Would you rather: Christmas edition

Hello lovelies,

I was tagged in this fun Christmas post by Nicola J Ogston.

Eat brussel sprouts or cauliflower cheese?
Hmmmm, this is hard. I think I'd rather have the sprouts!
Have twinkling lights or still lights?
I like gently twinkling ones, but not the ones which do about 180 flashes a minute. They bring on migraines for me!
Eat gingerbread or Ferrero Rocher?
Gingerbread all day long, especially Swedish Pepparkakor, which are thin peppery gingerbread. SO GOOD! Try some if you get the chance - Anna's from Scandi Kitchen are the best!
Open your Christmas presents with only immediate family or with all of your family members?
Open with immediate family. I'll be opening mine with my mum, step dad, aunt, uncle and brother present.
Cook Christmas dinner for the whole family or don’t eat Christmas dinner at all?
Ugh, I'd freak if I had to cook anyone anything other than a bacon sandwich on Christmas day. I'm not a cook.
Have a real Christmas tree or a fake Christmas tree?
Although real Christmas trees are lovely, I've always had fake ones. At least you can pack fake ones away for the next year.
Use blue, yellow, white or multi-coloured lights?
I prefer multicoloured lights, especially the green and blue ones which seem to be everywhere at the moment.
Eat mince pies or Christmas cake?
Mince pies, especially the iced ones, with a nice cup of coffee. Yum. 
Wake up at 6am or 10am?
10am. I always used to be an early riser on Christmas day but this year I'm a bit bah humbug about it all, since it's my first one single for 14 years.
Drink champagne or hot chocolate?
Ooh, definitely hot chocolate!
Eat Heroes or Roses?
Now this is hard! I'd go with the Heroes, but only by a nose.
Get a puppy for Christmas or a kitten for Christmas?
Neither. I don't really agree with giving pets for Christmas, as the demand means a lot of people will go to puppy farms, and they're really cruel. Adopt, don't shop, whatever time of year you gift a pet.
Watch Elf or Home Alone?
Now that is plain cruel, pmsl. That's like asking me if I love my mum or dad the most! Eep, Home Alone!
Only be able to listen to Christmas songs all year round or never hear a Christmas song again?
All year round! I love a Christmas song and I have a Spotify playlist just for Christmas songs. I haven't listened to it yet this year as I've been quite sad, but I can feel the lure! I think today might be the day!
Wake up bright and early and get all of the best boxing day sale goodies or stay warm and cosy in bed wearing your new Christmas pyjamas?
Stay warm and cosy. I can't think of anything worse than being crammed into a boiling hot shopping centre on boxing day. Give me a cold turkey sandwich and a seat in front of the tv any day!

The rule is to tag four other bloggers. If I haven’t tagged you, feel free to still do the tag and link me up!

I tag: Mookie, Nikki, Vicky and Louise.

Thanks for reading. Leah xoxo

50 things I want to do during the festive season

Hiya loves,

I saw a post on Louise's blog called 50 things I want to do during the festive season and immediately knew I wanted to do it too. I LOVE Christmas and everything about it. If you're not following Louise, you need to be. Her wishlist Wednesday and Serendipity Sunday posts are always gorgeous!

The photo belongs to Louise as well

 Let's crack on!

1. Go to see the Christmas decorations at Westfield (village, not the shopping centre.)
2. Go to Winter Wonderland at Hyde Park.
3. Put up the trees (in progress.) ✓
4. Put up lights all around the living room (OK, instruct hubby to!) ✓
5. Put a bit of Christmas in EVERY room, even if it's only a bit of tinsel.
6. Listen to Christmas songs non-stop.
7. Watch Elf.
8. Watch Home Alone.
9. Watch Die Hard. (What, it's not a Christmas film?!)
10. Watch Love Actually, which feels quite Christmassy to me. 
11. Watch The Polar Express as I've never seen it. 
12. Sit round in my PJs or new fleecy lounger watching Christmas films in the dark with only the fairy lights on. 
13. Find at least one new Christmas decoration. I like to buy one every year so as I dress the trees it brings back lots of memories.
14. Write out my Christmas cards and post them. SOON! ✓
15. Send my usual Christmas card to A Hero, Headley Court Military Hospital, Headley, Epsom, Surrey. KT18 6JN. 
16. Make small donations to a few charities who are close to my heart.
17. Wrap up the presents I need to send and get them to the post office so I can relax. ✓
18. Wrap up all the other presents and organise them into bags and boxes.
19. Buy something for myself from hubby since he'll forget otherwise. ;) ✓
20. Buy something to myself from myself. And why not? :) ✓
21. Get a new dress to wear on Christmas Day. ✓
22. Get a cheesy Christmas jumper, even it if does make me look like an apple on legs.
23. Watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. LOTR & The Hobbit series will always feel like Christmas films to me because of most of them being released near Christmas.
24. Go to a Christmas market.
25. Get my hands on the BIG Soap & Glory gift set which is always more than half price just before Xmas. ✓
26. Drink ready made mulled wine or make my own. Yum. 
27. Eat mince pies. ✓
28. Take the opportunity to do lots of sparkly Christmas make up.
29. Do a few different Christmas nail art posts.
30. Go to see some Christmas lights locally.
31. Go to see Christmas lights around my home town with my mum and step dad.
32. Go the scenic route on the way to my mum's so we can take in more Christmas lights.
33. Go to my mum's for Christmas. 
34. Get dressed in my new dress and put on hideous Christmas earrings and a big Christmas hat.
35. Give my mum and step dad their presents and watch them open them. I love this bit!
36. Open my presents.
37. Have a bacon sammich or full English for breakfast.
38. Have Christmas Day lunch at my aunt's house.
39. Open more presents after lunch. 
40. Give everyone big fat Christmas hugs.
41. See my mad extended family and remember why I don't see them a lot. HAHAHA.
42. Have a few festive Christmas tipples.
43. See my dad's side of the family. 
44. See hubby's side of the family.
45. Hopefully have a roast dinner at my aunt's because she's a feeder! Her roasts are legendary!
46. Avoid falling arse over tit if it snows. ;)
47. Christmas buffet food - prawn vol au vents!
48. Eat a few Christmas chocolates. It'd be rude not to!
49. Find somewhere in the UK who sell pepparkakor, Swedish gingerbread with an extra kick of pepper. They're seriously THE BOMB. (Edit, found somewhere, yes!)
50. Soak up every last minute of it because my parents, aunts and uncles are all getting on in years and I don't know how many more Christmases I'll have left with them.

Of course it goes without saying I'll be photographing and Instagram-ing the shiznit out of every moment of Christmas!

If you want to do this post, feel free but make sure you link to Louise's blog. The graphic is hers as well.

Thanks for reading!

What are you looking forward to about Christmas?

My Outside My Comfort Zone outfit post will be up in a few hours, so pop back for that.

20 random facts as prompted by Kaelah

Howdy!

I was just reading Kaelah's post about 20 fun facts and decided to join in. I love reading and writing these fun facts posts so I invite you to put as many facts as you like about yourself in the comments! I'm going to try to make these as random as possible. In no particular order, here goes.

1. I REALLY REALLY like Rod Stewart. I love his voice and have done since I heard Sailing on the radio when I was about 3. LOVE HIM. 
2. I get skin tags on my neck and I hate them with a passion. I've got two right now, and I have dental floss tied around one to kill off its blood supply. It hurts like hell and I wish I had the balls to just snip it off.
3. I don't call my family anywhere near as much as I should because I miss them so much and being reminded they're far away makes me sad.
4. I am obsessed with Sons of Anarchy. I download every episode because there's no way I'm going to wait another 6 months for them to put it on the box over here. I forgive Jax all his shit because he's just so damn hot.
5. I used to bite my nails until they bled up until the age of 14. 
6. I hate going to the doctor thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much.
7. I want ALL THE TATTOOS but am addicted to spending money on clothes.
8. Jason Momoa will always be my numero uno fantasy man and he has been ever since I first clapped eyes on him in Stargate Atlantis. 
9. Since Spotify became chargeable I listen to music approximately 75% less. I think I'm gonna pony up and pay the monthly fee because I NEED my Christmas songs playlist on there like air.
10. I'm great at killing house plants. I once had a cactus that grew better when it fell under my bed for a year. It was leaning on something under the bed and grew in the shape of an erect cock. I really needed Instagram in my life back then. ;)
11. I have an overbite which you can only see from the side. I quite like it.
12. I once fell asleep on a beach with my arms above my head and my legs slightly akimbo, so I burned my armpits and inner thighs. That was such an awkward walk back to the train station, I can tell ya. 
13. I LOVE caravan holidays. I was 21 before I stayed in a hotel - all my childhood holidays were in caravans and I still find them incredibly cosy.
14. Since I got my Kindle a month ago I've put over 110 books on it. Ye gads. 
15. I'm wearing out my left shoulder from CONSTANTLY playing with my hair. My arm is up in the air 90% of the time. It cracks like a whip when I move sometimes.
16. Stationery is my porn - funky wrapping tape, rubber stamps, notebooks, pens - they're all XXX rated goodies to me. 
17. I buy LOADS of craft items like jewellery making supplies, material to sew with etc, then never do anything with it. I just like pretty things. It's a disease.
18. I have an affinity with animals. This is going to sound way out there, but I know what they're feeling. I was visiting my mum and my cat ran down the garden path to greet me (my mum looked after my cat) and I knew there was something wrong. Instinctively I ran my hands down Tilly's leg and felt something rough - I pulled on it and it a massive thorn stuck in her leg - it was a good 1/4 inch deep in there. She wasn't limping (amazingly) - I just knew. It comes from being an empath. We pick up on things other people don't, vibrations, whatever you call them. Being around animals is extremely healing for me, and animals are drawn to me. Not just pets, but farm animals too. I'm an animal magnet and I love it.
19. I love doing laundry but don't iron. 
20. I love tea but don't like my own very much. My husband on the other hand makes a phenomenal cup of tea despite not drinking it himself. 

Fire away, leave me some facts in the comments.

The first time tag

Hi! I saw this tag over at She Might Be Loved and thought I'd give it a go as I don't feel well and it's an easy post to do while I snuggle up under a blanket.

1. First Best Friend?

My first best friend was a girl called Rachel, who I'm still very good friends with now. I met her when I was about five. Our mums went to the same church and they were friends so we became friends.

He we are on holiday in Gran Canaria in 2001

2. First Kiss?

My first proper kiss was with someone called Paul who was a bit of a weirdo, to be frank. I think I wanted to get it out of the way just to say I'd had my first kiss! I got my first boyfriend not too long after when I was 15.

3. First Concert?

I went to my first gig when I was 16. I don't do things by halves - I went to the Monsters of Rock gig at Donington in 1990. (Yes, I'm that old!) I went with a couple of friends on the coach. It was a looooong old day but it was really good. Whitesnake headlined, and the other bands were Thunder, the Quireboys, Poison, and Aerosmith.

4. First Celebrity Crush?

I think it was Erik Estrada from CHiPs. I loooooooooved him.

5. First Word?

Probably 'fuck' knowing me!

6. First Pet?

We used to live with my nan and grandad but when we got our own house we got a dog called Nipper, who was a very ratty Jack Russell terrier. She used to bite our heels, hence the name. As she got older she was a little shit who used to attack other dogs. She's get into bed with one of us, nick all the covers then growl at us if we tried to take some back. Little ratbag. She was about 17 when my mum had to have her put down. She was blind, deaf and lame. Later I had a cat called Tilly, who broke my bloody heart when she died. She was my baby.

7. First job?

I worked for Unwins, who were a wine merchants with a few hundred stores. I worked at their head office doing telesales.

8. First Phone?

I had one of those black Nokia things with an aerial you had to pull up.

9. First Tweet?

No idea. I think I'm on my 5th or 6th account now. When I get hacked off I start again from scratch.

10. First make-up?

I used to go through my nan and mum's make up bag. I remember when I was about 14 wearing bright blue mascara and pink eyeshadow with frosted pink lipstick. Ye gads. Crimes to beauty!

Thanks for reading.

This weekend is going to be low on posts because I'm feeling craptacular. Have a good one!

Autumn Tag

I saw this tag on One Little Vice (originally via MakeupPixi3) and immediately knew I'd do it as I LOVE Autumn!

For Autumn, what is your...

Favourite thing about it? EVERYTHING! I love walking through the park crunching leaves underfoot, all the beautiful colours the trees go, the cosiness of evenings in with the curtains closed listening to the rain, and snuggling up in my jammies.

Favourite drink? Tea or hot chocolate. Marshmallows optional!

Favourite scent/candle? I have a lot of scents from (now defunct indie seller) The Morbid The Merrier which I love. I tend to wear more masculine scents in winter with scent ingredients like tobacco, leather, vetiver etc. I like smelling like a bonfire or a musty ol' library. I want to smell like I'm full of dark intrigue!

Best lipstick? Anything in deep berry tones. I love everything from dark red to almost-black purples.

Go to moisturiser? I chop and change all the time but I will be using my new Organic Surge moisturiser for dry skin next, supplemented with grapeseed oil if I get some really dry bits.

Go to colours for the eyes? I am obsessed with jewel shades - burgundy, navy and emerald will be high on my agenda.

Favourite music or band/singer to listen to? My tastes don't change from season to season - except for Christmas songs. I LOVE them and start listening to them once Halloween and Bonfire night are out of the way.

Favourite outfit to wear (i.e. boots & a scarf combo)? I love hats and scarves so I relish the opportunity to dig them all out. I'll be wearing my usual dresses and leggings with a thick cardi or coat and swapping my flats for boots.

Autumn treat? I don't need a new coat this year as I dug one out from a few years ago which just needs some new buttons on it. The only things I'm tempted by are nail varnish and makeup - the new MUA Smokin' palette coming out soon (which is absolutely gorgeous!), the Models Own Velvet Goth collection, B. lip gloss in Morello (a deep vampy cherry shade), and the new Vintage Romance palette from Sleek MakeUP.

Favourite place to be? Inside on the sofa wearing my jammies and slippers, in the park wrapped up nice and toasty, in the car going somewhere with the heater on full blast - anywhere it's warm, basically.

What are your favourite Autumnal things?

Thanks for reading.

Tag thingy - ABCs

Hello lovers,

Lovely Mary from Brown, Party of Chaos tagged me in this post and since I luuuurve talking about myself, naturally I hopped to it.

Attached or Single?

Attached.

Best Friend?

It's cheesy, but it's my husband. Other than him, Rachel is a lucky name for me. Rach who's in Canada, Rach who's in my old home town, and Rachel Irregularaholic are 3 very good friends of mine.

Cake or pie? 

Now you'd think being a fat girl that I'd be all over cake and pie, but no. However, I do have a soft spot for cheesecake. I drool over the thought of it and indulge about twice a year.

Day of choice?

Any day but Mondays. Mondays are always bleh.

Essential item?

My handbag. It has just about everything I need in it.

Favourite color?

Hot pink. It just makes me happy.

Gummy bears or worms?

Bears, I suppose.

Hometown?

A little place in Kent. 

Indulgence? 

I have a soft spot for crisps. 

January or July?

July. I get so down when we don't see sunshine for months.

Kids?

Not yet, but we're having fun trying! :)

Life isn’t complete without?

The hubby, my family, my friends and my blog readers, many of whom I think of as friends. I've met so many amazing people online, a lot of whom I've never met in the flesh, but you all have a special place in my heart. There are a lot of good people in my life and I'm thankful for them all.

Marriage date?

07/04/2012. My birthday.

Number of brothers/sisters?

One younger brother, who I don't see nearly enough of. 

Oranges or Apples?

Apples. Citrus really winds up my IBS.

Phobias?

Being buried alive. Dumb moths that fly into my face. Huge beastly spiders.

Quotes?

"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." - Cyril Connolly

"Each of us has a short ride on this earth and as long as we stay in our lane, and don't affect someone else's ride, we should be allowed to drive as we see fit." - Rob Thomas

Reasons to smile?

My husband, my friends, my family, nature, sunsets, Jason Momoa (hehe.)

Season of choice?

Autumn. Still warm, still fairly sunny but not obnoxiously hot.

Tag 5 People. 

Gail from Gaily Gumdrops, Christy, Louise from Polka Spots and Freckle Dots, Lisa from Kit and Kaboodle, Nikki from Natty Nikki. If you've already done this post and I've tagged you, just ignore it. If you want to do this post, go fer it!

Unknown fact about me?

Help! Umm, when I was a baby someone dropped me. My face hit a chair and I bit right into my tongue. Because we were dirt poor they just crammed my gob full of ice cubes instead of getting me to a hospital. Well 'ard from birth, virtually! ;)

Vegetable?

Sweet potato. Holy shit, delicious!

Worst habit?

See above. Swearing lots!

Xray or Ultrasound?

X Ray. I've had too many to count, mostly on my cooked-spaghetti-weak wrists and ankles.

Your favorite food?

That's hard. I don't really eat my favourite foods much, because my favourite foods tend to be fatty. My faves are things like Indian takeaways, but I rarely indulge....like once a year. I know they say all things in moderation, but I'm not good with moderation. Often the safest thing for me is just not to go there at all. 

Zodiac sign?

Aries.

Thanks for reading.

Five Things

Hello!

Rachele - cat mama, dimply-cheeked diva and mistress of awesome tagged me in a 5 Things Post. Go read Rachele's or else ferrets will invade your bum. Don't believe me? Just wait. Ferrets are the masters of suspense*.

Anyhoo, here we are with 5 things about me. I really struggled as I'm chronic over-sharer and you already know so much about me!

1. I sound like Eliza Doolittle before she had elocution lessons.



My nan on my mum's side was a Cockney born in Bermondsey who later moved to Kent with my grandad - who was also born in London. They settled about 20 miles outside of London, where accents tend to be quite similar to those in London anyway.

My grandad tending his beloved garden

My nan (on the right.)

So I'm a chirpy Cockney-sounding bird. One day I'll do a video so you can hear me but I HATE my voice on video. It's weird - I don't mind my speaking voice but hearing it back is so weird.

 2. I am an encyclopaedia of song lyrics. I think in songs. I'll hear a word that triggers a lyric and I'm off singing it. Almost every dream I have, there's a song in it, and I'll get it stuck in my head and sing it all day.

3. This may not be news to anyone, but I'm quite vain. I think a certain amount of vanity is healthy. Some people might think it's odd for a fat person to be vain, but I think that's bull. Everybody has something (hopefully many things!) they love about themselves and want to look at every now and then as positive affirmation of how great they are. Every body. I don't think money is the root of all evil - comparison is. If we all loved ourselves a bit more, jealousy would all but disappear.

*vain face*

You can see my polka dot knickers on under my skirt. Oops! As my mum would say "At least you've got some on!"

4. I got my first white hair at 22. WHITE! No, don't bring me in gently with the grey - just go straight to bloody white. Hahaha!

5. I'm pretty disorganised. When I was well enough to be working, my office and workspace were organised to the nth degree. At home, not so much! I have a notebook fetish, and they're scattered all about me. The laundry in this place never seems to be done - I'm either doing laundry, drying laundry, folding it or putting it away. (I'm sorry, but life is too short for ironing!) When laundry isn't in one of those stages it's piled on the second sofa in the living room waiting on being folded and put away. You wouldn't think there are only two of us here. I have no idea where it all comes from!

I'm gradually introducing storage solutions so I can organise things better. We've recently added a double bed in the spare room which is a storage bed. When you lift the mattress up (it's pneumatic) it makes a Star Wars-esque swooshing noise. Cool.

We also added a bathroom organiser for allll my lotions and potions.

We recently bought some furniture from our friends who are moving to Canada next month. We got a tall wardrobe but it's so large we had to take it to bits outside the main entrance to get it into the building! My last wardrobe broke under the strain of all my clothes 18 months ago, which is why I keep buying more - I can't find anything! We also bought a tall but narrow cd/dvd shelf, because it fits into a space about 9 inches wide, which is very handy.

I think brutal organisation is key for people like me who have fluctuating fatigue and pain levels. I definitely attack the housework in fits and starts rather than being able to do the same tasks every day. I do what I can when I can, but things are certainly messy more than I'm comfortable with.

I tag everyone who wants to do this! Please feel free to come back and leave your link when you've posted yours, I'd love to see!

* I may have made that up about ferrets.

Thanks for reading!