November Lookback

It doesn't seem like two minutes ago since I was writing my October lookback, and yet here we are - kissing goodbye to November... I can't say I'm sad to see it go either!

Yep, this month has been kind of..sucky. I say that without an inch of self-pity, just pure fact. (Okay, maybe a tiny bit of self pity.) The worst part has been this last week - having been stuck in bed with the worst bug known to man...the only plus point is that thanks to said bug, I've lost so much weight that I don't need to worry about the pre-Christmas diet. #winner

Okay, so November wise - lets be recapping' ya..

Boyfriend
Firstly, I broke up with my boyfriend. That truly sucked, especially because I would have loved to go through the long haul with him. Watching the fireworks on Bonfire Night with tears falling down my cheeks was not one of the best memories, but hey ho. We *almost* sorted things out...I say almost but lets say, honesty and loyalty is needed for a relationship and there was a night where that clearly wasn't a priority for my ex. So alas, there was to be no more trying again and I'm back to being single - which is fine, because quite frankly, I'll never understand men anyway!

Birthday
It's looking like November was a month for 'B's! Yep, twas my birthday and I turned the ripe old age of 28. I have no idea how this has happened because I still don't quite class myself as 'adulty' enough to actually qualify as one...apparently being an adult is just googling how to do stuff anyway - who knew? Mumma and Dad Writes treated me to some new perfume and two new Pandora stacking rings for the celebration, which cheered me up no end...(being newly single makes your birthday suck)

Yummies
Oh there's nothing in life that can't be solved by my two favourite men - Ben & Jerry. And when I finally managed to get my hands on their brand new Cinnamon Buns (oo-er) I couldn't have been happier...boyfriend who? I've been looking for this ice-cream for weeks and finally tracked it down and indulged myself. Also these amazing new Cadbury's brownie bites were discovered at the same time, and good Lord, they are better than...most things. Probably my all time favourite Cadbury product now - and that's saying something!

Planners
As you all know, I'm a full on stationery addict, and this month has been all about the planners for me. I've been getting organised and have been sent some amazing planners from amazing brands and I'm going to use them all slightly differently next year - can never be too organised right? I had a particularly lovely Friday evening spent watching Once Upon A Time while decorating my MAMBI Happy Planner with all of the bits and pieces in my latest planning haul. Glass of wine, good TV and a bit of crafty time and I'm a very happy lady.

YouTube
I have been loving making and uploading YouTube videos, I've done six this month and I'm pretty chuffed with that. I still feel so new to vlogging but I'm loving every minute. I think my favourite video this month had to be my Sephora 'Kissing Stories' review which was for an amazing set of glossy lip crayons from Sephora. It was really fun to film and you can check it out here if you haven't already...



Instagram
And lastly, here's my Instagram overview for November..

Hope you've had a great November,  leave me links to your monthly lookback for November below!

My Mini Christmas Decoration Haul

In the spirit of being a person who adores Christmas, I've done pretty well to avoid the Christmas stuff in the shops (mostly because I've been totally skint). However, it's Sunday, the housework is (kinda/almost) done and I fancied a wander...

I didn't expect to buy anything, "just look" as I tell my son. But that went right out of the window when I saw the shining, glittery, sometimes dancing decorations. I actually became quite fond of a life size dancing and singing Santa, and other than the price tag, I had to talk myself out of buying it.

When it comes to Christmas, we've all got our own style. It's like fashion, everyone has their own take on it. Some go for colour schemes, some go for the traditional colours and some go for all out colour splatters in every room of the house. Personally, as long as it's Christmassy, I'm all for it! I watch Christmas films like they're going out of fashion as soon as it hits November 1st, and count down the days until I can put the tree up. What can I say, I'm an out-and-out Christmas fan.

When it comes to my decorations, I'm also a full on snob. I spent a great deal of time (and far too much money) a few years ago matching my tree decorations to the colours in my lounge - which are green, cream and mocha. The decorations on my tree (it obviously being green takes care of that colour) are all cream or mocha and come in various finishes (matte, sparkle, glitter, shiny etc). My lights even have to be the perfect shade of cream - which was a nightmare last year when half way through December, one set broke and I could only find white lights left in the shops!! I think that's the closest I've come to a Christmas breakdown... Anyway, I have a touch of shabby-chic going on in my lounge, and my decorations and Christmas bits must fit in with that, otherwise they don't get purchased. Yep, I'm that ruthless.

I wander around the shops at Christmas, looking at all the decorations - the traditional colours literally make my inner child squeal. I love the red and gold and even today I looked at the newly fashionable silver ranges and tried to image which room in my house I could transform just so I could have all the different colour schemes in one room of the house. I don't even mind temporarily painting and decorating rooms to fit this idea in, although realistically, my landlord would have a fit.

So, after mooching around the Christmas decorations today with my little man (who, by the way, I am raising to love Christmas just as much as me!) I decided it's kind of nearly November (ish) so it's okay to buy a few bits. So I did...

So my first spot was this gorgeous wooden house with cute little windows and ribbon and bells on top. It's so cute looking, and i've got a bit of a thing for cute looking ornamental houses, so at £5.99 it was a no brainer really. AND to be honest, this one might be staying out all year round, I think I can get away with it not being a Christmas item right?

Then there's this little guy. How cute?! I'm a lover of the nordic print themes that have become really popular over the past few years. Don't get me wrong, he doesn't match my perfectly coordinated colour scheme but he was just too cute not to, plus I'm sure I can edge a bit of neutral colouring into the room somehow, just for this little dude. (£1.79)

Then there's these teeny decorations. I've got a twiggy tree which is my favourite year round room decoration. It's on my sideboard and I've really wanted some small (obviously colour matching) decorations to hang on it at Christmas. These little packs were perfect. The pack of 10 wooden, cream hearts are rustic looking and shabby chic - and will be perfect for the twiggy tree, and if there's any left over, they can go on the actual tree! At only £1.49 for the pack of 10, it was an absolute bargain! Be rude not to.

Then there was the gorgeous six pack of hand sewn mini hearts - which are just so sweet that I couldn't resist, even though two are grey - which is totally not cream or mocha. I'm going to force these on the twiggy tree whether they match the room of not. Seriously though, I love these. £2.49 for the pack, and I'm tempted to get a few more packs and put them in the gift baskets I'm making for each of my friends as gifts this year.

So, I didn't go mad (unlike the lady in the shop who had two baskets overflowing and a child about to go into full meltdown after apparently being in there for over an hour and a half) but I'm pretty pleased with my first mini Christmas haul of the year!

(all items from The Range)