Dancing through December

Winter is the perfect time for a spot of shearling.

Whether that's long and swooping along the floor like you're part of a 90s pop music video, or short and denim like a 19-year-old hipster. 

You know what the other thing that's great in December? Red. All the red during the festive season please. Whether that's a simple and bold lippy, a punky pleated skirt or a sparkly slogan sweat. 

And on the days you're feeling really lazy? An oversized 101 Dalmations sweatshirt with a big ol' Lazy Oaf heart. 

Sassy over the knee boots optional.

And when the festive season gets all too much, put on your chunkiest and coziest piece of knitwear to hide the fact that you've eaten so many pigs in blankets that you've in fact, become an actual pig in blanket.

As a regular Mrs.Christmas myself, it'll surprise no-one that I'll have festive headgear on me more often than not. Whether it's more on the subtle side with a sprig of mistletoe or go all-singing, all-dancing with a flashing headband of tinsel. 

Throw in a pair of pom-pom earrings and a metallic gold skirt and you're ready for a night out of fizz and festivities. 

But you know, there's times you have to go hog-wild and when those times call, find you're jazziest Winter Slopes top and matching it with a shimmering, mermaid pleated number...

Or why hold back? Deck your jumper with boughs of holly and tie that tutu round your waist.

And who says clothes get to have all the fun. Time to fab up the hair with hues or purples and blues. 

But the star of the show? The star at the top of the December tree? This magical LBD.

Sparkly stars ahoy, and a crown to finish the whole thing off because you know, it was just a bit too low-key.

The look of a girl living her best life y'all. Living. Best. Life.

Until next time,

A.x

Month by Numbers: Kylie, Kiss-mas & Kicking Back

With December being the festive season of gifts, drinking and eating until you resemble a pig in a blanket, it was a hella hectic month, broken up by a stint of Crimbo limbo where you do nothing but sit on the sofa and only move to grab another chocolate out of the Quality Street tin - and it looked a little something like this...

7 favourites...

1.) When I set myself a goal to document more little bits and moments of my life this time last year, I didn't actually think I'd stick it out for the whole 12 months! (My attention span isn't the best..) But Even if it's just me and my odd cousin who I don't really talk to anymore watches it, I've loved doing it and it's made me see my day-to-day life in a different and more creative way. And it gives me a outlet for all the random bits of clips that I record or save from my Snapchat story - they're not just wasting away on my hard-drive. Here's my December and last mini documentary of 2015: there was lots of family time and lots of festive fairy lights.

2.) I love getting post, and I wish I got more or sent more. Maybe it's because it's the festive season, or cus my friends are just thoughtful munchkins, but I came home from work to find quite the few Christmas cards - from friends at home to friends on the other side of the world - and even a little letter just to say hi. Everytime I saw an envelope with my name on and ripped it open to read what was inside, I was grinning like a Cheshire cat and my heart felt all warm & fuzzy. So maybe this year will be the year I get my pen & paper out...

3.) One of the massive perks of my job is getting tickets to go see something that I might not necessarily have been able to or have thought about going to. And one of occasions is when I got to see the pop princess that is Kylie Minogue perform a one-off Christmas spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall with my bestie. It was one big camp, colourful and carasmatic Christmas party, and I left feeling hysterical, overjoyed and exhausted in equal measures (and with no voice...)

4.) If you know me, I'm all about the activities. Yeah yeah, going for a drink or a coffee is all perfectly well and good, but why would I want to go for a flat white when I can skating on the ice white? And with festivities well and truly in full swing for the festive season, I did everything from skating - roller AND ice - to going to Christmas markets and pop-up versions of Tokyo. 

5.) Budapest was the perfect winter getaway - filled with twinkly lights, beautiful buildings & hot coco that essentially was jut melted chocolate (which was completely necessary in the cold & rain). Sights were seen, wine was drank and many miles were walked. Budapest? You were the Buda-best!

6.) Christmas means home. But not driving home for Christmas a la Chris Rea cus, y'know...trains and shit, but every time I come back home and see my family and catch up with my friends, my heart feels all warm and fuzzy inside. 

7.) And speaking of Christmas, what a Christmas it's been this year. This year, I felt well and truly excited and content at the same time. Food, family and fun is what it's all about, and everything else on top of that is just a brilliant extra. Now I have little niece and nephews running around putting cookies out for Santa and ecstatic for the morning of the 25th, it makes the festive season all that more magical.

5 tweets...

"I've eaten a mince pie every day of December so far - Christmas is off to a 

brilliant start y'all "

"Listening to @britneyspears as I do yoga is making me feel sassy & serene in equal measures "

"Pretty sure at this festive point my blood stream is 70% mulled wine, 20&% gin & 10% glitter "

"Oh man! Dude on the train just sprayed an aftershave that smells just like my ex. Definitely don't miss the ex but god I do miss that scent"

"Today's the first time in about 6 days I've not had red lipstick on. Feels strange "

3 outfits... 

dress:ASOS, skirt:Mango

I spent most of the month looking like some form of wintery ice queen. Whether that's in a sparkly and bejewelled dress to honour the pop princess that is Kylie Minogue when you go see her festive spectacular. Or covered in a wool and shimmering textured mad mess of a skirt with complimenting glittery nails. 

top:Nasty Gal, skirt:Mango, boots:Daisy Street, earrings:New Look

Or you could just go all out with your trusty fluffy and shimmering skirt once again, with a low-cut, flared sleeved top (did someone say ABBA?) Add some equally as fluffy pom-pom earrings and some knee high boots for good measure and BAM! You've got yourself a snow angel. Extra festive points for icy silver hair.

Until next time,

A.x

Week by Numbers: Christmas, rolling pins & Ariel

The excitement of Christmas is well & truly settling to make way for the New Year. So while you pick at the last bits of your Christmas dinner that's leftover (seriously, we've still got turkey to tackle in the Lo household), why don't you sit back, relax - go on, make that cuppa, I'll wait - and scroll on through my week of all things festive.

7 favourites...

1.) Another week, another Christmas jumper: 'Kissing guys for mince pies'. I like to have a Christmas jumper for every occasion - I've got novelty ones that friends LOL at, and fairisle one I whip out for more stylish affairs - and this, is perfect for when I'm feeling a bit cheeky (which is 90% of the time).

2.) As you've gathered by now, I fucking love Christmas. Everything from the food to the fun and games. But when it comes down to it, the thing that makes me the happiest about the festive period, is seeing my family and the ones I love.

As the little diddy 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' says: 'Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more.

And, of course, my dad ended Christmas by falling asleep in front of the telly. LAD.

3.) It may be because it's the season of giving. Or it may be because it's the season for gluttony, but I've been baking like Mary Berry on speed. Gingerbread for get-togethers, cranberry and white chocolate cupcakes for gifts, and mince pies for Santa, naturally.

4.) I grew up with 2 siblings of lego-builders, so when it comes to gifts, there's a high possibility that there's one that requires building. This year, the stakes were raised, and we moved onto nanoblocks, which may be the most fiddly things in the world. But the end result is so damn cute.

5.) Snow! I know snow is a pain after a while, and I try to avoid driving in it at all costs. But it still feels as magical and beautiful to me now as it did when I was little when I see that first snowfall. This is the first time my 2-year-old nephew has ever encountered snow too, and his reaction to seeing it falling, and touching it for the first time, was truly adorable as he watched on with amazement. I think my heart might have burst.

6.) The I.T Crowd. I'm VERY late to the party, but I put it on on Netflix on a whim when I was unpacking when I got home last week. A week later, I've watched it all from beginning and end, and now have a unhealthy appreciation of Richard Ayoade's humour and Chris O'Dowd's accent.

7.) I am very lucky to not only be able to spend my holidays surrounded with love, family and food, but also to receive gifts, for which I'm always grateful for. This year, not only did I get some beautiful, decent headphones to stop myself being crappy, cheap ones that constantly break, a book of one of my favourite people who makes me cackle like a witch, but I also got an Ariel doll. Yes, I know i'm 22, but you should've seen my face when I ripped open the paper and realised what lied beneath the paper. It was a flashback to me as an excited 6-year-old.

Little Mermaid for life yo!

3 thoughts...

"OMG THAT'S A HAND & A GREEN DRESS I SEE - IT'S FLIPPING ARIEL ISN'T IT"

"I never want to eat again..."

"Did someone say cheese board?"

1 outfit...

dress:Louche

I had festive fawns prancing around my dress for Christmas day, complete with red lips and bow. This was until I had to changed into my onesie to optimise my potential to eat more food. Priorities right?

What did you do to spend your holidays this year?

Stay happy!

Until next time...

A.x

Step into Christmas!

When the 1st of December rolls around, I am Little Miss.Christmas.

The Christmas jumper will be on, the festive songs will be on full blast and I will have already eaten a whole box of mince pies.

My and my 2 housemates that I lived with at uni (they're becoming a bit of a regular feature on here now aren't they?) used to have a yearly tradition to go to Winter Wonderland every winter, and forget about all our deadlines and other uni-related stresses, while eating chocolate covered churros and soak in all the festive fairy lights.

However last year this tradition got broken due to all of us being silly-busy. And the thing is the times we did go to Winter Wonderland, yeah we felt all festive and fuzzy inside, but honestly, we didn't do THAT much.

So this year, we ventured onto new pastures, and hopped on over to Winterville at Victoria Park. And boy, did we do lots of activities!

We devoured into crab burgers (mine had pickled cucumbers, chili and wasabi mayo in - yum!), sipped on hot toddys and mulled wine to keep us warm, laughed like mad as we got spun round like mad on fairground rides, and then, we only went along and did one of my favourite fun things.

Roller-skating.

Ever since me and Hannah went one summer (here - deja vu!), I wanted to get better at it and after buying my own roller skates at a bargin, I have a blast on them! 

I'm still no pro, I mean, there were guys and gals there dancing around on them, and I just stared at them in awe. And they, are my aim.

Dressed in a Christmas jumper (naturally)...

And a great big lilac tutu - because why not...

And my Ace of Hearts at hand, we scooted along. 

I mean, when your outfit of the day is this...

...life's pretty great.

After wearing ourselves out like a couple of kids running around in the park, we made out way home, and as we were walking to the station, a guy behind me said, "Excuse me. My little girl was just telling me how much she loved your skirt and wanted me to tell you!" 

Isn't that the sweetest thing! It brought a big smile onto my face, but if only she knew how much room I took up on the tube home...

Do you know why I love Christmas so much? 

Yes, stuffing yourself silly with food is fantastic.
Yes, wrapping up presents for others makes me feel like an excited lil' elf (and getting gifts ain't too shabby either).
Yes, the tinkling lights and cheesy songs make me feel all sparkly and magical - even more so than usual.
And yes, spending time with the ones you love is something that is priceless.
But at Christmas, everyone seems to band together. Everyone just seems, nicer somehow. Friendlier. You forget all your troubles, squabbles, worries and stresses that you may have, and just let go.

What your favourite thing about Christmas?

Stay happy!
Until next time,
A.x