Tuesday, 3 December 2013

#bigblogmasproject Day 3 | London Secret Santa Meet Up


On Saturday, Becca and I headed on the coach to London for the #londonseretsantameet organised by Clare and Emma. For some reason we booked a really early coach, which resulted in me getting up at 5.30 bleary eyed trying to get ready to catch a bus to the coach station. I got the coach and met Becca at Ringwood (another stop down the line) and we eventually arrived in London Victoria at 10.30. 

As the meet up wasn't due to start until 1pm it was obviously obligatory that we mooched round the London shops starting at Oxford Street and making our way down to Carnaby Street. It's hard to believe that the last time I was there, it was gorgeous sunshine and had a glittery Union Jack hanging above our heads. This time, Carnaby Street was filled with Christmas robins! We headed to MAC where I think I swatched every shade of cream eyeshadow there was but was still unsatisfied! So onwards to Boots we went, where the trip was a little more successful (but more about that in another post!). We also popped our heads into Choccywoccydodah after seeing the TV show I was intrigued to see the cakes for myself and they are so beautiful!

Also, when I told Becca I had never tried a seasonal beverage from Starbucks or Costa, we immediately made our way to the nearest coffee place so I could try one. We ended up in Starbucks (I think there is pretty much one on every corner in London!) and I tried a salted caramel hot chocolate. It wasn't even on the menu but they made one up for both of us!

We then made our way to Piccadilly Circus as the meet up was being held in Tiger Tiger. Outside Piccadilly tube station there was a GIANT snow globe and we stood to see if it would do anything as it looked like it had foam inside which I was hoping would move around like snow, but nothing happened :( We went on to the bar and were greeted by a smiley Clare! We said hello to some of the other bloggers (there were 19 of us in total) and got some drinks and mingled. We got chatting to Tamsyn and Anastasia who were lovely! As this was the secret Santa meet up we all bought our presents and then there was the big exchange! I was going to refrain from opening mine until Christmas Day but as everyone else were opening theirs, I couldn't resist! I was so astonished when I opened mine as it was something I had wanted for AGES and whoever had me must have been paying attention to my blog as I got MAC's Rebel lipstick which has been on my wishlist forever! Thank-you so much to my secret Santa! I can't wait to try it and blog about it!

We also all got given a very festive goody bag, with lots of lovely bloggers treats inside. The cutest thing in the bag was a little handmade heart sign which says "I love blogging" on it! I can't wait for it to feature in some post backgrounds!

After all this, we didn't realise the time and we had to go get some munchies before heading back to Victoria at just after 4 for our coach so the four of us went off in search of Nandos! The first one we went to was jam packed so after some googling on our phones, we found another one 10 minutes away and headed towards it. We got in straight away and had some lovely food. I tried the double chicken breast burger with chips and a side of perinaise. I love perinaise! I always buy a huge pot when I go to ASDA as that's the only place I can find it outside Nandos.

I had a lovely day and would like to thank Clare and Emma again for all their hard work organising the event (sorry we couldn't stay longer!)

*the photo of Becca and I, I stole from Becca's instagram as the one I took was horrendous! All other photos are my own!


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Monday, 2 December 2013

#bigblogmasproject Day 2 | The Christmas Tag

image from we heart it, edited by me

My first proper #bigblogmasproject post is The Christmas Tag as I thought this would be an appropriate introduction to a month of blogging!

1) Do you prefer a real Christmas tree or synthetic?
I've never had a real tree so I guess I have to say synthetic, my tree is white and I love that it's a little break with a traditional green tree. I love decorating it with multicoloured baubles!

2) You're in a coffee shop, it's December, what do you pick?
I haven't tried any of the festive coffee ranges yet (I'm hoping to change that soon!) but when I do I think I'm going to go for the Costa white hot chocolate.

3) What's your favourite colour scheme for decorating the tree?
I love my tree to be multicoloured! There is a bit of everything on there!

4) Giving or receiving?
I would be lying if I said I didn't like to receive but I always get a really satisfied feeling when I give someone something they really like!

5) To mince pie, or not to?
Eww, not to! I hate mince pies!

6) What's your traditional Christmas lunch?
We usually have Turkey with all the trimmings, I always like Yorkshire puddings with my Christmas dinner too but I'm not sure if that's traditional!

7) Christmas day fashion?
I love the idea of Christmas jumpers but every year I don't buy one. I just hate knowing I'm only going to wear it once then it will sit in the back of the wardrobe for another year. I usually dress up in a pretty dress (after I've opened my presents in my pjs!)

8) What's your favourite Christmas song?
I love Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas. When I hear that I know it's Christmas.

9) What's your favourite Christmas film?
I love Miracle on 34th Street, I usually put it on when I'm wrapping presents. The disc is pretty much worn out from the amount of times I've watched it!

10) Open presents before of after lunch?
Definitely before! You can't beat waking up in the morning and opening all the presents straight away!

Have you done this tag? Feel free to send me your links below!



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Sunday, 1 December 2013

#bigblogmasproject Day 1 | MAC Giveaway!

Well, today is the 1st December which means that Christmas is well and truly on the way. This year I was invited to participate in the #bigblogmasproject by Nicole and as I haven't ever participated in something like this before and as Christmas is my favourite time of year I thought it would be fun.

I also recently made it to 500 followers on Bloglovin so I wanted to celebrate and say thank-you to you all for reading my blog by doing a little giveaway! I wanted to giveaway something that will be featuring on my beauty wishlist this year (as I'm sure it will for most beauty bloggers!). I also wanted to choose something that will give each individual a chance to choose their own shade as everyone is different, so I have decided to offer you all the chance to win a MAC Lipstick. (I know there have been a lot of giveaways for these floating around recently but who can resist MAC? Especially at Christmas!)

All you have to do is enter via the rafflecopter widget below.

The boring bit...
1) The giveaway will run from 1st December to the 31st December 2013 (midnight)
2) All entries will be checked and if there are entries from fake accounts or "compers" these WILL be removed
3) Your choice of lipstick must be from the permanent MAC line. I don't want to cause disappointment by not being able to get hold of something.
4) This giveaway is for my followers in the UK only, sorry.
5) The winner will be contacted by email (using the email address you used to enter) and/or twitter. If they have not responded within 48 hours, another winner will be selected.
6) The prize will be sent to the winner via the MAC or Debenhams website so an address will need to be provided. If the item is not in stock, another item (to the same or less value) may be selected or the winner can choose to wait until the item becomes available again.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!