Ginger's Jollies: Living Crafts for Christmas at Blenheim Palace

Collage Created Using PicMonkey

It is not that often that I take he train journey down South. My life up here is so jam-packed nowadays that I find it really hard to get away. And I am also now of an age where I am no longer eligible for a railcard, so train tickets can be a touch on the expensive side. So now, I save up going down for something really special. 

Two years ago, me, MG, and Saunders took a road trip to the Living Crafts for Christmas event. Held in the building and grounds of Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, the event plays host to lots of lovely stalls selling arts, crafts, jewellery, clothing, food, drink, and lots of festive goodies. 

This year, we decided to return, and on Saturday morning we all jumped in to the car and away we went.

The event this year did not disappoint. The stalls were all beautiful, and the atmosphere was buzzing with cheer and festive electricity. There were Christmas songs being played, the palace had its trees up, and I had my first mulled wine of the season (Yes, I know it's NO-vember, but I allowed myself the day off because I LOVE mulled wine.)  

I picked up some gorgeous little Christmas gifts, and made the wonderful discovery of chocolate-cheese. I came back up home feeling incredibly jolly and in the Christmas spirit. I'm already marking the event in my diary for next year. If you love home-made goodies, pretty things, tasty things, Christmas, or even just being out in the countryside, you should definitely look this event up too. It's one not to miss out on. 

Did anybody else go to the event this year?

For more information about the Living Crafts for Christmas event, visit: 

 http://www.livingcrafts.co.uk/

And for more information about Blenheim Palace, visit: 

http://www.blenheimpalace.com/

Blogtember 2013: Musings over Chai

 Go to a coffee shop. Order a favorite drink. Write about what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Or write about anything you'd like! Bonus points for including a photo from the coffee shop. (I recommend downloading Ommwriter and bringing headphones along!) *if you can't make it to a coffee shop, at least leave your usual space and write someplace new.

Okay....I'll admit it. It is not in fact Thursday and I am not in fact sitting in a coffee shop. 

I'm posting my Blogtember  post for yesterday, today. 

Yesterday I was in too much of a fluster to post anything. I was so tired on Wednesday night that I had a really broken nights sleep (does anybody else get this?) On Thursday I was running on Empty, my Warning light flashing, and it was of course, the busiest day of the week at work! It was such a crazy day. 

In the evening. I popped into town though for a The Body Shop VIP event to celebrate the launch of the Honeymania collection. 

Afterwards, I went and sat in Caffe Nero and sat admiring my lovely new products over a steaming hot mug of Chai Latte. 

I'd never had a Chai Latte before, and to be honest, I don't really think it was my cup of tea *groan*! It tasted a little bit like I was drinking gingerbread dough..... And once I had that image in my head drinking the rest of the mug was difficult. 

I tried so hard to take a picture of my goodies in Caffe Nero, but the woman on the table next to me kept giving me odd looks, and I got shy. 

After I try out all of my shiny new beauty products I think I'm going to smell like a tropical, chocolatey, sweet milkshake. 

Yay for yummy-smelling products! 

Blogtember 2013: Life Lately

A "life lately" post. What you're up to, how you're feeling, how you're doing on your goals, etc. Bonus points for great photos!

I'm not going to lie....

I am SO happy right now. 

For a long time I felt really unsettled. I felt as though I was stuck in a bit of a rut, but lately, I have really gotten myself out of it. I feel like I don't stop now. I work Monday to Friday in a job that I absolutely love, I'm going to college to gain my Playwork Level 3, I'm really involved in my blogging, and I've been spending loads of time (probably too much time) re-organising, re-designing, and generally giving my house a bit of much needed TLC and sorting. 

Boyfriend has been & is super-busy at the moment, which means that we only really have been spending time together at the weekend. It makes it really special, and come Thursday, I start to get really excited that it's nearly the weekend and that I'll be seeing him. 

I'm not really one to usually get overly-gushy in public, but he is the main reason I am so content and at ease right now. I am one very lucky Ginger to have found him. 

I've also been spending lots more time with my friends. Because I don't live near my family, having a really strong circle of friends is really important to me because they are my family up here, and more recently, my Northern "family" have become so much stronger. Whether it's mine and Saloca's Pudding Clubs (which have recently become filled with excitable talk about blogging and decorating discussion,) spending time with Boyfriend's family, or going to visit Spotto, time I spend with my friends - which always was so important to me - has now become even more special!

I also feel that my style has really come in to its own. I have become a lot more experimental with fashions over the past year, and now I think I've found a style that I really like and works well for me. Stering away from jeans, which have a habit of not fitting me properly (I have a really hollow back,) I've been going for skater skirts, dresses, and fit and flare styles a lot. I've also not been buying so much, but instead, going for clothes I know I can wear for both day and night events. This means that I can save more money for the home improvements I'm planning....

....which has also been on my mind a lot lately. 

I've finally almost moved things in to my office. My DVDs are nicely arranged on a stand, all my stationary is collated in one place, as are my technological gear for blogging/vlogging, and my loft is empty of everything that isn't mine (finally!) I have a proper place to store all my beauty products and jewellery, and I've put all of my clothes into categories and they now have their own areas in my wardrobe/chest of drawers. My bedroom is almost unrecognisable! Here are the things on my "To-Do" List: 

• Buy wall sticker for bedroom.
• Find storage boxes to categorise my make up 
• Source wood to build bar in living room. 

Yes. That's right. I'm going to have a BAR downstairs. I really enjoy having people round, so a bar would be a perfect addition to my living space. It probably won't happen until the end of the year/next year, but I am so excited! I'm going to call it 

"The Ginger Bear" 

What do you think? 

Blogtember 2013: This is Me

 A self portrait

 My self-portrait was inspired by Kate at http://diariesofanessexgirl.com, who created an amazing self-portrait for today's Blogtember Challenge. It's so difficult to get to know a person through an image, so I decided to annotate my self-portrait with a few of the adjectives that I think help sum me up.....

This is Me