Christmas chez Tara.

First off, I hope you all had an amazing day yesterday - I know I did! Now, brace yourselves for another long one as I share the fun...

I kicked off Christmas 2011 bright and early with my cute little stocking, in the traditional way - aka curled up in bed, still in my PJs and dressing gown. Definitely a good start.

I love waking up to presents...

Good job, Santa.

And these are the goodies that Santa brought me in the night.. I must have been a good girl this year! My favourite thing so far is the super cute Lindt bear - almost too cute to eat. Almost. But not quite.

Once up and dressed (which my Dad didn't believe since it was before 9am), I finally set eyes upon the pile of presents. To combine two joys, here is what I'm wearing, and the presents neatly snapped in one picture.

No, they're not all for me...

Jumper - ASOS; Skirt - H&M; Tights - Primark; Earrings - handmade locally; Ring - Accessorize.
For my 'christmas at home' outfit I tried to strike the right balance between relaxed-in-my-own-home and all-dressed-up-festively. For most of my Christmases we have visited relatives on the big day, which of course required intense dressing up - but celebrating quietly at home this year meant I wanted to be a little more toned down.. To hit that midpoint I opted for my much-loved Christmas jumper (it has never been more appropriate), which I styled up with my sparkling sequinned mini and statement earrings. Oh, and before you ask, the presents are on the sofa because we don't have a Christmas tree. Never have, probably never will.

Presents!

This is my haul from this year, mostly courtesy of my amazing parents who somehow took my scrambled, last-minute Christmas list, fulfilled it, added to it and made me feel so loved with their finds. Now let me break it down for you...

1. Metallic H&M dress. Gotta have some Christmas sparkle!
2. ASOS faux cardigan jumper - so cute it hurts a little bit..
3. Kylie Les Folies Live In London DVD. Basically, I love Kylie, and being at this show was the best night ever, so I'm going to relive it.
4. Kylie calendar 2012 - from Santa, because Minne is my idol.
5. Bridesmaids DVD.. pure hilarity, enough said.
6. Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD, I will finally get to watch it.
7. Japanese Doll Tote bag. So sweet, and perfect for cosmetics.
8. Coral clutch bag. Just gorgeous.
9. Burgundy clutch - I picked this out myself and waited patiently!
10. Leopard bag, which is isanely cool.
11. Teacup ring.. the perfect nod to my mini-obsession with Alice in Wonderland.
12. Umbrella necklace. How appropriate for England in winter, or in fact any time of the year.
13. Egg timer necklace - very, very sweet and unusual.
14. Cupcake necklace. I think we all know I love cake.. moving on.
15. VINTAGE 50s Hannah Troy dress. My very first vintage piece!
16. LUSH Angels Delight soap, possibly my favourite soap and only available at this time of year..
17. Versace for H&M handbag - after all the fandango of getting the dress, I'm not 100% sure how Mum got her little paws on this, but I'm incredibly glad she did!
18. Versace for H&M earrings. Ditto these - once again, all hail Donatella (and my mum).
19. Temporary Secretary lucky dip bag & 'keep calm carry on' necklace. I adore Temporary Secretary & the blog too, and can't wait to wear these goodies.
20. Pandora silver chain bracelet. I had a cheapie version of one of these bracelets, but it broke recently and I hadn't gotten around to replacing it.. now I have an actual Pandora one - gorgeous.
21. Gloves and scarf, from my aunt and uncle. Seasonal, practical and pretty.
22. Penguin hand warmer. I pointed this out in River Island - I need a way to keep toasty warm while waiting for the bus!
23. River Island diamante headphone covers. Can't wait to bling up my MP3 with this dazzling beauties.
24. ASOS moose mittens (supposedly from my darling cat). Moose mittens - need I say more?
25. River Island grey dress, which I adore for the almost 20s feel of the straight cut and flicky fabric embellishments.
26. The Hunger Games books.. I have been waiting forever to read these!
27. What's New, Cupcake? book. I am already overflowing with excitement for cake baking.
28. Fashion Box book, full of inspiring pictures of fashion icons. I'll admit to losing myself in this yesterday afternoon.
29. Icons of Fashion from the 20th century book. God, I love fashion.
30. Fashion Doodle Book, basically a chance for me to release the fashion from my brain. Love.
31. Smirnoff miniature - best enjoyed straight, while watching Ab Fab. At least that's how I like it.

So yes, I am a very lucky girl because I got such amazing stuff - I can't quite believe it all myself. Don't even ask me to pick a favourite present, I couldn't do it if I tried! After the present-giving extravaganza we didn't quite know what to do with ourselves, and ended up watching the final Harry Potter, before starting to cook Christmas dinner. Well, Mum and I did, Dad fell asleep (but shhhh, don't tell anyone!). Here's the low down on our festive meal...

Lights!

Starting off lightly with melon..

My slightly shell-shocked parents & dinner.

My delicious veggie Christmas dinner. Nom.

My hilarious cracker joke.

The meal was topped off by a cake made by yours truly.

And that is basically the essence of my Christmas Day. After that came the obligatory episode of Doctor Who, where I counted the Narnia references, more chocolate than I care to remember and much more Christmas TV while the fire blazed.. Rounding off the evening was Ab Fab - which is comic genius. I love Patsy... And the final moments of my glorious Christmas day were spent watching my idol, Kylie, sing Let It Snow on Michael McIntyre's Christmas Comedy Roadshow - she was stunning. And now I want snow! I will leave you now with this image of me in the evening, before the vodka, but towards the end of the champagne.. Kudos for reading all this and I hope your Christmas was just as much fun!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Love and kisses, Tara xox

Oh sweet freedom.

College is finally over for 2011, and not a moment too soon! Now all I have is the joy of holiday homework, revision and the threat of exams in January. Yay. But I'm going to put that out of my head for a little bit, and enjoy the sheer happiness that comes with knowing I don't have to get up at 6.30am to catch a bus for the next few weeks, and that my time will almost be my own... Since today was the last day, it felt a little bit pointless and a whole lot Christmassy - I had one lesson, and all we did was a Christmas quiz. Why did I go in? Well.. firstly due to a little bit of guilt for the day off yesterday, secondly because my friend told me she had my Christmas present, and thirdly to wear this...

Jumper - ASOS; Jeans - H&M; Shoes - Primark; Ring - Topshop; Earrings - Christmas present from friend!
This was what I had intended to wear yesterday, when I was unfortunately struck down by illness.. So I broke it out today. And yes, these are my insanely awesome gold skinny jeans, taken in by my talented mother - I literally love them because they just feel so much more interesting and unusual than plain old denim jeans. How can I return to the old faithful blue pair after the glamour of these? I paired them with my beloved Christmas jumper (which may have contributed to the festive feel of the day) and love the contrast between total glamour and cosy chic.

I am also now ridiculously glad that term is over - I may have a fair amount of work to do, but I actually have some time to myself, to do homework, revision, relaxing, clean my room... As well as just hang out watching festive films, stalking fashion blogs and wrapping presents while Christmas tunes play around my head. I am looking forward to a relaxing few weeks, with plenty of lie-ins. I hope all the rest of you school/college kids are done for the year, and that even those grown up readers with actual jobs will get a bit of free time too. Oh, and 9 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS! Love and kisses, Tara xox