Christmas Couples To Do List - 10 Things That Don't Cost a Penny

12 Dec 2021

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Chridtmas is one of the most romantic times of the year,there's candlelit dinners with the twinkling of the tree lights, holding hands whilst walking in the cold air and so much more. 

December can also be a time of the year where we neglect to do the little things because we're so focused on finances, buying gifts, seeing family or even stressing about if we're even able to see our family. It's for that very reason I've decided to write a Chridtmas couples to do list that won't cost you a penny... because let's be honest sometimes time together can be the best thing we need. 

1) write Christmas cards together OR design an e-card and email it to friends and family. 
2) watch a Christmas movie
3) decorate your Christmas tree
4) wrap up warm and go for a walk together
5) make hot chocolate (or whatever you opt to drink) then sit beside your Christmas tree and have a proper catch up. Take a length of time out of your day to really talk and listen. 
6)  make dinner together and light some candles. When Lee and I make dinner together we aways reminisce to when I used the Broccoli florets ASDA substituted in our order as centre pieces.)


7)  take silly, funny festive selfies
8) have a pajama day and spend the day relaxing 
9)  shower together - nothing creates intimacy and feeling close to each other more than a shower together. 
10) Put some festive music on and have a dance. I recently published a playlist of 60+ Minutes of Non Stop Festive music. Nothing cheers me up more than Lee's facial expressions when I'm dancing! 

What is your favourite thing you enjoy doing with your partner that doesn't cost a single penny? Let me know below. 
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5 Gift Ideas for the Redhead in Your Life

10 Dec 2021

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As a woman with red hair over the years I've gone from hating the colour to absolutely loving it as an adult. From the many mean names I'd get called as a teenager to finally embracing it I've always wanted one of those mugs "A Ginger is for life not just for Christmas" which my sister finds offensive but I find absolutely hilarious so if you have a redhead in your life why not snap up one of these gift ideas below! 
 

*THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE LINKS* 













Would the redhead in your life love or hate these? Let me know below!
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10 Things I Love About Christmas

8 Dec 2021

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Christmas is a time I absolutely love, everything about it. I get into the festive spirit right from the get-go and if I had my way would have the tree up from July as that's when I start making my Christmas cards and planning what I'm going to craft in December. 

As I've gotten older like most people I presume, my reasons for loving Christmas have changed, read 10 Things I Love About Christmas below. 

1) The smalltown romances with big city businesswomen all surrounding Christmas.

2) Christmas Songs

3) Spending time with family, remember that disagreement you had with a cousin? It's long forgotten when the family gathers together. 

4) Wrapping Presents, bows, shiny paper, and gift tags! I love matching my wrapping paper. 

5) Advent calendars - Because I always lose my days in December so this helps keep on track! 

6) ALL THE GLITTER - Everything shiny and sparkly just fills me with joy! 

7) Getting dressed up - there's always somewhere to go at Christmas and get a little dressed up for and I love sitting down and planning an outfit and makeup for going out. (Even if it does take me days to decide) 

8) It's when Hot Chocolate gets it's moment to shine - All through the year when I tell people I don't drink tea or coffee I receive odd looks and a bunch of "reallys?" but in December? Hot chocolate seems to be everyone's go-to hot drink! 

9) That every year people (especially females) vent their anger at how Alan Rickman's character in Love Actually wasn't giving the necklace his found to her!

10) People have a spring in their step, everyone just seems that bit more hopeful and looks forward to their Christmas. 

What do you love about Chritmas? 
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60+ Minutes of Non Stop Christmas Songs

6 Dec 2021

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'Santa Claus is coming to town' so 'Step into Christmas' with 60+ Minutes of Non-Stop Christmas songs to get you into the festive mood! I've compiled a list of my favourites along with a few classics into a playlist below on Youtube that you can enjoy. 

I know I'll have this playing constantly right up to Christmas day and after. I've included a couple of my all-time favourites and the full list can be found at the bottom. 

Kelly Clarkson - Underneath the Christmas Tree



Ariana Grande - Santa Tell Me 


Sam Palladio - Under the Tree


Little Mix - One I've Been Missing 



Chris Tomlin ft Lauren Daigle - Noel





What is your favourite Christmas song? Is it on my playlist?


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The Ultimate Christmas Guide to Netflix

4 Dec 2021

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Netflix is my go to platform anytime I want to watch something and at Christmas time it's no different especially being filled with so many small town festive romances or princes falling in love with "ordinary women as they've been described. 

Check out my ultimate Christmas guide to Netflix below. 

Whilst I've watched the majority of these movies I've not seen them all which is why I made it a wee tick box at the bottom of this post, I've also included a couple of trailers of my favourite ones. 

- Last Christmas 




- Single All The Way


- Dash and Lily 


-The Princess Switch


- A Christmas Prince






What do you think of the movies I've added? What's your favourite on the list?
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My Christmas 2021 Wishlist

2 Dec 2021

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This post contains affiliate links.

There are items we all secretly hope for or if you're like me drop a million hints for (Lee - If you're reading this M&S have a new festive Percy Pig out) I appreciate any and all gifts I get, especially handmade gifts as I make gifts myself know how much time, effort and concentration can go into it. There's a lot of thought involved as well. 

Below are some items I'd love this year for Christmas and I'm so eyeing up that Jordan Henderson notebook for my 2022 blogging. 














Matilda Myres 2022 Diary £9.98 (This diary is gorgeous and definitely contains certain pages perfect to keep track of books read)














I would absolutely love all the items above and am so excited for Christma this year. Isn't that candle holder so cute!?

What's on your wishlist this year? 
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Christmas is coming, Time for a blogmas kick off!

1 Dec 2021

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Twinkling lights along the houses, the shop window displays. Smiles upon faces with stressed-out sighs. It's Christmas. Santa's coming. Can you feel it though? That feeling of going home, hopefully being able to see family and friends this year. Hope. 

I absolutely love this time of year, November is always a month I dislike, for me it's a stop-gap between Halloween and Christmas Day and I'm just itching for December 1st to roll around so I can really begin the festivities. 

This month I plan on doing 12 days of Blogmas and that means I'm writing a blog post on all the even-numbered dates right up to Christmas Day. I chose 12 days as every year I overwhelm myself with writing 24 days and halfway through the month I end up not publishing any of the posts which always makes me feel so disheartened when I never publish them. 

Over on A Bookish Redhead though? That's a whole different story, I plan on doing 25 days and that's because I've most of the posts already written out and just need to type them up so I'm hoping I stick to it. If you love reading, adding books to an out-of-control TBR pile, or reading interviews with some amazing authors then I highly suggest you check out my book blog which I'm trying to revive this month. 

This Christmas is a bit different for Lee and me, it's our second Christmas together but with a lot of places being closed and events cancelled last year we never actually got to go out for dinner or to the Christmas market etc. We did have an amazing first Christmas but this year we can go on those dates we wanted to as long as it's safe to do so and we've already gone to a local Christmas Tree Light Switch on and market which was so much fun. 

For the first time, I had candy floss on a stick, something which I've always wanted to try! The man did give us a trick to pick it off and not dig our faces right into it which we all know is the fun way. 




There was also a really nice stall that was selling bookmarks and I was able to grab some stocking fillers for my mum, sister and also treat myself. I'm hoping to feature them more this month. 

I've so much more planned for this month which is why I've made a little December could-do list. 

- Write Christmas Cards -
- Christmas Market - 
- build gingerbread house - 
- Long walk and grab some hot chocolate - 
- Kiss under the mistletoe - 
- have a festive cocktail - 
- Read a Christmas book -
- Bake Christmas treats - 
- Have a Christmas Movie marathon - 
- Do something for charity -

What do you have planned for this month? Are you doing blogmas? 
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The Big Christmas Giveaway

22 Nov 2021

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Can you believe it’s Christmas Day next month already? I’m absolutely buzzing for all the small-town romance

movies whilst still wondering where this whole year has gone. It feels like only yesterday I was reading my

book in the sun and now the mornings are dark, there’s a nip in the air and, I’m back to piling on the layers

(both inside and outside) it does help though that everywhere I look shops and city centers are getting transported

into their own special winter wonderland. I spent roughly 5 hours yesterday putting up my Christmas tree.

It’s been years since I did the main tree in our house for the living room and it brought up so many amazing

memories for me especially when my mum started to help put the baubles on. (Three red baubles beside each

other on a tree just don’t go, although it’s probably me being picky) but the laughter we had was definitely

needed when my mum was adding decorations to the tree and I was automatically reaching out to replace them.

Now I’ve to move on to decorating a mini pink tree and a white one. 


To help spread some Christmas cheer a bunch of amazing bloggers (all of which are listed below) havteamed up to help spread some Christmas cheer by hosting a massive giveaway for all to enter.

What’s up for grabs? Well, a £400 Cash Prize Giveaway which you can spend entirely how you want! Want a new outfit? Pay off a little debt? Treat your nearest and dearest? The choices are limitless and all yours to make. What you’ll also win is a beautiful selection of stylish and creative homeware items from ARCA, A lifestyle and homewares brand based in the UK. Massive good-luck to all who enter, I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Make sure to check out the other Bloggers that are taking part in this incredible giveaway. And read on to find out how you could win this mammoth prize!

Bloggers Taking Part

Reinventing Neesha | Mummy Fever | Lipgloss and Curves | Melanie's Fab Finds | Rachel Bustin | Home and Garden Things | Thrifty Chap | Boxnip | Millenial Saves | Jupiter Hadley | Pounds and Sense | We Made This Life | Renovation Bay-Bee | Ami-Rose | Futures | At Home With Alice | Lisa's Notebook | Alice in Sheffield | On Your Journey | Two Hearts One Roof | Life in a Breakdown | Monethalia | The Diary of Jewellery Lover | Pink Oddy | Skinned Cartree | Stapo's Thrifty Life Hacks | Wander & Luxe | Reality in Reverie | Christmas with Katie | Make Money Without a Job | Rice Cakes and Raisins | Just Average Jen | Life Loving | Scandi Mummy | Real Girls Wobble | Five from the Swich | The Financial Wilderness | The Amazing Adventures of Me | Spilling Life Tea | Voluptuous Chatterbox

The Prize

Your home is your sanctuary, so surround yourself with things you love.

One lucky winner will win a unique homeware upgrade package worth over £600 from Arca plus £400 in cash!

Arca Lifestyle is an eclectic lifestyle and homeware brand based in Norwich. With a range of hand-curated products from across the globe, Arca provides the latest trends to brighten any home as well as original gift ideas for those you love.

Arca has been created with the goal to help individuals find homeware pieces and prints that spark their soul, offering unique products that are not available elsewhere.

Visit www.arcalifestyle.com to see the full range of products and prints available.

How to Enter

Follow Arca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arcalifestylestore/

Follow Arca on Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/ArcaLifestyleStore/_created/

Once you have completed the above entry options via the Rafflecopter widget below you will unlock more ways to enter. The more you complete the more chances you have of winning.

The competition ends at Midnight on Sunday the 19th of December and a winner will be drawn on Monday the 20th of December.

For full entry terms and conditions please see the rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
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10 Sassy Responses For When Asked Why You're Single

11 Nov 2021

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10 Sassy Responses For When Asked Why You're Single
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Hello November - We Can Do This!

1 Nov 2021

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Blogtober didn't exactly go to plan, October has been such a busy, exciting, eye-opening month. 

My Glow course finished and whilst I try to chalk up and take on board everything I learned it's very hard to keep reminding myself to keep putting these things into action but I'm trying.

Blogging has been slow for many reasons, first off my laptop charger broke, then my phone, and now blogger apparently has a bug that won't allow me to change my template or edit it. I've been looking at changing to Wordpress after so many years and I'm hoping to make that change this month... if I'm brave enough. 

November is a month I struggle with as for me it's long, we have Halloween to look forward to in October and then Christmas in December which means November just sits in the middle for me. 

I've wrote a handful of self-help posts for the month ahead and made plans to keep me going which means most likely will include a lot of visits to Del Pieros for blogging. 

My goals for the month ahead include 

* cooking more *
* deluttering * 
* lots of self care * 
* blog more * 
* filling in my positivity journal * 
* Read More *

Do you struggle with the winter months? What's your go-to self-care routine? 

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You Glow Girl - My Thoughts on The Real Me Program

27 Oct 2021

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On my first day at Glow I can remember getting ready and saying to Lee, well moaning to Lee did I have to go as I didn't like people and they might eat me. Truth be told, I was waffling on because my anxiety was skyrocketing. I even said to him I hope they don't make us wear those silly name stickers so everyone remembers your name but you always end up leaving with it on you for the duration of your day as you forget and you're still too nervous to ever tell anyone else they've got theirs on. (Or it might just be me that left with theirs on one day. At 28 name stickers might be a good idea, my memory isn't as great as it used to be. I will honestly say I couldn't remember everyone's name. I needed them more than ever.) 

Glow was relaxing, positive and so open. It was informal and I believe everyone felt included. We all came from different backgrounds, history, and although similar experiences in life the one thing we all had in common was that we were in that class for our own reasons and we all got along. It wasn't long before we were making jokes and having banter. I met so many amazing, strong, intelligent women that I hope to remain good friends with. 

When asked on the first day why we had come to Glow I was honest and my exact words were "because I don't know who I am anymore." As I've written about before, I was in an abusive, controlling relationship where everything was near enough decided and demanded for me.
Whether it be clothing, going out with family, and even taking days off work because it suited them it can be such a scary, daunting feeling when you suddenly have control back. When I left my relationship I was fearful of making decisions incase it was the wrong one and I tried so hard to say yes to everything and people-pleasing which meant not sharing my opinion incase it wasn't allowed. I didn't know what my thoughts and feeling were towards something because for so long I'd been living through someone else's expectations.

In six weeks The Real Me program with Glow has shown me I can be confident in who I am with others, not just online. I've also learned to not be afraid of sharing opinions and standing up for myself. The main thing I was struggling with when starting Glow was direction, there were so many things spiraling in my head that I thought I needed or wanted to do by a certain age but when I sat and thought about it I realised I was doing what was expected of me instead of what I actually wanted. 

Pushing boundaries and stepping out of my comfort zone is scary and anxiety-filling but it built confidence, strength, and also self-belief. I believe in myself and I have set smart goals
to start achieving the things I want to. During the program, I had the opportunity to take part in team-building exercises and also rockclimbing. 


View on Instagram HERE

That was so much funI said I'd try and I did, I went in with an open mind and had so much fun before even attemping this. I pushed myself and I gave it a go. Did I go as far as I wanted? No! But it's easier to climb the wall higher in your head when your hands aren't burning, going red and your feet are secure on the ground.

Glow's The Real Me Program has had such a positive impact in my life that I know I'd still be feeling a bit stuck if I hadn't gotten the encouragement and pushed myself to go.

If you or anyone you know could benefit from a program like this I highly suggest you check out their website for more information. 

Taken from their website www.glowni.com 

Glow's Mission Statement: 

To empower women and girls in Northern Ireland (and beyond) to discover their true identity and purpose so they can achieve their full potential.


Have you ever completed a course like Glow? What is something that's built your confidence? 
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Autumnal Blog Tag

25 Oct 2021

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I'm so excited to have been tagged in this Autumnal tag, as soon as I saw All Thing Gee was doing it I knew it was something I wanted to be apart of. I love checking out everyone's different thoughts and interests with these. 

- Favourite candle scent 

This changes seasonally but round this time of year definitely ginger or cinnamon. 

- What is the best fall memory you have? 

When I was in primary school my dad lost his job and we literally struggled for money but my parents wanted to make sure I didn't miss out so we all scrambled to find what money and change we could so I could attend the school disco. 50p entry fee was needed and we managed to find over £2 altogether which meant a little something for the tuck shop. My dad drew whiskers and a nose with a black felt tip and I was a cat! It was the highlight of my whole primary school experience. 

- Best Fragrance for fall

Something with a little spice like cinnamon or ginger. 

- Favourite thanksgiving food

We don't celebrate thanksgiving in the UK but potatoes for sure. They're the perfect food. 

- What is Autumn weather where you live? 

I live in Northern Ireland so cloudy, dull and also a lot of rain and dropping temps at times. 

- Football games or jumping in a pile of leaves? 

Can I have both? Jump in the leaves before or after the match? If they lose I'll need something fun to do and if it's cold I'll need to do prior to the match to warm up. 

- Is pumpkin spice worth the hype? 

I've never tried it, every year I tell myself (and others) I'm going to but always end up with my good ole' faithful hot chocolate. 



- Favourite fall TVshow? 

For me it has to be The Good Witch on Netflix. It's such a family-friendly, heartwarming show. I love it. 

- What song really gets you into the fall spirit? 

For me this year it has to be Black Magic by Jonasu. I've been doing tiktoks to it and absolutely love the witchy vibes I'm feeling from it. 


- What do you want to be for Halloween?

Usually I'm a witch. I love witches and dressing up as one but this year I'm trying out new looks because of tiktok and I'm really thinking Marvels Wanda. 

- Hats or scaves? 

I can't wear anything up close round my neck so definitely hats. 

- What is your #1 favourite thing about fall? 

The spooky feeling in the air, witchy vibes and the whole atmosphere of this time of year. 

What do you think about Pumpkin spice? Do I need to try it? 

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Poster Store - The Must Need Prints For Your Home

22 Oct 2021

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** GIFTED ITEMS** 

When I was approached by Poster Store to receive a selection of their posters I knew after spending time on gazing at their prints I was not turning down the amazing opportunity. Especially as they care so much about sourcing wood from responsibly managed forests that meet the highest environmental standards. 
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No Fear Halloween Movies You Need To Watch

20 Oct 2021

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When it comes to Halloween, I appear sometimes to be the only one that is a scaredy-cat amongst my family and friends! Horror and thriller movies are what I try to avoid as best I can as I like being able to sleep at night and not worried the bogey man is gonna try and kidnap me! When the trailers on TV advertise a scary movie coming soon to the cinema or TV channels introducing their Halloween run-up I quickly close my eyes or change the channel... then take deep breaths! 

That's why I decided to make the image below to mark all the movies I want to watch this month so I don't forget. Ofcourse there isn't any scary movies on this list unless you count BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE. Sorry couldn't resist! 


What are your favourite movies to watch for Halloween? Let me know below.


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