First Christmas...

A merry Christmas to you and a very happy new year

last minute christmas gifts...

when you only have a day left and no money left in the bank...

For the kids...

jet pack via pinnedit

For the adults in your life ...

A homemade gift voucher for 

cuddles/kisses/

...something more?!

dinner cooked by you

A massage

A girls night in

with manicure/pedicure by you

A houseclean by you

An night of ironing for them

(Use your skills and imagination! )

Or if in doubt make them something edible (if you can cook!)

Still not finished wrapping. Might need a couple of these 'vouchers' myself.

Advent Calender for the non crafter!

Surely a dog in mittens could make this? Simple is good.

Via nooshloves

Christmas to do list

Cards to distant friends : tick

 Tree up: tick

Nativity from last year out and already bent and trashed played with: tick

Happy Birthday to me

Big fat 33.
Basically spent last weekend...

 Image via Pinterest/  Urban Outfitters.

Fun. Fun. Fun.
(If you've heard of TOWIE...we had a 'The Only Way is Essex Party. Hilarious!)

19 days...

I am totally miffed that the days are just evaporating before my eyes. I am miffed that i haven't finished buying presents, haven't started wrapping presents and have only just ordered mt christmas cards online. WHERE does time go?

Hence my absence. I will not bore you with a tirade of rubbish posts and instead have decided to make this month a crazy sporadic month at procrastination mama. Basically. I'll be around as much as this crazy life of mine allows over the next couple of weeks! Did i mention we are still to buy a tree and decorate?

On the plus side, I saw Kitty in her first ever play 'happy birthday Jesus' at school today. She was sat at the back of the stage and it was muchas amusing to watch her poke her eyelids, make crazy faces and randomly sing to entertain herself whilst the show was on. Guess she thought no one was really watching. Oh to be 4.

I love this time of year. I love the magic the excitement, the present finding, the smell of the tree but sometimes all the time it takes to go to all the christmas lunches, parties, drinks, fetes and plays, shopping, wrapping, planning, cooking and look after the kids is seriously no walk in the park. Plus both Mr C and my birthday's thrown in and it's like you need an extra 5 days just to fit everything in!

Anyone know how to pull off a simple family christmas season?

xoxo

Yes please...

Make all shoes superhero shoes at Smallfly. Now who wouldn't want to be a superhero?

Quicker than a sandwich: Make it

Salad leaves, baby toms, beetroot, dressing

pan fried halloumi, 45 secs each side in a hot pan.

Quicker than a sandwich. Amazeballs.

Words

word. 

Via Heidi Claire Via  pinterest

Thanksgiving

Hello to everyone celebrating Thanksgiving today.

 We don't celebrate it, but then i think i'm a little ignorant because i'm not even 100% sure what it is, or where it came from. Is it a day to give thanks? If it is, i like it. And if we celebrated. I'd do it just like this.

 Via here.

or maybe just play it cool and celebrate with a little of this

Via Live the Moment

Or go the total whole hog and get myself one of these!

A hot chocolate bar via norococo

How does your thanksgiving day go? I'm intrigued?! Presents/no presents...how do you celebrate?

Tracey xoxo

Cool rider

These 1970's inspired trikes by LA Designer James Purse must be high on the shopping list for more than a few design conscious parents. But which colour?

Via here

I on the other hand would forget the kids and go straight for this ping pong beauty. Words cannot express how much i love a bit of ping pong every now and then. One rainy holiday to the Maldives and i was addicted!

Via James Purse

Random Acts of Kindness

If you want to feel good about yourself, do something for someone else.

 kushandwisdom

I just came accross a link to this post. 35 Random acts of kindness to celebrate a 35th birthday. Her present was to see the best of her children and the joy these acts brought to others. An absolutely awesome list! I would definitely get a kick out of doing something like this.

 My favourite is the change of a vending machine or a car park machine!

I on the other hand am getting ready to send my parcel of gifts for Christmas to the children at The Small Things Orphanage in Tanzania.

And at the moment i can't help but think that any spare money i had really belongs here. I have never even met any of these children but it is so hard not to feel a connection with them from the wonderful blog and lifesaving projects set up by the amazing Bekka Ross Russell. I have never before come across anywhere where your single donation however tiny goes directly to them with no middle people involved to take their cut. I have found her blog a lifechanging experience for me personally. If you have a dollar or a pound or even a Euro rattling around in your paypal account today why not donate it here? At the moment they are trying to save baby Peace. Your dollar could be the difference they need.

Go on do something wonderful today, whatever that random act of kindness may be!

FAVOURITE BLOG FRIDAY: DecoPeques

If you love kids and design and just want to be inspired and don't care that you might not understand a word of it...then you'll probably want to check out this. DecoPeques. This is a teeny meeny tiny miniscule selection and they have SO much more fabness in many different categories.

 

All images via  DecoPeques Ambientes que Inspiran

I have no words Wednesday: Slide me up baby

Via Little Lovely/ via  Love Life

Moodboard

Loving my new moodboard inspired by Decor8's Blogging your way course.

Thinking of making some changes around the joint. What do you think?

Anything you love and wouldn't want to miss? Anything you wouldn't miss?

Don't be shy. Pretty please.

xoxo

Reading: I still love the real thing. Yes paper.

Never usually buy Harpers Bazaar but this cover...oh the light!

Insane photography by Tom Munro and Styling by Cathy Kasterine

In love with this German family magazine Luna

And this German interiors magazine. Such a find from one of Mr C's trips!

Finally...Milk Decoration No.5

A sight for sore eyes.