WINTER WONDERLAND: CHRISTMAS MARKET 2017

Hello everyone! If you saw my recent things to do this december post, then you will probably know that one of the things to do was to visit a Christmas Market/Winter Wonderland. Every year visiting my local Winter Wonderland is one of my favourite things to do, as there is honestly no better way to get in the festive spirit and having a lovely time with the people you love and even better at the moment, as even thought it has been freezing cold we have had some beautiful blue sky's and sunshine.

Being from Nottingham, our Winter Wonderland is based on Old Market Square which is in the centre of the city (town hall) and it is filled with some really cute stalls, rides, ice-skating, bars and food stalls. Another great thing about it being located where it is, there is a Starbucks right on the square so you can pick up a Christmas drink either on the way in or out. This year i think the helter skelter is my favourite attraction, as it looks super cute and colourful the way it is decorated.

For some reason i can't remember if the carousel was part of Winter Wonderland last year or not? or maybe it is a new attraction for this year? Either way i thought how beautiful it looked, almost Parisian style because they always remind me of Paris. I have also seen the carousel when it was dark and all the lights were obviously lit up. which made it look so magical.

So i have mentioned this before but i have this weird obsession with Nutcrackers at Christmas time, i love to watch anything with them included and any decorations of them. Finally probably the best part of any Winter Wonderland/Christmas Market is the food and for me personally more specifically the desserts. Must try's if you go are the Churros and the really long cable laces, they are so yummy!

Catch up last year's Christmas Market post HERE...

xo.

THINGS TO DO THIS DECEMBER

Hello everyone and Happy December! So a couple of months back now at the beginning of Autumn, i shared a "things to do this autumn" post which you can catch here if you missed it first time round. With that in mind and seeing it is the first of December today, i thought i would an updated Winter edition in the form of a "things to do this December" and the countdown to Christmas is officially on.

1. make a spotify/music playlist, filled with you favourite Christmas songs.

2. buy yourself an advent calendar (if you haven't already).

3. buy/light your favourite scented Christmas/Winter candles.

4. visit a Christmas market.

5. treat yourself to a Starbucks or Costa Christmas drink.

6. put up some fairy lights.

7. decorate your Christmas tree and house to feel all festive.

8. go late night shopping.

9. go for a family winter walk to a Christmas tree forest.

10. do some Christmas baking (lots of recipes coming this December).

11. go ice-skating.

12. treat yourself to a festive bath bomb or bubble bar from Lush.

13. reach a Christmas/Winter themed book (books i want to read this winter).

14. watch all of your favourite Christmas movies.

15. plan your Christmas party/Christmas day makeup and outfit.

16. visit a stately home that has Christmas activities and decorations.

(if you live not too far from Derbyshire, then Chatsworth house is a good one).

17. plan a Christmas party/night-in with family or friends.

18. paint your nails in a festive colour or glitter.

19. watch all of the Christmas themed cooking shows on TV.

20. take a last minute weekend away to either explore or do some Christmas shopping.

21. buy or dig out a Christmas cup, to help you feel festive,

22. write out a Christmas wish-list or gift giving list.

(check out my tips & tricks to save money/get organised for Christmas post).

23. take a trip to a garden centre that has a Christmas display.

24. visit a Christmas lights switch on or display.

25. go for a Christmas meal out at a cosy pub or restaurant.

26. have a family games or movie night in.

27. search for local events in your area or somewhere close to you.

28. wrap your Christmas presents, either listening to Christmas music or movies.

29. visit a local or close by Winter Wonderland.

30. do some Christmas themed DIY's.

Even though i am not doing "blogmas" this December, i am still posting every Monday, Wednesday and Friday as well as posting Christmas baking recipes every Sunday up until Christmas at 5PM GMT.

xo.

WHAT I ATE IN A DAY

Hello everyone! Welcome back to another "what i ate in a day" post and the second one i have done this month. I am so proud of myself for not forgetting to do updated versions of this type of post, also if you want to check out any of my other recent "what i ate in a day" posts i will link them at the end of this post.

So this particular day was definitely a breakfast on the go type of breakfast and i always opt for a similar type of thing to eat when i do. That being said rather than having some type of yogurt, i tried one of these new blueberry flavoured muller rice five grains pots and it was so yummy. I also had one of these graze protein bites, which i have had before but in the cocoa vanilla flavour and i actually ended up preferring this flavour over that one. Finally i also had a coffee from Starbucks, because i am completely obsessed with ordering either a soy toffee nut latte or a soy gingerbread latte.

Lunch time and i am still trying to switch things up now and again, instead of having the same thing every single day. This day i had one of my favourite flavoured soups, which is butternut squash soup and this one also had coriander, cumin and chilli. This type of lunch is definitely the perfect winter lunch.

Dinner time and for once on a "what i ate in a day" i am not having pasta. In fact i had veggie burger which i have featured in a what i ate post before, i love these particular ones as they have a bunch of different veggies inside like pepper, carrot, sweetcorn, onion, green beans and spices. This time as i had only had soup for lunch, i had some sweet potato fries baked in the oven and some garden peas on the side.

Catch up on my previous "what i ate in a day" posts here and here...

xo.

WHAT I ATE WEDNESDAY (BIRTHDAY EDITION)

Hey guys, i hope you are all enjoying your week so far. So for this weeks "What I Ate Wednesday" i thought i would do something a little different and do it for my birthday which was on Monday... aaah another year older! So without further a do here it is...

As it was my birthday my mum and i decided to spend the whole day shopping. When we first arrived we were starving as we had no time to grab breakfast at home so we went to Costa. We shared a portion of toast between as Costa's toast is huge. To drink i had Iced Lemon Tea.

After several hours being busy shopping we decided to head to lunch at one of my favourite restaurants Carluccio's and obviously i had to get Sanpellegrino Limonata to drink, it is just the best!

We decided to share a starter between us which was Calamari Fritti and ironically is both myself and my mum's favourite type of starter, so that worked out well.

For main course i had Spaghetti Carbonara which is definitely one of my favourite dishes to have when i go to Carluccio's.

Seeing as it was my birthday and also it would be rude not to we had a dessert. I had Pasticcio Di Cioccolato which is basically Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding in English, so delicious!

After a couple more hours of shopping we decided to stop off for a Starbucks before catching the train home. I got a Tall Soy Mocha Frappuccino obviously. I didn't have anything else to eat for the rest of the day as i was still super full from lunch.

MY WEEKEND IN PICTURES

Hey guys! It has been a couple of months since i last did a "my weekend in pictures" blog post, so since it was a bank holiday weekend i thought i would take some pictures of what i have got up to.

Friday and some of Saturday mostly consisted of me doing work, editing, working on some new ideas and of course listening to Justin Garner whilst doing so!

Saturday night at my house should be renamed "pizza party saturday" as we nearly always have homemade pizzas made by my dad (they are the best)!

Saturday night was also movie night, who doesn't love a good rom com and m&m's?

Sunday i went to Ikea with my sister and we did a spot of shopping. Where my local Ikea is there is also another retail park with lots of other stores there.

All that shopping is thirsty work so we stopped off at Starbucks on the way home. I had a Soy Mocha Frappuccino and a Blueberry Muffin (Naughty but nice)!

This weekend i have been listening to Mya's new EP "Sweet XVI" none stop, i'm obsessed. My favourite tracks are Super Woman and Same Page.

With it being Bank Holiday we also got Monday off! So i went into Nottingham, did some shopping (for a change) went for a few drinks and some lunch.

For lunch we went to Carluccio's, which is one of my favourite Italian restaurants.

I had something which was new on the menu "Trofie Alla Genovese" which was trofie pasta with pesto, potatoes and green beans... it was so nice!

And of course you have to have dessert, it's just rude not too haha! Tiramisu and Coffee.

Yet again another Raspberry and Blackcurrant Ice Tea from Starbucks.. if you haven't tried one before you need to they are just so refreshing!

So that is pretty much everything i have got up to this weekend, i'm just going to relax now and catch up on some YouTube videos.

Hope you have all had an amazing weekend and i will be back Wednesday with a new blog post!

WHAT I ATE WEDNESDAY

To start my day off before i had breakfast, i made a Costa Vanilla Coffee.

Then to follow... for breakfast i had Quaker Oats Porridge topped with Cinnamon and Currants.

For lunch i had something i don't have that often because to be honest soup isn't one of my favourite things to have, im not usually keen but i enjoyed this. Soup with Pea, Ham, Potato, Onion and Garlic then some Ciabatta bread on the side.

Whilst out i had a Starbucks Grande Raspberry and Blackcurrant Iced Tea, so good!!!

(Also on my nails is Essie's Jamaica Me Crazy, i love this nail polish).

For dinner i had, Red Pesto Linguine with Salmon cooked in Garlic, Red Chili and Ginger.