30 Things Before 30...

It's looming, the big 3-0. Seriously, where the f*ck has 30 years gone?! If I start contemplating it too much then I get incredibly emotional so let's breeze past that part and get straight to The List. 

Everyone has one, stored away somewhere, of things they want to do before X. Mine is a list of 30 things before 30, and with less than 5 months until my birthday I thought it was a good opportunity to review that list and see if I can tick off anything else. Some are quite generic, and others are more personal. I should say that this is my list, and not a list I think others should use as their own because everyone is different (although if you feel particularly inspired, feel free!).

1. Get a tattoo - 3 so far, and 2 more planned (sorry mum and dad).
2. Buy a house - Last year we bought our second house in a sweet little village in Yorkshire and I'm so in love with it. 
3. Ride a hot air balloon - Egypt at sunrise...it was pretty spectacular. 
4. Set foot on all continents - nope, not yet. Made good headway though.  
5. Volunteer - I loved working at Cats Protection, and even took home a furry friend from there after I lost my own cat. 

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I adore everything about Christmas. Being surrounded by the people I love, buying gifts to spoil family and friends because they deserve it, seeing everything frosted with fairy lights and, obviously, the food. I spend most of October planning the Christmas Day menu, and most of November doing Christmas shopping to make sure everything is as relaxed and festive as possible for everyone around. I had a wonderful childhood where I was made to feel really special on Christmas Day, and now I think it's my turn to give that back to my family as much as I can.

I wanted to share a few of my favourite little things about Christmas, because this time of year is about enjoying the small things and being together - at least in our house it is.

• Decorating the house. Every year, my other half promises faithfully that he will help me put up the tree and the decorations. And every year I end up shoving him out of the way into a pile of fairy lights, and doing it myself. I say it's because I enjoy doing it all, he says it's because I'm an unbearable control freak. (We're probably both right.)
• Festive drinks. I didn't think I could find anything I liked more than a gingerbread latte, but that was before I stumbled upon the spiced orange latte from Cafe Nero. If you haven't had one, stop everything you're doing and go to your nearest right now. It's so worth it!
• Getting everyone together. My best friends are spread across the UK, France and Australia, so having all of us in one place is pretty special. We always make sure the cocktails and prosecco are flowing!
• Christmas music and Christmas films. OK. I'm that person who listens to Mariah Carey in November and is tentatively putting Elf into the DVD player just as the temperature drops. I probably watch Home Alone once a week in the lead-up to Christmas, and always play Christmas music in the car on the way to work. I'll probably do a film and music favourites in the next week or two.
• Buying and wrapping gifts. I take forever to wrap presents, and love adding little details to decorate, like candy canes and glitter. I love spoiling people and watching their faces light up as they open something lovely. 

And this Christmas will be extra-special in our house this year, as James and I just got engaged! So I think a lot of talk around the table will be wedding-related, but honestly I'm just so excited to be with everyone and eat amazing food, and polish off a few bottles of festive drink.