What I had for Christmas

Good evening everyone. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday. Well I failed blogmas miserably, but in my defence I am new to this whole blog business. Going into the new year I plan to be more active with more regular content. I have been planning a few upcoming blogs for you all, so keep an eye out for them.

Today I thought I would do the ‘What I had for Christmas ‘ tag. I notice a few bloggers have been doing this so I thought I would jump on the bandwagon. I have seen a few blogs with people showing off all their designer labels and expensive gifts they received. This post is not one of them. Even though I don’t have much over Christmas, what I get I appreciate greatly, because presents are not the most important thing this time of year, my family is.

Firstly, Disney things!!! I love Disney, so every Christmas I get some stuff that is Disney related. I had a Disney panoramic puzzle as I do a lot of jigsaw puzzles, they relax me. A Beauty and the Beast make up bag set off my fab work colleague Linda. Some Mary Poppins things, including a snow globe, mug and make up bag. A punk little mermaid pillow and lastly a new charm for my Pandora charm bracelet of Minnie Mouse.

Every year my husband gets me a Soap and Glory set. Most people moan at smelly sets but this is one set I ask for every year as I love them. Every year is a new theme and you get different things in the box each year. This year I received the ‘Bubble Act’ large tin and it included:-

Body butter
Clean on me shower gel
Smoothing body buffer
Hand cream
Bath bomb
Body spray
Dry skin balm
Peaches and clean cleansing milk (my all time fave)
Radiance face mask
Dry shampoo
Sexy mother pucker lip gloss
Thick and fast black mascara

I noticed a bit of a theme with some of my gifts, the theme was alcohol lol. I admit I do enjoy a tipple every now and again, so these won’t be wasted. I had a selection of liqueur chocolates. Passion fruit gin liqueur. Prosecco and champagne. Prosecco toppers in a variety of flavours, rhubarb and ginger gin and lastly pink gin sweets.

I had books and a bath set (off a sweet girl in the school I work in) perfume sets, a large friends coffee cup, Harry Potter notebook and my main present off the husband this year was an Amazon fire tablet.

Now some of you may think this gift is a bit of an odd one, but it’s the only gift I actually asked for this year. Yes I asked for a soldering iron. But I want it for the purpose of trying my hand at pyrography. If you don’t know what that is, it’s when you burn and etch into wood to create designs. I like arts and crafts so this is a new thing for me to try and do as a hobby. Will keep you updated on my progress.

And last but certainly not least my favourite gift I get every year, a hamper. When I moved in with my husband, then boyfriend, my mam began a tradition of giving us for Christmas a large hamper. She fills it full of cheeses, crackers, snacks and drinks. But she makes these hampers extra special every year by spending hours making us homemade treats to go in it.

This year my amazing mam made us

Cranberry and Port jelly
Balsamic and honey pickled onions
Bengali apple chutney
Chilli jam
Shortbread
Ginger and orange biscuits
Caramac fudge
Chocolate and Bailey’s fudge

She also cooked us a turkey crown and a ham to go in it.
Yummy!! Thanks mam!!

So there you go. That’s my what I had for Christmas tag. I hope Santa brought you everything you wanted and you enjoyed the day just as much as I did.

Merry Christmas to all.

Bethan x

A trip to A&E

Good evening all. Hope your day was better than mine. As the title suggests I have been in A&E today. Ironically I was on my way on a school trip to the ice rink. Before I left I had family and colleagues saying don’t break a leg on the ice. So just to prove them wrong I fell on the bus!!! I hadn’t even left the school grounds and I was being wheeled back into school in a wheelchair. I now hold the school record of injuries on a school trip haha.

I’ve always had trouble with my left knee, I’m going for tests for arthritis and starting physiotherapy on it in the new year. All I was doing was passing another teacher in the bus aisle and I fell into an empty seat. My body went one way, my knee went another, next thing I know I’m on my back trying not to cry as a bunch of teenagers are staring at me. I was devastated. I have never been ice skating before so I was really excited to go, I didn’t even get there 😢

So today I planned to do a blog on my wonderful day ice skating, instead I’m led on my sofa with my knee strapped up unable to walk. My husband even has to help me get to the bathroom as I can’t hobble there myself. Typical clumsy Bethan lol.

I have a blog ready to post for tomorrow on my favourite festive food and drink, so hope you enjoy that one. I include me favourite snacks, my Christmas dinner must haves and a few tipples that are always in my drinks cabinet for the holidays.

Until then, a big thank you to the staff at Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr A&E for looking after me today and seeing me quickly.

Bethan x

Christmas stressing

Good evening, hope you’ve all had a great day. A week tomorrow is Christmas people!!! Who’s stressing yet…….ME!!

I have never been nervous around Christmas before but the last few days all I’ve done is worry about presents I have yet to buy. Worrying to the point that I couldn’t drop off to sleep last night, and when I did, I dreamt of buying presents, giving them to people and having them thrown back at me because they were rubbish. It’s weird to be feeling like this because I know that Christmas is not about presents, it’s about family. Then why is it affecting me so much this year?

I’ve almost wrapped everything that I have bought so far and I have a list of people I have nothing for yet, which luckily is not much. Just feeling so unorganised. Just hope I can sleep better this evening, to make sure I do I recently repurchased the Lush ‘sleepy’ body moisturiser, so I will cover myself in that. For anyone who has not tried it yet and has trouble sleeping, TRY IT! It smells of fresh lavender, but not a too overpowering scent of it, it’s just right.

So I think I’m going to leave it here for tonight, going to try and have a good night’s sleep or I may get mistaken for a zombie walking around work tomorrow lol. Just need to try and shift my cat off my lap so I can move, but she will leap off me when I say the magic food word haha. So I shall leave all you beautiful people for the night and speak to you tomorrow.

Until then, goodnight.

Bethan x

Family day out in Swansea.

(My dad getting in the way as usual lol)

Good evening, sorry for my absence, had a busy few days and I was in London, which will be discussed in the next few days.

I can’t believe it’s the 16th of December! Christmas is just round the corner. Have you all finished with your shopping yet? I nearly have, got a few bits today checked off my list, still got some stuff to get but not much now. Although I haven’t wrapped anything yet which is not like me, I love wrapping so usually I wrap Christmas presents as soon as I have bought them. So next few evenings will be sent sat on my floor, Christmas songs or films playing while I wrap all the gifts which are ready to wrapped under my tree.

Today, as the title suggests I went to Swansea with the family today. My husband and I met up with my mam, dad, my sisters, my sister’s boyfriend and friend. So there was a gang of us there today lol. Most Sundays we go to Swansea as there is a good car boot sale there which we go to most weeks. You can get some great bargains there. Although not much there today, with it being so close to Christmas, but I got a cool Harry Potter tee (which I’m wearing now) and something for a friend of mine.

But the main reason we went to Swansea today was for the Christmas market. It’s not a big one like Bath was, a few chalets set up, but more variety there. A Salvation Army brass band were playing, so felt very festive and prices were more reasonable from the suppliers there. There was a German food stand so had a lush Bratwurst roll with fried onions, yummy, and a Baileys hot chocolate to help it go down (it is Christmas after all). Although the stands were good I didn’t find much in the way of gifts, so went to a place that I love……PRIMARK!!

I spend so much in that shop, but I love the stuff in there, especially all the Disney and Harry Potter stuff. Managed to get a few presents in there, which I won’t mention what they are as they are for some people who read my blogs. I have all the presents for the kids I work with (I work as a learning support for some teens in high school) and selection boxes for the other kids in the class. So overall a good shopping day. Will have to get the rest in the week now after work, as I dare not go shopping next weekend, it’s going to be insane and I don’t do well in crowds most days. I would have gotten more today but it got to one o clock and the heavens opened, absolutely hammered down with rain, so headed back to car and said goodbye to the family.

So that’s it for today then peeps, I’m in the middle of writing the post for tomorrow, so hopefully I can keep writing more regularly, as I realised I can save posts to post at later dates.

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I will check in with you tomorrow.

Bethan x

December Glossybox review.

Good evening all, hope you had a great day. I haven’t done much, went to work, came home and cooked dinner, but I had a parcel waiting for me when I got home from Glossybox. So I thought today’s blog would be a review of the December box.

If you don’t know what Glossybox is, it’s a monthly beauty subscription box. You get five items a month, a mix of new make up, hair and beauty products and a mix of full and sample size. I have been a subscriber of Glossybox for over 3 years now and I love it. It’s like getting a present sent to your door every month full of surprises. Yes you do get some products that fall a bit short, I usually give those products away, but majority of the time the stuff I receive is great. And this December box I really liked. So let’s dive on in.

As this is a Christmas themed box the design on the box is a lovely red and gold. Normally the box is the signature blush pink and Glossybox logo. They often have a themed box where the design changes. I keep the special boxes and use them to store cosmetics and other beauty supplies in.

I have always loved the packaging, when you open the lid a lovely bow waits for you to unwrap. On the top you always get one of these cards, which gives a description of the product and the RRP of the item. The items you get always make it worth price you pay for the subscription (£10 a month). In the review I will include the RRP.

As it is a special box there are six items month. Glossybox usually do this in the special boxes for an extra treat. And there are no sample sizes in this months box, all are full size products.

First thing I picked up was Imperial Leather’s cosmic unicorn shower gel. I’ve used this item before so pleased with this. It has a lovely citrus and floral scent and it looks sparkly, but it doesn’t leave your skin sparkly which is great (RRP / £1.99)

Next is the Divine Hydra-gel lip mask by Beauty BLVD. I have never used a lip mask before so will definitely be trying it one evening. It’s supposed to plump and smooth your lips so will get back to you on how it fares (RRP / £7.50)

Next up is ‘The Incredible Pore Strip’ by Maybeauty. I use Pore strips regularly, but never tried this one. Like all pore strips this is to remove blackheads and impurities (RRP / £3.50)

Now the next three things I am most excited about. Make up products are my favourite to receive as I usually find a new favourite to add to my ever growing make up bag.

Firstly we have a liquid jelly blush by the brand Niko Pro. I have never seen a jelly blush before so a bit nervous to try it. I’ve tried liquid blush in the past and found the formula to stick to the skin and not blend. Causing me to look like a three year old has tried to put make up on me and ending up with bright red circles on my cheeks. I’ve swatched the item on my hand and the formula is better than a liquid so will try it and see (RRP / £12)

Next up is ‘Relentless matte lip crayon’ in the shade Winterberry by the brand Doucce. I love matte lip products and red is my go to colour so was very pleased with this item. I must admit I put it on straight away. The colour is lovely, not too bright but a lovely dark red. Perfect for a night out. Will definitely be one I’ll be wearing on nights out at Christmas. It’s matte but not too drying (RRP / £16.95)

Lastly there is the shimmer roll highlighter by the brand Bellapierre Cosmetics. Again this was an item I swatched straight away as I love highlighters, I own quite a few. It’s easy to apply with the rollerball and blends out well. The colour, BEAUTIFUL! It’s a lush golden shimmer perfect for the holiday season. Looking forward to putting it on properly when I head out over the holidays (RRP / £19.99)

This is the make up items swatched. On the top is the jelly blush, in the middle is the lip crayon and lastly at the bottom is the shimmer.

Overall I was really happy with this months Glossybox. I will use all of these items so I am pleased. If you like the look of this box and would like to give the subscription a try you can use my discount referral link and have 10% off your first box. https://www.glossybox.co.uk/referrals.list?applyCode=BETHAN-RR

So will see you all tomorrow for another day of blogmas.

Bethan x

Dear Santa, who are you?

Hi! Firstly I must apologise that I missed blogmas yesterday. I was out for the afternoon for my mother in law’s birthday and in the evening I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for writing a blog. I suffer with anxiety and depression and I have good days and bad days, last night I had a bad night. I am planning on doing a more in depth blog on anxiety and depression, but I am going to do that after blogmas because it will probably be a long post.

So on today’s post. I thought I would do a ‘Dear Santa’. I wanted to share what ‘Santa’ means to me at Christmas.

I must admit, I believed in Santa until I was 11 years old. The only reason I stopped believing in Santa Claus the man, was because my parents thought with me starting comprehensive school I should be told the truth. I was devastated. I loved the magic of Christmas, I still do, and the thought of a man delivering presents all around the world in one night was magical. But here I was, 11 years old, realising that what I believed in was wrong.

I miss the days of sitting cross-legged on the floor, flipping through the pages of the Argos catalogue, writing my list to send up the chimney. But as I grew older I realised that even though I am an adult, I still believe in Santa.

But adult me believes in a different Santa than what a younger me believed in. A younger me believed in a jolly man in a bright red suit and big white beard, with a huge sleigh being pulled by reindeer. Visiting all the good boys and girls around the world. But adult me, now, believe that Santa is not a man, but a spirit. Not a spirit as in a ghost, but the spirit of Christmas, the spirit that keeps us all merry this time of year.

When I wake up Christmas morning and sit opening presents with my husband, Santa is there keeping us happy. When I visit my family, Santa is there. When I sit down to Christmas dinner with my family, Santa is there and when I go home feeling happy after a lovely day, Santa is there.

To me, Santa is happiness, it’s the joy I feel every Christmas. And as long as I keep Christmas in my heart, be happy and jolly every 25th of December, then Santa will always exist. So if you do those three things then even you can say, that I believe in Santa Claus.

Bethan x

What I do on Christmas day – Blogmas day 8

Good evening all, I was a little stuck on what to write today but I thought with all this talk of Christmas I would share with you how I spend the day.

Christmas is my absolutely favourite time of year. I love the atmosphere, the generosity of people and spending time with my loved ones. Like most people, Christmas day is similar every year. I think most people have their own traditions on how they spend the day and me and my family are just the same.

Now, even though I am almost 30, I still get very excited Christmas morning, just like a child lol. Every Christmas eve, before going to sleep, my husband will tell me a time I’m allowed to wake up and I’m not to wake him up before that time. Yes I am that excited haha. So usually the day starts around 6am. We both head downstairs, switch on the decorations and put on the kettle. Then we’ll sit on the rug with a cup of coffee (sometimes a bucks fizz, it is Christmas after all) and exchange and open our gifts. Every year we both go a little overboard with what we get each other, but at the moment we don’t have children, so we are allowed to spoil each other before the kids come along.

After presents I will cook a small breakfast, nothing large or we won’t be hungry for dinner. Our favourite breakfast on Christmas morning is a toasted sandwich with bacon, brie and cranberry jelly. YUMMY!

After breakfast we will have a good look at our gifts and then get ready for the day. The rest of the morning is spent visiting Neil’s relatives. We have a new little niece this year so be nice to see her on Christmas day and give her some toys and spoil her.

In the afternoon Neil and I head to my parents house where we sit with my folks and my sisters and open presents. Every year me and Neil get a huge hamper off my mam and dad. Filled with homemade treats, cheese, crackers, meats and snacks, it’s by far the best present we get every year. Not long after that dinner is served. My mam makes THE best Christmas dinner, she goes all out, she writes her dinner plan at least 3 weeks before the main event. Dinner times, a list of what she is making etc. My mam is the reason I love to cook, she always had me help with the dinners when I lived at home. Not to toot my own horn, but I am a good cook.

After filling our bellies with way too much food we have dessert, drinks and a new tradition, a game. I usually get a new game each year for us to play. Previous ones include pie face and speak out. This year I’ve bought ‘hearing things’. A game where you wear noise cancelling head phones and you have to guess the sentence being said. After a few drinks that game will be hilarious.

When the evening draws near Neil and I head home. As soon as we get in we lock the door, put on our PJ’s, open up a bottle of bubbly and end the evening with a festive film cuddled on the sofa with a fluffy blanket.

And that my friends is my Christmas. It may not be exciting to many people, but it is my Christmas. I spend it with all my favourite people who I love, which to me is the most important thing in the world.

However you spend your Christmas, I hope it makes you happy. Because the most important thing about Christmas is to be happy, jolly, giving and thankful for what you have.

Bethan x

Blogmas day 7 – Bath Christmas Market

Good evening all, hope you had a fabulous day. Went on a day trip today to the Bath Christmas market with a few work colleagues and my husband Neil. I have never been to the market before so it was all new to me so I thought I would share what I thought with all you lovely people.

Started the day right with a few proseccos on the bus and then arrived at the market just after it opened at 10am so it wasn’t busy and not all the stalls were open yet so had a look around at the shops first. As any shopping trip with me first stop was PRIMARK lol. God I love that shop. It’s filled with my favourite things and they have loads of Harry Potter and Disney things which is my life. Didn’t go to mad though, got myself a nice little pinafore dress, perfume and a Harry Potter decoration for my tree. I could have spent so much more but I had my husband in tow, who hates shopping so it was like trying to shop with the Grinch lol. I also got some lovely new bath smellies from Lush so will be makinga date with my bathtub this weekend for a relaxing bath and to pamper myself.

Then as it was getting busier the stalls and chalets were starting to open up so time to look around. There were a lot of stalls set up but alot of the same things were being sold, so most stalls were a repeat of ones we saw down another street. It was a lovely Christmas atmosphere though. Carols were playing, there were people singing and there was a fab group of kids from the ‘Paragon School Samba Band’ entertaining the ever growing crowd. For little kids they were brilliant.

As with all places there were a few grumpy people pushing and shoving but generally most people there were in a festive, jolly mood, the Christmas spirit was in full force (not including all the spirits being sampled from the stalls). Stopped for a bite to eat in Wetherspoons (as it was the cheapest place to eat in the area) and of course a glass of wine. Had a nice meal there so with full bellies it was time to make around more of the stalls.

There was food, drink, decorations, crafts and jewellery on offer at the stalls. Homemade sweets, jams, chutneys and chocolates. Stalls selling hot mulled wine and roasted chestnuts and stalls selling homemade wines, ciders, liqueurs and ales etc. All had samples. Tried a few little morsels but unfortunately I didn’t purchase anything. I did buy myself some candles though. One thing that was a disappointment though was the prices.

I found the prices on the stalls to be very expensive for what was being sold. I’ve been to food markets before so I expect the prices to be a little high but I found the prices here to be higher than I thought. Although even though I didn’t buy much I still enjoyed walking around the stalls and soaking up the festive atmosphere.

Walking around the stalls we came across the Abbey. What a beautiful building. We went in and was lucky to hear the Abbey choir rehearsing, it was beautiful. We weren’t allowed to take photos of the choir but I managed to get a sample of them singing.

The visit to the Abbey was one of the highlights. I recommend going in there if you are in Bath town, so pretty.

Finally it was time to meet up with the rest of the gang for a final drink before heading back to the bus.

Overall I had a good day, the husband didn’t enjoy it though, think I’ll take my mum next time lol. Heading back on the bus now on the way back home. It’s been a long day and I think everyone has had one too many samples as everyone is belting out Christmas carols out of tune haha.

Until the next blog I will see you then. I will leave you all with a traditional photo, as you can’t visit a Christmas market without a photo with the big man himself.

Bethan x

Blogmas Day 6 – 5 Welsh Christmas Traditions

Good evening!

I was wondering what to do for today’s blog and I thought I would look at stuff linked to my Welsh roots. I am proud to be Welsh and I have always read articles and books about Welsh myths, legends, ghost stories and traditions etc.

So doing some research I came across some old Welsh Christmas traditions, some I think are great and other’s, darn right weird lol. So here are some of the traditions I read about and thought I would share them with you.

Plygain Service

A festive tradition in 19th Century Wales was on Christmas morning many Welsh people would attend a Plygain service between the hours of 3am-6am. The services would be accompanied by a male voice choir singing carols in harmonies and it would be a traditional way to see in Christmas day. Even though a Plygain service is not as popular today as it was back then, many rural parts of Wales still carry out the tradition.

Calennig

On New Year’s Day in the early 19th Century, children would go door to door singing rhymes asking for gifts or small change. Usually the gifts consisted of skewered apples with raisins and fruit. Here is an example of the rhyme that would be sung

Dydd calan yw hi heddiw,
Rwy’n dyfod ar eich traws
I ‘mofyn am y geiniog,
Neu grwst, a bara a chaws.
O dewch i’r drws yn siriol
Heb newid dim o’ch gwedd;
Cyn daw dydd calan eto
Bydd llawer yn y bedd.

Translated it means – Today is the start of the new year, and I have come to you to ask for coins, or a crust, and bread and cheese. O come to the door cheerfully without changing your appearance; Before the next arrival of the new year many will be dead.

The Mari Lwyd

The Mari Lwyd (Grey Mare) is a weird Welsh tradition which was first recorded in the 1800’s. A horse’s skull (sometimes the head of a hobby horse) would be decorated with bells and draped in a white sheet which will be then mounted to a long wooden pole. Someone would then carry the head under the sheet from door to door challenging people to a sing off. If the homeowners are the first to relent, the team would then be granted entry to their home and rewarded with food and drink. In some parts of Wales this tradition still continues but it is not as popular as it was years ago.

Holming

Luckily this tradition is now extinct. In the 19th Century would take place the day after Christmas. The tradition was that the last one to rise out of bed in the morning would be hit with prickly holly sprigs!

Noson Gyflaith (Toffee Evening)

Linked with Plygain, a Christmas and New years tradition in Wales would be an evening of toffee (or taffy) making. Homes would invite friends and family round and the evening would consist of games, storytelling and of course, toffee making. Some places in Wales still have this tradition and in some historic venues around the country tourists are able to make their own toffee and join in on this sweet tradition.

So there you go. Five Welsh festive traditions. Some of these I would consider taking part in myself (not the holly one though lol).

I would like to continue looking at Welsh traditions, myths and legends as they honestly fascinate me and I hope that you enjoy this post and the others that will follow.

Until then, see you tomorrow for blogmas day 7!

Bethan x

Blogmas Day Five – My favourite festive tunes that are always on my playlist.

It’s that time of year, that wherever you go, Christmas music dominates the radios. Is it just me or do shops start playing Christmas music earlier every year? I love Christmas music but for me I don’t like hearing it until it is December, it’s allowed from then because the Christmas countdown officially starts.

Everyone has their favourite festive tunes this time of year, I don’t think I have a personal favourite so I’m not ranking this list from least favourite to the most, this is just a list of 20 festive tunes that are always on my playlist this time of year. These tunes are the ones I have blasting in my car when I’m on the road.

Kelly Clarkson – Underneath the tree

The Pogues ft. Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale of New York (probably one of my faves)

Aly & Aj – The Greatest Time of Year

Mariah Carey – Oh Holy Night

Mariah Carey – All I want for Christmas is you

Wizzard – I wish it could be Christmas everyday

Brenda Lee – Rockin’ around the Christmas tree

Bon Jovi – Please come home for Christmas

Slade – Merry Christmas Everybody

Bing Crosby – Walking in a winter wonderland

The Darkness – Christmas time (Don’t let the bells end)

The Snowman – Walking in the air

Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews – Baby it’s cold outside

Band Aid – Do they know it’s Christmas?

Bing Cosby – White Christmas

Wham – Last Christmas

Sinead O’Connor – Silent night

Faith Hill – Where are you Christmas

Carol of the bells

And lastly not just one song but all the songs that are on the ‘Muppet’s Christmas Carol’ soundtrack. Those songs really get me excited for Christmas, that soundtrack is on repeat in my car.

So there you go. These are 20 of my favourite Christmas songs. Have a listen for yourself, maybe you can add one of my favourites to your list.

See you tomorrow for blogmas day 6!

Bethan x

(I do not own any of the videos or songs features in this blog, it is purely for entertainment purposes only)