Happy New Year!

So here we are... Twenty Fourteen.

I have a strangely good feeling about this year. I feel as though this is the year I've been working towards. 
I've got big plans for the twelve months ahead, including a house move (fingers crossed), a trip to rural France and celebrating our first wedding anniversary.
And of course, I will be sharing all our adventures with you guys.

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year.
x

Birthday girl.

 

My beautiful 'baby' sister turns fourteen today. Our lovely early Christmas present.
Our festivities begin on Christmas Eve and don't stop until the New Year. I love this time of year.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone & a wonderful New Year.
x

Christmas traditions

We all have our traditions at Christmas time; whether its ones with the entire family or ones you keep for yourself.
I have always always adored our family traditions but they're harder to stick to as I get older. Things change. Kids grow up. People get married. People drift apart. That's life I guess. 

But this year I realised that it's time to make some new ones. 2013 is the first Christmas that Mr H and I will be waking up with each other on Christmas morning. We went back to the place we bought our tree from last year and I'm joining the Hinns' for the Christmas Eve cinema trip.

(However there is one tradition I'd be happy to get rid of... Being ill at Christmas! It happens every single year. So here I am, two days to go until the big day, cuddled under a blanket with a lemsip. Yuck! Oh well, at least it's in my Christmas mug!)

All wrapped up.

This year, I really wanted to go all out with my Christmas wrapping. I'd had it planned in my head since September and knew exactly how I wanted my pressies to look.

Well, I'm pretty pleased with how they've turned out- brown paper is an absolute dream to wrap with (and super cheap!) and this was my first ever go with washi tape (yes, I'm hooked!) I also used the chalk pen we bought for the wedding and some old ribbon we had lying around.
As sad as this sounds, I cannot wait to plan ahead for next year!

Christmas at Kew

 

Yesterday Mr H and I spent a rather chilled afternoon in London, visiting a poorly friend and celebrating my lovely mother in laws birthday. Her treat of choice was a trip to the illuminated trail at Kew Gardens.
(Now unfortunately, the problem is right there... 'Illuminated' usually requires darkness so my photos are pants and they don't do it much justice anyways!)

It was a very festive affair- walking around with a cup of warm cinnamon apple juice, the gentle smell of pine trees in the air, all topped off with the sound of carol singers. Gorgeous!

 

Christmas tree o' Christmas tree!

 

 

Our wonderful Christmas tree is finally up- adorned with lots of special decorations and glowing with simple white lights (no tinsel around here!)
Compared to last year's perfect and dainty little tree, this one is a bit of a brute (yes, it was indeed the choice of Mr H!) but we love it nonetheless. He's a bit wonky and rough around the edges but what's a Christmas tree without a bit of character?

 

It came with an ominous red label attached. I later realised that this label told us where our tree was grown... a little place named Jels in Denmark. How cool is that? You can find it on Google maps!

Festive mode?

As I've got older, the magic of Christmas has been a bit lacking. I noticed it last year for the first time and it made me pretty darn sad.
And this year, even with the tree glowing away (more on that later!), the build up to Christmas just hasn't quite felt the same.

So, to perk myself up, I have been pinning like crazy. It's hard enough for me to stay away from Pinterest at the best of times but when it's brimming with gorgeous festive beauties, I just cannot resist.

Follow Kerry | MerryatSeven's board :: Festive :: on Pinterest.

December love list...

The fifth door on the advent calendar has been opened (it's still ok to have an advent calendar in your twenties right?), the tree is waiting patiently in the garage and that CD, which surfaces but once a year, is calling my name.
Time to write my list to Father Christmas!

* These stunning stacking rings

* An illustration by this lovely lady

* This fabulous book, to get my career in gear

* A 'makery' workshop- I really fancy this one!

* This sketchbook, for all my daily doodles

December.

And so it begins. The countdown to the big day.

December. The month of glowing lights, cosy nights and an excuse to eat chocolate for breakfast.
The season of finding that perfect present, cuddling up with loved ones, stuffing your face until you burst and the air filled with the sweet smell of mulled wine and pine needles.

I feel very blessed to have all my family living close by but nevertheless, life sometimes runs away with you.
Christmas is the time when, even though it may be the busiest time of the year, life seems to slow down a little and you make time for the things that matter.
It really is a wonderful time of year.

Guten Tag. Bonjour. Ciao.

Last weekend, my best friend and I, jumped on a plane to the land of cheese and chocolate.

Our amazingly brave friend moved to Switzerland back in February so it was about time we paid her a long overdue visit!

It was the most wonderful weekend- we were super busy and did a lot of travelling around, but I felt sooo relaxed when I got home.

Saturday began with a lazy morning, filled with tea and chatting, before we wrapped up warm and headed out to explore the Zurich Christmas market. A heady smell of melted cheese and mulled wine filled the air. Delicious.

The stalls were beautiful- I could’ve spent a fortune! After a busy day, and a sneaky hot chocolate, we headed home for cheese fondue, with our friends lovely Swiss flatmate. We drank and ate until late.

Sunday was an earlier start. After a 4 hour train journey, we arrived in Lugano- the Italian side of Switzerland. I have never been to Italy but it definitely gave me a brilliant taster of it. The air was warm and the skies clear, with some truly breath-taking views.

And then it was Monday- time to pack up to go home (sob!) but not before we ventured to the world famous onion market. Yes it was as bizarre as it sounds. Words cannot really describe the atmosphere- lots of laughing, drinking and handfuls of confetti being thrown. Just to top off the weekend, we said hello to Bern’s resident bears!

But best of all, I got to spend the weekend with my two dearest friends.