Festive Friday 2013 #2 Looking Forward To Christmas Eve

Hey Guys,

I can't believe we're at the end of another week and ti's time for another Festive Friday... This week I was planning on focusing on my Christmas decorations at home, but some of the lights on my tree have broken and my living room is a mess (my fiance just sanded the beam on one side of our living room and stained it so all the furniture is over one side) so I couldn't take good photos. However, I think I have a pretty good alternative!

Today was a pretty good day for us, we actually finished the last bits and pieces of Christmas shopping, and the few things I had been waiting for arrived, AND I bought my Soap and Glory big gift set... A bit sad when you have to buy your own Christmas presents... I can't wait to unwrap that on Christmas day though. I also got something I have had my eye on for ages and ages.

Yankee Candle Christmas Eve has been on my wishlist since it went in the shops this year. I've been buying little samplers recently though and wasn't ready to commit until I realised not many places did samples of it. I really loved the smell and wanted it so much, and today I bought the large jar. I prefer buying the large jars over the small and medium ones because they last for ages and are better value for money!

Christmas Eve is such a perfect smell. I don't like anything too sweet, favouring clean smells like "Fluffy Towels" over anything vanilla-smelling. I do like berry smells though, and this is the perfect blend of berries, with a bit of spice and a little bit of a burning smell that is exactly like a log fire. I know this because I couldn't wait to start burning it and have it lit next to me!

Over all I love this, it's the perfect scent for me right now! It is available at most stockists of Yankee Candle in a variety of sizes as well as in a medium jar gift set with Snow In Love (one of my other faves and one I want for Christmas). It usually retails for £19.99 but I got this 25% off today in Clinton's Cards. It's their scent of the week so I couldn't help myself!

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm off to see Catching Fire on Sunday with a friend, so that will be nice!

See you next week!

Festive Friday 2013 #1 and the Truly Polished Christmas Tag!

Hi Guys,

Doesn't it feel Christmassy today?! It's really cold here and we bought our Christmas tree today so I'm feeling very festive. We got a real tree this year, went to the garden centre to pick it out and everything, I'm feeling grown up and our house feels very homely now for our second Christmas here. Today is also the first Friday in December and I thought I'd bring back one of my favourite features from last year... Festive Fridays! Last year I did it for six weeks if I remember right, but this year I've been busy actually preparing for Christmas so I thought I'd keep it as a December thing this year.

For my first Festive Friday 2013 post I wanted to do a Christmas tag, but I couldn't really find one I liked, so I thought I would create one myself! It took me a little while, but here it is.

1. Sign that Christmas is coming?

2. Favourite Christmas song?

3. Favourite Christmas movie?

4. Opening presents... Morning or afternoon?

5. Smoky eyes and sequins for Christmas dinner or tacky jumpers all the way?

6. Christmas eve plans?

7. Favourite Christmas food and drink?

8. Favourite Christmas memory?

9. Who are you spending Christmas with this year?

10. Top of your wish list this year?

11. What's on your plate?

12. Must have nail polish for Christmas day?

13. Favourite Christmassy scent?

14. What is at the top of your tree?

15. Boxing Day?

16. Best thing about Christmas?

This is quite a long post, so click Read More to see my answers...

Introducing Bonnyprints - Personalised Greeting Cards

Hi Guys,

I know it's a little out of the ordinary for me to be posting on the weekend, but I haven't been able to post as much as I have wanted to this week so I thought I should get another post in before the week's end!

Today is the first of December, and you all know what that means... Time to think about Christmas! I'm normally the worst when it comes to Christmas preparations, I leave everything until the last minute but this year I vowed that wouldn't be the case. I've actually nearly finished my Christmas shopping, and I ordered all my wrapping things on Friday night, so next week I'll be all done! 

In any case, today's post is very fitting for the time of year. It's all about greeting cards! 

Christmas cards are one of my favourite parts of getting ready for the big day. I love picking them out, and personalised cards are always the best to me. I rarely buy cards for any occasion that aren't customised in some way!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by Bonnyprints about reviewing a set of cards, and after having a browse at what they had to offer, I said yes. They sent me a set of five personalised flat cards*, which would usually cost £6.20 and I love them.

The order process was very simple and the website was extremely easy to use. I decided to order photo upload cards because I think that's the best test for quality! The photo I used was my blog header photo, and the design I chose was the Merry Christmas Ball card, as I thought it matched my blog theme pretty nicely!

Here they are!

Close up 

Two cards out of the set of five

Lined envelope

The cards* turned up at my house while I was away in Manchester, so that was a nice surprise to come home to. They took just over a week to arrive, which is slightly longer than I would usually want... However,  I opted to have them quality checked before they were sent out. This is a free service and can delay the cards by a day or so, but I thought it was worth it, I'm really happy with my cards!

My order was printed on high quality thick cardstock with a matte finish. The cards I got were flat, but they do sell conventional folding cards too. These ones are great for those who are a fan of pegging cards onto a string to display them, which is what I plan to do this year...

The order came complete with five white envelopes which are actually lined! What a great idea! That is actually my pet peeve when it comes to card giving, I hate when you can see the card through the envelope. Usually I draw all over the envelope to avoid this, but with these envelopes I don't need to!

As I said, this set of five flat cards retails for £6.20, and you can check out the whole range of Christmas cards here on their website. 

They also sell a variety of other greeting cards from wedding invitations, to moving announcements, to thank you cards, so it's well worth a visit to their site!

The product(s) included in this post were provided to me for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Please see my disclosure page for more information.

My Christmas and New Year in Pictures!

Hi Guys,

Happy New Year! I can't believe this is 2013! We all survived the end of the world and we've made it this far! This is the year I will be turning 23, my son will turn two, and my boyfriend will be hitting the big 3-0! 

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that you're all feeling positive for the year ahead!

As far as New Years Resolutions go, I haven't gone mental... I would like to start making more movements towards my own polish line, and I also want to get fitter. I used to go to the gym but I didn't have a driving licence so getting there was a nightmare. Now I have a car, I don't have a babysitter! We got a treadmill for the house so I can start running, I would like to lose that last bit of baby weight, that's all! I don't like to make proper resolutions because I can never keep them, but I think mine are realistic! 

I thought that as I have been away for so long relaxing with my family, I should share some of my Instagram photos with you all. I have misplaced my camera wire, so can't charge my camera or take my photos off right now (typical) so Instagram photos are a good option! I have a horrible feeling my boyfriend has taken my cable with him offshore... I'll have to buy new one because he's gone for a month at least!

Onto the photos... Please ignore the horrendous carpet and curtains. We've only lived here a couple of weeks and the focus has been on hosting Christmas, unpacking as many boxes as humanly possible and building furniture! We want to lay down solid wood flooring and we're trying to sort out getting our one pair of huge, beautiful damask curtains turned into three pairs of smaller curtains...

Don't forget, you can follow me on Instagram, my username is @truly_polished

Click "Read More" to see the rest of this post, it's extremely long!

Festive Fridays #6

Hi Guys,

Today is my last Festive Friday post! I've enjoyed doing these Christmassy themed posts, it's been the only thing getting me into the Christmas spirit! Honestly, the last week has been so stressful. It's been jam packed with things to do, and I haven't had a spare minute to post anything. Really I should have scheduled posts but I just didn't get around to it! 

What makes me really happy is that people are still reading my blog, so thank you for your support during this busy time!!! 

This Festive Friday post is just to say...

Have a Merry Christmas!

I hope each and every one of you gets exactly what you wish for over the holiday period.

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post over the next week and a half because my family are coming up to stay at the new house. Plus we have some furniture to make, specifically a wardrobe, my floordrobe idea hasn't been going well!

Hopefully I'll be popping in soon to show you some beautiful Christmas Day nails! That's if I have time of course...

See you soon! And thanks for sticking with me!

Festive Fridays #5

Hi Guys,

I've been a very bad blogger! This week, as I mentioned, I've been staying at my Mum's house. But we've been sorting out our old house ready to hand the keys in. It's been so stressful and we finally handed them in today! Yesterday we decided to take a break from thinking about the move and went to a swimming pool with a slide and everything. It was nice to have a relaxing family day but it meant we had lots to do today. I say we had lots to do, my boyfriend did it all!

Tonight I have another Festive Friday post and this time it's all about me! These are a couple of bits and  pieces from my Christmas list this year!

IKEA Helmer in white - £25:

Helmer in white - £25

I've been blogging since March and I still don't have the classic blogger storage unit: the IKEA Helmer. I love IKEA, it's a good day trip out (haha!) and I love the furniture. In fact, I was there yesterday before swimming to buy a new bed, our little double looks lost in our new bedroom so we got a superking sized one. I can't wait to buy new bedding, it's one of my favourite things to buy. I want the Helmer in white to match the rest of my furniture, it's all white in our room.

Yankee Candle, Large Jar, Snow in Love - £19.99

Snow in Love Candle - £19.99

In my new house, the only thing missing from the living room is a nice big candle. I love the look of Yankee Candles in their jars, and I think Snow in Love is such a beautiful smell, it's from their winter range. The link in the photo caption will take you to the page showing the whole Snow in Love range. On the Yankee Candle site, most of this range is out of stock, but these candles are widely available... Even a little card shop in town here stocks them!

Topshop Amos Boots - £62

Amos Boots - £62

I am in desperate need for a pair of boots. I got some from Kurt Geiger last year and they look a bit scruffy now, so I want something else to wear day to day. I spotted these boots in my local Topshop when I was trying on another pair that I liked. They made my feet look really long so I tried these instead and fell in love with them. They're comfy, and they can be dressed up or down. I wear boots every day in the colder months and I think these would be perfect for the job!

Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale - £4.85 at Amazon

Baking Made Easy - £4.85

It's no secret that I love baking, and this is one of many baking books that I want. There is a recipe in there for lemon and blueberry mille-feuille that I can't wait to cook! I love this programme and watch it whenever I catch it on TV, the recipes look really simple and I was really pleased there was a book to go along with it! 

Mummy Mitts - £19.99

Mummy Mitts - £19.99

No, these aren't floating hands, they're gloves! I need these gloves for my son's pushchair so badly. The cold weather is really damaging the skin on my hands no matter how hard I try to keep them moisturised, so these gloves that velcro onto the handle would be perfect to keep my hands warm!

So that's it, my five picks from my Christmas list this year. Obviously my list is longer than five items (a girl can dream, right?) but I hope a couple of these things are hiding under my tree on the 25th!

I hope you enjoyed a little peek into my Christmas list, see you next time!

Have a great weekend!

......................

Before I go, I just want to say that my thoughts are with the parents of the children who lost their lives today in Connecticut. I can't imagine anything worse than losing a child, my son is my absolute world, and my heart goes out to each and every one of them. This time of year is supposed to be about happiness, and to have your happiness stolen from you by some madman with a gun is sickening. It is at times like these when everything gets put into perspective, and you realise that you can't take anything for granted, especially your loved ones.

Festive Friday #4

Hi Guys,

Time for another Festive Friday post! Last week I didn't do one because it fell on the same day as my Five Favourites post, so it's nice to be back.

I'm trying so hard to get into the Christmas spirit but it's hard with the move. We have no tree up because the whole house is being packed into a van tomorrow, and so far I have bought one present... I need to be settled and then everything is all going to come at once!

Anyway, this post is focusing on something I think is a must have: FESTIVE JUMPERS! I love festive jumpers and I wish it was socially acceptable to wear them all year round, but it isn't... So I like to wear them from around November until March...

Last winter I got an amazing jumper which I wore on Christmas day! It was from eBay and it's so cute, here it is:

Last Christmas

Click "Read More" to see my picks of the best festive jumpers around! As always the links are in the captions.

What's Your #partypose?

Hi Guys,

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I had a nightmare of a Sunday evening, my son turned into a crazy person and wouldn't sleep, so I caught up with the lost hours with an early night yesterday!

Recently I've seen a couple of my favourite bloggers doing these posts, and I couldn't help myself, I just LOVE virtual shopping. Boohoo is one of my favourite online stores, I shop there all the time. Their clothes are affordable and really good quality! You can check out their clothes here, the new range is so gorgeous!

You can read all about this competition here but in a nutshell, if you're a blogger and you can create the perfect party look for under £100, you could be in with a chance of winning £100, and £250 for one lucky reader!

I've gone for a really classic glam look, perfect for the party season! I'm so in love with the dress I picked, it would be so perfect for New Years' Eve. I'm writing this post at 11.30 and since I started, it has gone out of stock, but I'm really hoping it will come back in. I'd love to buy it! Thats the problem with these blogger competitions, I always end up buying things (like the playsuit in this challenge)!

Here goes, all the details and links will be under the photo!

1. Lottie Mixi Dress - £25

2. Gemma Clutch - £12

3. Millie Earrings - £4

4. Eudora Deep Sea Nail Polish - £4

5. Sophie Big Smoke Makeup Set - £10

6. Mia Cuff - £8

7. Rosana Shoes - £35

How did you like my outfit? I wanted to make it as complete as possible by adding the makeup and nail polish. I think this is absolutely perfect!

I can't believe that my dress has sold out in the last half an hour! I literally decided to do this post an hour ago, found everything, put the image together, and just when I was doing the links underneath, it said the dress was out of stock, outrageous! I really hope it comes back in stock, I can really imagine myself wearing it! And for £25 it's such a bargain, I'll be checking the website every five minutes, they're bound to have it in stock again before New Year.

The winner is drawn on the 14th of December, so fingers crossed, and one of you lovelies could win too!

If you're a blogger, head on over to the competition link I posted earlier, and then check out the Boohoo site to create your outfit.

Festive Fridays! #1

Hi Everyone,

I've had a really productive day, lots of cleaning, went to a new playgroup which my son loved and .... (wait for it) ......... I FOUND MY CAMERA! It was in one of my handbags in my son's toybox! So swatches will be commencing shortly!

I said yesterday that I had a new feature coming up so here it is

Allow me to introduce... Festive Fridays! 

I've always thought that shops put the Christmas things out too early. It seems to get earlier and earlier every year! My family's rule has always been that it's okay as long as it's after my brother's birthday. He turned 20 on the 26th October so this feature is well timed.

Each week I'll be writing about an aspect of Christmas planning. I have to be super organised this year because we're moving all next month and not 100% where we're spending Christmas, so this feature should help!

This week I'm focusing on decorations. When I was little, I loved our tree decorations, they were old fashioned wooden ones, but we lost them somehow when we lived in Spain. We also had a beautiful angel that sat on the top, and lots of home made decorations that my brother and I made at school.

To this day I haven't had a tree that is as good as the ones from my childhood and so I tend to buy new things every year. I hope in a few years when Caleb is at school, I'll have lots of things that he has made up on the tree!

Until then, here are my picks for this year! I'm trying to go for a bit of a contrast between cosy handmade-looking (I don't have time to make things) and glamorous. That sums up my interior design style, chandeliers with knitted cushions, and it's something I'm eager to carry on in the new house.

This post is ridiculously long and pic heavy so I've put the main body under the jump... 

Click "Read More" to see what I've chosen. If you'd like to buy any of these items online, clicking on the photo caption will take you directly to the websites!