This year I have purchased a little bit of new Christmassy decor and I’m so excited to show you guys!!! Along with the usual in my house which is the two trees downstairs I have my tree for my bedroom which I purchased last year during lockdown 🙂 I am such a sucker for the Primark Christmas home range so I had a bit of a haul in there as soon as that came out and have also popped into Disney and a few garden centres including a shop called Ruxley Manor and also Zara Home!
Let me know in the comments how you decorate for Christmas if you even do 🙂
I always see these templates on Instagram where you have to decide between two things and I thought that I would introduce this idea onto my blog and find different templates to answer 🙂
Real Tree or Artificial: I have to say I do prefer a Real Tree although I personally have an artificial one in my bedroom we always have a real tree in our living room and I absolutely love it 🙂
Hot Chocolate or Eggnog: Hot Chocolate as I am not a fan of eggnog at all!
Snow or W/O Snow: I absolutely love snow but I would have to go with no snow simply because in the UK we are not equipped for dealing with snow which means I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere or see friends and family 😦
Love Actually or The Holiday: 100% The Holiday as its probably my favourite Christmas film 🙂
Elf or Home Alone: Depends on my mood but probably Elf 🙂
Mariah Carey or Michael Buble: Michael Buble- the king of Christmas!
Movie or Boardgames: My family actually plays boardgames and watches a Christmas movie together on Christmas eve every year so kind of both but if I had to pick it would be a Christmas movie over boardgames 🙂
Christmas Pudding or Christmas Cake: I actually don’t like either because I don’t like raisins 😦
Angel or Star topper: Probably a Star 🙂
Snowmen or Reindeer: Reindeer 🙂
Let me know in the comments your answers to these questions 🙂
I actually have no idea who started this tag but I personally found it on this blog here 🙂
A fictional family you would like to spend Christmas dinner with: The Weasleys at the Burrow!!! I feel like they would get really into Christmas and it would make an already magical time of year even more magical 🙂 I would also love one of Mollys Christmas sweaters 🙂
A bookish item you would like to receive as a Christmas gift: Ooooo I’m not actually sure!! I recently bought myself a bookcart which I absolutely love and it now holds all of my TBRs and also my travel books 🙂 I guess maybe another one of these?
A fictional character you think would make a perfect Christmas elf: I mean apart from Dobby because I feel like he would get way too into it and would be waking up all of the kids and also stealing one of every sock! I would have to say that Jack Frost from the Rise of the Guardians would make a really good Christmas elf 🙂
Match a book to its perfect Christmas song: This is such a good question! I think my answer is going to have to be All I Want for Christmas is You and The Duke and I
A book or fictional character you’ve been disappointed in (should be put on the naughty list)- I have actually really enjoyed all of the books that I have read this year but a character that I have been disappointed in would have to be Dane from Fate: The Winx Saga! I had such high hopes at the start when he befriended Tara!
A book or fictional character you think deserves more love and appreciation (should be put on the nice list)- I have read a lot of books this year that I have absolutely loved but I think one of the ones that was my absolute favourite but I haven’t heard a lot of people talk about would have to be The Couple by Helly Acton
A book cover that has a wonderfully Christmassy feel to it: How to Stop Time by Matt Haig specifically the blue cover with white accents 🙂 It has a very winter wonderland theme 🙂
A book or series you love so much that you want everyone to find it under their Christmas tree this year.- OMG SO MANY but the book I have recommended most to people apart from the Helly Acton book would be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 🙂
Let me know in the comments your answers to these questions 🙂
It seems to have become a bit of a tradition that every Blogmas I write a blog post about some of my favourite Christmas songs that have either been released that year/Christmas songs from new artists that I have discovered throughout that year 🙂 I have already done this type of post 4 times already and those posts can be found here, here, here and here .
Step into Christmas- Elton John
We Made it to Christmas-Megan Hilty
Underneath the Tree- Kelly Clarkson
Oh Santa- Mariah Carey
Baby I’m coming home- Ally Brooke
Can’t stop Christmas- Robbie Williams
Take me home for Christmas- Dan and Shay
The Perfect Gift- HSMTMTS
We Need Christmas- Maddie and Tae
Think of Christmas- Anne Marie
Let me know in the comments what your favourite Christmas songs are 🙂
ITS FINALLY DECEMBER!!!! December is my favourite month of the year for many reasons but one of the main ones is that for the last four years since 2017 I have completed Blogmas and this year is no different so there will be a new post every day on this blog for the next month with Christmas and New Years content mixed with some normal content as well 🙂 I have posted twice a week in 2021 which I have absolutely loved as it got me through the winter quarantine and during going back to work full time 🙂 I am going to attempt to post 6 times a month from now after a months break during January because I have gone back to work and it is proving to be a struggle to keep up with posting twice a week 🙂
I have
Let me know in the comments if there are any posts that you particularly want to see throughout Blogmas or 2022 🙂
I think we can all agree that 2020 wasn’t the year we were hoping or wanted however there have definitely been some things that I have incorporated into my life in 2020 that I would like to continue and also some things that I want to introduce in 2021 🙂
Read 2 books a month
2500 followers on my blog
Have a pamper evening every week
Complete my running bucket list
Learn Yoga
Drink 2000ml of water a day
Post on Instagram twice a week
Post on my blog twice a week starting in February
Be more minimalistic
Save Money
Do something nice for Maya once a week
Do something nice for a friend once a week
Have a photoshoot once a month
Reach 30,000 views
Write down 5 things I’m proud of/I love about myself every month
Organise my room and laptop
Do a training session with Maya 3 times a week
Cook/Bake 5 new things
Complete half of my 101 things list
Reach 400 on my bucket list
Reach the 2nd checkpoint on Duolingo
Let me know in the comments what your 2021 resolutions are 🙂
I have no doubt that there will be many things on this list that I did not do this year due to lockdown however there are also some things that I have been able to do which I wasn’t sure I could 🙂
Read 2 books a month- I actually did complete this goal and actually managed to read an extra book!!! I would say my favourite book was You Should See Me In a Crown 🙂 I have gotten really into reading in the past few months throughout lockdown and I am looking forward to reading more in 2021 as well 🙂
2. Reach 1500 blog followers- I am actually 3 followers away from that goal as I write this post so I probably won’t reach it by the end of the year but hopefully in early 2021 🙂
3. Have a pamper evening once a month- I actually did do this and it was so lovely that I’m changing this to once a week for my 2021 resolutions 🙂
4. Make a fitness routine- This is one of the goals that I wasn’t sure I was going to achieve but due to lockdown I actually started running in March using the Couch-5k app and managed to run a 5k in July and have been running at least once a weekish ever since 🙂 I took some time off throughout November and December but am going to start running again in January 🙂
5. Drink more water- This goal I have been up and down with throughout the year as I will get a sudden burst of drinking lots and lots of water but then won’t drink any for a few days!
6. Travel to 5 new places- For obvious reasons I didn’t manage to complete this goal however I did manage to go to two places this year with my friends Barghavi and Birunda and I went to Dublin in January and then Birmingham in March 🙂
7. Go to the theatre 5 times- I didn’t quite manage 5 but I did go to the theatre 4 times before everything closed which was absolutely amazing 🙂 I went to see: Be More Chill, Come From Away, Dear Evan Hansen and The Prince of Egypt 🙂
8. Post on Instagram twice a week- I have actually managed to keep up with my Instagram and post twice a week using throwbacks and photoshoots in the garden which has been really fun actually finding different ways to take photos and it has also encouraged me to learn more about my camera and how it works 🙂
9. Reach 350 on my bucket list 🙂 I have actually managed to get to 350 things on my bucket list this year doing little bits at home and working around different things to do some lovely things 🙂
10. Go to the Tower of London- On the 6th of February I went to the Tower of London with my Mum which was so much fun 🙂 I had never been to the Tower of London before and its been on my bucket list for so long so when I had a hospital appointment in London we decided to go there afterwards 🙂
11. Buy 3 things to make my life more sustainable :)- Since writing this goal I have bought metal straws, bamboo toothbrushes and also cotton make-up pads 🙂
12. Save money- Due to lockdown I have actually managed to save money this year which has been really nice but obviously I am not going to share how much I have saved on here.
13. Go to 3 concerts- I actually didn’t manage to go to any concerts this year 😦
14. Reach the checkpoint on Duolingo- I actually reached the checkpoint on Duolingo relatively early in the year and then have managed to keep it up since as you have to go back through the lessons regularly 🙂
15. Reach 20,000 views on my blog :)- I actually achieved this earlier in the year and am currently at around 23,000 views in total which is absolutely amazing!!!
16. Reach the bronze good citizen award- Dog training classes actually stopped during Covid and so I have been doing lots of training with her at home due to this and so they didn’t do any awards but I think I have definitely improved my training with Maya 🙂
17. Drive more- At the start of 2020 I actually did drive more as my Mum had an operation on her hand so couldn’t drive for a bit but then due to everything going on I haven’t actually driven in a while but I’m hoping to drive more in 2021 ❤
18. Cook 5 new things- I cooked 5 new things and more this year as I started to get into baking and cooking during quarantine which has been a lot of fun 🙂 I made: fried rice, pad thai, mac and cheese, sweet and sour chicken, carbonara, gnocchi and red thai curry 🙂 Baking wise I have made gingerbread cookies and biscoff muffins 🙂
19. Write down 5 things I’m proud of/I love about myself every month- I actually did do this however as most of them are super cringy I’m not going to share them on here 🙂
20. Do something nice for Maya once a week <3- I think this was the resolution that I have loved the most and have documented on her Instagram which has been so much fun!!
Let me know in the comments how you got on with your 2020 resolutions 🙂
December has been a bit of a crazy month preparing for Christmas and everything else so I don’t have too many favourites and most of them are actually music related 🙂
Excuse me I love you- Ariana Grande documentary: I absolutely loved this as I am a huge Ariana Grande fan however I have never been to a concert of hers so it was so nice to experience a concert from the comfort of my living room especially in 2020 when I haven’t had a chance to go to an actual concert this year 😦 I also loved all of the behind the scenes moments as well of seeing all of the dancers and everyone backstage and in rehearsal 🙂
Soul- I love Pixar movies as they always have a deep message behind them and make you think about life which is definitely true for their newest instalment Soul which I absolutely loved 🙂 The film follows two different souls on their journey to find their ‘purpose’ which is a really interesting concept and its a very sweet film 🙂
Evermore and the Folklore Studio Sessions: I am a massive Taylor Swift fan and have been ever since Fearless so have absolutely loved the quick succession of her last 3 albums. Folklore is one of my favourite of Taylors albums so then Evermore being a sister album to Folklore is absolutely epic and I love it! I loved the Folklore Studio sessions as I found it so interesting hearing about the writing process especially during a lockdown and also hearing about the inspiration behind the songs and the meanings behind some of the lyrics 🙂
Let me know in the comments what your favourites were in December 🙂
The few days before Christmas I did Zoom calls with my friends which was so lovely 🙂 On Christmas eve after doing quite a few homely jobs as my Mum hasn’t been very well the last few days we then settled down to our classic dinner of a Chinese take-away and then curled up to watch Jingle All The Way which we used to watch religiously as kids on Christmas eve and so we decided this year to watch it for the nostalgia effect 🙂 By this time we had had a few drinks and my older brother gave me one of my presents early which was Harry Potter themed Dobble so we started playing that which was so fun!!
Christmas day we woke up, had a cooked breakfast and then went and started opening presents 🙂 I had bought my dad a retro Space Invaders game which connects to the TV so as soon as he had opened that up he got my brother to set it up for him and got engrossed in playing while we finished off opening the presents around him 🙂 Maya was running around like a lunatic whilst opening her presents and we actually only gave her 3/4 of her presents on Christmas day and then gave her the last few on Boxing day 🙂 We then went to see my Grandma (my mums mum) and took the dog for a walk as she has a park behind her house so while my mum chatted to her my dad and I took it in turns with the dog in the park 🙂 We then popped round my Nan and Grandads house to talk to them on the drive and as they only live round the corner my brothers walked round and joined us which was lovely 🙂 After that we headed home and had our Christmas dinner 🙂
On Boxing day I actually had to go to work which was really really nice as I have been on Furlough since April of 2020 and have only been in for 3 days since then in November so it was nice to go back in again and see people 🙂 Once I got back from work at around 5 we then sat down for another Christmas dinner which was absolutely delicious!! After dinner we then all sat down and watched The Grinch 🙂
Finally on the 28th I spent most of the day playing my new Animal Crossing New Horizons game 🙂
I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are still enjoying the festive season between Christmas and New Year where the world seems to stand still 🙂
gracethoroughgoodbeauty 