December Life

I'm sure for most of you reading this December was probably a pretty hectic month but for me December is the one month of the year where everything seems to happen all at once. Not only is it Christmas but it's also my birthday, my best friends birthday and the anniversary of when I met my husband. To say i've been busy would be an understatement! 

December 2015 started off with a bang and a little getaway to Stockholm. I love to go away around my birthday and for us it's usually an excuse to visit a new European city where we can do lots of exploring and soak up the festive atmosphere. 

Once we got back from Stockholm I was feeling really Christmassy and couldn't wait to decorate my home and put our tree up. We usually buy a real tree from a local garden centre but as we were away this year I decided it would be easier to order one online and have it delivered. A friend recommended using a company called Pines & Needles and i'm so glad we ordered from them as both the service and the tree we received were excellent. 

For my birthday my husband took me into London for the day and we enjoyed an amazing Afternoon Tea at The Savoy. I was so impressed by how well they catered for vegetarians and vegans and it really did feel so special in such a grand setting. We also had a mooch around Covent Garden which I think is an absolute must do at this time of year as the Christmas lights and decorations are so beautiful. We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the Crafty Fox Market which has been on my to do list for some time now and it worked out well that there just so happened to be a market on my birthday at Canary Wharf. I'd highly recommend going along to one, especially if you like quriky handmade items and supporting small businesses. We ended the day at Westfield Stratford where we shopped some more and had dinner at Ping Pong.  All in all it was a pretty epic birthday and I felt very spoilt by everyone around me!

This December I took part in the Oh Comely magazine Perfect Strangers Project which was so much fun and i'd definitely recommend checking out their next planned gift swap in the Summer. You may remember from my November Life post that I was gearing up to send my surprises off to my allocated stranger and just after my birthday I received my package in the post from my lovely stranger Beth. I was so excited to open her parcel and everything she gave me was so incredibly thoughtful including the yummy vegan gingerbread men pictured below. I also got some fluffy Disney socks, a Lush bath bomb, a notebook and  she'd even sent a present for my dogs which was so cute.

For some crazy reason I always look forward to wrapping up Christmas presents and this year I decided that I was going to make some extra special effort with it. I picked up some beautiful paper, twine and miniature baubles from Ikea which really helped to add that special touch. I also picked up some small decorative angels which not only made the gift wrapping complete but they could be used as a tree decoration afterwards. My husband has been really obsessed with Space this month since watching Tim Peake's expedition so the planets paper from Paperchase was the perfect choice for him. I also decided to arrange an opening order for him with these handy numbered gift tags from Ikea which helped me in saving the best for last. 

From the 13th of December I was allowed to open up and enjoy the Lush advent calendar which my husband had bought me. Unlike a traditional advent calendar it only had 12 gifts which meant that I had to start it a bit later in the month but it was definitely worth the wait! I don't usually buy a huge amount from Lush so this was a great opportunity to try out some of their products. I was also happy to find that all of the products included were vegan friendly as well as being cruelty free. If you'd like to have a nose at all of the 12 days of Christmas gifts then head over to my Instagram page!  

December was also a fantastic month to be a subscription box customer and I was so happy with both my Vegan Kind and Lucky Dip Club boxes. 

On the 20th of December I celebrated a whopping 7 years with my Mr K! Now we are married we have a couple of anniversaries but the day we met will always be so important to me so i'm sure we shall continue to celebrate 20.12.08 for many years to come. When we were in Miami in May we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary at Sushi Samba so we decided to try the London restaurant for this anniversary. I had heard great things about the view from the 38th floor of the Heron Tower in London so I couldn't wait to experience it for myself although nothing prepared me for the fast glass lift to the top! We had a great night and if you didn't already know Sushi Samba offer a vegan menu and they have some great veggie options (unfortunately the restaurant lighting was too dark for me to get any decent foodie photos).  

It's become a bit of a tradition with my friends to go out just before Christmas and this year was made all the more special by one of my best friends being home from Mexico. We decided to book up an afternoon tea at the Little Hallingbury Mill in Hertfordshire and i'm so glad we did as the food was excellent. It was the perfect spot to spend a few hours catching up and I was so impressed that they catered so well for vegans. I shall be blogging about my full experience here soon so keep an eye out!

Christmas can often feel like a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for us as all of our family are in all different directions. We started off the festivities with an early Christmas dinner with my Dad in Essex a few days beforehand. We then travelled down to Eastbourne to spend a couple of days with my Mum which involved lots of eating, walks along the seafront and a trip to see the Peter Pan panto which was a lot of fun. Then Christmas Day was spent in Hertfordshire with my husbands family where we were cooked up this pretty impressive vegan roast dinner!

Here's a little haul snap of some of the presents Mr K gave to me which I am totally in love with!

After all of that I was really happy to spend Boxing Day at home with my husband and the pets. It was so nice to just chill out, enjoy our presents and nibble on leftovers. We made up some delicious stuffing, cranberry & salad sandwiches which were to die for!  

I can't say that I am a huge fan of New Years Eve and we normally just enjoy going out and doing something during the day and then spending the evening at home with a take away and watching the fireworks on the TV (I really must be getting old!). 

With only a few days left of 2015 now this will no doubt be a period of reflection and deciding what I would like to achieve next year. This year has been a total rollercoaster of highs and lows so I am hoping that 2016 will be generally less dramatic and overall more positive. I haven't quite decided on any resolutions yet but i'll be sure to update you all once I have.

So how was December and Christmas for you? I hope you all had a good one and are looking forward to what 2016 has in store! Do you have any exciting plans for NYE or will you be joining me in staying in? Whatever you're getting up to enjoy yourselves and have a happy new year!