Feeling Festive

Christmas is finally upon us! People have been going on about Christmas for what feels like months but now that it is officially December I feel that it is acceptable to actually get excited about it! This year I have already been to my fair share of Christmas markets. Over the past few weeks I have ventured to Leeds Christkindelmarkt and enjoyed yummy chocolate marshmallows, sugar cinnamon pancakes and of course beer whilst getting cosy in the beer tent listening to the band Mundy and friends, visited the Manchester Christmas markets twice and enjoyed a much needed catch up with some uni friends and devoured garlic potatoes, macarons and delicious strudel! I have also wandered past the Liverpool markets whilst on a quick shopping trip and last week me and Jamie went to York for the day to visit the St Nicholas Fayre, where we had a lovely day wandering around York and seeing the markets and the Shambles. We ate yummy pancakes and drank a ridiculous amount of free tea before heading to a veggie cafe for some dinner. 

We also watched my all time favourite film this weekend, Elf. I cannot believe that it is 10 years old! I can remember going to see it when it first came out and love it a little bit more each time I watch it! When I got home on Monday morning my dad and brother had put up the tree and decorations which made the house look nice and festive. Even though there is still 3 weeks to go I'm so excited and can't wait to give everybody their presents!
I think that working within retail can put a bit of a downer on Christmas sometimes as we have long busy days trying to help customers shop and have the decorations and Christmas songs on months in advance, which gets tedious and annoying. We also have to stay happy, cheerful and helpful when all we really want to do is go home and watch a Christmas film! This year I'm not going to let it spoil Christmas, even if I still have to get up ridiculously early on Boxing day for the sale...

Bonfire Night

Bonfire night is one of my favourite night's of the year. I just love wrapping up warm and snug to go and stand near a bonfire to keep toasty and light sparklers and watch fireworks. This year I went to a local cricket club to celebrate, it was such a good evening and I bumped into some old friends which was really nice as we got to catch up! Of course bonfire toffee and beer was involved.. :D

Halloween!

This is the first year that I haven't had any plans on Halloween night!! I think having graduated from university this past summer and moving home has had an effect on my lack of plans! I love Halloween and I'm always amazed at how creative people get with their fancy dress and pumpkins. My brother has been carving pumpkins all day and has done a Mickey Mouse one and a Puss in Boots one, (not very scary I know) and they are amazing! One of my best friends birthday is Halloween but we are celebrating tomorrow instead so tonight my plan is to sit on the sofa eating sweets and answering the door to trick or treaters! I thought I'd share some fun memories from the past few years which include a lot of fancy dress, pumpkins and alcohol...

                                                     Happy Halloween!!

Tom Odell

Last night me and Jamie went to Manchester to see the wonderful Tom Odell. I bought the tickets ages ago when browsing who was playing the academy and as they were really cheap I thought why not, even though I only knew a couple of his songs. We then got to see him during the summer at boardmasters festival and he was incredible and since then I had been looking forward to the gig so much! We headed to Manchester during a very scary thunder and lightening storm but luckily we made it in one piece. We first went for a few cocktails (mocktails for designated driver J) before going to the venue. Supporting him were a cool band called Wildflowers and a guy called George Ezra and they were both extremely good and got the crowd going. It has been a while since I've actually enjoyed a support act let alone like two support acts so that was a nice surprise! Tom was absolutely amazing and I definitely want to go and see him live again very soon! On the way home I googled/wiki'd him and was very surprised to find out that NME gave him a terrible review and his album a 0/10!! He is such a talented singer, songwriter and pianist so if you have read that review and decided not to buy his album then I suggest you wipe it from your memory and listen to him, he's really good! :)

Imogen Heap - Speeding Cars

I've recently been re-watching the oc and this song was on the season 3 finale 'the graduates' episode and I think it's a really great song :)

Wedding!

An old friend from school got married yesterday and I was lucky enough to be invited to celebrate with them! She looked absolutely beautiful and you could tell that they were very much in love! They had an amazing chocolate fountain, cupcakes and a sweetie stall which I obviously took full advantage of.. The evening had such a brilliant atmosphere and everyone was dancing which was fun! 

Haydock Races take two

Last weekend a big group of us went to Haydock Races to celebrate Emily's 21st birthday. It was a surprisingly hot day which made it even better as we got to watch the races on the grass rather than inside! It was so much fun getting all dressed up and I even managed to win some money! :D If you have never been to the races before I would definitely recommend going.