whether I should spend £4 on a pack of underwear in Tesco's every time we go there.
My parents bought me Five go to Brexit Island, a satirical take on the legendary Famous Five books by Enid Blyton that I adored as a kid, have some CDs of and have one of the books to read on my iPad. Yep, I'm a cool kid.
The book is actually written by Bruno Vincent and there are several in the series, include Five Give up the Booze and Five Go Gluten Free.
I also received the book How to get Rich, which will hopefully help increase my shoe collection.
My parents also gave me a Sew Style:Vintage Magazine with two gorgeous vintage patterns enclosed. I'm trying to expand my collection of vintage magazines and at a local Christmas Fayre I went to with my Mum, I found a Vogue magazine from October 1953, which I will show more of sometime, it's beautiful.
To put my growing collection of vintage magazines in they also bought me an A3 Presentation Book to put them in. They're too big for an A4 booklet as magazines and newspapers were bigger then.
I'm hoping to do a nice painting or drawing for the front of the presentation book when I get the time. Either that or get my artist on hand Mr Boyfriend to do it for me. It's amazing what a flutter of the eyelashes and a meal cooked by my Mum will get you.
I also received some Coté vouchers for me & the man to enjoy a nice meal with, as well as a Tastecard from my brother. He bought me one last year and I was a little worried I wouldn't get enough use out of it. However, I managed to save £234 on it overall, so was very keen to renew it. My sister also gave me an ASOS voucher which I'm looking forward to using.
My parents also gave me some new belly button rings and some lovely stud earrings. I received some chocolate, but it's mysteriously disappeared into mine and the man's mouth. I adore chocolate cherry liqueurs, which I only have at Christmas time and I was like an old lady eating two before I went to sleep every night. That was the extent of my alcoholic binge over Christmas.
I couldn't bring myself to open this beautiful little handbag with chocolate shoes in, but caved in. I'm saving the Choccywoccydoodah coin my brother gave me for when I reach a certain target I'm trying to achieve. I'm turning it into a gold medal and doing a victory lap around my neighbourhood with it.
Mr Boyfriend bought me a beautiful vintage record player for Christmas in 2014 and I've been trying to collect records ever since. Luckily I have a shop that sells the right records near me for £1 each, as there isn't much demand for them. I was given some 78 RPM Records by my chiropractor who is also a good friend of mine.
One of them includes 'Have I told you lately that I love you' by Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters. I'm a huge fan of The Andrews Sisters, to me they were the original girl power, in a time when the world was so male dominated. The other records include Johnnie Ray and Billy Cotton & his band. She also bought me a little lunchbox as a joke present, because I always take my lunch to my appointment & she's sick of seeing my sushi, even though it's vegetarian! I take it everytime now & am thinking about putting my name & age on it, you know like your Mum did when you were at school! My elderly neighbour who I'm very friendly with, who I've taught how to use her computer & email people,kindly bought me a lovely makeup bag, perfect to put my lipsticks in.
My boyfriend's generous Mum and step Dad bought me some Vans with a really cute flamingo print on and some socks to match. I'm looking forward to trying the shoes out with outfits when it's not so muddy. They also bought me a Fat Face scarf gift get which includes body wash, body lotion and a gorgeous printed scarf.
His lovely sister and boyfriend gave me a Ted Baker mini must haves set which includes body lotion, body spray,body soufflé and bubble bath. His thoughtful Dad and girlfriend gave me a beautiful bottle of Ghost Moonlight Perfume which I'm looking forward to wearing out, it's a great floral and fruity smell. Yes people, I have fabulous "in-laws".
Mr Boyfirend bought me a lovely Lipsy makeup kit for day and night and a Lipsy 12 Days of Beautiful set. I've always secretly wanted an advent style calendar that contained makeup, but they were always so expensive. When I asked him about how he chose what to get me, he said he went into Debenhams and asked for some help to find a present for me as there were so many products available, which I find adorable. His housemate told me that when he got home, he was all excited about the presents he had bought for me-cuteness overload. I didn't actually know Lipsy did makeup kits, but these are great and contain a variety of must have makeup products.
The last presents I received were these gorgeous bomber jackets. I had been debating about buying this burgundy F&F velvet bomber jacket for months now, so my Mum insisted she bought it for me for Christmas, probably to stop me going on about it. I'd seen ones like it, particularly in River Island which were double the price. It also had great reviews online, so I agreed to add it to my list. It was £29 but after Christmas it was reduced to £15, so I took the first one back and bought another one. While buying it I came across this absolutely beautiful Vero Moda Gold Scalloped Bomber Jacket, reduced from £50 to £25.
I used the rest of the money from the velvet jacket that was leftover and some of the money that my Grandma gave me for Christmas. It's even more beautiful in person and both jackets are very comfortable and warm. They're still available so I highly recommend them. They're also a little stretchy,so are great if you've got thick layers on underneath or big boobs. The velvet bomber jacket has now been reduced to £12 and also comes in black. I'm not ashamed to admit that I sit in bed and just stare at the gorgeous gold scalloped jacket on my clothes rail, I'm so glad I decided to buy it as it's so beautiful in person. I've given you the direct links to them below.

I hope you've all enjoyed having a good nosey at the presents I received. I'm sorry this post is so late, I still feel slightly in the post Christmas slump, but I'm not sure if that's because I keep having to walk past boxes of biscuits and chocolates that are leftover from Christmas and try to avoid them. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have had a good start to the new year and not broke all your new year's resolutions just yet.
Second Hand Rose
XxxX