CHRISTMAS GIFTS 2010; belated post.

I realise that my posts are slightly muddled.  This is because I've had to borrow my brother's laptop to blog, because my Mac is refusing to connect to the Internet.  I'm having to write the posts on my iPad, and then upload pictures using the laptop.  Not ideal, to say the least.

I love presents as much as the next person.  I love shopping for them, I love wrapping them, I love giving them, and I obviously love receiving them.  This year was no different, and I received a few gems, courtesy of my wonderful family and amazing boyfriend.

Vintage Polaroid camera;
I believe that this beauty dates back to either the late 80s or early 90s, and was Peter's present to me this Christmas.  I've wanted one of these for as long as I can remember so it was a really thoughful gift, and I was absolutely overjoyed to open the box and find this sitting inside, nestled in gold tissue paper!  Though it is quite expensive to run (8 high quality black and white pictures cost a whopping €30) I will definitely treasure this gift for years to come, and it was probably what excited me most this Christmas.

Blue silk shirt;
I had my eye on this shirt in  a few weeks, and lo and behold, it popped up under the tree, a gift from my mom.  Seeing as it's 100% silk, it feels lovely to wear.  The shade of blue also perfectly compliments the camel colour which I've been lusting after this season.

Red GHD;
I asked for a new GHD this year, in either red or green.  I ended up with the red one, and I absolutely love it!  It came in a red satin quilted case, with a hard plastic case around it.  Compared to my old one, which was literally falling apart, this one is a work of art.

Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel;
This is my 'signature scent' I suppose you could say.  I got the same perfume last Christmas, and the bottle is almost gone!  I love it's luxurious and refreshing scent, and only a small spray is required to last all day long.

Of course I received other gifts this Christmas, but these are my four absolute favourites!  Hope everyone is still enjoying the holidays. x

CHRISTMAS EVE 2010; what were you wearing?

Every family has their traditions, different as they may be.  In my family, we always spend Christmas Eve together, as well as Christmas Day of course.  Usually Christmas Eve for me entails lunch in a nice restaurant (today it was Rossini's Italian restaurant in Cork city), then coming home to exchange gifts.  This year was no different, except that I invited Peter to have lunch with us as well, which was really nice.  I lunched on seafood pasta and Italian ice cream, and was really glad I hadn't worn something form-fitting due to how full I was when we had finished!  

I tend to make a bit of an effort to wear something nice on Christmas Eve, though this year all I wanted to wear was ten pairs of tights and a giant cardigan, due to the Arctic weather conditions to which I was exposed.  I soldiered on however, and donned a new Topshop dress and shoes to lunch, hence I've decided to do an outfit post, after roping my little brother into taking the pictures for me.

This camel/burnt caramel colour is definitely my obsession this Winter.  I've wanted to snatch up absolutely everything in this warm hue.  A large proportion of my wardrobe is comprised of various black garments, and these two colours compliment each other perfectly.  The dress was comfortable, though I would certainly not recommend wearing it in the cold as it offered absolutely zero warmth.  I adore the lace detailing on the bust though.  The shoes were a great bargain at just €18, and I just love patent and their vintagey t-strap style.  

Well, that's all from me until St. Stephen's Day perhaps, when I can blog about wondrous gifts and tasty xmas munchies- I've already received a few pressies which I can't wait to show off.  Enjoy it guys x

Black Trench Coat- Old Navy, $35.

Dress- Topshop, €59.

Pumps- Topshop, €18 (sale!).

How to make; GINGERBREAD MEN.

As I said in my last post, this was never intended to be a recipe blog.  I just love Christmas food so much that I can't resist cooking it, then telling the world about it.  Tonight, I made gingerbread men.  They made my house smell amazing as they baked, and they were really easy, so here's how;

Ingredients:

(once again, I really like to work in American measurements! So much easier.)

1/2 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of margarine

1/2 cup of golden syrup

1 egg yolk

2 cups of plain flour

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ginger

a little water

For frosting:

icing sugar

water

Method:

1. Blend sugar and margarine until smooth.

2. Stir in golden syrup and egg yolk.

3. Sift in flour, and then add the rest of the dry ingredients.

4. Mix until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated, and the mixture is smooth. (I added a little water here to help the mixture to stick together.)

5. Refrigerate for half an hour.  While you are doing this, preheat your oven to 180°C

6. When you have removed your dough from the fridge, sprinkle flour on a clean, dry surface.

7. Roll your dough out to 1/4 of an inch thickness roughly, and cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters or a sharp knife.

8. Place onto un-greased baking trays and cook for 8-10 minutes.  When the cookies are done, they will be firm but still soft to bite.

Decorating:

Mix icing sugar and water together to create plain white icing.  Dip the hands, feet or heads of your gingerbread men into the mixture.  Alternatively, you can decorate with tubes of coloured icing, or Smarties.

In the making..

Baking!

Just out of the oven.

Unfortunately some of them broke, so be careful when you're taking them off the tray.

The finished product!

These taste really good with the hot chocolate from my last post! Enjoy.