My New Phone – (Product) Red iPhone XR

It’s been about 2 weeks since I decided to bite the bullet and get myself an upgrade on my iPhone 6.

There wasn’t really anything wrong with my phone per say, but the battery life was pretty shocking and it was gradually getting worse. I love playing Pokemon GO daily and if I played that and did personal and blog related stuff on social media it was causing me to need to charge my phone max 5 times a day. Crazy, I know!

So I waited for the newest iPhone’s to be announced before deciding whether to change. I had eyed up the red iPhone 8 for a while as I noticed it was in the sale via John Lewis and Argos. But this just seemed silly considering there were plans for a newer phone to come out.

So when the iPhone XR was announced and in different colours, I got just a little bit excited.

I rang my network provider to see if I could strike a bargain with them, but that wasn’t happening! I did get given a semi decent offer at the time, but looking back it was actually pretty shit. I was pretty disappointed and pissed off but meh.

So I started wondering whether it was worth saving up or doing some sort of finance. The more I thought about it, the more I WANTED the new phone.

After doing some research I found out that Apple actually do their iPhone Upgrade Programme which means you can pay for one of the newest iPhone’s with no extra charges aka 0% interest. It’s all sorted by Barclays as well so you know it’s legit, if that makes sense. 😛

I popped into the store, had a chat with a member of staff and discussed all my options. If you decide to do the Upgrade Programme the monthly price you pay for your phone also includes Apple Care. You can do it without that which works out about £6.00 cheaper but I went for the Apple Care too, I mean why the hell not for such a small price?

I didn’t use it for a few days after I got it as I wanted to make sure I had a good and sturdy phone case for it. I finally got my phone case through and as I wasn’t very well that day I literally spent the whole day in bed sorting out my new phone playing with it. It was fun to be fair.

I am in LOVE with my iPhone XR and it has been such a game changer for me in so many ways.

I decided to get the red version as I have always loved the look of the red iPhones and I love that they donate some of the profits from the red coloured devices to their (RED) charity which has supported HIV/AIDS for the past 11 years. It’s amazing!

I decided to up my game and go from a 16GB to a MASSIVE 128GB! No more worrying about having too many photos on my phone, as well as deleting apps I haven’t used for a fortnight to make way for another one. It’s nice to be able to have apps for everything I would want and need, which is great. It’s what I’ve wanted and to be fair needed for God knows how long now.

The battery life is amazing and it lasts all day without a charge. I don’t think I’ve hot the red line on my battery yet, which I’m so chuffed with.

The phone is also a bit bigger than my iPhone 6 and at first this was so odd to get used to, but I’ve fast gotten used to this and I actually rather like having a bigger screen. Dane still has the iPhone 5s which is tiny, so whenever I go to use his phone for anything I feel alien to it, especially the screen.

The quality of the screen is superb and it’s definitely making the little things like playing games and watching YouTube videos perfect for me and I’m really loving it. It does take looking at Dane’s phone to realise what leaps and bounds Apple have gone to to make sure to bring us the best phone from them out.

Of course this phone has Animoji which is a lot of fun to use, but something I haven’t found myself using as much as I thought I would. I rather like using it to message Dane silly little things. There’s loads of things you can do with it, but as of yet I haven’t tried them. This is something I’ll have a play with on a lazy Sunday morning.

So I thought I would show you my new phone, as well as the phone cases I ordered, as well as my PopSocket I ordered for it too.

The original phone case I ordered isn’t anything special and was just something to keep me going until the case I arrived from Redbubble arrived.

I really liked it though and will definitely use it again in the future. I’ll probably pop some stickers on it and make it unique and my own.

Image take from Daily Mail

I also ordered myself a PopSocket when I ordered the case and it has seriously been a game changer for the way I hold my phone. I used to rest my little finger under the phone, which not only hurt but woud cause a ridge/dent in my little finger. Not good! It’s actually a thing now, so much so there are people who have badly bent fingers due to it. You can read about it in the photo source link above.

I decided to pick up the nebula PopSocket and I do really like it. I have my eye on another one I’d love to get, but we shall see. Even Dane has rather liked how good PopSockets are, so I may, MAY be getting him one for Christmas… We shall see. 😛

Finally the phone case I ordered from Redbubble for my phone arrived and I LOVED it so much! It’s a Spirited Away phone case which has a childlike looking drawing of Haku and Chihiro. I miss my old phone case so much for my iPhone 6 with the Mew asleep amongst the pink flowers, so I wanted to find a good replacement. I knew I wanted to get something with Haku on and this was the nicest one I found.

The quality of Redbubble tough cases are amazing and you would think they wouldn’t be, but honestly I never had an issue with my iPhone 6 case.

What do you think of the design?

I’m not a massive phone case collecter the older I’ve got. I hate the ones with the liquid glitter in and I especially hate obnoxious massive ones that case your phone to look stupidly awkward to hold… Oh and stupid! 😛

So yeah any phone cases I decide to get are usually from Redbubble or the Pokemon Center.

Overall I LOVE my new iPhone and I’m so glad I waited and got this one. It’s perfect for me to be honest and I don’t feel like I can complain about anything.

Are or do you have a new phone? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear which one you have and also which one(s) you’d love to get.

Until next time, take care all and have an amazing weekend! Last full weekend now until December.

Petty Bones Club – I’m A Brand Rep*

I have been so excited about writing this blog post with you guys the past couple of weeks now and it is safe to say that I can now FINALLY talk about it!

As you can see from the title today’s blog post is about Petty Bones Club, who were originally called Ayloulou Apparel and who I’ve spoken about in the past on my blog, which you can read here.

If you follow me on social media you will have seen that recently I announced that I had become a brand rep for Petty Bones Club! AHHHH!!! This is like a bloggers dream come true, well for me anyway.

Not only am I excited and happy to be a brand rep, but I am so happy to be a brand rep for Petty Bones Club, whose designs I have loved for nearly a year.

So on today’s blog post I will be talking about the goodies I was sent in my Petty care package, as well talking about what it means to be a brand rep for them.

First of all I’ll talk about what I was sent.

In my package I was sent three stickers and six pin badges. I feel incredibly spoilt, especially considering some of the badges are ones I’ve had my eye on buying for AGES!

The two badges I’ll talk about are the Pokemon messenger ones. There are four altogether in the collection and I was sent two of them. As you can see I got the Charmander* and Squirtle* pins. I love the designs so much as they’re adorable and show each Pokemon’s personality. I love how each of these pins have certain coloured metals to match the colour scheme of the Pokemon.

As you can see there’s gold for Charmander to match the orange, yellow and red theme and silver for Squirtle to match the blue theme. I also love that the backs for these also match the colour of the Pokemon, it’s those cute little touches that really make it for me. I’ve never seen that before and I love it so much.

I honestly cannot wait to use these pin badges and pop them on my cardigans for work, especially in autumn and winter. I recently bought myself another rainbow cardigan so I’ll definitely be rocking these cuties on it throughout the rest of the year!

Another Pokemon pin I was sent was the Sailor Scout Sylveon* which I’ve actually had my eye on for ages!

The PokeScout badges are a mixture of Pokemon and Sailor Moon, which is such a cute concept! I’ve never been anyone do this to date and it’s such a great and original idea! I know Petty Bones Club have a couple of different PokeScout designs out including Pikachu and Vulpix, as well as a Kickstarter which recently finished. I really want the Eevee PokeScout!

The pin badge itself is just perfect and is a gorgeous gold metal which really suits it. The Sylveon has a little crescent on their forehead too which really gives it a slight touch of Sailor Moon, which I like. As I said I’m not a massive Sailor Moon fan so this is perfect for someone like myself.

This next pin is for sure my favourite out of the bunch of goodies I was sent, for various reasons, which I will bore you with. 😛

It was thanks to the first two Studio Ghibli pins that Petty Bones Club that I not only discovered this brand when they were originally called Ayloulou Apparel, but it’s also what started me collection pin badges!

I just fell in love with the Haku pin badge that Petty Bones Club came out with and I had to have No Face too.

SO when I opened my Petty care package and found the Catbus* pin in there, I was so happy. Since then I’ve worn it a few times and had so many compliments on it!

I love how all the Studio Ghibli pins by Petty Bones Club have glitter on them and the glitter on the light in the Catbus windows works so well! It’s also got the gold metal, which again works really lovely with the colour scheme of Catbus.

This is a pin badge I am really excited to wear alongside my other two Studio Ghibli pins, as well as in the autumn months. I’m going to try and hint here (as well as other parts of social media…) for Petty Bones Club to make a Totoro and Soot Sprites!

The last 2 pins that Petty Bones Club sent me are the same ones and they’re the Machamp x Hercules pins, which are so quirky!

As you can see it’s a mash up of Disney and Pokemon which in turn have created this pin badge, which is pretty cool. But you know what the best bit of these are? I’ll be giving these away very soon so keep eyes peeled! 😀

Finally the other things I was sent in my Petty care package, were some adorable stickers! These are a cross over between Sonic and Mario! They’re all adorable and I especially love Tails as Princess Peach. These are going to be stuck into my 2018 journal.

Although you can’t buy the stickers of these on the store you can buy the pins, which I’ll link here… Sonic X Mario, Knuckles X Luigi and Tails X Princess Peach.

So those are all the lovely goodies I was sent from Petty Bones Club!

Now I just want to briefly write a little thank you to Lauren over at Petty Bones Club for picking me to be one of her brand reps. It is an honour to be perfectly honest with you and I really hope I make her proud!

If you love the look of Petty Bones Club pin badges then make sure to check out their store, which I’ll link below as well as go and visit them over on Instagram.

Petty Bones Club Etsy

Petty Bones Club Instagram

I now have an awesome discount code you can use on their store, which is COFFEE10. Don’t worry if you lose this post on my blog and cannot find the code to use, it will be on the side of my blog from today!

What do you guys think of the Petty Bones Club? Which pin(s) do you like? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, as well as over on the Petty Bones Club Instagram page!

Until next time though guys, take care and I hope you have a lovely weekend.

Ayloulou Apparel Studio Ghibli Enamel Pins

I’ve owned these pins for so bloody long now and it’s only now I’m actually writing about them! I sorted out my office yesterday and dug out so much stuff I had forgotten about or just put to one side for another time, these included. I had bought these in December last year to put on my coats and cardigans at work, but I just never got around to it as I wanted to write about them first. As many people will know, life gets in the way, especially at Christmas time!

SO I am FINALLY writing about these and after wearing the one at work today, I am so damn excited!

Lauren is the amazing designer behind Ayloulou Apparel and is in charge of creating cute and kawaii pieces, inspired by Sailor Moon, Disney, Pokemon, Nintendo and of course Studio Ghibli.

These pins are limited edition, or at least they were at the time so I made sure to pre order both Haku and No Face from Spirited Away. It’s my favourite Studio Ghibli film as well as one of my top 3 films.

When these arrived I was thrilled by what I was met with. I didn’t think the quality wouldn’t be good, but oh my they really did wow me!

They’re an amazing thick enamel and have two pins in the back which thick hard pink plastic pin holders. In the past I’ve collected and worn pins, which have nearly been lost due to dodgy backs. When wearing my No Face pin today at work, I felt like he wasn’t going to come undone and fall off of my cardigan.

Both Haku and No Face are of high quality, with the enamel on No Face being gold and Haku being silver. They also both have glitter on them with No Face having a pink glitter heart and Haku with his green mane being glittery too.

Since then Lauren has since released another Studio Ghibli inspired piece, this being Catbus! I’d love to pick him up next to wear on my yellow raincoat during the rainy spring and summer days to and from work, as well as on my weekends off.

At the time I paid £7.00 each for these pins and that was definitely worth the money! That was a special pre order price, as they’re not £8.00 each. I also received some matching stickers with my pins, which I’ve stuck into my 2018 journal.

You can still pick up No Face from her store here, but Haku doesn’t appear to be available anymore.

Again, I loved wearing my No Face pin today with my burgundy cardigan, but it’s my new Honey Punch rainbow cardigan (which you can read about here) that I cannot wait to pop Haku on and wear throughout the summer months!

If you’re after either of these pins, or maybe even Catbus or any other designs then check out all of Lauren’s links below!

www.ayloulouapparel.co.uk

Etsy Store

Instagram

Facebook

I’m sorry if these seems like such a short post today, but I just wanted to do a quick post to share my love of these pins, as well as Ayloulou Apparel!

Do you love things like this? If so what pins do you own and who by? I’d love to see what pins you own.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you had an amazing weekend!

What I Got For Christmas!

Christmas is nearly over and bloody hell it went by fast! I can’t believe we’ve had the three magical days fly by us and leave a coating of snow behind.

I hope all of my readers and blogger friends had an amazing Christmas and (although it isn’t important) I hope everyone got what they wanted for Christmas! I know I did and more!

So, (as pretty much most bloggers do now!) I thought I would write about what lovely gifts I got from Dane, my family and friends this Christmas.

I want to disclose here that this is by any means me showing off what I got this year and I never feel like when I read fellow bloggers posts, or watch YouTube videos about it that people are meaning to show off. I love reading and seeing what my fellow bloggers received (as I’m a nosey bitch! :P) as it’s nice to see goodies they’ve wished for throughout the year as well as special meaning behind them! If you feel this is me showing off, click off of this post now because, ain’t nobody got time for that!

NOW! On with the post!

When writing this post I haven’t actually received all my gifts and one of my best friends still hasn’t been able to give me hers, but I’ll be seeing her around my birthday so I can definitely mention it then!

The first gift I want to talk about is the gorgeous little Sylveon print that Sarah over at Raiin Monkey sent me in the post! I wasn’t expecting it and it’s so sweet of her! I’m going to pop it up in the office somewhere so I can look at it whilst doing blog work. 🙂

My friend Jacqui was able give me hers from both her and her boyfriend Chris and it was such a thoughtful and beautiful gift! It may not look like much to many, but we’ve had quite a few cocktail evenings together and my cocktail shaker isn’t the best. It gets stuck and then you struggle to get the lid off. So they bought us this Smirnoff kit, with a gorgeous red and silver shaker in (it matches our kitchen!) as well as a glass and measure cup in! I couldn’t be any happier with it to be honest.

My friend Sophi sent me a little box of goodies and I love them all so much! She sent us some little Japanese sweeties (which sadly we ate before I took my pictures! :P), a Pusheen tote bag and some Pusheen socks, as well as a pair of fox socks. I can’t complain at getting socks and I’ll be wearing them to work to keep my feet toasty over the rest of the winter months! OH and she also put in a cute little Pusheen keychain too, which I’ll pop on my tote bag!

Speaking of Pusheen! Dane’s brother and his girlfriend bought me a gorgeous boxed Pusheen mug with socks! I love it so much and am currently drinking some lemon green tea from it. The socks that came with it are so adorable and have paw prints on the feet. As well as that they also gave me a cute Minnie Mouse face mask as well as a Winky Lux flower balm in green. When you apply it to your lips it works with the PH and turns into a gorgeous light pink! I can’t wait to use this and I’ve wanted one of these since they first came out!

My aunt and cousin both bought me and Dane this gorgeous dachshund pillow which I’m going to have for the chair in the office! As well as that they also picked me up a gold fox keyring which was popped into my Christmas card.

Dane’s gran bought me a little something for Christmas and that’s a Bailey’s gift set with a little glass and some Lindt Lindor chocolates, which I LOVE! This will be enjoyed New Years Eve or on my birthday for definite! 😀

My sister in law and  my nephews bought me a cute little lip butter set, and it’s so strange! They’re lovely and you get three flavours, coconut, cherry and peppermint.. I’ve never used a lip butter like this before but I’ll definitely be keeping these for work and around the house!

Dane’s parents bought me some lovely gifts and one that really did make me chuckle! The first gift I noticed they’d bought me and one they get me every year is a Lush Christmas gift set! This year they bought me The Snowman gift set. This one contains The Snowman bubbleroon, Butterbear bath bomb, Man In The Moon bubble bar and Snow Angel bath melt. I’m super excited to try Man In The Moon!

They picked me up three hot chocolates on sticks! I LOVE these and they actually bought these from one of our friends coffee stalls in Coventry! These are so amazing and work really well! They bought me a normal one, a mocca one and a peppermint one! I can’t wait to try the peppermint flavour and I’ll definitely make it in my new Pusheen mug. 😛

One of my favourite presents from Dane’s parents has to be the Your Name Blu-ray that they bought me! This isn’t just the ordinary Blu-ray either, but actually a collector’s edition so it comes with both Blu-ray, DVD and also a CD of the films soundtrack! It’s such a beautiful film and was one of my favourites I’d been to see in the cinema last year. I definitely recommend watching it if you get the chance, or if you have Amazon Prime as it’s on there to watch in both subbed and dubbed right now!

Finally the present that made me chuckle is this little pom pom… That is actually a panic alarm! You pull the keychain and it makes a very loud noise! I doubt I’ll pop this onto my handbag but I’ll definitely keep it inside of my bag for emergencies! You never know to be fair. I get why she picked this up for me though to be honest! In my old job I would get to the car park at 5.30am, I would be the only one, it was dark and at one point we had issues with people hiding in the dark on the level of the car park I was on. It did frighten me! So this gift whilst being strange, as very thoughtful all the same.

Now onto the gifts that Dane bought me, I’m going to save the present my mom bought me until last. Usually I would save Dane’s until then, but wait until you see what she bought for me!

Since moving into our house we have a tradition now of making stockings up for each other, which consist of cute little bits and pieces, as well as Japanese sweets! This was no acceptation this year and we both gifted each other Japanese gifts!

He picked me up an assortment of Japanese treats, which includes some Puccho sweets in ramune flavour (Japanese soda), some sour candy sweets which are also ramune flavoured, some Pokemon grape gummy sweeties and some green matcha flavoured Kit Kats which are MY FAVOURITE! Finally he bought me a Gudetama DIY kit where you get to make a pudding version of Gudetama to eat! I cannot wait to do this and I think I’ll be saving it for my birthday. ^_^

Also in my stocking I had a few other bits and pieces such as a new refill for my Filofax and what a cutie he is, he bought me on in pink! I need to use my Filofax more this year!

Also in my stocking and presents overall was a couple of little Pokemon goodies, all of them are so cute! The first thing I opened was this Eevee pouch type bag, which is an official Pokemon Center item! I don’t know quite yet what I’ll use this for, but I can see it being for feminine products once a month and maybe some random handbag bits and pieces. This was a gift he’d asked me if I liked the look of when we were both having a nose online for gifts for one another. I wasn’t all that fussed at the time but all the same when I opened it Christmas Day I still loved it! It’s a little Eevee which you’re meant to rest over a glass, but I can see me sticking it to the PC monitor or even by the side of my bed. Another Pokemon gift he bought me was this blind box (although he knew which one he’d ordered) which contain desk buddies. Dane bought me this Pikachu one which holds your mobile phone for you. He bought me this to have for work but I want to have it for by my bed! It’s so cute and such a thoughtful gift all the same.

One of my favourite gifts from Dane just has to be this onigiri squishy keyring from Tofu Cute! I get anxious during long car journeys, as well as in other certain situations! This not only feels relaxing to squish over and over, but it’s also scented with (what I think anyway) strawberries! On the way to and from Coventry for Christmas Day I was squishing away at this, as well as whilst at Dane’s parents on the day! It’s going to end up living in my handbag for when I feel anxious or angry and need to relieve some tension.

One of the presents I had asked for for Christmas after discovering its existence are these Haku chopsticks. Haku is the dragon from Spirited Away and is my favourite Studio Ghibli character! I didn’t know if these chopsticks would be real or fake, but when I inspected the packet they are in fact real and Studio Ghibli approved!

The first main gift that I opened was this, The Manga Cookbook, which also came with a pack of chopsticks! I love cooking Japanese food, especially if I’m craving Japanese and I can’t and don’t want to go out and eat or buy any. This is a cute little gift and I can’t wait for me and Dane to cook recipes together from it.

The next gifts are these two little Pokemon Center plushies, which are like Beanie Babies! I’ve been collecting these for a few years now, thanks to Dane but they’re now so hard to get hold of! I found someone in the UK selling these 2 for a decent price and I didn’t know if Dane wou;d pick them up or not… Alas he did and they’re so adorable! We have a Flareon and a Raichu here and they’ll go so well with my other Eeveelutions, as well as with my Pikachu!

If you got back and take a look at the Christmas wish list I made on Christmas Eve (which you can read here) you’ll see that I wished for a lot of anime shows/films on Blu-ray and apart from one, all of the ones I asked for I got! Two of those being A Silent Voice and Your Lie In April part 2. Alongside Your Name, A Silent Voice was one of my favourite films from 2017 and I’m so stocked to have it on Blu-ray! The box itself is gorgeous and I cannot wait to binge watch it with Dane one of the evenings this week. This is the collector’s edition Blu-ray too, which also includes a DVD and a special booklet that tells you all about the film, as well as about the manga.

The second Blu-ray Dane bought for me is part 2 of Your Lie In April, which is the final part of the special collector’s edition! He bought me part 1 and the special box at the start of the year for my birthday, so now I’m so happy to finally have the box set completed! This is definitely the first thing I’ll be watching with Dane out of all of the Blu-rays I received as I want to binge watch all of this with him! I haven’t continued to watch anymore of it until I had all of the box set for us to binge watch!

Aside from my main presents this was probably one of my favourites to be honest! It’s The Art Of Persona 5 and I have been lusting after this book since they announced it way back in the summer! I’m so pleased Dane bought it for me to be honest as on Christmas Day after I opened it I had a good flick through the whole thing and I cannot wait to sit down with a cup of coffee and read the whole thing, cover to cover. This year I discovered Persona 5, as well as the Persona franchise! I haven’t fallen in love with a franchise this hard since Pokemon and I am so chuffed that back when it came out at the start of the year that I bought it.

Finally we have the main gifts from Dane and my favourites! These are the 2 Nendoroid’s that Dane bought for me this Christmas and I was so surprised to be honest with you! I mentioned on my Christmas wish list that I had a feeling Dane would have bought me Yuri but when I opened Viktor and THEN Yuri I was so happy! I couldn’t have asked for better Nendoroid’s to have received this Christmas and I feel like such a lucky girl. We have no room right now to put these up anywhere so sadly they’ll be staying in the boxes until we have room. But I love my 2 YURI!!! boys so much and I cannot wait to play with them and display them in the future! So many YURI!!! On Ice Nendoroid’s have been announced lately that we will definitely be getting in the future!

Dane really spoilt me this year and I am so grateful for everything I received! I know I have another present arriving that he ordered me, it’s nothing special but it’s the thought that counts! FYI it’s a Macaroon Treats Yankee Candle!

Now onto my final present and definitely the one that blew me away the most. I was so surprised when I opened it to discover my mom had bought me a Dyson hairdryer! I know these aren’t cheap to be honest and I’ve lusted after one since they were announced, so the fact that my mom bought me one makes me feel so loved and special. I still can’t believe she bought it for me and after trying it, I really do adore it. I wish she could read how thankful and grateful I am.

So those were all the goodies I got for Christmas and I am so, SO thankful to everyone who bought myself, as well as Dane gifts this year!

What did you get for Christmas? Big or small I would love to hear what you got from loved ones. You know where to tell me. 😉

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re all resting after loads of Christmas and Boxing Day dinners!

Christmas Wish List To Father Christmas – Now & Then

This is the post I mentioned at the start of the month that I was looking forward to doing! I decided that for this year I wouldn’t just do my normal Christmas wish list at the start of December and decided that I would do it on Christmas Eve as a sort of, “Father Christmas I’ve been good please bring me this and that and that!”

But I then changed my mind and had an even better idea! I decided as well as doing my Christmas wish list for this year, I would do one as I would have when I was 7 years old! The nostalgic feels will be all over the start of this post and I really hope you guys enjoy reading it, as much as I had putting it all together!

• Happy Monday Store INU INU T-Shirt – £15.23 (link)

I discovered this brand through a girl on Instagram who is all Japanese themed. Basically into the shizzle I’m into! She got sent this t-shirt and I fell in love with it! It’s got a cute little shiba on it, but he’s getting his face squished and pulled and AHH SO DAMN CUTE! I’m really hoping that Dane has bought me this for Christmas, otherwise I’ll be ordering it after my birthday. 😛

• Firebox My Neighbour Slippers – £29.99 (link)

I’m always down with anything that will help me feel all warm and snuggly in my own home! I live for putting my pajamas and slippers on as soon as I get home from work, and who can go wrong with wearing Totoro slippers?! These look so amazing and they’re not cheap, no but come on… They’re Studio Ghibli, they aren’t going to be! 😛

• Good Smile Company Nendoroid Yuri!!! On Ice Yuri Katsuki – £44.95 (link)

I didn’t have a clue what Nendoroid to add to my Christmas wish list, but I thought Yuri Katsuki from Yuri!!! On Ice would be a good one to add for sure. This is a Nendoroid I really hope Dane has bought me for Christmas he’s gorgeous and I really want to get him and Viktor to put with our collection. Any other Nendoroid’s I want are probably really old and very rare ones. In all fairness though, I don’t care which Nendoroid(s) I get from Dane for Christmas, I’ll be happy with any!

• Your Name Manga Vol. 2 – £7.98 (link)
• Your Name Collector’s Edition Steelbook Blu-ray – £24.99 (link)

I LOVED Your Name so much when me and Dane went to watch it in the cinema so I would love to not only get the collector’s edition blu-ray for Christmas, but I really want volume 2 of the manga to read! I picked up volume 1 in the summer when it came out and it’s so good. If you loved the anime, then you will probably love the manga even more! I also really want the Your Name Nendoroid’s too! 😛

• Pokemon Indigo League Season 1 Blu-ray – £49.99 (link)

As regular readers will know (or anyone to be fair…) I am a MASSIVE Pokemon fan and I remember back in the day waking up early to catch the weeks episode of Pokemon on SM:TV Live. Earlier this year I binge watched all of the episodes of Pokemon Indigo League on Netflix. When I saw that this was coming out, I was super excited and it was one of the first items added to my Christmas wish list! I really hope I get this so me and Dane can binge watch it whilst I’m off work over Christmas.

• Your Lie In April Part 2 Blu-ray – £41.09 (link)

This is an anime I fell in love with this time last year. Dane bought me part 1 on blu-ray for my birthday this year and back in April part 2 came out. it’s a limited edition set and of course I NEED part 2 to add to my collection. Again, I hope I get this so me and Dane can watch it all together. I haven’t actually finished watching this anime, but I’ve read all of the manga. It’s amazing but really quite sad.

• A Silent Voice Blu-ray – £29.99 (link)

ANOTHER ANIME BLU-RAY! Oh man, I’m so sorry! 😛 I had so many blu-rays on my wish list, all anime related! This was my favourite film of this year and is one I was so stoked to go and see and I left the cinema feeling great. I bought the whole manga series after and read them all so quickly. Again, it’s by far one of my favourite manga series as well as anime films. Dane recently wanted to watch this again in dubbed, as we saw it subbed in the cinema. A part of me hopes I have the collectors edition of this for Christmas. I can see me binge watching this loads if I get it.

• Pokemon Center Vulpix’s Crystal Season Purse/Wallet – £37.99 (link)

This is a wallet I regret not asking YY Kawaii to pick up from Japan for me back in October when she was out there! I got one thing from that collection, that being a notebook. This wallet is so damn cute and I could imagine it getting just as much attention as my Loungefly Pokemon handbag. I doubt very much that I’ll get this for Christmas and with that I doubt I’d be missing out. 😛

• Studio Ghibli Spirited Away Haku Chopsticks – £10.78 (link)

I LOVE using chopsticks and whenever I get the chance to use them, I do. I have 2 pairs my friend Sophi (HEY! :D) gifted me over the past couple of years and they’re amazing! When Dane asked me to look for some little present ideas, I found these Haku chopsticks. Haku makes me happy, merch especially, as well as artwork so I would be so stoked to use chopsticks with him on too!

• Studio Ghibli Spirited Away No Face Sweater – £24.99 (link)

Another Studio Ghibli item, but whatever! 😛 Truffle Shuffle are really on it right now with the Studio Ghibli merch and this and the Totoro sweater they’ve brought out are amazing. I would love this to snuggle up in with shorts and my Docs! I’d love them to bring out a Haku one but I doubt they will. If I got this I’d totally wear it for New Years Eve!

• Lush The Man On The Moon Gift Set – £44.95 (link)

Finally we have my last Christmas wish list item on here and of course it has to be a bit of Lush! 😛 Dane asks me every year to find a gift set or two from Lush that I like the look of, one for him to possibly get and one for his parents to possibly get. I linked quite a few for him and sadly this isn’t one he would accept due to the price. BUT it’s the one I actually really, REALLY loved and wanted! First of all I love the re-usable tin, as well as all the night time themed products inside, which I’d love to use on pamper evenings and weekends. It also contains quite a lot of items I’ve never tried before either! If I don’t get this for Christmas I’ll try and get some in the Boxing Day sale.

Now that I’ve done my actual wish list for “Father Christmas” this year (Father Christmas being Dane pretty much! :P) it’s time to go back in time to what I would have asked for Christmas 20 years ago when I was seven years old. 🙂

Just a little disclaimer though, I don’t think all of these came out in 1997, some may be 1996 and later but meh I remember receiving these over Christmas… You get the idea! 😛

• Loveable Bears.

These were cute little bear keyrings that came in different colours and scents! I can’t remember which I had to be honest, I have a feeling I had mint and strawberry. I know I had 2! They came with little bottles and if they cried you would feed them. They were like little Tamagotchi’s and were so adorable and fun to have on your backpack. Not so fun and adorable if they cried though!

• Barbie & Ginger Doll.

This was one of my favourite Barbie’s, for so many reasons. First of all, look how cute and fluffy Barbie’s golden retriever Ginger looks! Second of all, it moves and third of all Barbie rides a skateboard, which Ginger helps her to achieve. As a kid this was just all kinds of wonderful to me and I remember playing with it all Christmas Day and onwards.

• Doodle Bear Pets.

I remember getting a Doodle Bear when they first came out and I loved writing and drawing all over it, only for my mom to wash it so I could have myself a blank canvas all over again. I remember seeing the Doodle Bear Dog and I pleaded with Father Christmas to get it for me, which he obviously did! 😛 I never drew on it though to be honest, I loved it too much to be honest to, “ruin” it.

• Pocahontas Braided Beauty Doll.

This was definitely one of my favourite dolls, EVER! The first film I saw in the cinema was Pocahontas and I was in love with that film, and it’s still one of my favourite Disney films to date, especially my favourite Disney Princess. I never even knew this doll existed until Father Christmas gave it to me. I was in love! Not only did it come with a Pocahontas doll, but of course it also came with a Meeko who would braid yours and her hair. What else could a girl ask for? 😛

• Baby Born Doll.

This was one of the baby dolls that really opened up the market for the future of dolls like this. It would eat the “baby food” you gave it and poop it out, pee the “milk” you would feed it and even cry “real tears”! It was a hit with kids alike and I was so excited to open mine on Christmas Day! That doll really did last ages and I loved it so much. Due to it peeing and pooping so much you would constantly have to put nappies on it to catch all of that, or at least some washable type knickers. Mine broke after a couple of years and the water you could give it as “milk” would leak out of it’s arm and leg joints. I loved that doll though, so damn much!

• Home Alone Talkboy.

Finally we have the one toy every kid wanted, as well as teenagers at the time I’m sure! I remember being gifted one of these after 1997 (I think anyway…) but I just had to mention it here! I remember watching Home Alone 2 and not really thinking, “oh man I want that recording thing he has!” but when I got one I loved it! I didn’t realise until researching the toys to add to this post that this was actually made because it was in Home Alone 2! It wasn’t a toy until after that movie, how cool is that?! It was just a prop and because loads of fans asked about it, they made it. What legends!

Oh man I have to be honest and say this is one of my favourite posts I’ve done in a long time, purely because of remembering some of my favourite toys from Christmases years ago. I can’t believe I was seven 20 years ago! That makes me feel hella old. 😛

Well it’s Christmas Eve, I hope you’re all ready for tomorrow to spend a lovely day with your loved ones. I hope if you have children they get everything they wanted and wished for from Father Christmas.

But I’ve said it many times over the years and I’ll say it again, don’t forget that Christmas isn’t a time that everyone is happy. It’s also one the worst days of the year for people with mental health. If you know someone who needs support this time of year, please support them if you can. If you’re someone who isn’t feeling their best Christmas Day, please seek support, whether it be from friends and family, or even Samaritans. I’ve been depressed over the Christmas period and it’s really crippling, especially when it’s that time of year when you’re meant to be “okay”.

I’ll leave all the links and numbers down below for anyone who needs to reach out and get support this Christmas. Also, if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m always willing to listen and support. You can find me over @maybeecoffee on Twitter.

Samaritans:

Call in UK and ROI for FREE from any phone, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. You don’t have to be suicidal to call – 116 123

If you don’t feel up to calling someone you can also email them at – jo@samaritans.org

 I want to hear what presents you have on your wish lists, as well as some of your favourite toys from Christmas when you were younger!

Until next time all, Merry Christmas!

Quirky Home Decor Ideas

Now I have officially announced that I have a mortgage, I am a home owner, and thus I am a motherfucking adult. Oh boy! 😛

One of the many exciting things about buying your own home (and your first at that!) is that you can decorate it however you do so wish. As regular readers of my blog will know, I am a massive geek, and so is Dane, whom I will be sharing my new home with. We of course knew that we would want some quirky bits and pieces in our home, and we’ve already bought some items, and we still have our eye on some bits and pieces.

I thought I would do a blog post today about some of the quirky things that we have our eyes on, or what we have already bought.

• Marvel Deadpool Doormat and Deadpool Coin Bank.

I don’t think I need to say anymore how much me and Dane love Deadpool. Sadly at the time of writing this post the Deadpool doormat is now sold out! Which is bad news for us, because we want it for our front door! We’ll keep our eyes peeled for this mind.

• Marks & Spencer Origami Swans Wallmount.

I’m unsure if I would buy and place these on the wall myself as at first I rather liked the look of them, but after a while I kind of thought they were a bit… Weird… However I am liking the look of these again, and would love to put them up in the hallway upstairs to give the walk down the stairs a bit of something different. I do rather like the vintage look of the three ducks you can buy, but I would want to get something vintage, instead of the reintroduced trend that M&S are trying to come up with. That and I could make these myself… But out of paper. 😛

• Ototo Nessie Ladle.

I know these are bloody expensive, and you can buy knock off ones, which I would be after picking up instead due to money. I love quirky items like this, and as I love making soup, and noodle soup (ramen in Japanese) I would be in awe of this little cutie to serve me and Dane dinner with. I’d want a red one to fit into the theme of our kitchen, but we shall see!

• Disaster Designs Fox Lamp.

I love foxes, and have always been after a fox lamp, so when I spied this on Lisa Angel I knew I had to have it. As of yet I haven’t ordered it, but I will be when we’re settled into the house and ready to buy more decor. This will go on my side of the bed in our bedroom, if not on the bedroom shelf.

• Marvel Deadpool Coin Bank.

With the coin bank I would love to pick something up like this for our spare room/office for us to pop change into to use towards our savings. You can’t go wrong with a coin bank in the shape of Deadpool’s head.

• Temerity Jones Mason Jar Cocktail Shaker.

I love making cocktails, and what better way to make one than in this quirky shaker that is in the shape of a mason jar? This was £5.00 at one point which is how much I was willing to pay for it… Now it’s back to full price, at £10.00 and whilst it is gorgeous, I don’t personally feel it is worth that price. I may as well make my own with a normal mason jar! I’ll keep my eye on this in the future for it to be back in Lisa Angel’s sale.

• Fox Coasters.

Again! I love foxes, and I couldn’t be without these gorgeous wooden coasters in our living room, and maybe upstairs in our bedroom and spare room/office. You get six in this set, so that would mean being able to put two in each room, and grabbing them altogether for when we have visitors over. Hell, I wouldn’t even mind buying two sets so I can have one upstairs, and one downstairs!

• Luckies Jumbo Elephant Drainer.

I really am liking buying stuff for our kitchen, and considering we’re doing it up the possibilities are endless for what we can do with it. We have a red, black, and white theme going at the moment, and whilst this grey elephant doesn’t fit that theme, it is kind of too unique and pretty to turn my nose up at. You pop your cutlery in this cutie, and he drains all the water away, out of his nose! Eek! Super cute! 😀

• Etsy Artwork.

There are various pieces of artwork I wish to buy from people on Etsy, the one on the picture about is a Spirited Away inspired piece by idrawrainbows. She has LOADS of these available on her store, and at one point me and Dane contemplated ordering all of them… However when we discovered how much it would cost us in postage alone, we ended up deciding against it. Nearly £10 she wants to ship these to the UK, and whilst I know this isn’t her fault, it’s a bloody lot! I will be making a separate post about what artwork, or tattoo artists I wish to buy for the house, and where I want to hang them!

So those are all the quirky home goodies me and Dane have our eyes on at the moment for our home. I hope to have some haul posts soon showing off what goodies we have bought for the house, but until that time comes I’ll be trying to get as many posts on here as possible. I’m incredibly busy right now with the house, and I’ve only currently got a couple of posts written because I’m awake into the early hours trying to catch up. Oh sleep, I want you right now!

On that note, it is bedtime! What quirky items would you like for your home? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and see you soon