A Thursday Happy List.

I haven't had a bad day, far from it, I had a very nice day....but it was a very nice day that felt a little bittersweet. 

So I made a happy list to remind me of some of the things that make me smile and encourage me to focus on positives. 

If, like me, you are into stationery and thought that looks like a fun notepad, my notepad is from Paperchase -
http://www.paperchase.co.uk/all-change-a5-notebook.html

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Blogmas Day 23 & 24: Tomorrow is Christmas, it's practically here.

Today my festive spirit has really kicked in....well, you'd hope so on Christmas Eve!!

Technically it kicked in yesterday when I opened my Secret Santa Present at work - it was a book!! Kudos to whoever my Secret Santa was - perfect choice!!

Today I did some last last last last last minute shopping, accompanied by James who very kindly wandered around shops with me and carried things!
Instead of getting annoyed at people who bumped into me in shops or forgot their manners I sang festive wishes to them!

I got ridiculously excited when a self checkout in the supermarket wished me a Merry Christmas...so excited that I wished it one right back!

Once I got home I set about finishing my wrapping and I'm not sat watching The Grinch, quoting every single line...because The Grinch. 

I had so many great ideas for Blogmas and then December sort of disappeared before I had a chance to really do anything with them...........maybe next year I'll be better.

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Blogmas Day 22: Three Days.

Rudolph the Post It Reindeer, sat upon a shiny phone...and if you ever rang it, he would maybe say hello........

Three days until Christmas - Three Festive Facts From Today

Christmas Song I sang along to at the top of my lungs

Merry Christmas Everyone. 

Number of Cheesy Christmas poems I wrote about Monkeys

Just the one!!

Festive Friend Meet Up Total

Technically one, but two if you count saying a quick hi and bye to the friends my mum was with when she was meeting me later in the day.

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Blogmas Day 21: A Desk Elf

A desk elf....because desk elf!!

Four Days To Christmas: Four Festive Facts Today

Christmas song I sang along to at the top of my lungs
Christmas Time (Dont Let the Bells End) - The Darkness

Character I played in a Nativity Tonight

Wise Man

Christmas TV special I'm Most Looking Forward To

Doctor Who

Christmas Presents I Still Need To Buy

One!!

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Blogmas Day 19 & 20: 5 days!

There are precisely 5 days left until Christmas, which means there are precisely 11 days left in the year!

What even is that? When did it happen? I did not give my permission for the year to move so quickly!

I've decided that everything about the next 10 days will be awesome..........today has about an hour left, it's a write off. 

I'm also going to go back to my do one thing every day that scares you thing, even if its changing the radio station on the way to work in the morning, the festive season has totally messed with my morning listening schedule anyway!

Five days to go - Five festive facts from today!

Christmas song I sang along to at the top of my lungs

Fairytale of New York.

Christmas song I hummed as I worked throughout the day

Good King Wenceslas.

Christmas song I attempted to teach myself on the ukulele

We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

Christmas Origami I attempted to make with a post it note

Christmas tree....didnt look like a christmas tree, made several and now its a half star type thing. 

Christmas Dinner Day Dream Total For The Day

Three

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Blogmas Day 18: A Christmas Tag

Today's picture was taken from George Square as I went past.

1.What does a typical Christmas day look like for you? Waking up early....waking my mum up...opening presents, watching mum open her presents....making my dad get up and open his presents. Breakfast made by my dad......mess around with presents for a while.  Go to my brothers house, spend some time there with him, his wife and the kids......head home for a while and chill.  Head to my uncle and aunts for Christmas dinner, open some more presents, play some games, occasionally sing some christmas songs, watch some tv, come home and chill.

2. What's your favourite Christmas time tradition?

It's definitely my christmas dinner!! A close second is watching Christmas Movies with my mum. 
3. What's your favourite Christmas Song and/or Carol?
Christmas song is Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty McColl
Christmas Carol is either Do You Hear What I Hear or Oh Holy Night.4. What's your favourite Christmas food?
Christmas Dinner, the roast, the potatoes, the carrots.
5. When you do decorate for Christmas?Usually about  days before Christmas.

6. Do you own an ugly Christmas sweater?

Yes, it has a reindeer with a flashing nose.7. What's your favourite Christmas movie?

Ahhhhhhh I can't answer this question!! I have so many!!
Umm..........The Grinch? Maybe. Nightmare before Christmas, possibly! Too hard to pick!8. What's one thing you've asked for as a Christmas present this year?

Dairy Free Chocolate!
9. What's the most exciting present you've ever received? 

Oh goodness, that's hard to call! I always get pretty excited around shoes!

10. Do you go to Church around Christmas time?

Yep.11. Do you typically send your own Christmas cards?

I'm notoriously bad at remembering to write Christmas Cards...I'm also notoriously bad at remembering to buy Christmas Cards...where possibly my mum counteracts this by sticking my name on the ones she writes.12. What's your worst Christmas memory?

One year our television broke in the middle of the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special on Christmas Eve and wasn't fixed until later in the week.....that didn't feel too festive!

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Blogmas Day 16 &17: Pavement Rage

I feel like December has crept up suddenly and disappeared all at once!!

I finally finished my Christmas shopping today!

The downside was that I went shopping....in the city centre...on a Saturday...in December.  That aint a sensible thing to be doing in December.

Lots of Christmas shoppers meant there was lots of humans, lots of humans meant lots of crowded streets, lots of crowded streets meant lots of people stopping to look in windows, look at their phones, talk to a friend, look at a product in a shop....all of which made it pretty difficult to navigate my way from shop to shop.

My pavement rage is the stuff of legend....well amongst my boyfriend, my mother and my friend Nicole....

I'm not unbearably angry or anything like that, I just get a little exasperated when someone in front of me stops or cant decide what direction they need to go in next, meaning I too have to stop, which then kicks in my impatience, which then leads me to getting annoyed at myself and in turn the person who delayed me. 

I forgot to take a picture today.....so here's a picture of me in a cat mask instead!

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Blogmas Day 15: The Tree is up!!

After many days of stalling my tree is finally up!! 

Also made up for previous December laziness by doing some late night Christmas shopping - survived my first multi story car park with minimal stress!! 

I'm still not done yet.....but closer to it!!

Proper blogs after today, I promise!!

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Blogmas Day 13 & 14: Half Way There

I missed a day again....this time out of sheer tiredness, I could have stayed up to write a blog last night....I chose to go to bed instead. 

As you can see my tree is up.....its just not decorated yet...that's tomorrows task. 

It'll be the usual Disney meets doctor who mash up!!

Feel free to suggest any other wacky decorations. 

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Blogmas Day 12: Bah Humbug

While I love Christmas, I can totally accept that not everyone gets as excited as I do. 

When you don't feel festive, there is nothing worse than being in the company of someone who is, however, when you do feel festive and are enjoying the activities that Christmas brings, there is nothing worse than someone who is not enjoying it being determined to ensure that no one else does either.  

It's totally fine not to feel Christmas spirited, but that doesn't make it okay to be mean spirited. 

Almost everyone is familiar with A Christmas Carol, there have been so many versions of it...my favourites are Muppet Christmas Carol and Catherine Tate's 'Nan's Christmas Carol'

It follows the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge, a grumpy unpleasant man with no time for Christmas or kindness and a disdain for those who don't think like him. 

He's visited by three ghosts, each one focusing on a different time in his life, the past, the present and the future and what could become of him if he doesn't learn to thaw the icy feelings he has towards Christmas and towards others. 

It's easy to refer to someone as a Scrooge at Christmas when they aren't as chipper as we feel they ought to be,with Scrooge though, it just so happened that it all came to a head at Christmas....that was his demeanor all year round.

Here are my top tips for dealing with a Scrooge - at Christmas...and beyond. 

Let it go over your head

It's easier said than done, particularly if, like me, you have a low tolerance for crap. Put it into perspective - will this person's actions or words have a direct impact on me? Is this really worth space in my head?
 I recently reviewed 'The Life Changing Magic of Not Giving a F***' by Sarah Knight which highlights this process of deciding whether or not its important enough to merit a place in your thoughts.  

Bite your tongue

I'm not great at this one, but where possible, if you can avoid retaliating during a particularly difficult moment, such as when rudeness occurs, you will find it much easier to be calm. 0

If you are faced with rudeness, bring your your manners in full force and show them how this being a decent human being lark is done.  

Have a safe face

We've all got that person....that one human we can turn to at any given moment and exchange nothing but a glance and instantly know what the other is thinking. 

A safe face can be great for being able to release so much of what you want to say without having to actually lose your temper or retaliate. 

Speak your mind

This contradicts from the first two...I know.

There are times where you do just have to say something, particularly when faced with rudeness.
The key is to do so without succumbing to rudeness in return and lead by example.

The words and actions of someone else do not have to make you less.

As you can see in today's photo - I'm officially getting closer to putting my tree up....its still in the box but it made it into my room! Yay!

  

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Blogmas Day 11:Christmas shopping tips!!

I finally started Christmas shopping today and almost completed it....

Check me right out.

I still have my parents to get (pretend you didn't read that mum...I have one thing for you, please dont look in the gnome bag in my room,one of your small things is in it)but beyond that I'm nearly done. 

I've also broken my rule and kinda know what I'm going back in for next Saturday, so fingers crossed all should be well!

If anyone has still got loads to do and is starting to panic...here are my top tips for surviving Christmas shopping with little time to spare. 

1. Just accept that the first few shops you go into will be complete and utter duds - time is short, you will probably need to panic buy and you're not actually sure where to start....that first shop will probably no come through for you...its also possible that the next three or four wont either...and thats totally fine....honest!!

2.  Don't shop for a demographic... I'm quite guilty when I'm pushed for time I go...well he's a guy so he'll like this...she's elderly, that'll work....within less than 5 minutes, I've gone back to that rail or shelf and put whatever item I've picked up back exactly where I found it...I always try to imagine me as the person I'm buying for when I chose presents and if I'm not doing a smiley face in my day dream....I don't buy it for them. 

3. Take half an hour out to regroup - Yes, you have a limited amount of time in which to shop, yes the shops are so busy its taken an eternity already but there reaches a stage in the proceedings where you begin to wilt, you need to pee, you need to refuel and get some form of beverage inside of you......take half an hour, grab a drink, part your bottom on a seat and watch the world go by, return to your list and have a think about where to go next.  Enjoy the stillness for a moment before you set off again.

4. Go home when you hit the wall - hitting the wall is a little different from wilting.  When you get mid way there is always a little bit of reserve left, that last push you know you have in you before your body can't take it anymore.  Once your body reaches that stage, go home.  You've done brilliantly up to this point.
Sure, there are still a few people on the list and a limited amount of time to find something for them, but you've had enough.  Go home, rest and get researching online before you dive into the shops at the next possible available moment.

5.  Most importantly - don't panic.
You've got this. 

I forgot to take a Christmas-y picture today...so theres a picture of me as a Disney emoji instead.....

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Blogmas Day 9 and 10: I'm rubbish

Missed a day again! I'm rubbish....

I also planned to start my Christmas shopping today and didn't, again I'm rubbish. 

I tell a lie....I ordered something off etsy for my friend Nicole tonight,which may or may not arrive in time for Christmas!

I've mentioned before a few days ago that I tend to leave my Christmas shopping to the last minute and that I thrive on the pressure, but It occurs to me that I only actually have one more weekend in which I can shop because the next one is Christmas....yikes!!

Tomorrow my aim is to actually do some Christmas shopping, write a decent blog post and also to put my tree up in my room. 

Our living room tree is in the picture above....decorated by Mum, with zero help from me.......I'm rubbish. 

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Blogmas Day 8: Christmas Movie Quotes

At time of typing, I can currently watching the original Miracle of 34th Street from 1947, which I'd never seen before.

'Oh Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind, and that's what keeps changing'

That quote jumped out at me... almost 70 years later, it's still pretty strong. 


Christmas movies have some of my favourite movie quotes...


The Grinch is full of them

"Hate hate hate, double hate, LOATHE ENTIRELY"
"I myself am having some Yuletide doubts"
"Blast this Christmas music, it's joyful and triumphant" 
"One man's toxic sludge, is another mans pot pouree, I dunno it's some kind of soup"

It's a Wonderful Life

"What do you want Mary, you want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a laso around it and bring it down, say, that's a pretty good idea, I'll give you the moon Mary"

"Atta boy Clarence" 

Flint Street Nativity 
"She's not Mary, I'm gonna be Mary"
"Go on, dares ya"

Muppet Christmas Carol 
"Mother always taught me, never eat singing food"

Home Alone
"Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal" 

Elf

"Santa!!! Sandra's coming! I know him! I KNOW HIM!"
"Buddy the Elf, what's your favourite colour?" 


Those are just a few of my faves.
The tree above is from 4 or 5 years ago and belongs to my aunt!! 

Tomorrow, a Christmas night out! 

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Blogmas Day 7: Christmas shopping

If I got money every time someone asked me if I was all set for Christmas and all my shopping was done, I'd have enough money to buy myself lots of expensive presents.

I know plenty of people who have it all done and dusted or know exactly what kinds of gifts they need to complete their list....

I can't operate that way.  

I have to happen upon a gift while browsing shops, I have to see it and decide on impulse, if I forward plan, it doesn't work.  

I end up with something generic or not quite suitable and end up shoving it in a cupboard somewhere in the hopes it suits someone else and just go out shopping again until I get it right. 

It's only the 7th day of December, so I still have time before any sort of panic has to happen, but I also can't bring myself to do Christmas shopping in advance.  I'm a last minute girl, I thrive on the pressure of knowing I have a very limited amount of time in which to find the perfect gift....it helps me bring out my A game! 

I could use my Mum as an effective case study for my method, she always says she doesn't ever get a bad present from me and the vast majority of her presents are chosen within a very last minute time frame. 

I actually blame my family for my lackadaisical approach to Christmas shopping - Mum and Dad both have a  birthday in November and my brother is five days before Christmas.  Add to that for future gift buying that my two Nephew's are also in November, which means I have 4 close family members all with a birthday shortly before Christmas.  You don't want to use up all your ideas on a birthday present and be completely unimaginative at Christmas, but equally you don't want to skimp on a birthday present either.  

If you need me during the week before Christmas....I'll be visiting several retailers for gifts and inspiration!

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Blogmas Day 6: I'm a Rory.

I recently started watching the Gilmore Girls revival....A Year in the Life - I'm only two episodes in at time of writing..no spoilers please. 

I've been a long time Gilmore Girls fan, I think I was around 14 or 15 when I saw my first episode after my mum had discovered it on one of our cable channels, we watched the series right through.......then when it ended about seven years later....we watched the whole series right through again.....and again....and again. 

We became word perfect, we have scenes we watch over and over again, we have scenes that we just can't watch, we have quotes we slip into every day conversations that make no sense to anyone else unless they too are a Gilmore Girls Fan. 

I even named my ukulele Paul Anka after Lorelai's dog (who was named after the singer...yes I know,I'm nuts). 

If you've never seen Gilmore Girls - do so - it's a tv show about a mother and daughter who live in a very unique small town, their lives, friendships, relationships and their family.  

It wasn't until watching one of the new episodes tonight that it occurred to me that there are similarities between myself and Rory - not purposefully, but I can see where I've followed a similar path. 

We both chose degrees and careers where our key skill set involves writing. Although Rory is a journalist/writer and I work in marketing, the key element to our bread and butter is in writing engaging and interesting copy. 

We both have a love of reading, I'm not sure I'll ever read as many books as Rory but if she wasn't a fictional character, I'm sure its a hobby we'd bond over. 

We both have had periods of uncertainty where what we are doing with our lives hasn't been abundantly clear, a lot of mine was documented in the earlier posts on my blog and have both found a way out of what period and navigated an improved path for ourselves. 

We both rely heavily on sarcasm and pop culture to navigate our way through human interaction and friendship. 

I wish I had her striking blue eyes and her wardrobe but I'll settle for being like minded. 

Although this post isn't very Christmas-y, some of my favourite episodes of Gilmore Girls have been Christmas or Winter orientated...so I've decided it totally counts!!

I'll be less rubbish tomorrow :-) 

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Blogmas Day 5: Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I know it's only the fifth of December but Christmas is almost in full swing already....Christmas services have started, Christmas shoppers have descended upon retailers, office parties are about to take place and lights are everywhere. 

If you weren't paying attention, you'd think it was Christmas Eve with the sheer volume of Christmas decorations. 

Everyone has there own marker for when it's officially Christmas for some its the Holidays are coming advert, for some its the John Lewis Advert, for some its when the lights go on, for some its when Eastenders comes on during Christmas Day or when the office closes.  Mine has moved around over the years.

One of my favourite things to do as a kid was to go with my parents, just a few streets over and view the lights of once house in particular - everyone knows someone who goes overboard with their Christmas decorations and one family a few streets away from me, really did go to town. 

There was Santa waiting by the Chimney, lights on all the greenery and shrubbery in the garden, decorations scattered around the outside of the house...Christmas songs booming loud and proud from a speaker and even a television pushed up against the window playing Christmas films.....it's been such a long time that I doubt the same family even live there, and if they do, they don't go to the same extreme.

There was something very magical about that house, not necessarily the lights and entertainment, but the sense that they loved Christmas as much as I did, gave me all sorts of happy feelings as a kid and made me feel like Christmas was right around the corner. 

My offical 'Christmas is here' feeling kicks in now just after my brother's birthday on the 20th.  Don't even get me started on having a sibling with a birthday in the same week as Christmas - most annoying!

The Upsidedown tree pictured above belongs to my friend Lorna - it's fab!

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Blogmas Day 4: Welcome Home

It's been a busy old weekend.  today my mum and I spent the evening with our friends who recently returned home from abroad after living in another country for several years.

We had hot chocolate (well everyone else at the table did, I had Irn Bru) and went to see some Christmas lights. 

It was both lovely and surreal to see them, their children are older now than they were the last time we saw them so it was strange to have a change from how I've seen them in my head over the years while they've been gone. 

It was a nice reminder that with friends, it doesn't matter how often you see each other, what matters is that when you do see each other, nothing changes, 

Welcome home x

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Blogmas Belated Day 3: Family.

On the third day of Blogmas Rachie blogged to me.....absolutely nothing!
Day 3 is a day late........

I left the house in the morning, tenor horn in hand to go play some Christmas music and got home just after midnight, yesterday was a busy one. 

I began my day playing carols in the city centre before hopping over to a Christmas Fayre a little further afield to help out at a Christmas light switch on.  After that, I went to see a friend and hear all about her wedding plans.

It was a fun day and I even met a few familiar Disney faces without having to travel abroad!

It was definitely a day where it was hard not to feel festive but I've had similar days in similar years where I've really struggled to see the festive side of things because I've been too stressed or highly strung to think about the bigger picture. 

Family

The fayre I was at yesterday was in a small village but the hall was absolutely packed with children and families.  It's very easy to forget amid the chaos of festive events, where you feel like a sardine, that there is a magic to it for younger people and a big part of that magic stems from the experiences they share with their families in the lead up to Christmas.

It set me off thinking about why I enjoy Christmas so much.  
It occurred to me that I place quite a lot of my Christmas enjoyment on spending time with my family.
Almost all of my most favourite traditions involve visiting or spending time with family in some shape or form, whether its visiting my aunt and uncle for Christmas Dinner, a traditional Christmas present exchange, a trip to my brothers house,viewing the Christmas lights in busy streets.   

When I was younger a big part of my Christmas routine involved visiting my Grandparents, where for one day a year, we'd be allowed to enter the house via the front door rather than the back door.
It always throws me a little when I drive past their home now and I can see that the people who live there now have plastered over the back door and although I know I'm being silly, I always wonder how they will get in the house when it's not Christmas day. 

Even at 27, I rely heavily on family interaction to enjoy the festive season. The family doesn't always take the same shape,  some family members have passed on, others have slotted in or arrived in the world but the family focus has largely stayed the same. 

Day 4 brings a welcome home....more on that later.  

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Blogmas Day 2: Finding my festive spirit.

Cards on the table.....I don't feel very festive today.

I started my day at the funeral of a very lovely lady, one I'm exceedingly fortunate to have had be an influence in my life.
The funeral itself wasn't really a sombre occasion, it was upbeat and positive.

I went to work afterwards, which was pleasant, got some tasks accomplished and had some enjoyable banter with colleagues, even discussing blogmas with one of them!Hi Chelsea by the way, I promised I'd get a blog up tonight!!
I'm also sticking some of your ideas into my plan....I say plan....it's a page with scribbles and headings but it's the beginnings of a plan!!

Sometimes in December, I feel Christmas-y (its totally a word....and if its not, it should be) straight away and other times it takes me a few weeks.

For anyone else lacking in festive spirit, I've prepared a list of things that help me get into the festive spirit.
Also feel free to suggest your own!

Watch Christmas Movies

It's hard not to feel even a tiny bit festive when watching Christmas films, particularly the old classics like It's a Wonderful Life.  

My faves are The Grinch, Home Alone, Flint Street Nativity, Bad Santa, Nativity and Muppet's Christmas Carol. 

Listen to Christmas Songs

 I must admit to feeling somewhat festive at about seven minutes past eight yesterday morning when 'All I Want for Christmas is You' came on the radio as I was driving to work. I also must admit to singing along at the top of my lungs and wishing I had Mariah's range, alas, I do not. 

I get pretty sick of Christmas carols from about the first weekend in December onwards, but that's just because I play them several times a week throughout the month.

My go to songs for getting in the festive spirit are
Stop the Cavalry and Fairytale of New York.

Christmas Diet

I say Christmas diet....all that really means is I stop eating anything that remotely resembles Christmas Dinner until Christmas Day....this year, that is going out the window as I am going on a work's christmas night out soon and the best option for me is essentially Christmas Dinner. 

It sounds silly but the dedication to switching up my meals a little gets me feeling festive because I know my Christmas Dinner is imminently approaching and I wait for that bad boy all year!

Shopping

I try and avoid shops as much as I can in December but I tend to leave my present shopping far too late, miss final deliveries and frantically make my way to a shopping centre to rectify my error in judgement.  There's something quite nice about walking into a shop thats covered in tinsel, lights, trees, stars and other decorations. 

I also get a festive warm feeling in my stomach from buying gifts for others.

Christmas sales are nice too!!

I'm starting to feel a little more festive already....

Tomorrow...I venture out into the world to play Christmas Carols... and take part in a light switch on.
That'll be festive!

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