What I Got For My 28th Birthday

It’s that time of year when not only do I talk about what I received for Christmas and what I picked up in the Boxing Day sales, but also what I received for my birthday!

I am now 28 and although I’m not arsed I think it’s been a wake up call this year for me and Dane that we aren’t getting any younger and that we probably need to start thinking about our future… YUCK ADULTING! That’s for another post though!

My birthday this year was an odd one. I wasn’t very well the week before it and I wasn’t particularly 100% after it either. Even on the day when out and about for the day I had sinusitis, which really sucked. For the day though we didn’t do anything exciting, just went around Birmingham for the day, had some food and then came home with Japanese takeaway to eat whilst we watched Your Name. It was lovely and I couldn’t have asked for anything better to be honest with you.

The first thing I did in the morning was open the presents that Dane and his parents bought for me, which was lovely.

Dane’s parents bought me Nichijou Volume 3 and 4 which was really unexpected! I haven’t read the manga for a while and I really do need to keep up with it, especially with how cheap you can pick each volume up on Wordery.

They also bought me the South Park Mysterion figure which had a really lovely story behind it too! We’d been shopping with his parents in town before I started my new job and we’d seen the figure at half the price and I got excited about us getting it. Me and Dane both said no though however due to wanting to watch money for Christmas. We ventured downstairs in the shop to look around at manga and Dane’s parents stayed upstairs to look at Star Wars stuff. A while later and ages after we’d left the shop I noticed Dane’s mom had a bag from the store and I asked what she’d bought, to which she replied, “Oh nothing my bag broke so they gave me this one.” SUCH A GOOD LIE! I believed it and apparently they all worried I wouldn’t. This was lovely to receive though and me and Dane plan to pop it on our fireplace.

Then I opened Dane’s presents and again I received more manga! He bought me Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid Volume 4 and 5 as well as A Polar Bear In Love Volume 1, which I have wanted for AGES! I was so excited at receiving it that I started reading it not long after opening my presents.

I was gutted that he didn’t buy me Your Name Volume 2 as that’s a manga I am loving right now, but bless him he ordered it there and then as he wasn’t sure if his parents has bought it for me. When this arrived in the post recently a calendar he’d bought me for Christmas also arrived so I thought I would include that here. It’s the Juniper Fox calendar and it’s so cute! I can’t wait to hang this up in the house.

I was meant to have a Nendoroid to open up on the day but sadly it didn’t arrive until after my birthday which I didn’t mind to be honest, but it bugged Dane. He bought me the Ash and Pikachu Nendoroid which I am so happy with! I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present.

Everyone at the office got me a card for my birthday as well as a bottle of Disaronno, which I thought was so lovely of them all! 😀 I’ve never had anything like that at a work place before so it really made my day when I opened it in the morning of my birthday.

My brother and my mom bought my presents a little late as I don’t think they quite knew what to get for me. My mom ended up giving me some money which really did come in handy as I’m skint at the moment! My car needing to have its MOT AND tax didn’t exactly help matters either, but meh whatever.

I only thought that my  mom was giving me the money for my birthday but alas I was wrong as she also gifted me something that I originally thought was from my brother and whoever it was from, a the time I couldn’t have asked for anything better to be honest. For ages I have wanted the red delicate heart ring from Pandora but never bothered buying it for a few reasons, but the main one being that I’d never get the chance to wear it due to working in retail and hospitality. You aren’t allowed to wear any jewellery so I never bothered. Now I’m in admin work I can wear jewellery, which includes rings. I mentioned to Dane that I’d like this ring and in turn mentioned it in passing to my mom too, who then mentioned it to my brother. I found out my size in Pandora and told my brother what size I wanted and alas, here we are now! I got it for my middle finger and I love it so much. It’s so comfortable to wear and delicate which is what I wanted. I am a bit on the paranoid side that it’s a little too big for my finger but I’m going to see how it wears for a week. The first time I wore it was out on a food shop and I had no issues really, which was good. I can see me getting this ring has set off a new addiction and love for Pandora rings… 😛

Finally we come to what my brother got for me for my birthday! He also bought me something from Pandora but he bought me a Pandora charm. I didn’t have a clue which one however as he wanted it to be a surprise! So when I opened the box and saw it was a cute little Japanese Doll I fell in love with it straight away. I didn’t know what to expect to be honest with you and for a while I did wonder if he’d bought me a Disney charm as for ages I haven’t even known which Pandora charms I’ve wanted lately. He really hit the nail on the head with this charm however and I really do like it. It’s a dangling one and it’s so dainty and sweet! I don’t think my brother has ever bought me a Pandora charm before so this will always remind me of him when I wear this bracelet. What makes it even nicer in a way is that this charm is now discontinued (apparently anyway…) so it’s nice to think that it isn’t available anymore. A lot of my charms are discontinued ones now. 😛

So that was EVERYTHING I got for my birthday! I’m so grateful to my family and friends for their gifts and I always appreciate everything they do for me throughout the year. They really do make me feel spoilt.

I hope 2018 is going off to a good start for everyone! Sadly I cannot say the same considering I’ve been poorly since New Years Day with 4 different things… It really sucks. 😦

Anyways until next time, take care all and have an awesome week!

27th Birthday Wish List

Yes in 3 days time it will be my birthday and I will be turning 27… Oh age really is creeping up on me! I’m not going to moan though, I hate when people do shit like that. What I especially hate younger people asking how old I’ll be to turn around and say after my reply, “OH MY GOD YOU ARE SOOOOO OLD!!!” Urgh just shut the fuck up. Sorry to sound very negative but I hate younger people being so ignorant as to say things like this. 😛

With a birthday comes gifts and presents (if you’re as lucky as myself and many others. Some people sadly don’t get gifts and presents on their birthday…) from various different people and whilst I’m not the type to say, “I WANT THIS FOR MY BIRTHDAY!” I will direct people in the right direction if they aren’t sure what to get me, especially Dane although this year  he seems to know what to get me as he’s ordered majority of my presents.

So here is my wish list for my birthday this year! It’s got some geeky stuff on as well as some beauty related goodies and jewellery.

• Pokemon Center Vulpix Pikachu Crossover Plushie in Normal Form – £25.50 (link)

I know I always post about Pokemon Center plushies that I want and lust after but this is one that I REALLY want! It’s an adorable Pikachu dressed up as Vulpix, who is one of my favourite Pokemon. This also comes in the new Aloha form but I prefer the original. I don’t think I’ll be getting this for my birthday as it doesn’t come out until the start of February but as soon as I get paid next week I’ll be ordering one myself. ^_^

• Your Lie In April manga volume 2 – £8.99 (link)

This is a new manga and anime I have gotten into lately and I really do love it! I read volume 1 as soon as I was given it by Dane as an early Christmas present and I can’t wait to read more of the manga to be honest. The anime is really good and although the manga and anime are meant to be aimed towards men I find that women can watch it too. The anime is currently on Netflix but it is in Japanese with English subtitles. I’ll pop a trailer up so you can watch it!

• Kat Von D Beauty Everlasting Liquid Lipstick in shade Mother – £16.00 (link)

I love Kat Von D’s liquid lipsticks and I was so glad to get my first one (Bauhau5) in November from the Oxford Street store when I went to visit my friend Sophi. Since then I have craved to buy more but I’ve been good so far. Even if I don’t obviously get an actual liquid lipstick for my birthday some vouchers for Debenhams would be great so I can pick up a couple of shades. Mother is a gorgeous rose pink shade which I would love to pick up for when spring and summer are here.

• South Park : The Fractured But Whole Mysterion figurine – £39.99 (link)

Dayyyyum this is something I really want but I know I won’t be getting… Sad times. Me and Dane love South Park and as soon as I saw this on Forbidden Planet’s website I wanted it. We’ve also seen it in the Forbidden Planet store in Birmingham and it looks amazing! He’s 6 inches so he’s huge as well. We nearly ended up buying it New Years Eve when we went out shopping but left it due to being on a spending ban… 😦 I’m sure we’ll buy it as a treat in the future. We already know where we would put him in the house, on the fireplace! 😀

• Thomas Sabo Fox charm pendant – £25.95 (link)

As I mentioned on my Christmas natter post recently my parents gave me a Thomas Sabo charm bracelet for Christmas, which I love! I know my brother is buying me some more charms for it for my belated Christmas and my birthday present combined and this is one of the charms I showed him. As regular readers of my blog will know I love foxes so this is right up my street! I love how simplistic but gorgeous it is.

• Lime Crime Diamond Crushers Liquid Lipstick in shade Trip – £13.95 (link)

I’m not a huge fan of Lime Crime due to the controversy surrounding them but the past year they seem to have somewhat bettered themselves. That and my friend Claire has told me nothing but good things about the liquid lipsticks… I trust her with make up gossip that’s for sure! I have loved the look of the Diamond Crushers since they were announced a while ago. Trip is my favourite out of the bunch, which is a beautiful blue lipstick topper, which you can also wear alone. I’d team it up with various different liquid lipsticks. It’s currently sold out on Love-Makeup but I’m going to keep my eye out for it in the future!

• Pokemon Eevee Evolution water bottle  – £9.90 (link)

I thought I was going to get this for Christmas as Dane had shown it to me before ordering my presents, but alas he never. I don’t think I’ll be getting it for my birthday either. He insists that I don’t need anymore water bottles but I beg to differ! I love having water bottles for work, as well as for on the go and although I love my owl water bottle that I use for work, I’d love a Pokemon related one for work too to show off my inner geek! This one is pretty simple but I love that it’s purple. If I have some birthday money I might treat myself to it.

• Jeffree Star Cosmetics Velour Liquid Lipstick in shade No Tea, No Shade – $18.00/£16.00 (link)

I decided that I’m going to calm down on my Jeffree Star liquid lipstick buying as I want to try out loads of other brands instead of just sticking to the same one. HOWEVER he announced this shade just before Christmas and I fell in love, hard!!! I can’t wait for it to come out on Beauty Bay this month because as soon as it launches I’ll be buying it. It’s a beautiful purple metallic shade and it’ll be perfect for autumn and winter seasons.

• Thomas Sabo Bird charm pendant – £35.00 (link)

I know I’ll be getting this for my birthday as my brother told me he would get it for me. It’s a Christmas themed charm but I’d love it all year around. It’s call the bird charm but as you can see it’s a robin, which I love. They’re just such gorgeous birds and they always remind me of the winter season. It’s not a cheap charm however as it originally costs £70.00! OUCH! If however he doesn’t manage to get me this charm I’ll pick it up on my birthday as a treat to myself.

So that was my wish list for my 27th birthday! God I really am getting old and whilst at 27 you probably expect to see more adult present ideas on a post like this, you won’t find that with me. I am a big kid and even though I’ll soon be 30 I know I’ll stay that way for a very long time.

What kind of gifts do you like to receive for your birthday? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

Until next time take care all and I hope you had a lovely New Year.

Post Christmas Natter (Plus What I received…)

It’s almost a week since Christmas Day was here and I can’t quite believe how quickly it’s flown by! I had a lovely Christmas even though I was working both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day (WAH FML!) but it’s come and gone now. Plus I have New Years Eve and Day off, woohoo!

So I decided to do a little catch up post about my Christmas and share what lovely gifts I received from Dane, my parents and everyone else. 🙂

Christmas Eve I didn’t finish work until late (6pm to be exact) and due to being tired and lazy we decided to get a takeaway and spend the evening watching movies. One movie we watching in particular was Sausage Party, which came out this year. Not exactly a Christmas movie, but one we both enjoyed watching, although at the end it got very weird and we sat in shock with hands over mouths, awkwardly laughing.

We got an early night as we were both shattered! This being said I had an awful nights sleep. I kept waking up throughout the night as the wind was waking me up. So we both woke up early Christmas Day and popped on a Christmas movie whilst we opened our presents. I spoilt Dane rotten this year and he loved all of his gifts. He spoilt me just as much too and every gift he gave me I loved. We both asked each other what our favourite gifts were out of the bunch. Dane’s was Vol. 1-9 of One Punch Man and mine was a tough one. I’ll show off what gifts he gave me before I tell you which were my favourites… I can’t pick one!

We decided to do stockings this year, as a new tradition and we filled them both full of yummy treats, well Dane filled mine full of Japanese sweets, mostly Kit Kats! My friend Sophi (heyyy!) picked up some of these stockings for us which was lovely of her! She of course got an N for me and a D for Dane.

As you can see Dane bought me LOADS of Kit Kats, Japanese ones to be exact! As well as a few other Japanese treats, which are mostly matcha flavoured… My favourite. 😛 He bought me a little geisha pouch full of different flavoured Kit Kats, which I loved as it looked adorable! It came with a piece of paper inside telling you about all the flavours which I was pleased about, as you never know what you could be trying. For example there is a wasabi flavoured Kit Kat in there!

Onto the main gifts from Dane and I was well and truly spoilt this year… But so was he. 😛 All of my gifts from him were thoughtful and I can’t really say I prefer one to the other, but I will of course say my favourite 3 or something. 😛

One of my favourite gifts from what Dane bought me were these two sleeping Pokemon plushies from the Pokemon Centre in Japan. As you can see he gave me a Pikachu and Jolteon which I love, especially Jolteon’s cute little bum and feet. 😛 I knew I was going to get one of these but I didn’t have a clue which and these were both a lovely surprise to get. They’re now in my Pokemon cabinet in the living room.

Another one of my favourite presents from Dane was these South Park figures from the new game coming out in 2017, The Fracture But Whole. I already have a couple of the figures from the first game (Princess Kenny and Cartman as a wizard) and I love them so much, but not as much as these. I have Butters, Kenny and Cartman all as their super villain and hero alter egos. They’re now in my cupboard and look amazing. It’s a shame they didn’t bring anymore of the characters out, but I guess these three are the main ones.

I keep saying this is my favourite present from Dane even though I knew I was having it, but it’s my new jacket… A Pokemon jacket! This is by a brand I have grown to love since August when I bought my first pieces by her, the brand being Ohayou! Clothing. She’s a designer in Bristol and most of her designs are Pokemon related and anything Japanese and kawaii. As you can see from the pictures it’s a varsity style jacket with an adorable picture of Eevee on the back! I love it and since Christmas Day I’ve pretty much lived in it! I can’t wait to write a post about Ohayou! Clothing in the new year!

Everyone who knows me knows that I LOVE foxes and I think every Christmas we have shared since being together, Dane has always bought me a fox related present. This year he of course had to keep up the tradition and bought me this beautiful tote bag with a fox and wolf on it. I’ve viewed this seller on Etsy before and if you love foxes then you will love her work! He also bought one of her illustrated books about foxes, which I really enjoyed reading in bed on Christmas Day morning.

Yay for manga! I’m in need of some new books to read after finally finishing Nana (and my heart broke!) and of course Dane knew I wanted some new material to read including Nichijou. As of yet I haven’t started to read it but I intend to start very soon. It’s like Azumanga Daioh so it is based around a school and the lives of the students there. I can’t wait to read it!

MORE KIT KATS! I told you he bought me loads! These are sake flavoured and we tried one on Christmas Day. I LOVE them! They’re very strong smelling and tasting of sake, which I thought I would hate but really enjoyed. I would definitely buy these again… But I have a feeling they aren’t cheap.

Finally we have a few little stocking fillers Dane gifted me, one not being in this picture as I forgot to take it! That item is the Bee & Puppycat cooking book. I thought it would be all jokey cooking recipes but they’re actually legit and ones that both the workers of the comic have submitted, as well as fans of the comic book too. Both me and Dane had a flick through it on Christmas Day and have already decided on some recipes that we want to bake and cook very soon.

Speaking of food he also got me a Pikachu sushi mold which I am SO EXCITED to use! I love making Japanese food and the next thing I want to learn how to make is sushi. I’ve already discussed with Dane that we make onigiri (rice ball with fish, chicken, veg inside… Basically like a sandwich to us but with rice instead of bread) with the mold. I can’t wait!

I knew I was getting these for Christmas (even though when it came to opening them I FORGOT ALL ABOUT THEM!) but Dane bought me some Victoria’s Secret body sprays. One is a minty scent and the other more vanilla and sugary. I love things like this and the VS body sprays are the best I’ve ever tried.

The final thing Dane bought me was a new calendar which as you can see is Pusheen.

This was meant to be one of my Christmas presents but Dane gave it to me about a week before Christmas and I love it so much! It’s a little glass bottle with a little soot sprite inside from the film Spirited Away. That’s one of my favourite films so I love anything to do with it. He’s now in my cabinet in the living room.

We spent Christmas at my parents house and then Boxing Day at Dane’s parents. We both had a lovely time at both houses and I wouldn’t change anything! Sadly my mom was working but me and Dane played games and watched movies with my dad and my brother, which was really fun! We practically did the same with Dane’s family too and we had a right laugh. We played Joking Hazard with my family and The Game of Life with Dane’s. We had lots of laughs and giggles!

I’m not showing off all my presents in  this post, mostly just Dane’s to be honest but I thought I would show off my favourite gifts from my family and Dane’s.

This was one of my favourite presents this year and it’s from my parents. It’s a Thomas Sabo charm bracelet with a martini glass charm. She kind of hinting to me getting something like this but I wasn’t 100% sure what it would be. I love it though, so much more than my Pandora bracelet and I’ve already eyed up what other additions I can add to it. I’ve found so far that it’s just so much lighter than Pandora to wear and therefore easier to wear.

My mom bought me and Dane a couple of other things too, some of which are on the way apparently in the post. But one of my other favourite items from her is this giraffe dressing gown (which I have on at the moment!). The hood on it is huge and had a giraffe face on which I think is cute. It’s also a great length too which is ideal as one of my old ones would drag on the ground as I walk up the stairs and trip me up. I’ve pretty much lived in this since Christmas Day!

Like the presents my parents bought me I won’t talk about everything, but more so my favourites. Dane’s parents bought me these lovely pajamas which I knew I was going to get due to asking for them, but they were still a lovely surprise and as soon as we got home Boxing Day I put them on. They’re burgundy with woodland animal print on. Right up my street! They also bought me a Lush gift set (Snow Fairy one!) and some stuff for the house.

Finally we have one of the gifts that Dane’s brother and girlfriend bought for us. They bought us a huge box full of Japanese candy but sadly I never managed to get a picture of it. However I did manage to get a picture of the candle they bought us. It’s a WoodWick candle, a brand we both love just as much as Yankee Candle. This one is in the scent Black Cherry and it’s HUGE! When you burn these it makes a crackling sound like a fire and when we lit this for the first time it was nice to see the flame move over from the right to the left side of the wick. It’s a lovely present, especially for the house.

So those were my presents from Christmas this year. As well as these presents I did of course get more from work friends, my friends, family and more. I just wanted to show some that I had managed to snap pictures of.

I had a lovely Christmas this year even though it did come and go in the blink of an eye! I don’t have a clue when to take my Christmas tree down. Probably tomorrow after work as it’ll soon be 2017 and our tree wont need to be up anymore, sadly. I’ll miss our cute little tree. 😦

What lovely presents did you get for Christmas and did you have a lovely time over the Christmas period? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below.

Until next time, take care all and I hope you’re having a great week so far!

This Is Hallowe’en…

Legit didn’t sing that title as I typed it out… If you don’t know where it’s from, kindly check out the video linked below…

But that isn’t the point of this post this morning. It is officially Hallowe’en next Saturday and I’m pretty damn excited for it! I always get excited for Hallowe’en and I’m one of these people who as soon as October stars, I class the month as Hallowe’en month until the start of November.

Although I love Hallowe’en, I haven’t actually “celebrated” it and gone out dressed up for years now. Reason? There is no reason to be honest. I guess I’ve just been too busy being an adult, with a job, and a relationship. This year has changed mind and both me and my boyfriend have said we’ll be going out this year, and going all out at that!

We’ve debated and planned for months about what we could dress up as for Hallowe’en and finally we came up with an idea that wouldn’t just look cool, but would work alongside each other too.

So, who have we gone for?

Image taken from South Park Wikia

Of course it was going to be South Park related! I’ll be dressing up as Cartman’s The Coon, whilst my boyfriend will be Kenny’s Mysterion.

I’m not going to lie when I admit that I thought making the costumes would be super easy… It hasn’t been but that being said, it hasn’t been really hard either.

We spent all weekend working on the costumes and I’m over halfway there with mine now. My mask, ears and tail are all done, which took all weekend to get done. I also have the claws halfway done, as well as the t-shirt which I have nearly finished sewing the C onto. All I need to do is sort the cape out, with both the length, the C on the back, and the gold/yellow buttons, and of course finish off what I have started already.

However my boyfriend’s hasn’t been as straight forward as mine (damn you Kenny!) but we’re getting there! His t-shirt and leggings have been dyed a lilac purple, and a green M is ready to sew onto the t-shirt now. As well as that he has some white Y fronts to wear, and he needs to have his hooded cape made up, his balaclava face mask, and his gloves. The only thing we have managed to complete for his costume so far is the green ? for his head, and even then it needs a little more work.

It was really nice being able to sit and work on our costumes together the way we were, it was just somewhat relaxing and gave us some creative bonding time together, which I always like. I’m pretty sure we’ll be continuing with these next week, in time for Hallowe’en. We’re not even sure what we’ll be doing for it yet! But depending on how the night out goes, we’re hoping to wear these as cosplay in the future at conventions.

We love South Park, so to be able to try and show our love through Hallowe’en is such a great thing. I’m pretty sure we will get plenty of pictures when these are complete, which I’ll make sure to show you guys as soon as possible!

What are you dressing up as for Hallowe’en? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, take care all and I hope everyone had a great weekend.