The Christmas Tag 2018

Happy Sunday Everyone! Only two more sleeps until Santa's here! I'm feeling very much in the Christmas spirit now that it's so close to the big day, so I thought I'd share my answers to a festive tag post that my best friend tagged me in at the start of the month :) Head over to LittlePinkDuck to read Jess' post! This Christmas Tag was originally created by Morgan at EnthuiastBlog, so be sure to check out her post too! I hope you all enjoy reading! 

What's your favourite Christmas film?

My favourite Christmas movie is The Grinch Who Stole Christmas (2000) starring Jim Carrey. I love the original Dr. Seuss storyline combined with comedy! The soundtrack is fantastic too :) I know they aren't Christmas movies, but I love watching musicals around Christmas Time because that's what I did throughout my childhood. Oliver! (1968), Annie (1982) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1999) were always on TV in December. Oh, and there's always an ongoing debate as to whether Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) is a Halloween movie or a Christmas one... but it's one of my favourite movies to watch around Christmas Time, and I watch it all year round too, so I'd say the answer to the question is both! What's your opinion: Halloween or Christmas movie? 

Have you ever had a White Christmas? 

We had a proper White Christmas with such ridiculous amounts of snow that we had to be sent home from school, after the classroom doors had to literally have the snow dug away by the school's caretaker to be able to open them, when I was 5 years old and in Reception class. I don't remember much about the snow that year, other than watching one of my brothers try to make an igloo in the back garden by freezing water in plastic tub and making actual bricks of ice (he succeed by the way, but struggled to fill in a gap in the roof, haha!). As far as I can remember, we had a white Christmas when I was in my first year of university, I definitely remember all the snow that covered my campus but I cannot 100% recall if it continued to snow heavy for the rest of the month. Basically, I've only had a few white christmas in my life! 

Where do you usually spend your Holiday? 

I spent it at home with my family, since I still live at home with my mom and sister :) My brothers usually come over for Christmas dinner later in the day. 

What is your favourite Christmas song? 

My Number 1 favourite Christmas song is Fairytale of New York by Kirsty MacColl & The Pogues. To make up my top 5, in no particular order, I also love Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) by The Darkness, Where are you Christmas? by Faith Hill, Rockin' Robin by The Jackson 5, and Do They Know Its Christmas? by Band Aid 1984. Ooo, and I also really like the Christmas song that plays at the beginning of The Gremlins movie because it's super nostalgic to me, Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Darlene Love! *immediately puts my Christmas Spotify playlist on* 

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve? 

We always open our presents on Christmas Day :) 

Can you name all of Santa's Reindeer? 

Yes, we've had this Christmas banner decoration all my life with all of the reindeers on (although it broke and is now missing two of the herd! T_T), and I have always loved it ever since I was a child. It helped me to remember their names because as soon as my mom first taught me them, I used to point to their reindeers and choose which was which :D There's Dancer, Prancer, Comet, Vixen, Cupid, Donner, Dasher and Blitzen. Then, of course, came along Rudolph with his red nose! Not gonna lie, the Destiny's Child version of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer definitely keeps the names fresh in my mind though! 

What holiday traditions are you looking forward to most this year? 

Hmm, other than all of the typical Christmas traditions, I quite enjoy consuming ALL OF THE CHRISTMAS SNACKS! I've already ate a lot of chocolates from those big tubs that are released in December, as well as my advent calendar chocolate. Not as much as I usually eat, but still a heck of a lot, oops I'm not even sorry :D I also love those German Lebkuchen biscuits are in the shops at Christmas! Not all of the holiday traditions that I look forward to are about the food... well that's only half true, because my next point was that I love my little tradition of going to the Manchester Christmas Markets every year, but then again, one of the main appeals of that is the chance to get a fresh Dutch Sugar Waffle XD 

Is your tree real or fake?

I don't know many people here in the UK that actually get a real Christmas tree, but I'd love to get one some day! We always have a plastic tree, mostly a green one but sometimes we get a white one. As far the small tree I get for my bedroom each year, I've had silver, black, green and white! This year, it's white :)

What is your all-time favourite Christmas food/sweet treat? 

Pigs-in-Blankets and German Lebkuchen, especially the kind with icing sugar and sprinkles on top *nom nom* 

Be honest: do you like giving or receiving gifts better? 

Well I'd be a liar if I said I didn't enjoy getting gifts, it's always so heart-warming when someone finds something that's really personal or just perfect for you! It makes me feel like they really know me well and it's a special feeling. However, I do love giving presents the most! Especially for people who don't know what they want, because I like the challenge of getting them something that they love! I mean they could pretend to love it, which my anxiety likes to bug me with around Christmas and Birthdays, but I enjoy getting things for the special people in my life nonetheless ♥

What is the best Christmas gift you've ever received?

Oh gosh, I don't even know! I have received so many thoughtful and sweet gifts from my loved ones over the years. I think to be honest I would have to say it was my PlayStation 1 , and my PlayStation 2 a few years later, that I got when I was a kid, because they filled my life with endless fun for years and years, and helped me develop so many of my nerdy interests which made me into the person I am today :) #deepmuch    

What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

I would love to spend Christmas in Finland, where Lapland is because Finland is beautiful all year round but oh my gosh, I bet it's magical in the snowy seasons! I'd love to go and see the Aurora Borealis (aka Northern Lights) in person whilst I'm there :) Oh, and it would be marvellous to see some of the Nordic animals in the wild! Other than Finland, I think it would be awesome to visit North America during the Holidays or Germany or Austria, especially for Krampusnacht celebrations. One day! 

Are you a pro-present wrapper? Or do you fail miserably? 

I am the worst! Present wrapping meets dyspraxia is a failure waiting to happen! It sucks even more than my mom and sister both wrap presents so perfectly and then I see mine side-by-side and they look like I've opened them and tried to re-seal them XD Oh well, the paper is there to get torn anyway, haha! 

Most memorable Holiday moment?

I think my most memorable Christmas Day moments are those from when I was really young when the fantasy element of the holiday was still alive for me! When I was around six years old, I received a rocking horse and I still remember everything about the moment when I first set eyes on it. I had wanted one for ages so I was over the moon! I had a little bit of an obsession with the story of Black Beauty, so take a guess at what I called my new black & white rocking horse :D I can still clearly picture in my mind finding all of my present as usual in the living room, however my parents... I mean Santa... had put two special presents in the dining room. Me and my sister went in there to discover my rocking horse and one of those little peddle cars, or whatever they are called, for her. Awww, I can't stop reminiscing now!

Other than those childhood memories, one of my favourite memories from around Christmas time would be from back in 2009 when I was 17. On December 22nd, me and two of my wonderful friends hung out for the day and since it had snowed pretty heavy, we decided to explore around our hometown and enjoy the snow basically :) We found this one field that was completely untouched, and it looked gorgeous! Then we let loose and made snow angels and rolled around and threw snowballs and tried to make a snowman. I had not long gotten into photography so I took some cool photos, as well as some hilarious photos of my friends messing about in the snow. It was really fun and the memory pops into my head every Christmas time :) 

When did you release the truth about Santa?

My mom told me when I was about 10 or 11 years old and I sobbed my little heart out :D I was a very trusting child, but also I liked to live in a little fantasy world of my own and I adored all things magical and mythical, and so finding out that Father Christmas wasn't real was not fun. Bless tiny me! (Pfft I say tiny like I'm not 5'2'' as an adult!)

Do you make New Year's Resolutions? Do you stick to them? 

I always make New Years goals, but I rarely manage to complete them all! I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself to complete my resolutions for the last few years, especially considering I share them on my blog and I feel like I should show that I'm doing what I wanted to achieve. However it's not very great for my mental health, so although I might make goals this year, I'm not going to share them... but then again, I might not make any this time, other than to look after myself more in 2019! 

What makes the Holidays special for you? 

I really love the element of magic that exists around Christmas Time, and I don't mean the literal make-believe magic of Santa Claus and his Elf Workshop, but I mean the real-life magic of everywhere filled with twinkling lights and colours and shiny decorations and heart-warming movies and grottos and markets and spending time with loved ones. And even for those who don't celebrate Christmas, there's holidays for many cultures and religions in and around winter time, and everyone just enjoys the festivities of the season! I think it's such a special thing :) I also love seeing the wonder in people's eyes when they look at Christmas displays and seeing people laughing and smiling as they partake in the traditions! I'm going to stop before I get all emotional :') 

Thankyou for reading! Merry Christmas Eve's Eve! 

Oh, and I tag anyone that wants to do this tag! 
Please send me a link though so I can have a read of your answers :) 

♥

What's your favourite Christmas memory? 

Or song? or movie? or food? :) 

Let me know in the comments!

Another Year, Another Christmas Tag | Blogmas #7

Happy Thursday! It's definitely a happy day for me because I received some great news about something that's been really affecting my mental health lately :) Also yesterday, my friend & I went over to Liverpool to see Steps and Vengaboys at the Echo Arena. Liverpool is looking so pretty at the moment with all of it's Christmassy displays and lights. We even saw the Coca Cola truck!! Like how lucky that it happened to be there on the day that we went! We'd both never seen it before so it was certainly a lovely surprise. The gig was honestly amazing; the atmosphere in the arena was so cheerful and upbeat! It filled my head with so many glorious nostalgic memories, of school discos, friends birthday parties, jumping around on my parent's bed listening to all my favourite 90's hits whilst pretending that a hairbrush was a microphone! The show itself was just incredible, both bands were just as fantastic as I remember them, most of them not even looking like they'd aged much at all! Steps put on a spectacular performance... so many special effects and lighting & lots of outfit changes! I had a very sore throat (didn't stop us singing very loudly in the car on the drive back though, haha!) and achy body by the end of the gig, and after falling asleep at 3am, I didn't wake up today until past 1pm :D So, because photography didn't happen today and my preparation skills have been so bad lately, today's post is going to be a Christmas tag. I love answering tags though and I hope you all enjoy reading them. 

I took part in the Blogmas challenge when I first started blogging towards the end of 2015 and I shared a Christmas Tag post back then, but I've managed to find a different one for this year and now that I actually have some blogger friends, I can tag people! I'd love if you could go check out my old Blogmas posts though and give them some love :) 

I found the Christmas tag that I'll be answering today over on a blog called Proper Sweetie's Beauty and you can find her post here. She states in her post that she originally found the tag on this YouTube video by Beautybaby44. The tag is called the Holly Jolly Holiday Tag, which I think sounds so cute! Keep scrolling to read my answers... 

1. Do you start your Christmas shopping on Black Friday or wait until last minute?

I start getting little bits here & there for Christmas much earlier than Black Friday. I usually start around mid-late October/early November. I start to get really stressed that I'm not going to have everything sorted in time otherwise! 

2. If you could be in any Christmas movie, what would it be?

Hmm.. this is a rough one! I think I'd most like to be in The Grinch movie. A) because it's one of my favourite Christmas movies, and B) because the Who's of Whoville are so excited about Christmas and they put so much effort into their festive celebrations. Plus I have always wanted to try some of that fudge that they feed to the Grinch at the Holiday Cheermeister event, haha!

3. Which do you like better: Christmas Eve or Christmas Day?

Definitely Christmas Day. We've never really had any specific Christmas Eve traditions in my family. I mean, when I was a child we did the whole leaving treats for Santa & his Reindeer thing, but nothing unique that we continue to do now.

4. When does your family (or you) put up your Christmas tree and who decorates it?

We usually put our Christmas tree up during the first week of December. My mom, my sister and I all decorate it together :) This year, the theme is blue and silver. What's the theme of your decorations this year guys? 

5. White lights or coloured lights?

I prefer white lights on a tree (I feel like colourful lights might take all of the attention from the decorations), but I prefer colourful lights anywhere else :) Our Christmas tree lights are white this year. 

6. Are you guilty of peeking at your presents or do you like the surprise?

I am a big fan of surprises and so I'm not even tempted to peek. My sister is the complete opposite and I always remember her trying to find her Christmas presents when we were younger, haha. She still doesn't like surprises now! Well, she doesn't know what I've gotten her for Christmas so mwahaha :D 

7. Would you rather live in a gingerbread house or in Santa's workshop?

Another tough question! I really like the fairytale, Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm. It has made me love the idea of an actual gingerbread house nestled deep in a forest! (Even though the gingerbread house belonged to the mean old witch!). However, I think I'd choose Santa's workshop because it's so magical. And little wildlife nerd me could go animal watching in the North Pole for the rest of the year! 

8. Tell us your Christmas Eve traditions!

As I've mentioned, my family doesn't have a special traditions. I usually just watch a Christmas movie and eat festive snacks in bed :) Let me know in the comments how you all spend Christmas Eve :) I'd love to hear about any special traditions too! 

9. If you could be under the mistletoe with anyone who would it be?

I now have Sia's new song 'Under The Mistletoe' in my head again! *opens Spotify*

I'd love to kiss lots of different people under the mistletoe ;) but I'm gonna say Jason Momoa because he's gorgeous and such a lovely guy! I've never even actually seen mistletoe before, other than in movies. Have any of my lovely readers kissed someone under mistletoe before?

10. What tops your Christmas tree?

We usually have this adorable little angel doll tree-topper, with a sparkly dress and white woollen hair but I think my sister's girlfriend is borrowing it, and this year instead we have a big silver bell decoration until we get another. I want a star for the top of the tree :) 

11. Can you name the 12 days of Christmas?

I think I can... I'm gonna have to sing it to myself for a minute to write down this answer haha! A partridge in a pea tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, five gold rings, six geese-a-laying, seven swans-a-swimming, eight maids-a-milking?, nine lords-a-leaping, ten pipers piping?... Nope, I can't XD I could name them all when I was a child. I can name all of Santa's reindeer though so that's something (dasher, dancer, prancer, comet, cupid, donner, vixen, blitzen, and of course Rudolph). 

12. Have you ever gone Christmas carolling? 

I've never been carolling as in going to random people's doors and singing Christmas songs. But I'm pretty sure when I was very young, I went to our old next-door-neighbour's house with my sister and sang some songs to her. I was also a member of the little choir at my primary school and we went to a nursing home to sing for the elderly people there :) 

13. Do you countdown to Christmas? If so, how many days left? 

Not other than having a chocolate advent calendar (a Lindt one this year and it's scrumptious!) and using that as a countdown. Gonna have to count on that... there's 17 doors left so that's 17 days to go, haha!

14. What are some foods and treats you can count on having every holiday season?

Christmas Day dinner for us always includes turkey, those little bacon-wrapped sausages, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and an array of vegetables. As for snacks, every year I get excited for when stores like Aldi start stocking their European Christmas treats, so I can get some proper German Lebkuchen biscuits. Oh my gosh, I love them! Especially the version with a thin layer of icing on and sprinkles :) My other favourite snack which isn't really a Christmas one but they always seen to bring out special festive packets in December are twiglets. Some people hate them.... are you a fan or a hater? So those, and a terry's chocolate orange. I am so hungry right now!

15. How has Christmas kept its magic for you as you've grown older?

Aww, I'm kind of sad that this is the final question! 

To be honest, I do struggle to keep the Christmas magic alive nowadays because depression likes to spoil all the nice things *insert eyeroll emojis here*. However, I am someone who still has a pretty child-like spirit.. in the way that I love fairytales and plushies and all sorts of other things that are deemed 'childish' to enjoy. I don't care, haha! I will be forever young at heart and those things are all still magical and fun to me... so Christmas is one of them! I am still fascinated by all the twinkling Christmas lights and pretty decorations and feel all the emotions when I'm watching Christmas movies or making new Christmas memories with my loved ones. Seeing the smiles on their faces upon opening their presents or just at this time of year in general is enough to keep it magical for me :) 

So, now it's time for some tagging! I would love anyone to do this tag so if you read it and like it, please do it yourself and let me know so I can have a read of your answers :) I'm gonna tag: Nat, Jess, Stacey, Estelle & Cate. I hope everyone is having a wonderful December so far! 

Thankyou for reading! 

♥

What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

Also, what's your go-to festive snack? 

Blogmas Day 25 | The Christmas Tag

I had the Christmas tag written on my little list of festive blog post ideas and really wanted to do it, so finally here it is! Merry Christmas Everyone.... I hope you are all have a wonderful day! Only one more sleep now! Instead of tagging people to answer, I'm just going to invite anyone of my lovely readers to answer the tag if you want to. Please let me know if you do... I love reading these kinds of posts. 

(1) What is your favourite Christmas Movie(s)?  

My absolute favourite Christmas movie is The Grinch. Read about my top 5 Christmas movies here :) 

(2) Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? 

We open our presents on Christmas morning. My mum Father Christmas always puts mine & my siblings presents in the same place in neat piles every year so we know where to find them. I love Christmas morning! I love the moment of walking into the living room and seeing all the presents with the light of the Christmas tree making the shiny wrapping paper twinkle and being able to smell the turkey cooking in the oven.

(3) Do you have a favourite Christmas memory? 

The majority of my favourite memories from childhood involve when I received awesome presents. I remember how happy I was when I got my Playstation 1 for Christmas when I was 8 years old and some of the good old classic games like Rayman, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro. I'll never get bored of playing those games, they are still amazing! 

(4)  Favourite festive food?

I love all festive food! Sunday roast is one of my favourite meals and Christmas dinner is like a bigger, more awesome version of that so I always clean my plate. If I had to choose a favourite though, it would definitely be pigs-in-blankets. They are so yummy! 

(5) Favourite Christmas gift? 

I kind of answered this for Q3 but I have lots of favourite Christmas gift memories from when I was little. Another that I'll never forget is a cassette tape (haha how times have changed!) I got that was personalised. It had a song on it called 'Coco's Christmas Cracker' that was all about an Elf and then when you turned the tape around, there was another song on there that sang 'Merry Christmas Sarah'. I was so fastinated that it knew my name! I loved it! I was 5 years old when I got it and I still remember all the words to both songs ♥

(6) Favourite Christmas Scent?  

The smell of  the food cooking in the oven, especially the turkey. As for candles, this year I LOVE the 'Berry Trifle' and 'Snowflake Cookie' Yankee Candles. 

(7) Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions? 

We don't have any Christmas Eve traditions. My family & I just usually spend the evening watching Christmas movies on TV or listening to Christmas songs whilst wrapping some last minute Christmas presents and munching chocolates. 

(8) What tops your tree?  

 For the last few years we had a pretty little Christmas fairy to match our then white tree, but this year since we have red & gold decorations we've used an older tree topper. It's an angel dressed in red with gold wings and covered in gold stars. 

(9) As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received? 

 I don't remember if I ever asked for something extravagant for Christmas, but I aways remember asking for a pet, especially a dog. I really wanted a dog growing up! I can't wait until I have my own home so I can get a dog (or five) :) 

(10) What's the best part of Christmas for you?

I love watching my loved ones opening the presents that I've bought for them. In fact I just love watching them open any presents, the look of joy on their faces and seeing them smile. 

I'll just leave this adorable dinosaur here! 

Merry Christmas!