Gingle bells, gingle all the way

I literally don't think that I could've had a more festive weekend if I'd tried. I kicked things off on Thursday night when me and Sophia headed into town to Winter Wonderland. I really think that they've done it nicer than ever this year, with the normal wooden ski bar and then an additional glass apres ski bar with fur throws on all the seats and super pretty fairy lights everywhere. I've been to ice bars in Amsterdam and London but have never been to the Nottingham one so I was keen to give it a try this year and it was pretty good for a pop-up one! We got given massive gloves (even burying me and my man hands) and included in the £13 ticket was 2 drinks of your choice. We both started with pink gin (although you annoyingly had to pay for the tonic) and then went with mulled wine (my first of the season) to try and warm up. The place was really pretty, and we were pretty proud we were the last ones standing and managed to last the whole allotted hour in there! And then we headed in to the normal bar for a much-needed warm up.

Despite the fact that I left my job at Potter Clarkson back in July, I was super happy to still be invited to the Christmas party! So before heading to the Bierkeller, I got ready in burgundy bodycon dress with pearl details and black pointed boots (both SheIn). Seeing everyone again was literally amazing, and the shock on everyone's face (as not many people knew I was going) when they saw me never got old. Plus, I managed to drink about 8 G&T's so I definitely made the most of the bar tab (company money is seemingly even better when you're a guest not an employee). And it was so lovely how excited everyone was to see me and made me realise it was the first job I had that really felt like home. I was at McDonalds for 4 years but people would come and go a lot so I was nowhere near ending it with who I started it with. My internship and UNiDAYS were both part-time, so I always only ever had one foot in, whereas Potter Clarkson is the kind of place where people have worked for their entire careers, so it was like being welcomed into a big family. And unlike when I go out with McDonalds people after leaving, nothing has changed much at Potter Clarkson since I left. It makes me happy to know that there'll always be a place for me there, whether I work there or not. And it was nice to be told by so many people that the new people there are nice, but they're just not me. There's only one jenni from the block afterall!

Surprisingly (and luckily) I was feeling perfectly fine on Saturday morning. The luckily part because I had been sternly warned by every single family member not to be hungover for our big annual Christmas meal. I don't get to see my uncles, aunts or cousins very often because they're spread across the world so it's really nice when they're round for Christmas. Saturday was the turn of my mum's side of the family and it was a lovely 3 course meal at Table 8; my uncle's treat. I went with yet another SheIn beauty for my outfit - this lace dress really is gorgeous and perfect for a massive meal because it's a shift style. I did berry and gold eye makeup (very festive) and then finished with Kylie Cosmetics lip kit in Kristen. The food at our meal was amazing! I had 2 starters, shared between me and Aidan (I often get him to split 2 with me when I can't decide), which was a brie and cranberry tart and crab cakes, and then I got lamb shank for main and pear and almond tart for dessert which came with the most incredible cinnamon ice cream. We also play musical chairs each course at the meal so that all 12 of us get chance to see and chat to one another, and it was an even more special occasion than normal as my cousin proposed to his girlfriend earlier this year so we were celebrating that too!

Sunday may be the day of rest as far as God is concerned, but for me this week, it was another day of fun (and drinking). For the first time all weekend, I wasn't wearing a single item from SheIn and instead wore orange suede skirt (missguided), white roll neck top (new look), black thigh high boots (public desire) and green faux fur printed coat (M&S). Little Katie had been saying that she never got a chance to do the Winter Wonderland properly last year, so we'd had this day in the diary for ages to make the most of it. We kicked the day off with bottomless brunch at Revolution and I strategically chose the Hockley one, rather than the cornerhouse, because I always find the service in the cornerhouse one mega slow (not what you want when you're trying to make the most of the time). It ended up being a good call as we got 6 drinks each in the 2 hour window, plus food, for only £25! I had 4 proseccos and 2 cocktails (impressive that cocktails were included in the deal too) and chicken and bacon waffle stack, while katie had 5 proseccos and 1 cocktail and a salted beef hash. Everything was amazing and we were very satisfied that we'd made the most of it!

We weren't done yet though as we headed out in the search of some more drinks and settled on Alto in the end. Even though it's the latest favourite place for a Saturday night, I actually prefer it so much more as a casual week day drinks kind of place. We got a couple of gin cocktails in there and had a gossip on the swing seats, before heading down to the square to go on the ice mountain slide. It's new for this year and omg it was so much fun. Just like a water slide in the summer, you hike a rubber ring up the stairs and then get pushed down it and we went on 4 times like big kids because it was so much fun (and also because we wanted a picture but kept messing it up). Then it was really starting to rain so we headed for cover in the Winter Wonderland bar where we stayed for many, many hours. I was on the mulled wine and the gin again (my drinks of the weekend) and we interrupted our long gossip a few hours in to go and get something from the cheese food stand. We were really tempted by the raclette but we ended up sharing some halloumi fries instead which were amazing. We also considered going ice skating but thought better of it in the end (we both have bad balance and even worse so after many long hours of drinking) and just watched everyone else do it instead. Then after more than outstaying our welcome at the Winter Wonderland bar, we finished up with a couple of hours in Be At One. We basically worked our way through the festive cocktail menu and Katie hated them all - especially a blueberry gingerbread muffin one which even I will admit tasted too much like a blueberry muffin to make for an enjoyable cocktail. Overall though, our day definitely fit the bill of a sunday funday!