Christmas Preparations!

Good evening!

Today I wanted to share with you my preparations for Christmas, since the big day is fast approaching! (Seriously, it's December... when did THAT happen?!)

So far the tree is up, Christmas dinner is planned and everything I need to make the girls' presents has been bought. I know what the boys' presents will be, just need to buy in the bits and pieces to make them now! I'll be setting some time aside this weekend to put the gifts together for the girls as I've got our Christmas party coming up on the 14th and I need to leave some fussing time!

I can't pick the element I'm most excited about this year, other than to say it's how all the homemade elements turn out. It's my first year making presents and also cooking Christmas dinner for Tom, Kassi and myself. I can't wait to see reactions to each of the gifts and to have a homely, relaxed Christmas day!

After Christmas I'll be doing a homemade gifts series with How-To Guides on everything I make. Nothing I've chosen is Christmas-specific so you'll be able to use them for any gift-giving occasion. I'll also be sharing my tips and tricks for keeping Christmas low-cost, high-fun based on my experiences this year. I know it's a bit late for this year, but since this year is the first time I'm doing it all I want to make sure it's good advice that works before sharing!

What have you been doing to prepare for the big day? Are you going homemade this year too? Let me know in the comments!

Our tree looking pretty!

Update on Life

Hi everyone!

I'm safely back at home and resting up so thought I'd share a little update with you. :)

The op went well and I came home Saturday evening after almost 24 hours of sleeping in the hospital. I even kicked out my visitors so they wouldn't have to watch me sleep! Since then I've been napping at least twice a day, snacking on plain foods and convincing Tom that I really do need him to set the Wii Fit up every morning so I can check my weight! (I'm more than a little curious how much weight that endo was taking up - results to come once the swelling disappears!)

I was also a lucky lady yesterday when my lovely sister and our friend Andy agreed to take Tom and I to the cinema to see Catching Fire (which I adored in case you're wondering, go watch it!). It was a bit of an expedition requiring a hot water bottle (got some funny looks for that), a pillow being seatbelted to my stomach and pre-warning of all the jumpy bits, but it was worth it and I rested all evening to make up for it.

I also had a visit from the amazing Rachel, who put up with my constant babbling with a smile. I've only seen family since the op so I probably dazed the poor woman and I wouldn't be surprised if her ears are still ringing!

Plans for the rest of the week include training Tom on the business elements of Social Media so he can help me with my new business, making a start on homemade Christmas presents before the Secret Santa deadline and having a lot of chicken soup which is my current food craving!

Hopefully I might find some time between all the napping and eating to write a blog post or two as well. ;)

Have a good week!
xx

Delivery!

Much to Tom's amusement, I've been saving these parcels until they'd all arrived so I could open them all at once. They're the ingredients for some of the gifts I am making for Christmas and I cannot wait to get started!

I'm still gathering bits and pieces for the overall present, but now these things have arrived I can get on with step one. :-)

Are you making presents for people this Christmas? Let me know what you'll be doing in the comments!

Exciting Delivery!

I've not been having the best week diet-wise and since having my last Zoladex I've been pretty tired and grumpy (much to Tom's dismay!) so up to now I didn't have anything to share with you guys. But today I got a very exciting delivery - the things I need to get started on Christmas presents!

Normally I'd keep it all top secret as family and friends read this, but I've been so excited by it all that I've told most of them anyway! In the picture you can see silicon moulds, lollipop sticks and cellophane wrap, which will eventually come together with some scrummy ingredients to make hot chocolate on a stick! I've got some other plans for gifts too, so there'll still be surprises for any relatives that spot this post.

I can't wait to get started with testing recipes and wrap ideas. :)

Will you be making any presents this year?