Lorna Cole

Christmas Eve is often a very busy day and begins with the chaos of getting all the final bits ready for Christmas. We usually collect and deliver presents to different family members and do some last minute shopping for any food or essentials. My Mum then prepares some bits for Christmas Dinner and my evening usually kicks off with the annual trifle making. I’m not sure how many years I’ve been making one for me and my Dad but it’s at least 6+ so it’s become a tradition now! The evening is (hopefully) a bit more chilled out and we usually watch a Christmas film. This year’s pick is The Muppet's Christmas Carol! One of my favourite traditions is getting a few gifts to open on Christmas Eve. Most often, this consists of some new festive pyjamas which we usually put on straight away and have them for Christmas morning. I’ve had multiple designs over the years and this time I received this matching grey fairisle set which I really love! Luckily it’s not too thick as I hate getti

This year I participated in a Secret Santa for bloggers which was organised by the lovely Casey. Despite a few hiccups, it was a lovely thing to be a part of because I was able to connect with so many new bloggers and we all have a great support system now! You can check out Casey's post here if you'd like to see what everyone else got too as she kindly provided links to all of our blogs! My gifts arrived quite a while ago, packaged in some really festive Christmas Pudding wrapping paper and I really had to resist the urge to open them, I always used to be one of those kids that would feel around and try to work out what a present was when I had to wait to open it, haha! My Secret Santa was Eloise who blogs over at The Longing Wanderer . She absolutely nailed my gifts and I couldn't be happier with them so I can't thank her enough! Firstly I opened two bath bombs which smelt amazing even before opening them, I quickly recognised that they were from Lush whic

 I was recently tagged in The Christmas A-Z Tag by the lovely Gemma, you can check out her post  here  or head over to her blog:  Hidden Little Gem . The purpose of this tag is to essentially share the things you love and associate with Christmas - using each letter of the alphabet of course! Finally, make sure you tag more bloggers to complete it as well. A -   Absolutely everything. I thought I'd start there because that encompasses it all and instantly covers how much I do love Christmas! B -  Buying the tree is something I always like to do because we usually get it at the start of December which really kicks off the festivities!  C -  Chocolate is definitely one of the best things about this time of the year, it's great always but you just have an excuse to eat so much more! My favourite has to be a Terry's Chocolate Orange! D -  Decorating the tree is another thing I enjoy because it instantly makes me feel so Christmassy, we also like to put up our outdoor

It's that time of the year again when everyone is trying to think about what to give people for Christmas, as well as making their own wishlists. I thought I'd do a quick post with a range of ideas because I know I always look for posts like this to get some inspiration! Beauty: → Bath or shower set - I mean you can't go wrong can you, they make a great gift and can be used by anyone. I love this set from the brand Hugg that I got from Waitrose . → Perfume/Cologne - Also a super simple idea but it's so nice to get something new to wear. Also Fragrance Direc t has 70% at the moment! → Bath bomb - A good bath is underrated and of course Lush is the ultimate go-to for amazing bath bombs but of course, lots of places sell some lovely ones. → Makeup palette - For the makeup lovers, I feel like a palette is a gift that will be appreciated and you can get eyeshadow, contour, highlight etc. James Charles x Morphe Palette is insane for those who l

I feel like everyone has certain preferences and traditions about what makes Christmas, the Christmas they know and love, so I thought I'd incorporate that into a 'this or that' post! Real or fake tree? I love having a real tree, they smell so Christmassy and we got ours this weekend!  Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? It has to be Christmas Day for me, it's my favourite day of the year because it's all so much fun! Also, you can't beat Christmas Dinner, can you! Though I do love the whole build up so this was a hard one. Open presents all at once or spread out? Ever since I was little we've always done it all at once! It's so exciting, I don't think I could wait and spread it out through the day, haha! Eggnog or hot chocolate? Hot chocolate is my go-to drink around this time of the year so this is an easy one for me. A classic hot chocolate or I also enjoy peppermint, chocolate orange and cinnamon flavoured o

At last, it's finally my favourite month of the year! I'm going to attempt to do the 12 days of Blogmas this year and to begin I thought it would be nice to look back on the things I enjoyed over the last month. The posts will become much more festive after this for sure!  Homeware I love fairy lights in general but they are a total must have around this time of the year because they can really make anything look so much more festive! I also cannot wait to get our Christmas Tree so we can decorate that with all the lights too! Another thing that I love about the colder weather is the various hot drinks and creative flavours. I’ve recently enjoyed making cinnamon hot chocolate and of course, had to have it in a festive mug! I got this one last Christmas and it’s the perfect size when you want to have a cosy evening. Fashion I mean I'm not really sure if pyjamas count as fashion but hey! I'm obsessed with Christmassy pyjamas and I've collecte

I was recently tagged in the A-Z Alphabetical Advice Tag by Erin who blogs over at The Life of Erin , definitely go check her out and you can read her post here ! Since I'm no pro at giving advice, I thought I'd tailor it more towards self-care tips and advice, it was pretty difficult to think of something starting with each letter (mainly X) but I've given it a go! A Acknowledge that you need to take some time to focus on yourself and to make self-care a priority. B Balance is key. You can't give up all responsibilities but it's important that you give yourself time to enjoy yourself, to spend time with people and relax, as well as the normal routine things. C Create. Whether it's art, a new post, some food or just simply creating an environment you can relax in. D Don't put pressure on yourself to always be on top form, everyone has days that aren't as productive. E Eat whatever makes you feel good. If

I was planning to combine my October and November monthly favourites together but there has actually been quite a bit I wanted to share over the last month. However, before I get into that, I just can't believe we're in November already! As soon as over, that means that Christmas is well on its way for me, I'm so ready to listen to all the festive songs! I am still enjoying Autumn still though, all the colours are so pretty aren't they? Anyway, here are my favourites for this month. Fashion Checked shirts and scarves definitely scream Autumn vibes to me! One of my favourites to wear is this burgundy checked shirt from New Look, it's perfect to throw on and I love layering it too. I can find the exact one but  this one  from H&M is similar. A scarf can really make an outfit and keeps you warm too so it's really a win-win! I love wearing this chunky knit one, I've had it for a few years now but I always look forward to wearing it when it'

For quite a while I've always said that I'd love to write a book someday, it started when I was much younger and would often write different stories. Often they involved boarding school because I was obsessed with Enid Blyton's 'Mallory Towers' series, but I'd usually write 20 pages and then would forget about it until I found it in one of my many notebooks a year later. English was always one of my favourite subjects at school and I looked forward to writing different things, however as I got older my love of reading definitely subsided. In primary school, I read a lot in my spare time however when I got older and had other hobbies I stopped reading as much. I also think that having to read certain books when studying had an impact on not enjoying it as much anymore, especially after doing an English Literature A Level. Anyway, I think writing a book would be really rewarding and a great way to combine my desire to write as well as my creativity. When thin