The twelve days of christmas

You know me, I'm always one to celebrate. But this year, even more so than normal, because I've officially been celebrating for 12 days. Which is, quite convenient, as it gives me a great basis for a blog post.

On the first day of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas, my mum gave to me (and Ollie) an amazing festive hamper. Filled with gin, wine and other goodies, which we opened after putting up Ollie's Christmas tree (finally).

On the second day of Christmas

On the second day of Christmas, my favourite salon gave to me, the most gorgeous set of festive nails. I always get my nails done at Castle Beauty (more to come in a separate blog post) and the new set (berry with gold glitter french tips) had me perfectly set for Christmas.

On the third day of Christmas

On the third day of Christmas, my kitchen gave to me, some festive treats; baked by moi with the help of my wonderful kitchen assistant, Ollie. I made gingerbread cake pops covered in white chocolate and then gluten-free chocolate orange brownies. I used this recipe and just substituted the plain flour for a gluten free version.

On the fourth day of Christmas

On the fourth day of Christmas, my work gave to me, a lovely afternoon filled with fuddle treats (hence the baking), Christmas jumpers, and festive games. We also swapped secret santa presents and I got the funniest present from mine; one of those sequin/hidden photo cushions with a picture of me and Ollie on it. The fourth day of Christmas was a two-parter, as me and Laura also went for our annual Christmas meal, this time at Dino.

On the fifth day of Christmas

On the fifth day of Christmas, my friend Sophia gave to me, a great night out filled with cocktails and chicken nuggets. We went to Thor's tipi first, which I was excited to finally try, and then went to Bunk and then Boilermaker.

On the sixth day of Christmas

On the sixth day of Christmas, my work gave to me, my first UK Meds Christmas party! We went to the 'best parties ever' marquee and were treated to unlimited drinks, plenty of entertainment acts (gymnasts, dancers and flaming limbo) and a great night with all the team! The food was a little average but the venue was amazing, and my outfit was suitably festive (ASOS embellished playsuit and gold strappy shoes form PLT).

On the seventh day of Christmas

On the seventh day of Christmas, my wrapping skills gave to me, a completed set of presents, sat waiting under the tree (unintentional rhyme). I switch up my wrapping paper theme each year and this year I fancied something a bit more rustic and classic. So red, brown and fabric ribbon was the choice in the end!

On the eighth day of Christmas

On the eighth day of Christmas, my friends gave to me, our 8th annual secret santa swap (look how nicely that worked out). Even though I don't live there anymore, it's tradition to do it at my parents with mum as the Christmas fairy who helps us keep the presents secret until the last minute. It was as successful as ever; big Katie loved her presents from me (I got the short straw this year because her birthday is only 3 weeks before Christmas so she's the hardest to buy for) and I loved my presents from Staci (a beautiful Becca cosmetics gift set and a pair of red heeled boots).

On the ninth day of Christmas

On the ninth day of Christmas, tradition gave to me, a day spent in and out of the pub. I started with lunch and a couple of drinks with my family at the Malt Shovel, and then finished with plenty of prosecco at the Last Post with the girls (amidst bumping into lots of old friends).

On the tenth day of Christmas

On the tenth day of Christmas, santa gave to me, everything I could wish for and more. Not only did I get loads of gorgeous presents (varying from pretty jewellery to a cordless vacuum cleaner, since I'm a grown up now), but we also had the most amazing Christmas dinner ever. I swear they get better every year. I was also lucky enough to be surrounded by all the people most important to me; we started the day as a 6 (me, Aidan, mum, dad, grandma and grandad) before being joined by Ollie and then my dad's side of the family. We ate too much, drank way too much (me and dad got through 7 bottles of prosecco) and played games until we were all ready for bed.

On the eleventh day of Christmas

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, a perfect day and a giant pile of presents. Me and Ollie had said for a while that we would have our own Christmas day on boxing day, so after spending Christmas day evening with my family, we headed to his mum's for a lovely boxing day lunch. Then when it was just the two of us again, back at his, it was time for us to swap presents from each other. He did very very well and spoiled me way more than he should have! Olivia burton jewellery, a matching nightie and dressing gown, marble ear pods, ted baker hair bands and a few funny ones too; who knew the boy had such good taste? Thankfully, he loved his presents from me too (I was nervous because he has very specific taste) and we finished the day with the most amazing camembert bread bowl and cheese board that I've ever put together (it was incredible, even if I do say so myself).

On the twelfth day of Christmas

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my mum's side of the family gave to me, a lovely annual Christmas meal. There was excitement in the air as the countdown for my cousin's wedding is officially on, and the food was great too. I thought I'd be all cheesed out by that point but apparently not too much to order camembert (again) for my starter. Well, if you can't treat yourself at Christmas then when can you?