I Hear Those Sleigh Bells Ringing

Happy Christmas! I hope everyone has a very merry time. I'm braving the trains to Suffolk today with Simon so we can spend Christmas with his family – fingers crossed there aren't too many issues. Typical we get such bad weather just before Christmas ay?

P.S. I went to the Coca Cola Truck in Chichester on Friday, it was manic but it felt super festive.

Holiday Scrapbook – Paris

I just got back from a trip to Paris and Disneyland with Simon and I think I'm suffering from a case of the post-holiday blues. Fortunately, Christmas is helping to brighten my mood up – it's hard to stay glum with so many fairy lights about!
We only spent one day in Paris but we managed to cram a lot in. We paid a visit to Notre Dame, walked through the Tuileries Gardens, admired the Eiffel Tower and browsed the Champs Elysees Christmas market. We got lucky because we had really bright sunny days, but don't let the sunshine deceive you – it was freezing! Arriving back in London last night felt like the tropics compared to Paris. We also managed to squeeze in a trip to the Pixar exhibition at the Art Ludique which was really impressive and well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.
I've only been to Paris once before on a school trip and I think I was so excited about being away with my friends that I didn't take much of it in! This time I really appreciated how pretty the city is and it was really nice to be able to do things at my own pace. I would have liked to have done more, but that just gives me an excuse to go back!
Have you been to Paris?

**19 Days to Go**

I never used to get overly excited about Christmas, but this year I've been looking forward to it since early November! Simon and I put the tree up on Sunday and it's made the flat feel really lovely and atmospheric, especially when the weather's been a bit rubbish like today. We've had to settle for an artificial one this year, but I've been burning a fir tree scented candle from M&S so at least it kind of feels real! I've yet to take a decent photograph of it, but I'll be sure to post it when I do.

In two days, Simon and I are going on holiday to Paris and Disneyland Paris and I am so excited! I booked this trip back in June and it's been a long old wait. I can't wait to see the park decked in its Christmas splendour. Hopefully I'll be able to see the new Disney film Frozen the day before to get me in the mood, I've heard good things about it. I intend to take lots of holiday photos and maybe even try my hand at a bit of filming... we'll see!

I don't care if it's too early...

I nipped into Hyde Park Winter Wonderland on Saturday! My mum was visiting London for the day and after a small shopping spree on Oxford Street, we decided to get a little bit Christmassy.
We just had a quick wander round and took everything in. Call me a coward, but rides at events like this terrify me. I can do big thrill rides at theme parks no problem, but you'd have a hard task getting me on a fairground ride. We spent a while watching the ice skaters – people who have no idea how to skate always look like they are having the most fun!
I'm sure I'll be back with Simon at some point during the build up for Christmas, I need to take the opportunity to have a mulled wine (or two!). Are you going to Winter Wonderland this year?

Autumn/Winter Wardrobe Updates

I've always much preferred winter clothing over summer fashion, I just love cosy jumpers and opaque black tights. Try as I might, I can never bring myself to get overly excited about summer dresses and short shorts – I don't have the best relationship with my legs and having them on display usually makes me feel pretty uncomfortable. Hand me a soft knit and thick scarf, and I'm happy.
I had a birthday relatively recently, so I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to boost my Autumn/Winter wardrobe a little bit. Some of these things I bought with birthday money and others I've already had for a little while (you can probably tell from how worn the shoes look!).
Jumpers are a staple for me, I'm a very cold kind of person and layer up as much as I can! I picked up the monochrome one in New Look after eyeing it up for a couple of days. The Christmas jumper is from eBay – I know it's a bit early, but I've never had one before and I'll probably wait until December until I wear it out.
I've bought a pair of decent wool gloves this year from H&M because I usually buy cheap pairs from Primark that are full of holes before I've worn them three times! The grey navajo print scarf is also from H&M. It's a massive scarf so I'm saving it for when it gets really cold. The tartan scarf is a bit of a cheat because I picked it up in Topman a year ago, but I've been wearing it religiously so I thought I'd include it anyway.
The leather ankle boots are from Office and are surprisingly comfortable, I'm used to getting blisters from wearing new shoes in, but I've had very happy feet with this pair! I bought the brogues from ASOS after seeing them on Megs' blog – they look really lovely with skirts and dresses.
My most extravagant purchase was this coat from Zara. I couldn't really get a decent photo of it, but the website provides a much better idea of what it looks like. The furry lining is a dream and it will be perfect for when I go to Paris and Disneyland in a couple of weeks, I'm expecting it to be very chilly!
Lastly, I thought I'd show a few of the nail colours I've been wearing recently. I didn't wear glitter nail polish in the summer at all, so it's been fun digging them back out (it's just a shame they're such a pain to remove!).
Have you made any seasonal wardrobe updates recently?

Lately... #2

I try to make the most of living in London as much as I can – this basically means that I spend a lot of my time behaving like an excitable tourist. Last night Simon and I joined the rest of the world (well, almost) to watch the Regent Street Christmas lights switch on. Except we might have got a little fed up with waiting and got distracted by the Christmas section in Liberty's. Oopsy.
In my defence, by the time we got to Regent Street it was so busy that we couldn't even get close. Plus it was COLD! I was choosing candles in Muji by the time the fireworks went off and I regret nothing, my flat now smells lovely! Of course we did make our way back to check out the lights when we were done. They look really beautiful, well worth a visit if you're popping to London over Christmas.

We also had a quick peek at Fortnum and Mason on our way to Regent Street. They have really lovely window displays, it definitely feels like Christmas has officially started in London! Okay, I'll stop with the Christmas overload now (for this post anyway).

Now that the chill has started to set in, I've really been enjoying snuggling up inside with homemade chai lattes, a magazine and these lebkuchen stars from Sainbury's. I pretty much jump for joy when these little biscuits (or are they cakes?) appear every Christmas, I adore them. I might already be on my second packet, shhh.

When I was visiting home recently, I was walking the dog with my mum and thought the woods were looking particularly eerie. They're beautiful, but they can definitely feel a bit creepy at times! I also spotted this rainbow during a downpour, although I didn't have time to find the pot of gold at the end.
What have you been up to lately?

Bath

Bath is somewhere I've been meaning to go back to for a long time and Simon was pretty keen too, so last week we took a couple of days off work and caught a train. Despite the train conductor threatening to charge us £50million for forgetting to sign our railcards (fortunately he was just trying to teach us a lesson!), the journey was really scenic and went relatively quickly. The train station is right next the city so it was really easy to find our way around.

We only stayed for one night, but we quickly learned that we had more than enough time to take in the area. Of course we popped in to see the Roman baths and we wandered to the Royal Crescent. We mostly ate though!

I really enjoyed breakfast at The Cosy Club, it rained like crazy on that morning so it felt really relaxing to hide from the miserable weather with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs. I also got childishly excited about the pink lemonade and vanilla ice cream floats in Bills – I had never even had a coke float before so it was a revelation for me! Now I'm back home, the freezer has been stocked with ice cream for regular homemade versions. 

Luckily for us, the rain didn't hang around for too long and we could get back to playing tourists. We went midweek so I expected low crowds, but I couldn't really believe how few people were around compared to my usual shopping trips in London! Urban outfitters in Bath is huge, yet it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves. 

Bath is one of the most beautiful cities I've been to and everyone I encountered seemed to be so friendly. It was the perfect mini-break – although it did feel amazing to get back into my own bed when I got home!

Classic Car Boot Sale

I went to the Vintage Festival at Goodwood a few years ago, so occasionally I receive emails about upcoming Vintage events in my inbox and on Friday night I got one about about the Classic Car Boot Sale on Saturday. I didn't have any plans so I dragged Simon along with me to South Bank where it was held. By the time we got there the queue to get in was disappointingly long, but it moved surprisingly quickly. After paying £3 each for entry, and gaining vintage car stamps on our wrists, we could wander in. It was crazy busy, but all in all it was a really lovely event. There were some really cool bits and pieces for sale, not to mention all the beautiful vintage cars on show. I didn't actually buy anything in the end, so my purse could breathe a big sigh of relief!
I have a couple of days off this week and I'm going to Bath, does anyone have any recommendations of things to do? I'm really looking forward to it, I haven't been since I was teeny tiny.