so it's that time of year again, the time when shops suddenly fill with shiny new things, the time when fairy lights appear to be strung from everywhere and the weather turns freeeezing (depending on where you live, if you live here... it's bloody cold!) it's time to pull on your hats, gloves and scarves and wrap up warm...
winter is here and that means... CHRISTMAS!!!!!
it's no secret that Winter is my favourite season (not just because of Christmas... honest) i love the snow and the frost and the freezing cold wind (not so much the rain but living on the Isle of Man you learn to live with it) i love any excuse to wear my big winter coat and my winter boots
winter, winter, winter... i LOVE it!
and obviously it's late November now which means Christmas isn't too far off!
so because i'm off to Coventry and Birmingham tomorrow for a few days to see my family for, i had lots and LOTS of presents to wrap and loads of cards to write
and i mean LOTS! i have a massive family and it literally took me about 6 hours (with breaks, lots of them) to wrap all the gifts!
my wrapping skills aren't that great but i try my best!
i make a hell of a lot of mess as well when i wrap stuff... as you can see!
but my macbook kept me company the whole time playing a constant stream of lovely Christmas songs for me to sing along VERRRY loudly to as i wrapped
i didn't have half as much stuff to wrap as my mum did though! i popped into the Dining Room (aka Present HQ) to ask for some ribbon and the entire room was filled with presents!
the table was full and the rest were all bagged up, ready to go to Coventry tomorrow...
i'm so excited to be going away though! i haven't left the island since early September for the wedding in Montenegro (read about that here - Montenegro Times) so it'll be nice to get away for a few days
i packed my case earlier this evening, thought i'd share this snap with you...
good to see i'm getting my priorities right?!
only joking... yes the Zombieland DVD is for me to watch at the hotel but the Mika DVD's are for my sister to lend
contrary to popular belief i don't take them everywhere with me... honest!
my big sister is a Mika fan as well and she's never seen him live so i thought she'd like to see these
i can't WAIT to go away!!!!!
i'm hoping to do a few posts while i'm away as well, my macbook is coming with me and i'm pretty sure the hotel we're going to has wi-fi available = good times!
plus... on Tuesday i'm spending the day in Birmingham City Centre with my mum and my Auntie and i CANNOT WAIT!!!!
several reasons why i'm so excited about the day trip and the places i plan to visit...
1: i LOVE Birmingham
2: the Bullring Shopping centre... complete with Selfridges
3: Harvey Nichols in 'the Mailbox' building
4: the Christmas Markets in Victoria Square
5: the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery
6: Birmingham = awesomeness
that's about it i guess, oh AND
i go on the 23rd and that just so happens to be the day that the latest H&M collection is launched!
that's right... the Lanvin collaboration (fangirl squeal)
yay yay yay
i'll probably come back 'Lanvin-less' due to the hordes of people cramming into H&M but a girl can dream right?!
i'm already in love with most of the pieces in the collection but i have my eye on this dress in particular...
although after spending £90 on my plane ticket home the chances of me getting this dress are now very slim indeed!
saying that, i'd quite like one of these handbags as well... or both of them!
and maybe some of the shoes as well...
OH MY GOD it's going to be a nightmare!
i want it ALL but i can probably only afford one or two pieces tops!
i may have to BEG for some Lanvin-esque thing for Christmas but i doubt i'll even be able to get near the shop let alone get my hands on some stuff!
i've just looked it up on the H&M website (HERE) and apparently the Bullring branch of H&M will be open from 9:00am til 8:00pm so... maybe i can sneak back in in the evening and fight off some other Lanvin lovers to claim a piece!
sharpen your elbows girls...
to be honest though i'd rather come home penniless and laden with Lanvin loveliness that to get home empty handed!
why WHY Lanvin... why must you create such beautiful dresses!
Alber Elbaz you have a LOT to answer for do you hear me! i don't care if you're best friends with Mika, your designs are so pretty it's almost criminal!!!
end of rant
* * *
in other news...
look what arrived today all the way from Austin, Texas!!!
that's right folks... it's the ORIGINAL copy of my 'free crappy portrait'
the lovely and utterly super duper and fabulous Anne Genung who created the masterpiece 'Bluebird Cupcakes' based on a photo of me having a baking day
(for more info check out the Baking Times post)
anyway she got in touch with me after i posted all about the genius of the FCP site (read the 'my free crappy portrait' post and all shall be explained) and kindly offered to send me the original copy of the drawing!!!
how could i refuse!
i couldn't...
anyway it arrived today in a tube with a little note off Anne
how awesome is that!
i can't believe she sent it to me! i am so soooo grateful i really am!
in light of that, here is an utterly shameless plug for Anne's gorgeous website
seriously... check it out, her artwork is amazing! her paintings are so beautiful, really stunning work!
also Anne has a super blog full of arty fun times and she even did a post all about MY blog post about the FCP... how fabulous!
she said this about my post
"Isn't that just the loveliest response ever? I should draw more crappy portraits. And I do hope that she appreciates having the original."
well Anne i can tell you that i DO appreciate it
i LOVE it!
you can check out her blog here and scroll down to see the post about my FCP - Anjanung
so thank you Anne, you are officially AWESOME!!!
* * *
and that's it for today i think, sorry for the rantings and the ravings, can't be helped...
so tomorrow morning i get the boat to Liverpool then it's off to Coventry
i'll be posting tomorrow evening probably, i'm so SO excited about the hotel we're staying at so i will DEFINITELY want to share this one with you all!
see you then
that's all folks...
◕‿◕ ★ xX
'vielen dank und auf wiedersehen'
(that's thank you and goodbye in German, big thanks to all those German people out there checking out my blog, danke ♥)
