A Few of My Fave Christmas Presents

I write this as I nurse the Christmas Day bloat, yet still dive my hand back into the M&S shortbread tin for just one more. It's Christmas!

My day digital detox made such a refreshing change to endlessly scrolling through pictures of Charlotte Tilbury, engagements and pictures of everyone's Christmas dinner. I knew this year I was gonna be like HEY I got a baking tray and a mini pyrex jug for Christmas, so....

I mean, I really thought you'd all love seeing pictures of my new baking tray I got for Christmas and OMG I have a new pizza tray so I can cook pizza without the edges being pushed into the oblong tray. 

But, I was also really lucky to receive some other non homeware (non essential) items that I wanted to share with you. I guess, I like pink right?

Copper Cutlery

One commandment I always follow is, thou shall never have too much copper. I'm at risk of shortly living within the realms of a copper cooking pot, and what? The only reason I didn't get any copper cutlery sooner was because you can't put it in the dishwasher. Imagine actually having to clean your dishes. Ugh. So the copper cutlery is going to be for best, and for best I mean when I'm cooking up a lil batch of pancakes for one. I can't bloody wait!

Flamingo Teapot

I spied this little beauty on the Paperchase Instagram a few months ago. I sent it to a few people at the time because OMG. My family/bf know me so well that I opened my presents to not one but TWO flamingo teapots. Who's the real winner here? I'm calling them Pearl and Penelope and I'm so excited to have cups of tea and many Insta snaps with these gals.

Notebook

Too glam to give a damn and don't I know it? I may currently be makeup less and airing the red skin I've been picking, buttt.. Major brownie points for my mum for spotting this in Primark. Nothing motivates me more than a super sassy notebook in my hand and writing on the first clean page of a new book. Is it 2018 yet?

Converse

Baby. pink. velvet. converse. Need I say more? No pair of standard white high tops will do me anymore, I'm in love, I'm in love and I don't care who knows! 

Pancake Making Set

I was blown away by this little pancake making kit that my sister got me from Not On The High Street. I didn't know such a thing existed and if anyone knows me well, I love a good stack of pancakes. The batter mix even came with the cutest heart shaped cutter and pastel coloured whisk. Coming to you on an Instagram very soon...

Flamingo Globe Decoration

The pink and flamingo trend continues here. I just love how my friends and family know me so very well. My blogging gal Emily from Maytooctober got me this super sweet flamingo globe. I've already decided it's gonna be an all year round kinda thing, it's too pretty to be stored away for 11 months every year. Dontcha think?

Candle Teacup

I love my mum for crafting this little candle teacup for me. She sourced the vintage tea cup and saucer from a charity shop and made the candle inside it. It was her first attempt at something like this and I love it! It's a present that will stay with me past when the wick burns out too.

Rather than sharing the rest of the kitchen cupboard and chocolate aisle of Sainsbury's with you I wanted to share a few little faves with you. 

Now, if you've done any similar posts hook me up with them below because there's never I like more than have a little nosey!

What did you get for Christmas?

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30 Things To Do This Christmas

Yesterday was wonderful. I booked a day off to buy and decorate my first ever real Christmas tree. I did step in dog poo, smash a glass bauble and bought netted light curtains instead of tree lights, but whatcha gonna do? I mean I don't know about you, but I really think I'm bossing adult life right now. Just me doing adult things and making my first Christmas in my new home one I'll remember forever. 

When we work, exercise, blog, socialise and just try to be the best person we can, before we know it Christmas has been and gone and that lull between Christmas and New Years has just been left to decay and sit there, along with the tub of cheeselets and boxes of partially opened Christmas biscuits. Let's face it, there's always at least 5 on the go.

I want to make this Christmas the best yet, Squeeze every ounce of time out of my days off and just ya know, make it the best one yet. 

Just a gal hooking you up with 30 lil things to keep you occupied this Christmas so you can tell your colleagues on the 2nd Jan you've done more than eat. Well, maybe.

1. Go to a Christmas carol service, with mince pies, mulled wine and good people. Most churches host these sorts of events. There is one in Plymouth on the 19th and I am ridiculously excited. It's something I've never been to before, but it's sure to give me all the festive feels.

2. A day devoted to Christmas films, wrapping, and doing nothing. Okay, so we've probably already all done this. But there is nothing better than keeping cosy, not moving for the whole day and just generally loving life.

3.A Boxing Day walk. Nothing gets me ready for more food quite like a Boxing Day morning walk. It always feels so fresh and quiet on this day, and I love the anticipation of more food and films with the family.

4.A board games evening. With hot chocolates and snacks. 'Cos Christmas. It's the perfect reason to ditch your phone for the evening and enjoy the company you're with.

5.Do a random act of kindness. Buy a homeless person a drink, donate some clothes to charity or a local refuge centre. Take part in the shoebox appeal. Christmas is a time for giving and family, but it's also important to think of those less fortunate.

6. Bake mince pies and Christmas gingerbread cookies, eat them in one sitting. 

7.Go for an evening walk and admire all the Christmas lights on the houses. It's my favourite thing to do. I try to do the same when I drive home from work, but there's only so many times I can get away without hitting something.

8. Christmas jumpers all day errr day. It doesn't have to be Christmas jumper day to wear those ugly, but oh so beautiful things. 

9. Build a gingerbread house. This has legit been on my Christmas bucket list for 16373 years. Basically since before time. I can't think of anything more fun than building one by yourself or with a sibling or partner, if ya fancy a row.

10.Wrapping. Get the Pinterest boards out, the ribbons, masses of wrapping paper and even some foliage. I like to go ALL out when it comes to wrapping. I love getting crafty and making it look nice. Is it okay to ask for the ribbon back after tho? Asking for a friend.

11.Sales shopping. Whether you're a get up at 5am kinda gal on Boxing Day morning or like doing it from the comfort of your Christmas pit, there's always sales to be had. A great filler of time when the family have gone home and your only company is a tub of cheeselets.

12. Plan your new year. Once the festivities are out of the way, that lull until New year is the perfect time to sit down and think about your goals for the new year. There's never a time I feel like I have my shit together as much as when I have that written list of resolutions in front of me.

13. Go to the pantomine. If the 'he's behind you' jokes still get you, then the panto is an absolute must. Who said it's just for the kids?

14. Buy everything festive shaped. Christmas tree crumpets, tick. Mini mince pies, tick. ALL the festive food needs to be bought, consumed and posted on Instagram during the 12 days of Christmas. It will guarantee you at least 20 likes.

15.Head to your local Christmas market or go away somewhere for the weekend. Sample all the food stalls, hot chocolates, churros, mulled wine EVEN Yorkshire pudding wraps in Plymouth, say what. Eat your way around each stall until you can't walk anymore.

16. Buy a real Christmas tree, and decorate it. It's 100% more effort than a fake tree, BUT the smell and the fun of trying to make it look straight. It's worth every bloomin' second.

17.Turn on Christmas FM. Cut the fuss. Make the switch and revel in the Last Christmas' and All I want For Christmas for at least, hmm, all 4 weeks of December. 

18. Buy all the Christmas lush bath bombs. Use Luxury Christmas Pud bath bomb on Christmas Eve, bathe in it, enjoy the sweet scent of Twilight. No Christmas Eve bath time will ever be the same again without this one.

19.Crack out the new Christmas PJS. Head to Primark for a new set, hit up the ASOS next day delivery for a pair on the 23rd if you forget. There's nothing better than putting on a clean, fresh pair when you're waiting for Santa.

20. Ice skating. Whether you hit the ice, or just sit from the sidelines and pretend you went, ice skating is so magical at Christmas. It might not be the Rockefeller ice rink, but STILL.

21. Cracking the tub of Roses open at 10am. Ain't no time like the present. (DOES ANYONE EVEN LIKE ROSES THO?)

22. Treat yourself to a hot chocolate, cream and marshmallows. Swap that daily cuppa for a little cup of loveliness. Nothing says Christmas like a warm cup of cocoa.

23. Invite everyone over. Being a host and getting to buy all the festive napkins, plates, cups, balloons, festive food is just the best. £100? No problem. It's Christmas! Making your guests have the nicest time is just the best feeling. Not up to hosting? just order a dominos for everyone. It's a win, win!

24. Light all the candles, turn all the fairy lights on. I always hit up the Primark home aisle for a set of fairy lights, or 56.

25. Have digital free time. I'm actually *thinking* about not using or looking at social media once on Christmas Day. There's only so many engagements and #boydidgood posts a gal can see, and quite frankly I want to be in the moment this year and grateful for what I have around me. 

26. Crack out a Christmas buffet. I might go as far as saying I actually sometimes prefer a buffet to the actual Christmas roast. Well, probably not, but I do love a bloody good spread. The cheese, the crisps, the chocolate, the nibbles, I like it all. 

27. Leftover turkey sandwiches and chips. The leftover turkey is here to stay, there's plenty of it, if you're not a bubble and squeak sort of person, sandwiches are the next best thing. 

28. Make a Christmas cake from scratch, Ok, so you probably needed to do this one a couple of months in advance. We usually buy a pre-made fruit cake and then decorate it with marzipan, chocolate, basically the whole works. It's still just as fun and tastes pretty good too.

29.Christmas is a whirlwind, but it's also a time to take time out and rest. Christmas is for you to refresh and look after yourself. Make time for self care, general rest and time alone. It's so important to realise you don't have to be constantly pleasing people over the Christmas period. You do you.

30. Hang a Christmas wreath on your door. Go round the local neighbourhood and take a picture of every single door you spot with a wreath on it. I make this a yearly tradition now and I love that I can actually take part this year too. Perfect Insta content for the whole holidays. #ihavethisthingwithdoors

What are you most excited about this Christmas?

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John Lewis Blogger Secret Santa

The only Secret Santa I have been exposed to before is the work one where everyone buys each other boxes of cereal because we think it's cool, and fun, FACT: it's not. I pride myself on the fact that I think I'm pretty good at getting presents for people, and I'm not talking about a box of Rice Krispies from Lidl.

Regardless to say, when John Lewis invited me to be part of their blogger secret Santa this year, I said yes. If anyone can find someone faster on social media and get onto their brothers, girlfriends, dogs Instagram by the end of the night, it's me. CIA agent or not, I was up for the challenge of getting to know A Glass of Ice online well enough to pick out some gifts that she would love.

After scouring through her social accounts and blog, I almost went back to the beginning of time in search of hints and finding out what she likes. The first step was obviously the John Lewis Secret Santa section, packed full of cute and novelty gifts, well within my price range. It's perfect for work secret Santa's where your budget may be £5-£10. With something for everyone, I'd quickly stumbled upon a gorgeous Wild & Wolf Pen, flashback to the post I read on her bog about national stationery week, I was holding onto anything I could here.

Confident with my secret Santa gift, I then navigated to the gifts section where I selected a favourite box of her chocolates and a Charlotte Tilbury palette, UHH dreamy or what? 

The response when she unpackaged her gifts on her Insta stories was a huge relief! Phew. It's great to receive gifts, but thoughtfully choosing something which is then loved really is the best feeling for me at Christmas. Mission achieved. 

I was then so excited to see what she had chosen for me. Let's take a peek inside shall we?

Rathbornes Rosemary & Fougere Candle*

2018 Family Diary*

Copper Magazine Rack*

Strawberry Bonbon Jar*

 GIRL DID GOOD! As I tore back the wrapping paper and saw the first glint of copper, I knew. I mean, it's not like I own anything copper in my home, right? ;) 

As an absolute candle fiend, I was over the moon to receive the dreamiest 2 wick candle from Rathbornes, it's going to keep my home warm and cosy on so many winter evenings. Perfect for a gal that hits the sofa as soon as she gets home, eh?

To finish off my little loot, I also received a 2018 diary, perfect for all those New Years resolutions I'll never achieve and planning my year ahead. I'm such a diary, to do list person, and even if you don't achieve it all, so what? I intend on scoffing these bonbons whilst I'm at it, because a) I love pink and b) I like sweet stuff. 

Gabrielle did a stellar job for my Secret Santa goodies, so a huge thank you to her and John Lewis for making it happen!

Christmas for me is all about giving, and John Lewis make that easy. No matter what you're looking for, what gifting conundrum you think you're facing, and whatever budget or hobby, it's catered for on John Lewis. Do something special this Christmas and watch their face light up as they unwrap that gift, there's no better feeling like it.

I hope you're feeling a little bit festive after reading this post, as I certainly am after consuming 15437 marshmallows whilst writing this post. The countdown begins...

What do you think of my gifts? Do you like doing Secret Santa?

*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been sent to me for review. However, all opinions in this post are 100% my own

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5 Ways To Embrace Hygge This Christmas

I didn't think it would be right to end 2016 without mentioning Hygge just one more time. I wouldn't do that to you guyyss! I'm sick to death of the grey cloud that is circling hygge at the moment and the people that try to bring any decent fad down at the drop of a hat. For once I think we should just all appreciate a good thing when we see it, if we need Hygge to have cosier nights in and spend more time with our loved ones then so be it, and at Christmas time that's all you really need. 

With only 2 days to go until the big day I thought I'd write 5 lovely, little things that will help you embrace Hygge this Christmas however much you're against the fad or this way of living. Just FYI I'm going to Copenhagen for NYE and I cannot wait to experience hygge in its highest form, and seek out these cafes that are solely based around the concept of hygge! Christmas is central to hygge so let's all do it properly this year and enjoy it better than ever before...

#1. Cosy lighting
You've heard me harping on about cosy lighting being central to Hygge about 14658 times now, but it really is. There's nothing cosier than switching on some fairy lights and having your room lit up by its warm glow, especially during Christmas.

It doesn't matter whether it's a crackling wood burning stove, fairy lights or a beautiful lamp like this Ceramic House Styled Table Lamp* from Litecraft. Not only does it have the perfect, white Scandinavian design, once illuminated it gives off the brightest glow that lights up even the darkest spaces. I much prefer lamps, fairy lights and candles to harsh lighting in a room, there's something just so cosy about it! 

#2. Indulgent Food
Christmas and good food are inextricably linked, and I am totally okay with that. Christmas is the one time that people (hopefully) stop calorie counting and just enjoy the food around them without guilt. Food is one of life's greatest pleasures, and that feeling of being surrounded by good people and indulging in some of life's delicacies is what happiness really is all about.

Whether that's chocolate, pigs in blankets or copious amounts of cheese and crackers, it's all the good stuff that makes Christmas, well Christmas. There is few holidays that you can be as gluttonous as you want without consequences so for that reason alone, Christmas really is the best.

#3. Cosy Clothing & Plenty of Blankets
Hygge is all about being cosy, feeling warm and being safe, and being wrapped around a duvet or a dozen blankets like a baked burrito is the one during the festive period. I usually dress up for Christmas day and have already stripped down to the comfy clothing to accommodate that food baby by 12pm. Not only does comfy clothing allow you to eat all the food without restriction, it's soft, cosy and just generally hygge.

Team the two above with some cosy tea lights, a classic Christmas film and you're heading for hyggeligt times.

#4. Classic Christmas Films
I'm not so sure this is one of the things that is central to Danish 'Hygge', but a typical British persons cosy Hygge night in, especially over Christmas will involve a classic Christmas film. Whether you're looking for a film to accompany the wrapping or to drown out the sound of your Dad's snoring on Christmas Day, Home Alone, The Holiday, Elf and The Grinch are all those feel good classics that can't help to raise a smile on your face and create that warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy <3

#5. Good Company
Let's not forget that Christmas is all about spending time with your loved ones. Everyone's lives are constantly on the go, and Christmas Day is the one time of the year that you can take some time out from reality and drink up the company of your family. 

Surrounding yourself with a lot of good people spreads a little bit of happiness, positivity and warmth that will keep us going through 2017. It's small memories like this with your loved ones that can never be taken away from you. 

So gather around the wood burning fire, candles or fairy lights this Christmas, with a plate full of food, a classic heart warming film and the people that are closest to you in your life. Now that really is the true essence of Christmas!

I hope you all have the most wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and have many hyggeligt times! How will you be spending Christmas? Do you like Hygge or do you just think it's a fad? What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

*Products marked with an asterix (*) have been sent to me for review. However, all opinions in this post are 100% my own

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Christmas Gift Wrapping Ideas With Brown Paper

Eek only 5 sleeps to go, I can barely contain my excitement!! With only finishing my Christmas shopping properly yesterday it was time for my favourite part of all - the wrapping of the presents! As I mentioned in my favourite things about Christmas post, my obsession with gift wrapping stretches to a dedicated board on pinterest of gift wrapping ideas. With an abundance of ideas in my head, I knew that I wanted to wrap everything in brown paper, it gives such a beautiful vintage look to all your presents and it really can be decorated any way that you want! Incorporating lots of foliage and festive colours, I have put together quite a few different ideas to show you just how creative you can be with brown paper and which are actually really easy. It also gives me a benchmark to improve on next year! Before you get stuck in I must warn you that I spent a good few hours perfecting this lot...

All materials used were from a range of shops & things that I already had including: Ebay, Wilkinsons, The Works, The Range & Hobby Craft.

A lot of foliage was used in this post but no trees were harmed in the making, I promise!! Fir trees are plentiful at this time of the year, as are holly bushes - sadly the bush in my garden didn't have any berries on it anymore though! Some of you may be lucky like me to have access to fir trees etc, but if not head to your local park to see what you can find. Pine cones would also make a great addition to these presents.

Hence the reason for the blog post, everything was wrapped in brown paper. It's super affordable to buy and you can get it relatively cheap and in big quanities from Ebay & Amazon. I know that Poundland also sell it though if you're looking to get some in time for Christmas.

I absolutely love the way old fashioned stamps make unique gift tags, wrapping paper & cards. After seeing this done a lot on pinterest I popped over to Ebay and picked up this amazing alphabet and number stamp set which included the ink pad for only £8.99! It was the pivotal piece for my gift wrapping and as you'll see I used it on all my gift tags and even the wrapping paper! As a tip if you want a clean finish on the stamp make sure you wipe the edges of the stamp with a tissue or a paper towel beforehand to stop a border showing once printed - this makes it look much more neater and professional.

The festive of the lot, this present was super easy to put together. I am a big hoarder of ribbons so I found this gorgeous red ribbon lying around. Once tied in with the brown gift tag (The Range), I simply slotted four separate cuttings of the fir tree through the ribbon. 

Such a simple yet stunning touch to these presents, the doilies were picked up from The Works for about 99p, and the white ones came in circular and heart shapes - so they can definitely be used for Birthday's & Valentines day too. I used the doily as a gift tag in the first image and used my stamps to print the name. I then tied them up with some twine (Ebay) and finished each one off with separate little details. The star was from one of those grow your own trees a few years ago. As I said earlier, I really am such a hoarder for anything crafty, as it does always come in use at some point! 

Using Bakers twine (Wilkinsons), fir tree and tiny pegs (Hobby Craft) to put this together, it creates such a cute finish that has a really timeless style. For me bakers twine is an absolute essential for wrapping Christmas presents, it reminds me of old fashioned letters & bakeries! 

Using leftover raffia (Ebay) from when I made Santa sacks a few years ago, I cut it into a long runner shape that I attached down the middle of the present. I then topped it with an old napkin ring holder for a really unique look! You can also create your own wreaths with fir trees by arranging the pieces around a plastic ring or wire.

Spare mini baubles lying around? No better use for them than adding them as a finishing touch for a bit of sparkle! It gives the receiver an additional little keepsake to keep hold of too!

Using my favourite bakers twine again in two different thicknesses, this time I added a jingle bell and a piece of holly for a finishing touch (mind those sharp points though!). I also used the stamps on the paper this time, the possibilities for the text you use are endless!

I absolutely loved putting these gift wrapping ideas together from scratch, gathering all the materials and watching them come together. The underneath of my Christmas tree is now looking incredibly stylish, I think they might even be too nice to open? If you haven't wrapped your presents yet these ideas will hopefully give you some inspiration, but if you have already wrapped all your presents then you might want to bookmark this post for next year!! Do let me know if you give any of them a go!

What do you think of my wrapping paper ideas? Do you like wrapping with brown paper? Which wrapping paper idea is your favourite?

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Christmas in Exeter with the Mercure Southgate Hotel

On the weekend I headed down to Exeter with my mum for a relaxing weekend before the festivities begin this week! I was kindly invited to stay at the Mercure Exeter Southgate Hotel for the night. Exeter is only 45 minutes from where I live and I regularly visit for shopping visits but never actually think to stay for the night, so I've never really even seen Exeter by night. The whole stay, weekend and atmosphere was amazing and it was so lovely to have such a relaxing weekend before Christmas. A lot of relaxation, food and shopping occurred...

The hotel is very central to the centre of Exeter. It's a short walk past the cathedral and a stones throw to the Princess hay shopping mall which is an ideal location for anyone staying for leisure or business. We caught the train up from Plymouth and from the station itself it only took us about 20 minutes to walk in.

As you can see from my first picture the entrance and lobby is so grand and it was beautifully decorated for Christmas as you can see. We even received a text beforehand to let us know that our room was ready for check in and there were bowls of delicious Christmas chocolates around the hotel for check in, another lovely personal touch to our stay.

We stayed in a Privilege guest room which was nothing short of luxurious. The Privilege room includes a few little extras including a complimentary newspaper, free wifi which actually worked which was great, so many hotels I've stayed at claim to have it but it never works so that definitely did impress me! There was also a bathrobe and slippers and a selection of free refreshments and a coffee machine! We also had a stunning view overlooking the Cathedral, we really could not have asked for a better room to be in.

I am still yet to try breakfast room service anywhere, probably because I'm greedy and end up eating much more than if you ordered it to your room. But it's definitely on the bucket list and it is good to know that the option is there.

The bathroom was really spacious and I love the colour scheme with the tiles, you can definitely tell that the privilege rooms are built in a modern and contemporary style as the website states.

In the bathroom we were left with a generous selection of bath and beauty goodies, they literally did cover everything from toothpaste to shoe shine, I always end up forgetting something when I go somewhere for the night so the Mercure definitely have that covered! After checking in to our room we headed down to the leisure facilities. There aren't many hotels that offer this kind of facility, in Exeter anyway. There was a heated pool which I would say was about 20m in length, a jacuzzi, sauna and fitness suite. It was so relaxing after arriving to jump in the pool having worked all day, well all week for that fact and it really did feel like I was on a holiday and that I was much further from home than Exeter! 

As it was the weekend before Christmas it was really hard to find a restaurant where bookings were left. Because of this we decided to book into a place which wasn't a chain but turned out to be one of the nicest places we have eaten at, it's so refreshing to eat at an independent restaurant for once and I always feel they make much more of an effort. It was called On The Waterfront which is a pretty self explanatory name and it is spotted on one side of the canal which was again only about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. From the outside the restaurant just looked like an ordinary pub but inside it was like a cave with pretty lights lining the walls, it was so relaxing. My dessert was literally amazing as you can see above, I had chocolate junk yard, I could so eat this again right now! They are most well known for their pizzas which looked and smelt amazing, I would recommend this place to anyone.

In the morning we went down for an early breakfast in preparation for the busy day of shopping ahead, I managed to take some more pictures of their gorgeous Christmas decorations leading on to the breakfast room.

Hotel breakfasts are always the favourite part of my stay and this one in particular was definitely one of the best that I have had. There was an extensive selection of hot foods as well as the continental breakfast including cereals, fruits, cheeses, breads yoghurts and lots of delicious pastries, it would be rude not to! Again it was a relaxing experience, the breakfast room was beautifully decorated and the staff attended to our every need.

In the morning we had a stroll around the cathedral and of course checked out the Christmas Market. I've seen a few Christmas markets this year as well as visiting Winter Wonderland in London and can honestly say this was the nicest one that I've visited. It was really nicely laid out, there was plenty of room to walk around and the location of it next to the cathedral was so pretty. During the day we were also planning on visiting the underground tunnels in Exeter which is a really fun thing to do, I also did it about 10 years ago. Unfortunately we didn't have enough time as someone (*me*) still had Christmas shopping to do, the weather wasn't also that great during the day but if you ever find yourself in Exeter I would fully recommend a visit to the tunnels. Apart from that everything to do in Exeter really is free and you can still have a great time!

I love the old streets in Exeter.

The Christmas market was beautiful at night time, we passed it on our way to the hotel on the Friday and revisited on the Saturday to properly have a look around.

Forever drawn to the cupcakes at Christmas markets, mmm..

These are sooo adorable, I actually regret not picking one of these up to put outside our door at home.

On the Saturday afternoon after a busy morning battling the crowds we headed back down to the canal where we had been the previous night which was a much welcomed change and rest from the hectic crowds.

It was so peaceful and was just a perfect way to end a relaxing weekend with a long walk around the canal.

Along the canal there were lots of different little shops in what appeared to look like caves, selling lots of lovely vintage, shabby chic and reworked items. The best thing was that there was hardly anyone around so we could browse to our hearts content.

I loved this little Christmas tree made out of driftwood! Before heading home we popped into a HUGE tk maxx which literally had everything, apart from the dune shoes in my size!! But even that couldn't ruin my amazing weekend away in Exeter.

I really did have the nicest weekend in Exeter and I wish I could redo it all again! A big thank you to the Mercure Southgate Hotel for helping my mum and I to have such a relaxing stay, despite being in the centre of the city the hotel was so quiet at night time and we were not disturbed once, our stay really was nothing short of perfect. The location, facilities and staff definitely make this a hotel worth staying at and I will definitely be revisiting again in the New Year! Despite only being 45 minutes away from home it felt like I was on holiday and it is something that I will be doing more often in the New Year as I had such a good time, staying in a hotel not far from home really is refreshing!

Have you visited Exeter before? Would you stay in the Mercure Southgate Hotel? Would you like to visit Exeter?

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