A Few Christmas Bits

I considered doing a full-on LOOK WHAT I GOT FOR CHRISTMAAAAAS post but the thought made me shudder a bit inside. So instead, I've decided to select a few gifts that I couldn't resist chit-chatting about, because as we all know, if there's one thing I love, it's talking about stuff I like.

This isn't about bragging or any other kind of negative nonsense (love that word), it's about me embracing the fact that no matter how much we all deny it, everyone loves a good nosy at what everyone else received. #AmIRight.

1. Monin 1L Vanilla Coffee Syrup (+ pump)
Because if there's one thing I love, it's flavoured coffee. The cupboards in my house are filled with an array of coffee syrups; my dad is a purveyor of wine, I am a purveyor of coffee syrups. It's not quite the same thing, but it works. Vanilla, of course, is the absolute classic and I pretty much use it daily, so I deemed a one-litre bottle (with accompanying pump, a la many well-known coffee-shops) a completely necessary addition to my growing collection.

2. John Lewis Cashmere Gloves
These are so comfortable I can't even stand it. Well, I can, because they'll be perfect for when Winter actually shows up and it's colder than eleven-degrees outside. I'm hoping this happens soon because it's incredibly difficult to know how to dress when there's a storm battering outside, but it's way too warm to bundle up.

3. Hedgehog Print Cushion
Because as an adoptive hedgehog mother, I need something to remind me of him during the months he's hibernating somewhere in the garden. So adorable!

4. Chocolate
It would one-hundred-percent not be Christmas without a Terry's Chocolate Orange... or about a thousand tonnes of Dairy Milk. You could probably sink a ship with the amount I unwrapped this Christmas, and I'm looking forward to rectifying any particularly depressing January days with a good helping shoved into my gob.

5. Bath & Beauty Faves
I know shower gels are characteristically un-glamourous, but I really don't have enough time to take baths, so showers are my equivalent and shower gels are my luxury product of choice. I'm also super into looking after my skin right now so Neal's Yard and Korres are perfecto. I also swear that after using 'Sensual Jasmine', the cold I'd been battling totally disappeared. Well, for a little while anyway.

I'm so excited to try out these Lancôme mascaras; because as we all know, I love a good mascara, and I've heard only good things about Lancôme (including that Kendall Jenner wears it so).

6. L'Occitane 'Cherry Blossom' Candle
This candle represents one of the many candles I was gifted this year (others included Wild Jasmine, Sparkling Snow, Lavender and Cinnamon & Clove). I inhaled the scent from this candle for a good five minutes or so before I could get a grip on myself and declare that "this'll make a good spring scent" like a total mad woman. I now have the fun task of attempting to find a home for them all...

7. Cath Kidston Christmas Mug
I love Cath Kidston mugs; not only are they so adorable it hurts, they are the perfect size for a whopping cup of coffee in the morning. Which is of course, the most important thing. I've also made the executive decision to use this mug all year round because it's so fab.

8. Fossil Wallet
I'm hugely attached to my current four-year-old Mango croc-effect wallet, but sadly, my need to be as lazy as possible and take only my cards and iPhone out when I run errands means it's no longer up to scratch. This wallet is specifically designed to house notes, coins, credit cards, gift cards and your mobile telephone. It's also the nicest tan leather ever and I am in love.

Sadly, no Zac Efron under my tree (again) this year, but here's to hoping.
~ Eleanor xo

Things that happen at Christmas when you're an adult

If you want to get technical about it, I have in fact been experiencing Christmas as an adult for the last three years. However, I've spent those three years depending on a teeny student loan while living it large at University, so I'm making the bold decision to discount those as 'adult years'. Now though, my bank deems me financially stable enough to receive their complimentary travel insurance, so alas, there is no denying that adulthood is well and truly here.

Still, complimentary European-only travel insurance doesn't really do much for an adult at Christmas...

1. You wake up early not from excitement, but from your body clock thinking it's a work day.
2. It's hard to be enthusiastic when your system is caffeine free.
3. You're way more excited to give presents than receive them because you've totally bossed your gifts this year.
4. 85% of the presents you receive are pajamas, skincare and candles. And you are pleased as punch.
5. You realise that you could in fact eat chocolate for breakfast without asking your parents permission. The thought is rebelliously tantalising.
6. You decide to eat chocolate for breakfast and immediately regret it.
7. You do not stop eating all day, but you're sure this level of food consumption used to be easier when you were a child.
8. You start to feel a bit icky being in your pjs past eleven.
9. Sitting cross legged on the floor to open presents seems like a good idea until you realise you probably won't be able to stand up again.
10. You actually want to send thank you notes.
11. A message written in a Christmas card makes you tear up.
12. You miss the days when you didn't hang off the end of your parents bed while opening your stocking.
13. Seeing Boxing Day sale furniture adverts on television and wondering why this is still a thing.
14. Getting a selection pack is too amazing for words.
15. Reacting to presents only gets more difficult.
16. Drinking Buck's Fizz before you're even dressed.
17. Still using NORAD to track Santa because obvs.
18. There is a family argument and it is cataclysmic. 
19. You count down the minutes until the Downton Abbey Christmas Special.
20. Your entire family stays in the same room for hours at a time and you aren't sure what to do because this never happens.
21. That one present that makes you wonder who this person thinks you are.
22. Trying to reply to a "Merry Christmas" group text before all the other generic greetings are taken.
23. Reminiscing about that time when winter sales started in-stores on Boxing Day... while filling your online cart on the afternoon of Christmas Day.
24. Considering the size of an army you could assemble and keep well-fed using only the vast amount of chocolate you've received.
25. Not worrying about how awful the weather is outside because you probably won't be leaving your house until 2016.
26. Trying to be tactful when suggesting what you want to watch on TV.
27. Your Facebook feed is full of engagement announcements and baby's first Christmases. It's weird.
28. You yearn for the days when you received a stack of CDs. You regret the yearning because it makes you feel about a thousand years old.
29. You stalk all the Kardashian's Instagrams because you don't know why.
30. Looking forward to days of all Turkey everything.

I hope you guys all had a marvelous Christmas (and that it wasn't too socially awkward...).

~ Eleanor xo

Christmas in Windsor

It's no secret that I find Windsor utterly beautiful (and hella instagrammable) on any day of the year, but the festive season has taken things to a whole new level and has sent my use of the heart eye emoji through the roof... and not just because there's now a man selling emoji cushions in the middle of the High Street.

So instead of blowing up everyones Insta feeds with every wreath displayed on every door from every angle (followed by a caption of #WreathGoals), I figured I'd share some of my favourite festive photos here instead. And I thought it only fair to announce that really, no matter how many fairy lights you string up on the front of your house, you'll never come close to beating Her Majesty, who has an entire light display projected onto one of her many turrets each night. Kudos, Ma'am.

Merry Christmas, everyone!
~ Eleanor xo

Shortbread Snowflakes

Festive baking, in my opinion, is the one. Arguably, also a huge marketing ploy set up by supermarkets around the world, but how exactly is one supposed to resist seasonally themed (and downright adorable) baking instruments? "Well of course I need a mitten shaped biscuit cutter", I tell myself feebly. Every year, it's the same vicious circle.

Still, when you do give in and purchase said mitten shaped biscuit cutter, whatever can you use it for? Well, how about some super easy and super tasty shortbread?! I should be an infomercial narrator. While these aren't mitten shaped (that's Waitrose fault), they are crumbly, semi-seasonal (holla mixed berries) and crazy easy to make. Plus, research suggests* that snowflake shaped treats are good for the soul. *no it doesn't.

Prep time: Under 30 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins | Makes: 15-20 snowflakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 125g unsalted butter (softened)
• 55g golden caster sugar, plus extra to finish
• 180g plain flour
• 100g berry mix

METHOD:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5 and line a baking tray (or two) with greaseproof paper. 
2. Beat the butter and the sugar together in a mixing bowl until smooth. 
3. Stir in the flour until you get a smooth paste. Scatter as many dried mixed berries as you fancy into the mixture and use your hands to work the dough into a ball, wrap it in cling film and let it chill in the fridge for about twenty minutes.
4. Cover the surface and rolling pin in an appropriate amount of flour, remove the cling film and roll out the dough until it's about 1cm thick (don't worry that it's super crumbly, just bare with). Use your chosen cutter to cut out the biscuits and place them on the baking tray. Repeat process until all the dough is used. Or you run out of room.
5. Sprinkle a small amount of golden caster sugar over the top of each snowflake and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until pale golden-brown. Shimmy across to a wire rack to cool.
6. Devour.

Afternoon tea, anyone?
~ Eleanor xo

Favourite Festive Films

If there's one thing I love more than alliteration, it's seasonally themed alliteration. At this time of the year, Sunday's are reserved for festive film watching (because what better way to prepare yourself for the week ahead than by cosying up with a film that doesn't really make a lot of sense, but you enjoy it anyway because it's centred around Christmas?). It has to be said, some of the bad Christmas films are bad, but below are my five favourites that  I watch each year, without fail:

A Muppets Christmas Carol
I one-hundred per cent credit this film for helping me achieve an A* on an essay I wrote about A Christmas Carol in GCSE English Literature way back in the day. Sure, I read the actual Charles Dickens novel, I had to, but I remember picturing Kermit the Frog sobbing over Tiny Tim as I wrote my essay. I never told my teacher that though, obviously. The Muppets are so perfect in this film and there isn't one song on the soundtrack I don't love. I do my best to save watching this until Christmas Eve, but it's almost impossible.

Christmas with the Kranks
Every year I become more aware of how completely redonk the storyline of this film is. But oh my word, I love it so much. Really though, are there actually people living in suburban American towns who synchronize the decorating of their houses at Christmas time and will quite literally feed you to a mob of carol singers if you decide that hey, this year I kinda wanna go on a cruise so imma sit this one out? It's baffling. And truly amazing. I should start a petition to get Tim Allen in all Christmas films.

The Santa Clause
Another Tim Allen CLASSIC. I mean, who hasn't dreamed about their dad being Santa?! Obviously, the majority of us have seen our dad's dressed up in a not-so-convincing red coat attire, but I mean, the real life Santa. Imagine. This film is also so nineties that it fills me with joy simply because of that, and the kid who plays Charlie is too adorable for words. The casting in general is just magic. #SANTAISLACTOSEINTOLERANT

Miracle on 34th Street
This film reminds me so much of my childhood. Every Christmas Eve I would watch this with my mum and it would be utterly joyous. It's a bit of a deep storyline if we're being really honest but that house at the end is the absolute definition of goals. Also the little girl is so cute.

Nativity!
I mean, it's a musical. About Christmas. A MUSICAL ABOUT CHRISTMAS. This just doesn't get old, no matter how many times I watch it. I'm not so sure how I feel about the sequels in the franchise but this film is so brilliant I can almost forgive the film makers for attempting to exploit its success. I can't say I remember the Christmas run up being quite so intense during my school days, so I enjoy living vicariously through this school. Also, Jason Watkins is amaze.

I've also discovered Nescafe mint mochas and they are fabulusssss.
~ Eleanor xo