Well I wish it could be Christmas everyday

After a busy day of Christmas shopping in York last Saturday, I wanted something a little calmer on Sunday. It was the first time my housemate and I had been around on a Sunday together and not been suffering from dramatic hangovers so we decided to take a little trip out of Leeds to Harrogate. One of the families I work with suggested a visit to Harrogate as last weekend was the Christmas Market, I'm so glad I listened to them as it was the perfect way to spend December 1st!

The market was huge and there was tonnes of food on offer (and oodles of cheese to sample... always a bonus as far as I'm concerned!). Plus, there were some reindeer outside Santa's grotto, you can't get more festive than that!

Although there were a lot of people around, it didn't feel hectic or busy like most places do around this time of year, and even better, the town centre itself was blissfully calm (I've never seen a Primark like it- there were only two tills open on the womenswear floor and there still wasn't a queue... I know where I'm heading for my Primark sprees from now on!). 

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday- Wizzard

So I'm sending you this Christmas card, to say its nice to have you here

Mama and Papa T took a little trip across the pennines this weekend for our annual family trip to York. York is pretty magical at any time of year, but at Christmas it just has such a lovely atmosphere (despite the horrendous crowds on a Saturday afternoon). We got lots of Christmas shopping done, and for once my Mum actually suggested something she'd like me to buy her for Christmas as opposed to every other year when she's wandered around shops with her eyes firmly blinkered to the floor just in case she happened to give any indication that she might like us to buy her anything. My Dad and I often find ourselves wondering what would actually happen if one year we actually listened to her when she insisted that she "doesn't want anything". 

 I love how we've carried on our tradition of visiting York every Christmas even though we end up there a few times during the year when my Mum and Dad come to see me in Leeds, it always does wonders for getting us in the Christmas spirit. I always love wandering around the town towards the end of the day when the sky is getting darker and the fairy lights start twinkling down the little higgledy piggledy streets, York has the loveliest decorations every year; they do things in a very classy fashion with lots of Christmas trees fixed onto the walls of shops down the little old streets. 

I do seem to waffle on about York a lot in my blog posts, but seriously, I challenge you to find a prettier city! I'd love to know what gets you guys into the Christmas spirit. Do you have any traditions that you do every year with your family?

coat: Topshop, dress: Asos, boots: Topshop, hat: H&M

I've fallen totally in love with my new hat. I bought it as part of my "This Charming Man" costume (yes, it involved a moustache...) for a Song Title fancy dress pub crawl the other week thinking it wouldn't matter if I didn't wear it again, but actually its doing a pretty good job of securing itself a place in my regular wardrobe. Plus it was only £7.99... loads cheaper than all the similar ones I've seen in Topshop/Urban Outfitters. Result.

Step into Christmas: Elton John

(my housemate and I started off December 1st by belting out lots of Christmas songs this morning... I try to resist cheesy music for the other 11 months of the year but in December I just can't get enough!)

Are you hanging up your stocking on the wall?

My friends literally amaze me. Take one of my old friends from school for example. We set a £5 limit for Christmas presents this year to save a few pennies and give ourselves a bit of a challenge to see what we could actually come up with on such a small budget (A fiver really doesn't go very far these days it seems...). And voila, this is what £5 can get you if you think a little creatively. 

Such a simple idea spending £5 on chocolate but I know I'd never in a million years have thought to present it like this! If you're stuck for last minute ideas for a Secret Santa present or just are looking for a little stocking filler for somebody then give it a go and try your hand at one of these. Grab a selection box, a couple of candy canes, a jolly looking santa and some other delicious bits and bobs and you're sorted! I'd been adamant that I was going to make one for whoever I pulled out of the hat for Secret Santa in work, and then I pulled out the one person who doesn't like sweets and chocolate (crazy woman...) so had to go back to the drawing board on that one. 

I was given this back at the start of December and I'd been showing incredible willpower not digging into it all, instead just making full use of it as a cute little Christmas decoration. It lasted until I got back from my work Christmas dinner the other day when for some inexplicable reason I decided that a three course meal hadn't quite filled me up and so I NEEDED to munch on a box of Malteasers afterwards. 

And everyone is singing, I hear those sleigh bells ringing

Last weekend was a very Christmassy one. York on the Saturday as you already know, then off to Manchester on the Sunday to see two of my old friends from school. I love Manchester so much, its somewhere that I used to go quite a lot in sixth form back in the days when Liverpool still wasn't very exciting for shopping, then when I moved to Leeds it was still a pretty convenient distance away for day trips shopping (one of my friends and I were very good at going there just before exams and pretending we lived a blissful English Language free existence). 

Anyway, the main point of our little trip was to exchange Christmas presents and wander round the INCREDIBLE Christmas Markets. However, a quick trip to TGI Friday turned into waiting for over an hour for food then ending up having to force free dessert down after a goodwill gesture from the manager because the waiter forgetting to put our food order through, so there wasn't too much time left for festivities. After wolfing down a starter, huge burger and the world's biggest waffle at lunchtime it left me too full to even think about eating any yummy market food. Wahhh. I'm off to the Leeds German Market this evening though so I'll make up for it there I'm sure. It may be small in comparison to Manchester's endless market stalls but you can still get a decent crepe and mulled wine... what more could a girl need?!

Because I want to see people and I want to see life

The start of the festive season, for as long as I can remember, has always been defined by a trip to York early in December with my parents. York has always been one of my favourite cities with its beautiful cobbled streets and quaint Christmassy charm, and despite the horrendous crowds, it still maintains a lovely cheerful atmosphere that you just don't experience on a Saturday in many other places.

This year, the annual Kaz and Papa T supermarket sweep style trip to Next to buy all my Mum's Christmas presents in the space of 15 minutes was replaced by a trip to York's Chocolate Story which was really interesting, largely due to the abundance of samples for visitors. I think my Mum might have engineered this chocolate filled detour to spare herself yet another year of socks, umbrellas and slippers from Next (its hard to be creative with present ideas for the woman whose mantra from mid-November onwards year in year out is "Don't buy me anything, I mean it, I don't need anything, don't worry about me"... my poor Mum agonises over buying everybody else the perfect present, god forbid we should try and return the favour).

Anyway, I was a bit too busy stuffing my face with samples  too engrossed in the Chocolate story to actually take any photos but I took plenty of pretty little pictures of festive York so I'll bore you to tears with those instead.