Tis The Season To Be Jolly.

Well that's Christmas all about wrapped up for another year. Did you all have a good one? I'm currently weighing up the pros and cons of changing out of my pyjamas (I've been debating this for approximately four hours though!) I sort of disappeared about a week before Christmas; my days merged into one long session of darkness, trains and cookie decorating (notice how there is no evidence of said cookies- how bloody hard is it to use royal icing!?) In a whirlwind of working and Christmas prep, there's only a few people that I didn't manage to squeeze in. Is it just me or once Christmas day comes, all the stresses building up to it just seem to melt away. We had a wonderful day; starting in the morning with my parents and Bimble (I got him fake tattoos and a moustache to make him into a strong man and as you can see, am far more excited about it then he is!) The afternoon was spent in the kitchen with Harps's grandparents and early evening we feasted before coming home and sitting with Batman to open gifts. The last few days since have been a slower, much needed rest. Hands up if you're ready to go back to work? No, me neither.

Over & Out

Sophie 

Batman Diaries #11 Batman At Christmas.

Batman has grown to love Christmas. This being his third one, he revels in the papers to chew, tree to play with and attention he gets. It's the only time of year he stays a little bit more still to be able to take photos. It's almost as if he's in awe of the tree; glittering and glowing in an evening. He has his own little stocking that hangs on his hammock but really he's more interested in pine cones (I keep a few at the bottom of the tree for him to play with) and opening his presents (and everyone else's) before the big day. 

Merry Christmas 

Love Batman Xx

Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree.

It's really and properly almost, very nearly Christmas now! To the extent that I'm not embarrassed to show you my tree which has actually been decorated and spreading festive cheer for just over a week.  So snuggle down with a warm or tipsy beverage of sorts and grab a biccie; it's tree time!!

I'm always in charge of the tree. Harps and I always decorate it together but I'm definitely more bothered about him; this is actually the first year he hasn't lay on the floor, throwing the decorations at it, shouting "Christmas!" just to annoy me! (I think it was because he had the camera to keep him distracted.) Our little tree is on it's last legs. This will be the last year that we use it. Bought five years ago, we fell into the whole 'black Christmas tree' thing? Why was that a thing?! It was cheap and did the job with our minimum wage jobs. Next year we'll be going big and going real! Also check out my lovely festive reindeer made by the guys and gals at People & Gardens! That cheeky little fox below is one of the only non-handmade decorations we own but he's just so damn snazzy!

Slowly, over the years we've gathered little homemade Christmas decorations from friends and family. Every year it's my favourite part of decorating the tree. It's become a little tradition that Stacie makes me decorations for Christmas and I can't wait to see what's this years! Most of the above are hers but last year my brother and sister-in-law gave us their little handmade melted snowman bauble which is such a great idea don't you think?! This year our collection has already grown with some friends who are expecting their first baby next year (HUZZAH!) making us a mini Christmas Batman which is so cute and thoughtful and a great use of recycling their tree from last year by gifting it on this year! What a plan for next year ey?! 

So after a day of blanket, film watching and paper chain making. Christmas is slowly arriving in the Harps household. 

Now show me all your trees dammit!

Over & Out

Sophie X

Dear Santa,

We all love a good Christmas list and although the festivities have been officially cancelled gift wise in our house this year (wedding saving is hard ya'll.) It doesn't stop me putting a little list together of what I'd love santa (I totally misspelled that as satan at first, don't want no gifts from that guy!). A surprising amount of footwear is needed this year, I'm fearing the cold weather and require some sturdy shoes to brave the elements in but also have had to abandon my slippers as an actual safety hazard. Of course there are some books thrown in there (and who am I kidding, I'll totally end up buying those for myself at some stage) and a few extra treats just because. 

1) Black Woolen TOMS Classics

2) Ampersand Rose Gold Necklace

3) Late Fragments by Kate Gross

4) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

5) Daisy Street Bunny Slippers

6) Grow Your Own Blueberry Jam

7) Dr Martens 101 Boot

8) I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

9) Orla Kiely Scallop Pocket Leather Bag

What are your Christmas wishes for this year? I'd really love to see some links below if you've made your wishlist yet?! 

Love Sophie Xx

Christmas Jumper Day 2015 // Womens.

I love a Christmas jumper. I love anything cheesy about Christmas really. I would buy all the jumpers if I could wear them to work in December, alas there's only one day where I can bare my festive knitwear. This year I'm going to be fundraising for my companies' charity of the year, British Heart Foundation. And on Friday 4th December, we'll be taking part in a festive themed day to help raise end of year funds. Text Santa also supports a variety of amazing charities; Macmillan Cancer Support, Make-A-Wish UK and Save The Children and host a fabulous, festive jumper and fundraising extravaganza on 18th December. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to raise some festive funds and get all cheery. Here's a few of my favourite Christmas jumpers for women if you're on the hunt for yourself or planning to treat someone, there's something for all the budgets!

Do You Want To Build A Snowman? Jumper// Etsy// £17.95

Christmas Tree Flashing Lights Jumper// F&F At Tesco// £20

Unicorn Jumper// George At Asda// £15

Knitted 3D Gift Jumper// H&M// £12.99

You Go Glen Coco Jumper// Etsy// £12.22

Let It Snow Jumper// Tokyo Laundry// £13.99

Candycane Knitted Sweatshirt// Topshop// £35

Advent Calendar Jumper// Primark// £14

Gingerbread Jumper// Peacocks// £16

Oh and if you're on the hunt for menswear, check out my handy little post here!

Love Sophie Xx

Christmas Jumper Day 2015 // Mens.

The love of Christmas jumpers has grown massively in the last few years, with more and more festive fundraising ideas using them to promote brilliant charities! This year I'm going to be fundraising for my companies' charity of the year, British Heart Foundation. And on Friday 4th December, we'll be taking part in a festive themed day to help raise end of year funds. Text Santa also supports a variety of amazing charities; Macmillan Cancer Support, Make-A-Wish UK and Save The Children and host a fabulous, festive jumper and fundraising extravaganza on 18th December. Whatever the reason, it's a great way to raise some festive funds and get all cheery. Here's a few of my favourite Christmas jumpers for men if you're on the hunt for yourself or planning to treat someone, there's something for all the budgets!

Straight Outta Lapland Jumper// Boohoo// £18

Buddy The Elf Quote Jumper// Etsy// £16.26

Tangled Bear Novelty Jumper// Amazon// £19.99

Christmas Nutcracker Jumper// M&S// £25

Snow Effect Jumper// ASOS// £40

Blinking Light-Up Jumper// Tu at Sainsbury's// £20 £15!

Light Up Fire Place Jumper// Firebox// £49.99

Musical Bauble Jumper// Primark// £12

Polar Bear Body Jumper// ASOS// £30

Love Sophie Xx

The Christmas That Was & 2014 All Wrapped Up...

Hey there guys and gals, a bit of a long time-no see! How was everybody's festivities?! As the usual life/blog balance went a bit astray over December and this post has even come pretty darn late, I thought we'd have a wrap up of Christmas and New Years Eve all in one. I'll show off my snazzy time and you can all "ooh" and "ahhh" at the generic festive photos, ok? Deal. 

*All photos were taken on my phone because I was too busy having a good time to grab my camera. That's a good thing though isn't it?

The three stages of a staff Christmas party. 1) Looking a little creepy but relatively put together *and promising
myself not to drink because I need to bake 9 cakes the next day. 2) Someone gives me a unicorn style crown
and almost immediately plan 1) goes out the window. 3) "I'm a drunk, sparkly unicorn- take a photo of me dazzling
whilst I can't stand still."

Christmas snowballed quicker then expected, just like every year and with lots of baking promised to my nearest and dearest it meant a very hungover Sophie crawling around the kitchen and emerging no less than FIVE hours later in a cloud of icing sugar. Luckily I'd had my annual Christmas lunch with Stacie (honestly it was disgusting how much food we ate) to keep me going. Working full time, I wasn't off much over Christmas, I'd always rather that people with little-uns have that time together. Besides a few drinks on a work night with friends that are home for the holidays is what it's all about?But soon it arrived- Christmas Eve. 

1) Christmas dinner traditions with my bestest- both hungover as every year. 2) Hours later than planned and with a much bigger hangover than planned-BAKING COMPLETE. 3)Bimble on Christmas eve with my Text Santa hat! 4) More Christmas gift giving with my brother and sister in law.

I finished work at 2pm and headed over to my parents to wait for my brother and sister in law to arrive. We sat chuckling and opening gifts and had a generally splendid time, before I headed home to Harps/Batman, festive films and too much chocolate...

1) A wonderfully creative melted snowman bauble from my sister in law. 2) Batman receives gifts from his pet friends. 3) Harps marvelling at how long his beard is. 4) Christmas lunch table.

We make a point of alternating who's house we spend Christmas lunch at (we're far too lazy to host it ourselves) and this year it landed at my parents house. We headed over to see Harps's grandparents in the morning (honestly they're just incredible at holding Christmas!) and opened lots of lovely gifts- including some generous funds for our wedding and a few treats for Batman! Can we just take a second to shout "OUR WEDDING IS NEXT YEAR PEOPLE!"

A few festive selfies...and some spaniel selfies obviously.

Let the dinner commence!

Christmas dinner began and we all tucked into portions that were enough to feed a small colony. Mother had downloaded some kind of Downtown Abbey Christmas album which meant Bimble and I  singing the operatic parts as loud as we could, interrupting whatever kind of 'traditional, quiet, family Christmas' anyone might have been expecting.

Bellies full, none of us could leave the table for more than 37 seconds and settled down for a few games of Kerplunk. A game I was sheltered from as a child *scowls at mother* and with a few glasses bottles of wine down my competitive side came out. Luckily my mother has the worst luck in pretty much anything she plays so I only lost once and Bimble teamed up with Harps which is a pretty unfair advantage- I think they won the most. 

Traditional family Christmas photo.

Hours later, still barely able to move, Harps and I took the decision to begin the pilgrimage home (it's about a 10 minute walk). We still had a few more gifts to open, we make a point of dragging them out all day, does anyone else do this? 

 Some of the amazing gifts that we opened included a hilarious book about crappy children's art, a cute art print, some baking goodies, lots of lovely bits to learn to crochet with and Cookin with Coolio recipe book which is both brilliant and delicious looking. 

And so New Years eve drew in and as usual we visited Harp's cousin who was turning 16! After gorging on buffet and playing with their Christmas presents, we ventured home for a night of drinking and playing with Batman. I decided to learn the basics of crochet and after popping an expensive bottle of champagne, I'm surprised I did as well as I did! Batman fell in love with his Christmas present from us, a giant Batman 3 Level castle that he seems to enjoy jumping in and out of the middle windows in a way only Batman would!

Happy New Year to all of you. I've grown very fond of all you little blogging lot and have made a few lasting friends that I couldn't be without. This year I intend to use Twitter a little bit more, I'm pretty scared of it but it's the best place to talk to you all! May 2015 bring you all great health, lovely memories and fun adventures. Lastly, let us not forget...I GET MARRIED NEXT YEAR!

Love Sophie Xx

Festive Planning: Gift Wrap and Cards.

Feeling better, the festivities are setting in. Sitting down to write my christmas cards, I ended up with quite the selection this year after falling madly in love with the Caroline Gardner ones on offer in TKMaxx! How awesome are these Batman themed ones? Batman just wasn't at all impressed. There's something really lovely about christmas card writing, a time to thank someone you love for the year you've spent together, maybe a chance to catch up with family, a tradition that makes people smile. I'm not one of those for writing the same old thing in each card (well, mostly) but I like to sit and take a little time on wishing my friends and family happy holidays.

I also really love wrapping presents. Well, saying that, it's probably more that I love theming my papers and ribbons and tags etc etc. This year I wanted red, white and brown in tying with the theme of my tree. Intentions were good, I planned to hand dot the brown parcel paper with white ink but delays and busy christmas planning, not to mention being ill means that my brown paper is dotty-less.     The spotted wrapping paper that I do have and matching pretty ribbons are from Wilko and I'll definitely be heading back there again before it's all over! 

When it comes to the actual wrapping part, I get really impatient. I just want my odd-shaped gifts to look like the perfect parcels under the tree but every year I forget to save up cardboard and boxes to make it easier on myself. Batman's pretty fond of wrapping presents though and every time he hears me getting the papers out, he comes running over (usually to nibble on the corners) but hey, the thought's there! 

How are you all with writing christmas cards? Are you the sort of person with the same one-liners or do you take a little more time over it? And tell me all about your wrapping themes, I'd love to compare! 

Love Sophie and Batman Xx