the devil moves and clings to us, and for a moment there is beauty

It’s been a while since we last met and I apologise for that. Life gets busy and I have a lot going on at the moment. However, I have made a long list of all the things I want to write about, so I am planning on wading through that shortly. This post is a slightly belated ‘What I Got For Christmas twentyfourteen’ post. I love watching these on Youtube as it excites the purchasing goblins that live in my brain, making me scour the internet for things I don’t really have any need for; but I have seen it and therefore now I need it. So, I hope this post excites your shopping mad goblins or just satiates the innate nosiness we all have.
*click the photos for much larger images*

This is an overview of most of the things I was lucky enough to receive this year. I am aware that there are a few things missing now that I look around my room: perspex nail varnish tiered stand, Debrett’s guide to etiquette and modern manners, Q&A a day 5 year journal and probably some other stuff.

The ‘beauty section’ I suppose. I have tried to group my presents to make it easier to list. I got: pink hair chalk, Olay moisturiser, Directions Rose Red hair dye (my absolute favourite), the ‘rosy glow’ Korres mini set which includes a facial moisturiser, a repairing sleep mask, shower gel and body lotion, which all smell delicately and perfectly of roses. Soap and Glory the righteous butter, three Ciate nail polishes in Blizzard, Cabaret and It’s Haute in Here, a full sized and mini Body Shop hemp hand cream (the best hand cream you will ever, ever use – ever) and Mango and Satsuma body wash and Satsuma hand sanitiser. Two packets of day of the dead skull nail stickers, a Satsuma lip balm, beauty blender, fake lashes with diamante edges, a heart shaped mirror, Nivea moisturiser and some new eyelash curlers. *and breathe*

The ‘stationary section’ includes multiple notebooks, an anchor annual diary, some writing paper and envelopes, colouring pencils, a stamping alphabet set and a pen with pretty butterflies all over it.

The ‘miscellaneous section’ features a beautiful Ukulele (of which I am trying to teach myself…), a mason jar with lid and straw, a glowstick heart topped wand (obviously), popping candy chocolate orange and some cupcake and flamingo stickers. Pin up sailotr girl tissues that are far too cool to ever use, a multicoloured sparkly zip pouch for such things as makeup, a Jack Whitehall dvd, some spotty dotty paper straws, colouring book, shiney star studded purse and some Snow Angel massage bar from Lush that should have been in the previous section, but I forgot.

One of my favourite presents of all time, these cute and a damn button illustrations of Poirot wearing his grey City Suit and a cream Travel Suit. I cannot wait to get these framed and up on the wall! Just look at his face!!!

And then we come to the more sweets and chocolates than you can shake a stick at and a post Christmas Christmas sales present I bought myself section. I have had my eye on this silver sparkly satchel for a while now but couldn’t quite part with the twenty sterling they wanted for it, so when I saw that it was half price in the Paperchase sale I had to have it.
In conclusion, I received some very lovely things this year and if you want to know more about any of the items just ask. Next up is something rather less superficial, but what would life be without the variety?!

It was like the way you wanted sunshine on Saturdays, or pancakes for breakfast. They just made you feel good

 

My brain is a little all over the place today, so to gather my thoughts I’m going to do a list based blog post for you. If you know me at all you will know that I love writing lists, as I have mentioned before – I am a notebook enthusiast with a compulsion for list making. The act of putting pen to paper and organising things into categories focuses my mind and lets me forget momentarily about all of the other thoughts that are inconsequential to the task at hand. It is also another method of procrastinating, something I am entirely skilled in, as I don’t have to deal with all of the other stuff which is either boring or too important for me to think about right now. I thought I would just name a topic and list 5 things from that category that I like and hopefully if you haven’t heard of them you will find new things to like too.
YouTube
– The RH Experience
– World of the Orange
– Essie Button
– Fun for Louis
– Miss Glamorazzi
Films
– Stuck in Love
– The Kings of Summer
– License to Drive
– Funny Face
– Moonrise Kingdom
Songs
– The Offspring – Denial Revisited
– Paolo Nutini – Iron Sky
– Pokey LaFarge – Daffodil Blues
– Jose Feliciano – Lonely Teardrops
– You Me At Six – The Rumour
Instagram
– Grgctts
– Alielayus
– Lamiakaric
– Lsbeth
– Melancholyellie
Food
– Sushi
– Burgers
– Blue cheese
– Crisps
– Anchovy stuffed olives
Books
– Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
– Guitar Girl by Sarra Manning
– You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson
– The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean
– The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton
Drinks
– Tequila Sunrise
– Rose Lemonade
– Mango Cooler
– Honey and lemon
– Gin and tonic
Photographers
– Guy Bourdin
– Camilla Akrans
– Annie Leibovitz
– Joshua Hoffine
– Tim Walker
Detectives
– Adrian Monk
– Miss Marple
– Johnathan Creek
– Precious Ramotswe
– Hercule Poirot
The perfect place to conclude my list making…now to take the dog out in the pouring rain. Boo. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my lists and maybe found something new to watch, listen to or read.

(I do not own these images).

Rain drops on roses

As it is coming up for that time of year, I thought I would share with you some of the things I would like to find inside my stocking (if money were no object). I always find it really hard to come up with anything I want for Christmas, even making this wishlist of 12 things was hard. I think that there are so many things I would love to own that it becomes hard to think of just one.
Anyway, let’s begin.
Babyliss Pro Perfect Curl. My aunt bought this and let me and my sister borrow it (for probably long than she intended) and we LOVED it. I have a lot of wavy/curly hair but sometimes I like it to be more uniform in its messiness and curlers in the past have let me down time and time again. I would curl it and within an hour they would have all fallen out. However the Babyliss Pro was an absolute dream! My hair would still be curly even after sleeping on it. I am slowly saving up to purchase this for myself because giving it back has left a massive hole in my life.

A beautiful red velvet hooded cape. No, not like super man, more like a sorcerers cape. So I can hang around in the woods looking menacing and tell small children I will turn them into frogs if they don’t behave. Because who wouldn’t want to do such things?! It may be a little extravagant, but I saw Morgana from Merlin wearing one and I have longed for one to be mine ever since. This one is from Etsy by http://www.etsy.com/shop/CostureroReal.

I have never really been one for using makeup brushes but since watching countless makeup gurus on Youtube it has become apparent that the Real Techniques brushes are miraculous. Everyone raves about how good they are, especially the face brush. Everyone looks so flawless! So I would like to give it a go. If you want to watch the ladies who invented such brushes do some flawless makeup tutorials, click on this link: http://www.youtube.com/user/pixiwoo. 

The Gilmore Girls have long been a favourite of mine. Its cute, funny and personally I think it is really well written. I think I have seen all of the episodes at least 6 times. I love it, i cant help it. Especially the Jess and Logan years because Dean sucks. So, the box set would be amazing!

Macarons. Especially Ladurée macarons. Specifically Rose flavoured ones. I don’t know why I love them quite as much as I do…maybe its because they are too expensive for me to buy lots of and often…Either way rose is one of my favourite flavours and in a macaron its even better.

Bloody Mary Metal make beautiful jewellery and I have long been obsessed with this Lonely Bone ring. It is just a little out of my everyday price range, so I am slowly saving up for it. I have a silver skull bracelet that I got for my birthday this year and I love it, so I think this ring would go perfectly and I must have it. Once I own this, I shall start saving for some stackers to go with it. The stuff is amazing and you should check it out: http://www.bloodymarymetal.com/

Jack Farthing. I first saw this brilliantly dandy man on tv programme ‘Blandings’ and instantly fell in love with him. When the series finished I was most disappointed that he would not be on my screen anymore, until the other day when he had a very small part in Poirot. We all know how much I love the little Belgian detective and this was a most lovely surprise! I don’t know if the posh voice he uses in these programmes is his own but I really hope it is. Either way, I would really like Jack Farthing for Christmas please.

Now, as I have just mentioned my favourite detective of all time, Mr. Hercule Poirot it would be silly to miss this off of my wishlist: the entire and complete collection of Agatha Christie’s Poirot on dvd. David Suchet will forever be my Poirot and I am so sad that the whole collection has been completed. No more Christmas Poirots.

My favourite perfume ever was the Stella McCartney Peony in two. It was the most beautiful scent “one side of the flagon holds a sultry and sensual scent based on amber; the other side holds a fresh peony and rose blend which is romantic and feminine”. It was perfect and they discontinued it! Now you can only ever find it on Ebay for extortionate amounts of money. Please Stella, P L E A S E start making this again!

Sarah Addison Allen is one of my all time favourite authors and she has only written 4 perfect books. They really are some of my favourite stories, all of them with the tiniest hint of magic. Beautifully written and imagined. Her new book which I have been waiting for forever is now due out in January, but If she could bring it out a little earlier that would be perfect. If you haven’t read any of her books you really must, at once. Garden Spells, The Sugar Queen, The Girl Who Chased The Moon and The Peach Keeper, all fantastic reads. http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/

This is a very new addition that I would like because I only saw it on Friday when watching a beauty lady called Dulce Candy on Youtube talk about a makeup haul she had purchased recently. It is the Urban Decay Naked Illuminated Shimmering Powder. Now, I have plenty of shimmery powders and I don’t really need this but it just looked so sparkly and pretty and I really am a Magpie. It is just something I would buy, if I had the money and I just could. Along with the rest of Urban Decay make up.

Last on my list is a little more expensive than the rest but I have been after a Morris Minor car for years now. I cant drive and apparently they aren’t the safest car anyway, but I personally think they are just gorgeous! They don’t make cars this pretty anymore. I first saw one when I was in the New Forrest about 2006 and have been lusting after one ever since. There is a man in my road who collects them and sometimes he has one parked outside of his house and it is so pretty and shiny and vintage I have to stop myself from touching it.

So those are 12 things that I would like to find in my stocking and under the tree this Christmas. Some a little more realistic than others yes, but a girl can dream.
If money didn’t matter, what 3 things would you really like this Christmas?

(I do not own these images).