November Wish List ‘21

I still can’t believe it’s November already, let alone the end of the second week! This month is flying by and before we know it, it’ll be December. I need to start planning what I’m going to buy people for Christmas and whilst this year doesn’t seem too bad for ideas, I do feel like I’m kind of out of ideas(?).

This months with list was pretty hard for me to put together as I really struggled! Four of the items on this list are either items I’ve order, or already pre-ordered. I think I struggled due to Christmas coming up. I’m not really buying a fat lot right now, I need to keep items available for potential Christmas present ideas for Dane.

This being said, some stuff on this list (that aren’t orders/pre-orders) are things I’m hoping to buy at some point this month… We’ll see. 😛

Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy this months wish list hopefully shows off some items you guys may want to pick up too! 😀

• Pokemon Funko Pop! Advent Calendar.

The first item on this months wish list and unfortunately… This is really hard to get hold of now. Putting this out there now for anyone who may ask later. This advent calendar was announced back in August and shortly after Pop In A Box UK popped it up for pre-order, which I jumped on before going to bed. When I woke up, Emily (Totally Emily) had mentioned that the advent calendar was no longer on the website… I was a bit worried and decided to drop an email to Pop In A Box UK to find out if my order was going to be cancelled. I’d not received confirmation of it, so I could only assume my order was okay. Later I found out that my order was safe, but the advent calendar had been taken down from the website due to how quickly it sold out! I’m due to get this in the post this month and I’m honestly so excited! I do love the Pokemon Funko Pop! figures, but I don’t want them at the same time. I only own the Mew Funko Pop! and that’s enough for me. With the little mini versions however, these will be cute to pop in displays in our office living room and bedroom, as well as stick on top of my desk monitor. 😛

• Sugar Bunny Shop Santa’s Reindeer Wood Ornament Garland – (link)

This is a Christmas ornament I really wanted to buy last year, but never did due to the price of it. Christmas was expensive last year as I not only spoilt Dane, but myself with buying loads of stuff from American independent artists. This year both me and Dane have decided to do the house up as much as possible this year for Christmas, including popping some more lights up! Seeing as we’re thinking of doing the house up more Christmassy this year, a part of me wants to actually snag adorable AF reindeer wooden ornaments. I’d pop them on our fireplace, potentially with some battery operated fairy lights.

• Persona 4 Golden Nendoroid P4G Hero Yu Narukami – (link)

I’m always excited for Nendoroid releases, especially when you’re counting down the months from pre-ordering. I’m a massive Persona 5 fan, and Persona 4 Golden is still a game I’m playing at the moment. I got stuck on a boss and I’ve been debating whether or not to restart that game… ANYWAY I couldn’t resist pre-ordering Yo Narukami, the hero in Persona 4/Persona 4 Golden. He won’t be going with my Persona 5 collection, but he’ll go in mine and Dane’s game Nendoroid section of our collection! I’ll make sure to show him off on Instagram when he arrives at the end of November. 😀

• Isabelle Summer Outfit Amiibo – (link)

This is something I ordered last week when I ordered my Animal Crossing series 5 amiibo cards! As some of you may know, I’ve been collecting the Animal Crossing amiibo figures since the summer now and currently I only have two/three left to buy, Timmy & Tommy and Kicks, as well as Smash Isabelle if you want to include her. On places like CeX they’re selling the Isabelle summer outfit amiibo for £15.00, whereas the official Nintendo UK store sells this one for £10.99… So go figure. 😛 I waited to see if the series 5 amiibo cards would land on the Nintendo UK store, which they did so… Yeah I popped her into my basket too. 😛

• Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl  – (link, link and link)

I AM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!!! November is an amazing month for games and I honestly cannot wait for this to come out next week, I just wish I was off work to play it all day. xD This being said, I’ll be spending all the weekend it’s out playing it. I bought both Diamond and Pearl, just so Dane can play Diamond if he wants to, but so far he isn’t fussed… Which is fine, I can keep Diamond for myself to grab any special Pokemon for Diamond, as well as the starter Pokemon. PLUS, if I wanted to stream myself playing one of the gen four remakes, I’d be playing Diamond. Pearl was my gen 4 game of choice (as well as Platinum) back in the day and I loved it so much, so I’m already excited about the nostalgia I’m going to feel again. 🙂 ALSO an FYI, I’m planning on writing next week about all the games that have come/coming out this month that I’m excited for and loving, so make sure to keep eyes peeled for that!

• PVRIS Gig Tickets.

Finally, we have a random wish list item… But one I would really love to snag. When I moved to my current role at the start of 2019 I discovered PVRIS through listening to Kerrang! Radio during the working day, as well as driving to and from the office, and since then I’ve been in love. I missed seeing them in the UK when they did an intimate tour in 2020, so I’d love to finally go and see them next year! Why haven’t I ordered tickets then? Well, because I’m anxious. I’m anxious due to COVID and I don’t really know what the future holds? I’m seeing My Chemical Romance in May 2022 (just weeks after the PVRIS gig) but as I booked that back in January 2020, (when COVID wasn’t such a big thing) and how heart-breaking it was to get those tickets, I’m not willing to cancel the tickets for MCR. Thinking of it logically, I’d hate to get COVID from the PVRIS gig and then not be able to attend the MCR gig so… I doubt I’ll buy tickets unless it’s last minute, we’ll see.

So, there we have it guys, my wish list for November! I know it isn’t anything amazing, but with it being so close to Christmas, November is usually quite quiet.. Which is fair in every circumstance.

To think, the next wish list I’ll be writing will be for Christmas now! I seriously can’t believe how quickly the year has flown, it’s scary in a way, isn’t it?

What do you all have on your wish lists for this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below, I’m always intrigued at what people have on their wish lists too. 🙂

Until next time guys, I hope you’ve have a lovely week and take care!

Sugar Bunny Shop – Review

I’ve mentioned a few times now on my blog (as well as social media) but in December I went very shop happy and not just because I had Christmas presents and sales goods to buy.

It was announced by the government that there would be changes made to the VAT and how it’s treated on overseas goods sold to UK customers. Due to this a lot of independent stores/artists in America had to say no more to selling to the UK from 1st January 2021. I was gutted as more and more stores/artists I wanted to buy from announced no more sales in 2021 to the UK, so I went shopping. Sugar Bunny Shop was one of the stores I bought some goodies from and I had to share with you what I bought, as well as a bit of a back story in how I discovered Sugar Bunny Shop and why I’m glad, but also gutted (due to the VAT stuff) to have finally bought from them.

Before I talk more about Sugar Bunny Shop, I want to just address the VAT related issue here for people in the UK who may want to order. I did reach out to find out more information in regards to what may be set up/happen in the future for people in the UK looking to order. I know some American stores are looking to open Etsy stores for UK shoppers, as well as discuss further options etc.

Sugar Bunny Shop/Samantha did in fact reach out to me in regards to my query. I want to thank Samantha for taking the time to reply to my email and for how lovely she was too! 😀

Unfortunately I don’t have a resolution to the UK issues at the moment. I’ve considered using Etsy, but the fees are so high it’s not an ideal solution. I’m hoping the UK/EU will figure out some kind of solution to this for small businesses as they iron out the wrinkles in how the new VAT system works.

I wish I could offer a solution so that any of your readers could immediately order stuff if they wanted. My best suggestion is to recommend they maybe follow the shop on social media or sign up for the newsletter to be notified in any updates regarding UK orders.

I’ve known about Sugar Bunny Shop for years, I feel like it’s been since around 2011, so for the almost ten years and it’s only in 2020 I actually finally made an order. This being said, this isn’t the first time I’ve had something from Sugar Bunny Shop. Back in 2014 my boyfriend bought me a Doki Fox sticker sheet (which I spoke about here). He didn’t buy it direct from Sugar Bunny Shop (think he said it was on Crunchyroll’s store?) so when I opened it and said, “Oh my God! How did you know I loved Doki Fox?” He was taken by surprise.

Over the years I’ve been really interested in the Doki Fox original character, as well as a red panda original character called Ponwan. I’ll pop a little bit below about Doki Fox. I love that Sugar Bunny Shop wrote a little blurb about the cute fox character she’d created!

Silly li’l dumplin’ fox, Doki is a cheerful ball of fur that can’t contain his joy for pastries!

This plump little fox is cheeky, playful and so very fluffy! Small, dumpling-shaped chicks are his best friends and they love to follow him around, though sometimes he confuses them for real dumplings. Especially when they mingle with his food. He would never eat them, of course! But when he’s stuffing his face too quickly he sometimes discovers the taste of feathers. P’tooie!

Eating and sleeping are Doki’s two favorite hobbies, and he can often be found napping contentedly with his peeps after stuffing his tummy with tasty food. Aside from snacks and sleep, this wee fox enjoys soft grass and warm sunshine, which is the perfect spot to laze the day away.

Although dumplings are his favorite food, he also enjoys trying all kinds of other treats as well.

Text and image of Doki Fox taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

Doki Fox has been through some design changes over the years and doesn’t look as chibi as he used to. That being said, he’s still absolutely adorable and I’m glad to finally own a piece of clothing and some more stickers with Doki Fox on!

Short story behind my main reason for ordering from Sugar Bunny Shop. I asked Dane if he would be able to buy me the Doki Fox sweatshirt for me for Christmas/birthday and I’d somewhat hoped he had. Christmas passed and the size of the sweatshirt I was after came back into stock. I’d asked Dane in passing if he’d bought it for me and he said no. I rushed to the Sugar Bunny Shop website and got my order in for the sweatshirt, as well as some stickers! A part of me regrets not ordering more, especially as I’m unsure when I’ll be able to buy from Sugar Bunny Shop next…

• Doki Fox Chick Pile Sweatshirt – $55.00 (link)

This sweatshirt is gorgeous in every way shape and form. I remember when it was announced around autumn time in 2020 and I fell in love with it. The design, the colour, the autumn vibes and most of all that it’s on a sweater! This is a dark brown sweater that is so fluffy and soft inside and makes me feel like I’m wearing a cloud of marshmallow! The sleeves has yellow and orange autumn leaves on, which I love. Autumn is my favourite time of year, so this is already perfect for me! Of course on the front we have the Doki Fox design – he’s lying on his back with a cute little smile on his face and is surrounded by his dumpling chick friends, who look to be really happy to be around Doki Fox. There are more orange and yellow leaves surrounding them, which I like. The design is just so adorable and it makes me smile whenever I see it.

• Doki Fox and Chicks Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link) and Doki Fox Playful Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link)

I decided to order myself some stickers from Sugar Bunny Shop as I’ve become a bit of a sticker hoarder lately! Of course I couldn’t resist the Doki Fox stickers and both of the designs I bought are adorable. Both stickers feel like amazing quality due to the thickness, as well as the matte finish. I don’t mind shiny stickers, but I do prefer matte sometimes. The first design is of Doki fox lying on his belly and surrounded by his little dumpling chick friends. It’s such a sweet design and makes me smile! The second design is Doki Fox on his own, lying on his back, with his front and back legs in the air in a playful position! Both stickers are adorable and I regret not ordering two of each.

So that is everything I picked up! I regret not ordering more to be honest, so just wanted to share below just a few of the items I wish I could have picked up.

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Red Panda Ponwan Parfait Vinyl Sticker – $4.00 (link)

I had so many regrets not buying this sticker and it was only JUST AFTER my items had been dispatched that I noticed it! NOOOO! Red pandas are one of my favourite animals and I swear, Sugar Bunny Shop has designed this so perfectly too, from how happy and fluffy the Ponwan is, to how yummy the parfait Ponwan is holding looks. I hope that Sugar Bunny Shop designs more Ponwan goodies in the future. 🙂

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Lavendeer Fawn Floral Sweatshirt – $55.00 (link)

I don’t so much as regret not buying this sweatshirt, but it would have been awesome to have picked up considering how lovely my Doki Fox version is. This is something I’d definitely love to pick up in the future if possible. I love and live in sweatshirts, especially since working from home due to COVID. I love the colour purple and the Lavendeer Fawn design is so damn pretty!

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop

• Doki Fox Playful Bee Unisex Shirt – $25.00 currently on sale for $22.00 (link)

If this hadn’t of been sold out in my size, I would have ordered. The only size that is currently left is an XS and that wouldn’t have fit me AT ALL! I’m really gutted I couldn’t pick this t-shirt up as Doki Fox is adorable. The design is more spring/summer than my sweatshirt design and has Doki Fox playing with a bee. It’s really cute and I hope (again) in the future I can pick it up, or maybe even another/newer Doki Fox design.

That is everything I regret not picking up and hope to in the future from Sugar Bunny Shop and with that we have come to the end of this review.

Overall I’m really happy with my order and I’m glad I bit the bullet and placed it. I’d have regretted so much not picking up that Doki Fox sweatshirt. I’ve already worn it almost a handful of times and it just makes me feel so happy to wear.

I’m going to pop Sugar Bunny Shop’s links down below for you, including their store as well as social media.

Store

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Art Prints Store 

What do you guys think of Sugar Bunny Shop and her adorable AF designs? Make sure to let me know in the comments below, plus what you would buy from her store? 🙂

Until next time guys, stay safe and take care. 🙂

Goodbye 2020!

Image taken from Pinterest

I can’t quite believe a whole year has flew past us as we prepare to go into 2021… Sorry but 2020 was a big year for me for so many reasons but of course it wasn’t a great year either…

2020 was the year I entered the 30-35 tick box and I don’t feel ready to turn 31 next week. :S It was also the year me and Dane travelled to Japan for the first time. It was amazing and I’m so glad we were able to go before COVID started to manifest. I remember my dad messaging me our second week into the trip and saying, “There’s a virus called coronavirus going around Japan. Be careful!” and us shrugging it off. Oh how times have changed, eh?

Going back to that trip, it was amazing and I have clutched onto the memories we made and photos we took to get me through 2020 when I felt rubbish. I’m really hoping 2021 will be better COVID wise as I would love to return back to Japan in 2022, maybe even 2023 if that’s the case.

Image taken from GIPHY

Me and Dane have already said we’d like to go around March/April time to see the cherry blossoms, travel around more (Kyoto, Nara, Osaka and Hiroshima) and especially go for Dane’s birthday this time around. We’ve also discussed going for Christmas/New Year at some point too as that would be lovely. We could eat KFC, stay at a private onsen for a few days and again, travel around and have the perfect kawaii/otaku Christmas… But we don’t know when this will be. It’s just an idea.

I wanted to briefly do a bit of a chat about how 2020 was for me overall (including my favourites), mention how December has been and of course talk about 2021 and what I’m looking forward to so far.

I need to get this off of my chest out of the way because it’s still semi ongoing and it’s pissed me off something awful.

I mentioned back in September 2019 on a post (8 Games I’m Excited To Play) about being excited for a game I’d backed on Kickstarter called Calico. The game released 15th December 2020 and was announced on the Nintendo Indie World Showcase. As someone who had backed the game I was pretty meh to discover that people who HADN’T backed the Kickstarter had access to the game before we did and may I add, for less monies… Just felt like a bit of a punch to the stomach. I’m on the Discord channel and started hearing nothing but bug complaints/feedback from people who had been playing the game. Turns out not much testing had been done… Not good! I waited a week for my game code on the Switch, but no sign and I was given excuses of, “we’re new to this, wasn’t aware how long it would take.” etc. Then North American codes were being sent to people in the EU, which of course wouldn’t work. It was just a bit of a shit show to be blunt. I asked for my money back on Sunday, which has been processed and I’m waiting for. I can’t be arsed to play Calico now. It sounds like a rushed out mess and I just don’t want to support a game like that. I’ve heard nothing but complaints from friends about it who have played. I’m happy to have supported the game and help it come to life, but I’m not happy to wait and constantly feel mugged off. The developers have now advised for UK backers to ask for refunds so they can go and buy it themselves on the eShop.

It’s just so poor and clearly rushed out. I was really excited for this game and especially when they announced it as coming out a few weeks back. Dane was away with work and with the game coming out I thought, “Awesome, something to keep me going until he’s back home!” which of course wasn’t the case.

If you’re thinking about getting Calico, get it on Steam if you can. The console versions are full of bugs (I think some may have been fixed?) and from what has been said it can take a while to get them fixed. Or just wait a while for it to go down in price, as I’m sure any bugs will have been amended by then too. I’m not saying don’t support the game, but be wary of the bugs…

I’m sorry if that above has come off as bitchy but I was so frustrated for those two weeks that I just had to be honest with you guys on my experience. I’ve got two other games backed via Kickstarter and from the start I’ve definitely had a better experience with them, so I have very high hopes for how the games will be when they release. 🙂

Now that little rant is out of the way, I thought I would mention some stuff I have loved this year!

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Okay, who DIDN’T love this game in 2020? For some it was a sort of lifeline during the start of COVID, I know it was for me. I don’t play it daily now, but when I do pick it up it just relaxes me straight away and it’s also a game I love playing with my friends online. The Toy Day event on Christmas Eve was so lovely and started to get me in the Christmas spirit. I know a lot of people who ended up buying a Switch/Switch Lite due to the need to play Animal Crossing on it, I even helped two of my friends get a Switch/Switch Lite of their own so they could play!

The Mandalorian – I’ve honestly loved this series in 2020 and it’s actually one me and Dane binge watched over the Christmas period. I couldn’t get into it last year, especially with our Japan trip coming up so we just… Didn’t get into it. Season 2 is AMAZING though and I was all there for it. I highly recommend watching The Mandalorian even if you aren’t a huge Star Wars fan, as it’s just good all around show that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Plus some of my favourite Star Wars characters make appearances in season 2, which made me so happy!

PVRIS Use Me (Deluxe) – Use Me released this year and I had been excited for this album since it was announced. I discovered PVRIS when I started my job in April 2019 and I have since fallen in love. This album is one I’ve found myself listening to time and time again, whether I’m out and about driving/walking or working in the house. I’ve found myself dancing in the kitchen whilst making a cup of coffee, that’s just how much I love it. My top three tracks from the album are – “Gimme a Minute”, “Stay Gold” and “Loveless”. They’re all such amazing songs, with “Stay Gold” being my favourite on the album… And the one I danced to in the kitchen whilst grabbing coffee. 😛

Lyonsleaf Calendula and Marshmallow Balm – This balm has to be mentioned here because it really has helped with my hand in 2020. My eczema/dermatitis is still ongoing and hasn’t improved at all and I’m still waiting to see a specialist. Since about August I’ve been using this balm and it really does help with the dryness and cracking and since using it religiously, my hands haven’t cracked and bled for as long as I can remember. I’ll be continuing to use this for as long as I can as it really does help. 🙂

Aveeno – I’m just going to add Aveeno as a whole, as this is another product that has really changed my life since purchasing it, in so many ways! I use the intense body lotions on my hands, which has really helped recently and I even bought the shower cream to see if that would help too. It smells delicious and makes my body feel lovely and soft. I highly recommend Aveeno in general, let alone if you have really dry skin like myself.

There are a few things in 2021 that I’m excited to have come up!

31st Birthday – This is actually a week from today and yeah it’s scary how quickly it’s come around! I think for the day I’m going to bake some red velvet cupcakes, play with my new resin molds and get a takeaway. At the time of writing this post, Birmingham has actually gone into tier 4 and I’m gutted. Good job I’d planned to do something at home, eh?

Eight Year Anniversary – I can’t believe me and Dane have been together eight years in 2021… It’s really flew by and I hope we can do something for it in 2021. For our seven year anniversary we went for a drive around the countryside and grabbed a Japanese takeaway on our way home. Who knows what we’ll do this year, but I’m sure it’ll be good. 🙂

My Chemical Romance in June – That’s if COVID doesn’t come along and cause it to be postponed/rescheduled like it was this year.

Potential planning for Japan trip #2 – This would be amazing to do! I really hope it can be done towards the end of 2021…

Maybe a puppy(?) – We were really close to getting a dog in 2020 but due to the issues we faced with adopting we gave up and said we would wait and either try to adopt again (although doubtful…) or get a puppy in 2021. If we go for the latter, I already have a breeder in mind that we want to go with… We shall see what happens. Getting a pet is a big thing and we need to make sure we’re ready and able to do it.

Speaking of 2021, I also  wanted to mention what posts I am hoping to bring to you guys in 2021, these are just some ideas of what I have swirling around my head. This isn’t definite, as it never is but it’s ideas I would like to get down on my blog eventually. At the moment it’s mostly independent stores I’ve discovered/known about for years and bought from! There are a lot of USA based independent stores mentioned here as due to the changes in the UK with VAT, a lot of them have stated they aren’t able to sell to the UK anymore, so I went all out!

Quirkory – I’ll be writing a review of the Mostari Mystery Pack, as well as the Animal Crossing Gimme my Joycon 2 enamel pins I’ve pre-ordered. They won’t arrive until January/February.

Lunaticgumis – I’m planning to talk about the Puppycat Amigurumi, stickers and enamel pin I picked up a month or so ago. I wanted to talk about the goodies I picked up before Christmas but I just didn’t have time, sadly.

Pikarar – I only discovered Pikarar in October/November time and I’m already in love with their designs and items! I’ve so far made two orders, one being a pre-order for after Christmas. When my pre-order arrives, I’ll be showing you all what I bought! It’s mostly clothes. 😛

SleepingWolvesArt – Review where I’ll be talking about some notebooks (which have arrived) and enamel pins (literally just ordered) I’ve bought.

Sugar Bunny Shop – It’s still on it’s way to me but I ordered the Doki Fox sweater I’ve wanted for MONTHS.

So there is a sneak peak of what I will be sharing in the future on my blog! Of course I will talk about other things in between, but until the weeks/months come I won’t know 100% what may come up to discuss. As always I’ll have my monthly favourites and wish list too.

I can’t quite believe 2021 is just around the corner and we’re entering it with practically in lockdown, which sucks. Whatever though, it isn’t going to affect me much in regards to work, or my social life. I’ll just miss not being able to be closer to some form of “normality”.

I’m not feeling glum about 2021 and if anything I’m hoping to grow some of my hobbies, as well as see some of my friends again who I haven’t seen for ages.

What are you excited for in 2021? Is there any specific content you would like to see more of on my blog in the New Year? Make sure to let me know in the comments!

Until next time all, Happy New Year for tomorrow/Friday and I hope you’re all safe. 🙂

Christmas Tag 2020

Image taken from GIPHY

Christmas is now less than a week away and you know what? I have zero festive spirit behind me and it kinda sucks. SO, I thought I would have a go at being festive in the run up to Christmas and found this Christmas tag online! I’m going to nominate everyone who reads this post to give this tag a go themselves!

I think I’m not feeling festive due to a mixture of COVID, age and especially due to the loss I experienced in September. So, I would really love to get into the festive spirit now… Especially with Christmas just around the corner. I really hope you guys enjoy the tag and take part in it too!

Image taken from GIPHY

What’s your favourite Christmas movie?

This is quite an easy one and it’s hands down Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I just fell in love with the film more so than the original one… But I do love Home Alone just the same! I just found it to be the perfect Christmas film growing up, but I also loved watching it throughout the year too. It’s usually the first Christmas film I stick on in the year and this year it was kind of different to the other times I’ve watched it. I found myself questioning a lot of what happened and it made me laugh! A couple of runner ups here are Jingle All The Way and The Grinch (the one with Jim Carrey).

Have you ever had a white Christmas?

I don’t remember to be perfectly honest with you… I know in 2017 we had snow just before Christmas which was amazing! I literally had to Google when we last had a white Christmas in Birmingham and apparently it was 2010… But I cannot remember that for the life of me. 😛

Where do you usually spend your holiday?

Mostly at home now, but me and Dane tend to change it up each year and go to each others families together Christmas Day. However I think after this year we’ll be staying at home all day. I like to be able to cook our Christmas dinner together but then we tend to have to “rush” and then go out not long after eating. It’ll be nice not to have to rush around this year.

What’s your favourite Christmas song?

Paul McCartney – “Wonderful Christmastime” and Slade – “Merry Christmas Everybody” are two that always come to mind. I do like “Last Christmas” as well BUT I overheard it so much one year that I can’t stand when I hear it now. This year, as of yet I haven’t listened to ANY Christmas songs yet and I’m happy with that… 😛

Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?

Not really to be honest with you, we like to wait until the big day to open our gifts for one another. We get breakfast, snuggle up in bed and exchange gifts. I’m quite excited for Dane to have his presents this year as I’ve really spoilt him. 🙂

Image taken from Sugar Bunny Shop – You can pre-order the Santa’s Reindeer Wood Ornament Garland now!

Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comic Blitzen, Rudolph (of course) and Vixie? I know there’s more but I can’t think of them… *Googles* Prancer, Dancer, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Dasher, Vixen, Blitzen, and Rudolph! I got five out of nine so I didn’t do toooooo badly! 😛

What holiday traditions are you looking forward to this year?

We don’t really have any to be perfectly honest with you… I think one we’ve really gotten now is the whole, breakfast in bed and opening presents together. 🙂

Is your Christmas tree real or fake?

It’s fake. I’d buy a real one but our living room isn’t big enough for it… Although I have always wanted a tiny one to keep on the table OR by the front door over December. Maybe next year. 🙂

What’s your favourite holiday food/treat/sweet?

I’m a sucker for the dinner to be honest with you. I love sweet ham over Christmas with pigs in blankets, massive Yorkshire puddings, my mom’s gravy (mines good but it will never beat hers!) and crispy AF roast potatoes. 😀 I’m cooking lamb this year. The first Christmas we did at home (2018) the meat I cooked wasn’t good and it was such a shame, so I’m giving it another go this year in the hopes it’s really yummy! 🙂

Be honest. Do you prefer giving or receiving gifts?

Giving gifts. I love being able to buy gifts for people who either won’t buy the item in question for themselves, or surprise them with something I know they would love and appreciate but don’t actually know about and such. Plus it’s always nice to buy a gift and see someone’s face light up. 🙂 I especially love when I see Dane open his gifts, as well as my mom.

Christmas 2018 – Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch from my mom.

Christmas 2013 – Cinnamon the German Market fox from Dane.

What’s the best Christmas present you’ve ever received?

One that comes to mind is my Olivia Burton fox snow globe watch. My mom bought this for me in 2018 and I still love it so much. As the little crystals move around inside it’s one I always stare at during meetings at work and when I’m out and about… However, I haven’t worn it much this year due to lockdown but before COVID existed I was wearing this all the time! She even got my name etched on the band too, which is a really nice touch. I may try and get a replacement band at some point soon as the one I have at the moment is looking tired.

Alongside that there is also one of the presents I received from Dane when we had our first Christmas together – this little fox plushie. I don’t think we’ve been to another Birmingham German Market together since 2013, but whilst we were there we walked past a stand that sold plushies. I saw this cute little fox and Dane bought it for me straight away. I still own this plush to this day and it’s now in my plushie cupboard, where he belongs! It just always reminds me of Dane and how excited I was for Christmas with him. For a very long time I’d hated Christmas, but when he came into my life he really made me feel better about this time of year. P.S. We called my little fox Cinnamon. 🙂

What’s your dream place to visit for the holiday season?

Japan, for sure! I would love to go to see how festive it would be, have a KFC for Christmas dinner and if possible stay somewhere like a private onsen where we could spend the evening in and out of the hot bath, eat yummy food and just relax together and exchange presents. It might be something I suggest to Dane in the future for sure. 🙂 I’d only want to go for a week, maybe ten days at a push so we can enjoy the festive period together.

Are you a pro present wrapper or do you fail miserably?

I’m in-between. Before I met Dane I used to fail miserably as I never really concentrated or had as much to wrap as previous. I feel especially since we moved in together I spend a bit more time on my wrapping and whilst I’m not a pro, I’m definitely better! I’ve watched how my dad and one of my friends wrap their presents and they’re definite pros! They take their time, make lots of folds and more and their gifts look to good to open. 🙂

1995 – My parents bought me the Pocahontas Braided Beauty doll for Christmas when I was five. Image taken from Amazon.

What’s your most memorable Christmas memory?

Mmm… I don’t know to be perfectly honest. There’s a couple that stand out but I always love to share this one…

When I was five Pocahontas came out and I fell in love with that film (still one of my favourites!) and my parents made sure to buy me plenty of Pocahontas presents that Christmas. I received a cute red jumper/sweater with Pocahontas on, that I LIVED in for as long as I can remember. They also bought me the Pocahontas braided beauty doll which I LOVED! It came with Pocahontas doll as well a a braiding tool that looked like Meeko. I loved Meeko and my parents knew that, but I imagine there weren’t any specific Meeko toys and this was close enough. PLUS I had long hair growing up, that my mom would braid for me, so I imagine she saw this when shopping in Toys R Us and bought it because it was all the things I loved. 🙂 It was clearly a thought out gift for me as a kid. 🙂

What made you realise the truth about Christmas?

I remember I had written a letter for Father Christmas as a kid, as well as drew some pictures of Rudolph and Father Christmas. I knew it was my dad when I woke up the next day to read, “Well done!”, “Great picture!” and “Merry Christmas” on each picture and the letter I wrote. I know my dad’s writing and it was the same. It was from then on I knew who was really delivering my Christmas presents and who they were from. I’d had my suspicions for a while and I’m pretty sure the year before I’d seen my dad putting presents in my room as I turned in my sleep and was half awake.

What makes the holidays special for you?

Being with people I love and making them smile. Obviously yummy food and being merry is always good too, BUT it is definitely about making people happy and being around the people who make you happy. I’m sad that I can’t see my parents properly over Christmas. They’ll be driving over to my house next week to drop off gifts and have a chat from the front door to their car at the end of the drive. This year has been hard for my family due to our loss in September and I especially feel for my mom this year. I just wish I could give her a hug and a kiss when exchanging gifts and more. I know the time will come where we can ALL make up for lost time… But it’s just really hard this year.

So, there we have it! The Christmas Tag! It’s kind of started getting me into the Christmas spirit this afternoon whilst answering the tag questions and to be honest with you guys, I hope I get more and more festive as the time goes on.

This evening I’m actually going to host a mini “German Market at home” for me and Dane. I’m making hot dogs (not the nasty shit in the jars!), fries and instead of hot chocolate, I’m going to serve chocolate cake with Bailey’s!

I’m super excited for it and I just hope it goes down well. 🙂

How are you all feeling about Christmas this year? Especially with COVID. Me and Dane will be staying at home throughout the festive period, including New Year to stay safe at home. I hope my readers will be doing the same…

Please let me know what you are most excited about this year in the comments. 🙂

Until next time guys, please stay safe during these times and see you soon.

October Wish List ’20

Can you believe it’s already the second week of October, because I can’t!

So far for me October hasn’t been the best of months for me and I can’t see it getting much better. I mentioned in my September favourites how I’d recently experienced loss and had been grieving.

I’m also mentally and physically tired all the time lately and I really need to have a break from everything. I’ve got myself some holiday coming up in November and December which I’m looking forward to.

As well as that, I’m also rather looking forward to Halloween at the end of the month. I don’t feel like I’ve ever been so excited for it previously and I’m not sure why… Last year we played D&D and dressed up as our characters, but this year I think I’m going to cook a yummy dinner, snuggle on the sofa with Dane and either play some scary games, or watch some horror movies/tv shows we’ve never watched before.

For now, I am here today with my wish list and I’m not going to lie… I really struggled. It took me some proper digging to come across the items this month. There’s even one Christmas item and items that I’ve already added onto my Christmas ideas list for Dane.

Did I just say the C word? Yep… 😛

• Sugarbones Nooks Cranny Shopping Tote – (link)

Sugarbones always creates such lovely designs and this is one of them! As regular readers of my blog will know, I LOVE Animal Crossing and since March any Animal Crossing fan merchandise that comes out makes me so happy. I especially love this Nooks Cranny shopping tote as it’s adorable and would definitely be eye catching if I was to buy and use it out and about. The size of the bag looks HUGE as well so this would be perfect to take for shopping trips, whether it be for geeky goods, clothes or food. I missed out on buying this when it was launched a week or so. I’ve added it to my Christmas and birthday ideas list for Dane. 😛

• Sugar Bunny Shop Doki Fox Chick Pile Sweatshirt – (link)

I LOVE Sugar Bunny Shop but in the seven plus years I’ve loved the brand I’ve only ever owned one thing, which is Doki Fox stickers… Which Dane bought me for our second Christmas together in 2014. Since then I have eyed up loads of cute Doki Fox goodies from the store but just never bought, usually due to charges to ship to the UK and the fear of customs charges too. However, I feel this sweatshirt would be worth it. Regular readers will know how much I love foxes, so this is a must for me! Doki Fox covered in the little chicks is adorable! I could imagine wearing this with leggings or mom jeans for a comfy weekend look. I would love for Dane to buy me this for Christmas… But if he doesn’t I’ll definitely end up buying it for myself! 😀

• MelonDesignByEllen Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Keyrings – (link) and (link)

I’ve actually ordered these since writing this blog post as they’re so bloody adorable and I couldn’t resist! I think these will be going on my car keys as I know they won’t get bashed around as much as my house keys will. Or maybe even one of my bags as a little charm? These are cute little Halloween ghost and pumpkin keyrings that are handmade by Ellen over at MelonDesign on Etsy. These were £10 each which I feel is such a great price when they’re made by hand! I honestly can’t wait for them to arrive and hope to show them to you at the end of the month… 😀

• Mermazing Baths Advent Calendar – (link)

I know December is less than two months away BUT it’s good to be prepared when it comes down to advent calendars. As soon as they come out in the shops, me and Dane usually pick a chocolate one up for ourselves (each of course!) as they soon sell out, so we never want to miss out on getting something good. The same can be said for beauty advent calendars for me. In 2018 I owned so many it was crazy, but last year I only owned one. I’ve really gotten back into my bath and shower beauty and have discovered so many indie brands, including Mermazing Baths. They have an advent calendar out, which I’m definitely going to pre-order when I get paid at the end of the month.

• CraftyWitch Craft Shop Ghost Tray Mould – (link)

If any of my readers follow me on Instagram and Twitter you may have seen that I’ve started to experiment with resin again. I had played with it back in March/April just after lockdown started but I stopped not long after. I recently bought some more moulds and Dane did too so we’ve both been having a play! I’ve really gotten into it and would love to make more in the future. However, I would also really love some more moulds to play with and potentially sell too! I’d love the ghost one shown as it would so much fun to play with and even have some in my house! I’d make some for me to keep things on, sell to friends and gift.

• Teddy Fresh Color Block Hoodie – (link)

Finally we have an item on here that I really do want at the moment and that is one of the colour block hoodies from Teddy Fresh. If you haven’t heard of Teddy Fresh they are a brand by Hila Klein, who is also a co host on H3 Podcast on YouTube. This colour block hoodie has been spoken about loads lately due to H3 Podcast accusing someone of copying their hoodie… Which I agree with. Due to this I have been seeing the hoodie more and more lately and now I want it! The colour scheme is really cool and not like anything I own. It would be cool to have something like this in my wardrobe to wear around the house, as well as out and about. I have lived in hoodies throughout 2020 and this is no exception. It’s not a cheap hoodie to buy and ship to the UK… So this has definitely gone onto my Christmas/birthday list. I’m keeping my eye on a European store for this hoodie colour scheme to come back in stock, as well as places like eBay and Depop too. 🙂

So there you have it guys, those are my wish list items for October! I can’t see me buying from it now aside from the advent calendar. 🙂

What items do you guys have on your wish lists? Anything similar to myself? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below!

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

July Wish List ’20

It’s that time of month again where I share my monthly wish list with you all! I know I say most months that I’ve struggled to put a list together, but this month I really HAVE struggled. In all honesty this is down to me buying things as and when I have wanted them.

During lock down I have saved quite a bit of money, which is great, but at the same time it’s also been nice having money to splurge on things I’ve wanted for a while, but now I’m running out of items from my wish list, which is a mixture of funny and sad. 😛

Half of the items on this list are Animal Crossing related… But is that such a big surprise? 😛

I hope you enjoy this months wish list, it’s sadly nothing special, but it’s better than nothing at all, eh?

• Fearless Illustration Danger Days Long Sleeved Top (link)

I don’t know why but I’ve really fallen in love with this top! I’m a sucker for baseball style t-shirts and have always loved them. They look great with anything, but especially jeans. I’d get this in the largest size too so I could have it baggy to tuck into my mom jeans and skirts. I know there is also a version with yellow/mustard sleeves instead of red, but I much prefer the red version. Also with the slogan on the top and it being called “Danger Days” it reminds me a little of My Chemical Romance… So this top could come in handy next June when I see them in Milton Keynes!

• Sugar Bunny Shop Animal Crossing Marshal Textured Print (link)

I’ve always been a fan of Sugar Bunny Shop and whilst people have bought me things from her store, I’ve never actually bought anything for myself. I’m LOVING the Animal Crossing prints the owner of the store has designed and I’ve especially fallen in love with this Marshal print. I never understood the fuss behind Marshal, until he visited my campsite and decided to move to my island. He’s one of my favourites now for so many reasons, but mostly because he loves coffee. This print would go in my bedroom along with my other Animal Crossing prints.

• Jenni Illustrations Froggy Chair Sticker (link)

This is another store that I have wanted to buy from for the longest time and never had. Well, recently Jenni opened up her store again with loads of new and old goodies. I decided I had waited long enough and made an order (which I’ll be showing you guys when it’s here, of course) BUT I made my order a little too soon. The next day Jenni added some more goodies to her store, some of them that I really wanted, including some Animal Crossing stickers, Blue’s Clues stickers and this Animal Crossing froggy chair sticker. It looks so adorable! I would have loved this for my iPad case or maybe even something else. With the amount of Jenni Illustration items in my wish list, I’ll be able to make another order in the future for sure!

• Eltamagotchi Isabelle Animal Crossing Cereal Vol.1 Enamel Pin (link)

This is an enamel pin I nearly ordered recently… But I went against it due to the cost of it overall to the UK with shipping. It wasn’t cheap and it made me cringe. This isn’t a massive enamel pin either, so I’m going to wait until I either buy someone else a pin as a birthday/Christmas present. The other thing that slightly puts me off is the fact it sort of looks like a “traced” copy of the Isabelle design from Nintendo? I don’t know if that’s just me? I do really love the idea of Animal Crossing characters in the size and shape of cereal. It would look adorable in my Isabelle ita bag… I’ll see. 😛

• Bobblejot Tori the Corgi Plushies Kickstarter (link)

First of all this Kickstarter campaign finishes Monday 6th July at 4.41pm, so if you like the look of this cute Tori plush by Bobblejot, then make sure to back the campaign before then! Okay, so I’ve been a fan of Bobblejot’s cartoon about Tori the corgi and Samuel the cat for as long as I can remember now, so when I heard they had brought out a Kickstarter with plushies of Tori, I KNEW I had to get one myself! Tori is an adorable young corgi who is finding out new things in the world, with the help of Samuel. I’ll link the Instagram page here so you can go and check out some of the cartoons for yourself.

• TK Maxx GC Home Decor White Giraffe Artificial Succulent (link)

Finally the last item on my wish list this month is this giraffe artificial succulent home decoration from TK Maxx. I’m not one for keeping plants in the house and I couldn’t tell you why… I love some flowers every now and again, but succulents and house plants aren’t for me. However, I would like to start potentially having some green around my house. This being said, I do not have a clue where I would keep this if I bought it… Maybe the office in the window or on the side by my front door? Who knows. I have fallen in love with the giraffe a little though!

So there you have it, my wish list for July. Again, I’m sorry there wasn’t anything “exciting” on there, but I like the items I popped on. I doubt very much I’ll be buying any of the items due to my bathroom being done. I’m going to be a little skint now until I’m paid at the end of the month. 😛

What item(s) do you like on my wish list? What items do you have on your lists? Make sure to let me know in the comments.

Until next time, take care all and stay safe!

Animal Crossing Independent Artists Wish List

At the time of me writing this post, Animal Crossing: New Horizons still has another 4 days to go until it’s out and I honestly cannot wait anymore… BRING IT ON! I NO LONGER WANT A LIFE!

BUT when this post is live on my blog, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have been out over 24 hours and all the Animal Crossing fans who are swamping Twitter will go quiet…er. 😛

P.S. I’ve written this post early because I want my Friday and all weekend to myself to play this game! When I said I no longer want a life, I meant it. 😛

I thought considering Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out yesterday, it would be appropriate for me to talk about some items and independent artists who have created some amazing pieces that are Animal Crossing inspired!

A lot of the items below may be from Etsy as personally if I don’t discover a new artist through a con or Instagram, it’ll be from there! 😀

So, I hope you enjoy this blog post today – whether you are playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons or self isolating at home due to the COVID-19. Don’t forget to stay safe guys. 🙂

• Illustrator Jake Froggy Chair Enamel Pin (affiliate link)

This is actually an enamel pin I made sure to pre-order when it came out last week on Illustrator Jake’s website. The Froggy Chair from Animal Crossing has become a HUGE meme and I honestly couldn’t tell you why haha! I thought the design was cute though so just had to order. This will go inside an Animal Crossing itabag I’ve ordered. 😀

• Reddachi DJ K.K. Print (link)

I honestly love this print that I found on Etsy a while ago and would love to buy it to hang in the house somewhere. However, I wouldn’t have a clue where to put it in my house in all honesty. I just love all the details on the print from the glasses Tom Nook wears, to Resetti looking adorable and like a fan girl.

• NerdieNiftiesEU Isabelle’s Berry Muffins Candle (link)

Who doesn’t love scented candles? So, when you cross scented candles and Animal Crossing what do you get? Home perfection! 😛 I love the scented candles that NerdieNiftiesEU has on their store and I especially love the sound of this Isabelle berry muffin one. This would be ideal to burn on a summer evening whilst you relax and play Animal Crossing: New Horizons or whilst you have a relaxing bath.

• Shop Azula Pouch (link)

I recently discovered Shop Azula through Instagram who has created some gorgeous Animal Crossing inspired enamel pins, but as I’ve already mentioned some enamel pins on this post I wanted to showcase something else, aka this pouch. You can never go wrong with having a nice pouch, whether it be for stationary, beauty, gaming related items and more. You can always keep this pouch in your handbag/backpack or keep around the house. The print on it is gorgeous with various characters such as Isabelle, Tom Nook, Celeste, Blathers, Katrina, Reece, Cyrus, K.K. Slider and more!

• paolinamissio Lily and Marshall Onsen Holographic Sticker (link)

This sticker is so adorable and not only does it shout Animal Crossing to me, but it also personally reminds me of my holiday to Japan, due to the villagers bathing in the onsen. You can see Lily and Marshall bathing together in the tub with a wooden tub full of apples in between them. I especially love how the sticker is also holographic, which is cute! I’d love to set up an Animal Crossing style notebook, it would be full of Animal Crossing: New Horizons stuff!

• Samantha Whitten Sunflower Pup Print (link)

I honestly love Samantha Whitten’s work and have wanted to buy some of her pieces for the longest time! She also owns Sugar Bunny Shop and has the adorable fox Doki, which is the pieces I have wanted to buy for agggges! But, the Animal Crossing prints she has designed and released are gorgeous and I would honestly love one to hang up in either our living room, or in our bedroom. I may have to invest in buying some new prints soon! 🙂

• Zellerpins Many Bells Motel Keychain (link)

Who doesn’t love a cute keychain, right? The one thing I like the most about this keychain is that it’s unisex and with the new Animal Crossing game coming out now, this would make an awesome gift for someone who just just bought the game, or will in the future! This is the kind of thing I would buy someone who is a huge Animal Crossing fan as a birthday or Christmas present. 🙂

• SpiruttsCrafts Isabelle Floating Sticker (link)

Finally we have this adorable Isabelle sticker where she is chilling in a pool float. She looks so damn happy! Again, this is a sticker I would put in/on an Animal Crossing notebook/journal. You can also get a floating Tom Nook and Daisy-Mae, who I know everyone has gone crazy for lately! These stickers just remind me of summer!

So, there we have it! Some independent Animal Crossing merchandise ideas for all you Animal Crossing fans out there!

UPDATE – Also make sure to use my discount code below on Illustrator Jake’s store to snag yourself a nice 10% discount! 😀

THEREMIGHTBECOFFEE10

With everything that is going on at the moment in the world with Coronavirus, it was really important for me to share independent artists more than anything. I know a lot of independent artists are struggling right now so I want to definitely showcase some of my favourites here. 🙂

Are you guys playing Animal Crossing: New Horizons this weekend? If so, how are you finding it so far? Also, do you like any of the goodies I’ve spoken of in my post? Again, make sure to let me know in the comments.

Anyway guys, I’m getting back to Animal Crossing, I have an island to run! 😛

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

March ’16 Wish List

Okay this is seriously a wish list this month because I SERIOUSLY need to watch my money now. I need to adult and only spend money on house related items… How boring. 😛 I’m hoping to do a wish list Wednesday post on house related items, so keep your eyes peeled for that in the future!

But for now, I’ll just be talking about all sorts of cute, and quirky items that I want for myself. Oh and FYI, I never bought a single thing off of my wish list last month… 😛

• Benefit Posie Tint – £24.50 (link)

I have to first of all say, I know there are going to be LOADS of lip products on this months wish list… Oh boy. BUT I picked up a sample of this lip tint and I have fallen head over heels in love with it. I am literally using this nearly everyday for work. A little bit goes a long way, and it leaves a gorgeous just bitten pink stain on the lips. I am just so in love. I will buy this one day, I just don’t know when at this moment in time. DAMN having to be a grown up and save money!

• OPI Hello Kitty Collection Nail Lacquer in Starry-Eyed For Daniel -£12.50 (sadly no link as most stores have sadly sold out…)

I have been lusting after this nail lacquer for quite some time now… BUT I keep telling myself I don’t need anymore polishes, especially when I don’t really wear them anymore. I have my eye on quite a few of the lacquers from this collection, including this one, Charmmy and Sugar, and Say Hello To Hello Kitty. But I doubt I’ll pick any of these up, at least not any time soon at least. It is such a pretty collection coming up to spring and summer, and it’s been a long time coming OPI collaborating with Sanrio. I hope they bring another collection out in future with the rest of the Sanrio family!

• Bee & PuppyCat Vol. 2 Comic Book – £10.76 (link)

I LOVE Bee & PuppyCat and after recently discovering that there was a comic book out of the popular cartoon show, I just fell harder in love with the show. The second volume of the comic book is currently on pre-order, but as it’s out in less than a month it’ll be mine before I write and publish my April wish list… Because I have that shit pre-ordered! OH YEAH!

• Sugar Bunny Shop Doki Fox Yamiiko Sweatshirt – $25.00 (link)

Oh.My.GLOB I love this sweatshirt and I legit want it in my life… BUT MONEY! Y DO I HAVE NO MONEY?! Eventually this will become mine, when I don’t know, but it will be one day. It’s the gorgeous Sugar Bunny’s Doki dumpling fox on a sweatshirt, what more could I ask for? I love foxes as it is, but I especially love her Doki fox, he’s just so adorable. Dane bought me some of the stickers from her store a few Christmases ago and I keep them safe in my diary. I could imagine Dane buying me this for our third anniversary together… But we shall see what happens…

• Lancome Juicy Shaker in shade 400 Mint To Be – £18.00 (link)

I’ve actually bought one of these already… *smacks hand when meant to be saving money* NAUGHTY NAT! But I bought one of the purple shades. This one however is a gorgeous blue/clear sparkly shade, and one that is also limited edition. I actually regret not buying this one considering what it is… But meh I’m sure I’ll be able to pick this up on another occasion. These are gorgeous and lovely to wear for work, and I know already they’ll be a real hit with teenagers, and especially in the summer when people are going on holiday. I’m going to be writing a review up in the week on the shade I picked up over the weekend.

• Benefit Puff Off Eye Gel – £22.50 (link)

I have been lusting after this throughout February and I actually went to buy it a week ago, but it has sold out in the Boots store I visited! I received a sample of this when I picked up my Matte Rescue and I fell in love. It’s a lovely creamy gel texture, and when applied to the eye area it helps it feel cool, perfect in the morning! I don’t know when I’ll pick this up, as I recently purchased a miniature of Benefit’s It’s Potent eye cream, which I am loving at the moment! So I’m not in as much hurry right now as I previously was. I still can’t wait to get my hands on this though.

• Nana Manga Vol. 16-21

I’ve spoken about this manga on my blog before, and it is by far my favourite. It’s also incredibly hard to get hold of these days, but my boyfriend finds me good copies on Amazon all the time… Thank God! I am currently on 13, but I know after I’ve finished writing and schedule this post, I’ll be reading it for a while before I go to sleep. I am so close to the end of the series, yet so far away! I know kind of what happens at the end, which sucks, but meh. I’ve watched the anime for the series, which I fell in love with too and own on DVD. I just can’t wait to get the rest of the volumes so I know that I’m one of the lucky few who owns ALL of the series. This is something I will definitely be buying off of this list. I can’t live without my manga.

So that was my wish list for this month! What goodies do you have on your own wish lists this month? Make sure to let me know in the comments down below of what you have your eye on.

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

What I Got For Christmas 2014

I first of all I would like to say that I am in no way shape or form showing off what I received for Christmas. I just thought readers may want to read and see what I received for Christmas this year. I did a post last year about this too and whilst I had no issues, I just wanted to say what I just did.

I really was spoilt this Christmas and I want to say thank you to my friends, family and my boyfriend for what I was given, I loved everything I was bought.

I still have a couple of presents to add to this post, as one of my friends has sent her over to me, and another I haven’t got a picture of so as and when I can get pictures I will update this post.

As you can see, there were lot’s of presents! Due to this, this post will be image heavy.

I’ll start off by talking about what my friend Poppy bought me.

My friend Poppy went over to America before Christmas and each time she’s gone over the pond she’s asked me if I’ve wanted anything brought back. Apart from the perfume and the lip balm, I asked her for all these goodies from Bath & Body Works. I LOVE their Pocketbac’s, as regular readers of my blog will know so the fact she picked these up for me and gave them me for Christmas was really sweet of her! As well as that she gave me a Chloe perfume sample, which I’ve grown to love, and a Burt’s Bee’s lip balm in Pink Grapefruit, which is really nice. I’ve been using this around the house and it’s lovely to use. I’ve never tried the foaming hand wash before but I have been converted and already eying some up to buy from eBay when I get back from my holiday. Thank you Poppy, I love my presents!

Next is a present from my cousin.

I wasn’t expecting anything from my cousin and when I saw her Christmas Eve she didn’t mention that she had bought me anything either. So Christmas Day when I saw the tag on this say “Saw this and thought of you.” I was really touched when I opened this and saw it was fox related. Everyone knows someone who loves foxes, or owls, or butterflies and will always pick them something up with that animal on it. Of course mine is foxes. I tried one of these out before I headed to my boyfriends for the weekend and they’re lovely! These will be perfect for my walks to uni and into work when it’s chilly.

Onto my nephews and sister in law.

They picked me up this lovely Sanctuary Spa wash bag with little wash sets inside too. I’m actually excited to try the hand cream! I’ll probably have these for my boyfriends house, as little bottles like this come in handy! I could also take some on holiday with me too, but I shall see. It makes me laugh how I picked up a Sanctuary Spa gift set for her too!

My boyfriend’s parents bought me some lovely presents this year too.

This is a Nintendo 2DS holder and one that my boyfriend had been trying to get me to buy for quite a while. He has a black and blue version and now I have the red one! This is a hard shell case which keeps your DS nice and safe. Inside it also comes with a USB charger, an in car charger, and a pen stylus. This is really nice and will definitely come in handy when travelling and definitely for our holiday!

My boyfriend’s parents were also lovely enough to pick me up a Lush Christmas gift box that I had been lusting after, as well as some Santa’s Lip Scrub which I had also been thinking about picking up in the sales! Before I even upwrapped this present I could smell it was Lush. For ages my boyfriend had told me that I hadn’t been bought anything from Lush, what a good liar huh? This box set contains some lovely little pieces and I’ll be making sure to enjoy some of those for my birthday in the New Year. I still have my Santa’s Lip Tint (review here), which will go perfectly with the scrub. They also both bought me a bottle of Black Tower wine, but that’s probably been drunk now. Hic!

I knew what I was getting from my Mom for Christmas as I went and picked them up with some money she gave me. Apparently she does have a few surprises for me, but they haven’t arrived in the post yet.

I’ve decided I want to start using Clinique’s 3 Step system again so I picked up the facial wash, the clarifying lotion and the moisturising gel. I’ve really missed using it, so I’m glad to have them back in my daily routine! As well as that I decided to pick myself up a new face powder. I’ve been using this one the past few days and it’s REALLY good! I need to get a little powder mitt for it, as whilst I thought you automatically got one with the powder, you actually don’t… Which I thought was bad. I’ll pick one up when I’m near a MAC counter next. I’ll be reviewing this at some point after my holiday, it’s amazing!

My Dad on the other hand got me some surprises, which I really loved! I knew I would be getting Pandora, but I didn’t know that he wasn’t picking something out for me that he liked, he usually just gets a list of charms I like and picks from those.

This one is definitely picture heavy and I did realise after taking the pictures that they aren’t the best of quality either… I will be doing an updated Pandora bracelet post soon mind so I can show them off properly then! My Dad got me this cute little angel and telephone box charms and explained the meaning behind them. The telephone box has such lovely detailing on it, such as the little Pandora logo about Telephone, as well as the red Union Jack print on the top and “Call me” on the bottom. They’re the most thoughtful charms on my bracelet to date and for that these are probably two of my favourite charms on my bracelet right now, I love them so much.

Finally I have the presents my boyfriend bought me. There’s loads!

My boyfriend spotted the Gorjuss range ages ago and asked if I liked it, which I admitted I had for years. So what did he do? He bought me some, some fox themed stuff at that. He knows I love my notebooks and he didn’t buy me one, he bought me two! These are both really high quality and I know already that I’ll be taking the larger of the two away with me on holiday so that I can do some creative and blog writing whilst I’m away. I love these so much, so nice that he picked them up for me.

I knew I had the stickers, badges and the little Pokemon charms as my boyfriend picked these up for me when we went to Comic Con in November, however I didn’t know I had the cute little box and it really did make me tear up when I opened it. As you can see the box says “Smile you are beautiful” which is a really nice message and one my boyfriend says to me quite often. He didn’t make the box himself, but the thought is still there. I’m not sure what I’m going to use it for yet, but I’m sure I’ll find some use for it soon. The charms that he bought me are official and from Pokemon Center in Japan! I love the Eeveelutions, (which also explains the stickers) and to have these cute little charms makes me smile. I don’t know what to use them for yet, but I would love to get a charm bracelet for them so I can collect more.

These were a cute little surprise, but I knew I had something from Sugar Bunny Shop as my boyfriend told me but it was a surprise as to what I would be receiving. These stickers are so cute that I can’t see me using them, it has however made me want to buy some more Doki fox items from the store as I’ve always loved this little guy, but never bought anything before.

 I had my eye on this coin purse for ages, and I should have known that my boyfriend would pick it up for me. One thing I have to say about this is that it is MASSIVE! I wasn’t expecting it to be like a mini clutch bag, but it really is. This isn’t a bad thing mind, as I wanted this for my holiday. It’ll be perfect for taking out in the daytime if I just want to pop down the road to the shops, as not only will this fit my money in, but my iPhone also fits in here really nicely. Can’t wait to start using this, especially as it goes with my wallet!

This is another present that I knew I was getting, as we both bought each other little alcohol gift sets. I bought him a Jack Daniels Honey set and he bought me Bailey’s. As soon as I opened this I ate the chocolates, which were amazing! I love Bailey’s and sadly didn’t have any this Christmas as we didn’t have any to enjoy. My little bottle is being saved for my birthday and the glass in this set is gorgeous and is going to be my wine glass.

 I love Nana and only decided to read the manga after watching the anime but for ages I couldn’t find books 8, 9, and 10 and when I did find them online to buy they were costing me a fortune! How my boyfriend picked these up for cheap, I don’t even know! Sadly I have book 7, which he sadly hadn’t noticed at the time but I was so happy to see that I had Nana as Christmas presents. I have been tempted to take these on holiday to read instead, but I would get through them in no time, which isn’t what I want really. I can’t wait to carry on reading this though as I’ve had it on hold for months though.

Another present my boyfriend knew I wanted, and I had a hunch that he had picked up for me. I saw this in Paperchase months ago and fell in love. I nearly bought it too, but I knew it would be a good Christmas present to receive from someone. This is a gorgeous organiser and I’ll be keeping it with me whenever I go out, as I’m terrible when it comes to trying to make sure I don’t “double book” things and know what shifts at work may clash with classes at uni! So this will come in handy and because Paperchase do their insert able yearly pages, I can use this year after year. The print is the best thing about this, as it’s a gorgeous woodland print, which of course includes foxes. I just love the colour scheme too, as I love a bit of blue.

Another present I knew I would be getting. Please excuse the use of presents to hold this down, but it worked! My boyfriend bought this for me at Comic Con and I’m now hooked on the artist who drew it! I don’t know what I’ll be doing with this picture, but I’d love to frame it in the future to put in my kitchen when I move out… But I do not know when that will be right now. But back to the picture, how cute is it, really? Little Pokemon characters eating rice balls and such? Adorable. Couldn’t say no to this picture. It’s by an artist called Ry-Spirit, whose work you can check out here.

This was a bit of a jokey present from my boyfriend, but a very apt one. Whenever I’m at his house I’ll constantly ask for a cup of coffee and this bell says, “Ring for coffee” on it. We’ve actually left it at my house as the bell is really quite loud, but when we move out I’ll be ringing this for ages. I can eventually see him burning this or throwing it away mind. 😛

This was a must! I’ve used the Simon’s Cat calender since it first came out in 2011, that’s 4 years of Simon’s Cat every month, how crazy is that?! I do really like these calendars though and I also pick up the diary to go with it… Although I don’t know whether to or not this year… I can see me picking it up though. Either way, amazing present.

I KNEW I had this present. I text my boyfriend the day I saw it saying how much I wanted it, so when he asked me what shop it was and such, I knew he was off to buy it. However this being said when I went to open said present I wondered what he had bought, as it weighed a ton! Was a lovely surprise considering I’d forgotten all about it. These smell divine though and I have had my eye on Candy Cane Lane for ages. I can’t wait to start burning this next week when I’m back home. As for Sugared Apple I’ve always wanted it, but never bought it. It smells delicious and I know I’m going to enjoy using it during the summer too.

I knew I was getting a Pop Vinyl from my boyfriend as we had eyed them up a lot at Comic Con and both made a huge list of ones we wanted. I had a feeling he had bought me Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy and my suspicions were correct. He’s an awesome little character and my favourite from the film, but what makes this figure even better is that he’s a bobble head! The detail of him is really nice and he just looks so cute as well. I’m going to be keeping him in the box until me and my boyfriend move out together, as I want to have him displayed nicely. If I didn’t care I would keep him in my car, but he would get stained by the sun and ruined. He’s so awesome though, nice little character to start my Pop Vinyl collection with.

This was definitely the best present out of all the presents my boyfriend bought me. He had hinted he had a big present for me and when he showed me the present all wrapped up and such, it did look pretty big. I saved it until last to open and I had been guessing on and off that it was either a huge Totoro plushie or a huge Pokemon plushie. At one point I guess it was a huge Lady from Lady and The Tramp plushie but I was right with my first guess. He’s a very big teddy as you can see my the picture of me holding him, but he’s also very sturdy too which is really nice. We have been debating whether or not he’s real… We’re unsure at the moment but either way I don’t care as he’s bloody amazing! This was such a great present and I really love him. I nearly picked up a Totoro plushie when we went to Bristol for our anniversary in the summer but I left it. Glad I did in a way as I may not have this guy now.

So those are all my Christmas presents. I was really spoilt by my boyfriend this year and I feel so lucky because of it, but I would like to add, I spoilt him too. 😛

Thank you to everyone who bought me something, my friends, family and especially my boyfriend. I love you all!

What did everyone get for Christmas? I would love to hear what you got nice, so please feel free to do so in the comments down below.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and although I will say it a little closer to the time, I hope everyone has an amazing New Year too.

Until next time, take care all and enjoy your weekend.