We wish you Merry Christmas!

 Well I've tracked Santa since I woke up this morning! Followed him on his outstanding journey around the world and now he is in England... woop! I better get to bed before he arrives further North otherwise I might not get a visit :( I'll just hide in bed and listen....

Merry Christmas from Max! And our beautiful, smaller than usual, tree.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas, wherever you are and whatever you've asked Santa for. Enjoy your time with your family and friends and be grateful for everything you have, even if it's not necessarily what you wanted.

Presents waiting to be opened on Fakemass and Christmas. Eee!!

For me Christmas really isn't about the presents any more, at least, not the ones I receive, I do get a lot of pleasure giving them to other people thought, especially when you get it just right. I think Stu was pretty happy with what I got him this year - he really needed a new hoodie and spotted that one a few months ago, I secretly bought it and hid it away in October (Yup, I really do start that early). He was really surprised because he wasn't expecting me to have bought it and thought he'd need to go get it himself. Woot! Point to me!! I also got him a couple of books that he'd been talking about on holiday, but I don't think he'd realised I'd mentally clocked it and added them to my 'to buy' list for later. Another point to me! Woot! As well as a few smaller silly things - including a Simon's Cat calendar, I love that wee cat! So true to life! - I also got him, along with my parents too, an Oxfam Unwrapped gift. I love these types of gifts, really makes me feel like I'm giving back and everyone is getting something useful from it. My Mum started giving these a few years ago, over the course of time I've received a toilet (tee hee) and a goat. I find them a really amusing and quirky gift to give, and I guess it does make me feel good about myself, which is slightly selfish, but meh! This year I bought Stu 'Safe water for 20 people', since I think we waste quite a lot here, my Dad a 'Plant an Allotment' because he is a wizard in the garden, and my Mum a sheep to go with the goat she got me years back. If you've never heard of this scheme, please do check it out. I don't really have a pet goat in my tiny Edinburgh flat, it just means that Oxfam give a goat to a family somewhere that will really benefit from having one - they are such hardy and giving creatures and can pretty much live anywhere, so ideal for the struggling countries like Malawi. You can read more about them here. I've spoken about them with Stu before, I don't think he's ever experienced anything like that before so he's never really appreciated the feeling or idea behind it. He even said that he'd rather not receive one because there's not really anything in it for him - this got me slightly worried since I'd already bought them and the lovely card that comes with the gift was sitting under our tree. Oops. But I also realised that I had been getting it for me too, so I didn't fully mind. But when he opened it on Fakemass his reaction was TOTALLY different. He really understood the thought and meaning behind it and I think he became quite emotional about it too. Which was really the reaction I was after. Woot woot! Who knows, maybe I've started a tradition. Hope my parents still appreciate their gifts tomorrow.

Santa is here!!!

Ok, since it's now well passed midnight, and Santa has now visited Edinburgh and now in Inverness (say hi to all my old school friends), I really think it's time for bed! Eeeee! It's Christmas!!! Wooo!! Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you have a great day, Santa has been good and you are suitably stuffed after the awesomeness that is Christmas Dinner! Enjoy! And night night!

Merry Christmas Inverness!

What are you hoping to get for Christmas this year? Have you ever received a similar Oxfam gift? How do you think you would react to being given one of those?

I wish it could be Fakemass everyday....

So last night, we celebrated our own Fakemass. Yay!

Our beautiful big tree, complete with perfectly wrapped boxes and family presents
underneath.

Stu and I still go home to spend Christmas with our own parents - him to Livingston, me normally staying put and hosting Christmas in which ever flat I'm living in. It's nice to host Christmas, it's nice to have the parents in my flat. It means Gran has less of a distance to travel since my Parents live WAY up north in Inverness, and it means that someone can feed Max and he's not left along on Chirstmas. The only downside to hosting away from home is that I don't get the usual catch up with old friends that everyone else seems to. Been YEARS since I've ever been able to. But I don't really mind. I enjoy our Christmas' just as much.

Pretty festive wine bottles.

So yeah, we celebrate our own 'Fakemass' as close to the real Christmas as possible. This year we've managed to celebrate it on the 23rd, which is much later than normal.Yay!


We treat it just like the real deal.... massive amounts of delicious food, excessive amounts of desserts topped off with a few glasses/pints of alcohol! It's a very special day for us! Max even joins in too.


This year we decided to keep it low budget, special presents with meaning and thought behind them, but not costing a lot. And I LOVE everything that I got! They are perfect, and SO ME! My man knows me well :D as does his Mum. Yay! I'll put up photos of my wonderful presents a bit later on.

Max enjoying the paper. He's just Puss in Boots!

I got lovely pretty necklaces from the wonderful Katy Cupcake's shop. Things I'd been eyeing up for a while but wasn't sure if Stu would notice. HE TOTALLY DID! Yay! And he wrote a lovely wee heart warming card to go with them, makes me teary just reading it.

Stu's beautiful festive boxes.

Stu puts in so much effort wrapping up his presents for people - even MAKES boxes for them, then beautifully decorates them. He's done it for a few years now, since we've been together really, one for each year starting with my 21st Birthday box. He's been getting better each time and this years were the best yet. He made 4 this year - one for me, his brother and parents. He really put a lot of thought into each gift to go inside the boxes, then made the boxes to fit - just as well I hoard lots of cardboard. They are so festive looking too. I'm going to use mine to keep special things in. Yay!





Me opening the thoughtful and perfect presents from Stu's mum. A Bow from Savy-Sailor and a delicate and perfect butterfly ring from a wee shop on Cockburn street. Lovely! Think I'll wear it on Hogmanay. Yay!


I'm wearing my festive snowman jumper. It's so festive and so over the top! YEAH!


Apparently Katy insisted on wrapping my bow, she did it so beautifully too, with a wee heart shaped wooden tag, and then Stu wrapped both the bow and ring together. Was a bit like pass-the-parcel. Only I got all the layers! Woo! And it just added to the exciting anticipation that I was feeling.

Ha ha, we were opening these presents while the dinner was cooking, and we were totally not coping with multi-tasking. We put in the pork which took the longest (neither of us like turkey), and then remembered about the yorkshires, and then the potatoes, and the parsnips, and we needed to prepare the carrots and sprouts (I LOVE sprouts!) and it all got a bit hectic. But considering how unprepared we were and frazzled, it turned out really delicious, filling and perfect! So it was all GOOD!

Stu in his new hoodie from me.  

Presents opened, food eaten, and Christmas films in the background. Yay! Just like the real day! Followed by board games. YEAH! Such fun and such a special day. I kind of like that we have it on a day that, as far as I know, no-one else celebrates on, it makes it our own, unique.

We're both a little obsessed with Zombies, and everything related to Zombies.... including the game.... Zombies! If you've not tried it and you also like the living dead... then give it a go! You won't regret it. We both get so involved and childish playing it. And actually, it was Adam that introduced us to the wonders that is that game. We became slightly addicted to it before he left. Hopefully play it with our visitors at New Year too.

Intense strategical thought required for optimum apocalyptic world!
Good times!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas - whether you celebrate it with your special other half or family, or both together - I hope you have your tummies filled with good food, good liquid and good treats and that Santa is good to you all! No lumps of coal I hope.

What are you hoping to get for Christmas? Do you have a special 'fakemass' date with your other half? Do you set a budget or a certain number of presents? I love finding out how other people celebrate, especially those that don't get to spend it with each other.

What is Christmas about for you? Do you enjoy the anticipation more than the actual event? Are you about the giving or receiving? I really do enjoy the lead up to Christmas, I feel like that's what the important side of the season is, not the presents, but the feelings before, during and after. And coming together with family and friends.

Whatever you do, whatever you get and where-ever you are, I hope you all have a wonderful time. Merry Fakemass one and all!

Stu's just left for back home and I'm off to get the flat a little tidier for the arrival of my parents and Gran to distract me from the fact he's abandoned me (I know he's not really, but it's still a little sad to see him go... a whole 5 days without him, thank god I've got Max).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Yay! Christmas! Santa on a polar bear! YEAH!

Just a short, heavily photo-filled, post to share my excitement for CHRISTMAS! EEEEEE!!! Not long now! I really am so very festive this year, more so than usual. I can't help but think it's because I've got an advent calendar again this year. I didn't have one last year so nothing to visibly move the days forward. Although I did have a major Christmas binge in my classroom last year, so I was excited during work, and then maybe the excitement had run out of my system by the time I got home - like most of my energy did, life of teaching 6 year olds. We did have our major snow week too last year.... ok.... maybe I was equally as excited as this year. (I might actually put up some snow pics from last year since we've still not had any snow!) But I love it! I'm filled with ripples of excited anticipation for the big day! And I know the anticipation is almost always better than the real thing, so I'm enjoying it lots while I have it. Yay! 

Saw this in a shop window. Not Christmassy, but I love it,
it's just such a Scottish take on an English craze! I'd love something of this - necklace maybe?

It's also really nice to walk around the town, look at wonderful Christmas window displays, and see all the street decorations varying with each street. The shops really do go all out on their displays. They just add to my excitement - I'm like a little kid and I really hope it never changes.

Empty Princes Street for a change.
Crisp clear day! Cold! Beautiful!

So this post is really just to share my excitement with the rest of the internet world. A few photos to mark my travels over this month and the lead up to the most celebrated two events of the year - Christmas and Hogmanay! Woo. Can't wait for both. I can't believe there's only a week to go till Christmas Eve. Wow! And only 6 days till Stu and I celebrate Fakemass. So technically I get 2 Christmas'.

This weekend was the last real time to go shopping and my gosh were there a LOT of people out! Was a good day though. Stu's lovely Mum came through to go gift hunting for me (how lucky am i?!) and then she and I went hunting for a few more things for Stu. Easy peasy! Then we stayed in town and wandered round with a couple of other friends through from Dundee. I'm really enjoying going into town and enjoying Edinburgh at this time of year and not having to hop back on a train to head back to Dundee. I live here now :-D sometimes I need reminding of that.

Same day, hours later - almost same place.

Another reason I'm so festive this year, I think, is being able to stay at home and watch all the Christmassy films that are on TV during the day - one of the benefits of being jobless just now. Every cloud eh?

I really get a feel for the seasons by the weather. Do you ever get that? You're out and about on a day and suddenly you think - hmm it's cold and dry and crisp, feels like today should be Halloween? It happens most around the Autumn/Winter time, probably because so many things happen during this time. I may be the only one that feels this - I hope I'm not alone. 

But recently, looking out my window to Arthur's Seat, and walking through the park into town, I really do get the feeling that its Christmas, or very close to. Ah its a good time! I'm glad I've got such a positive outlook on things just now, it would be so easy to let the negativity get the best of me. And I really hope Hogmanay is good on the 31st, so many years have just been meh when they had so much promise, but hopefully living here now will be much better. Bring it on!

The Red Bus - selling Pizza and a Pint. Not bad!
Snapped with Santa's sleigh coming past, with Stu and Ewan enjoying mulled cider. 

Some shops really do put a lot of effort into their displays! Especially the high end shops like the two here. They are both jewellery shops, with very very expensive beautiful items. I really love the wee snow-y scene with the park bench. Such a simple idea but executed so brilliantly. The wee LCD screen actually had a film playing snow falling. Really did make a wonderful display. Even the wee post box. They had 4 of these wee things, I'd love one, just to sit and watch. And the image next to it, my word! They had watches costing 50K+! 

Incredible! But they were Rolex. They had a lovely wee snow-y scene too, and had a wee toy train on a circular track, pulling trailers of rings and earrings. I took Stu back to see it later but they'd cleared the display of everything valuable, just had price tags and empty stands, and a dead track. So sad compared to earlier - but I did manage to snap Santa's sleigh!

And some pubs just go all out! Like the Dome on George Street. It's legendary at Christmas so I had to pop in and have a look. I've driven passed it loads and always marvelled at the huge wreath covered columns outside and wondered what it was like elsewhere. It was wonderful! Like stepping into a M&S advert! It even smelt of Christmas! My photos don't do it justice, but my emotions thinking back do!

The columns outside.

There was even a red carpet to walk up and get in. And a waiting list, it was THAT busy! But worth the wait to get inside, to the Christmas scented warmth.

Main bar, with stunning door decorations.

You can see the centre-piece Christmas tree in the centre of the main bar. They had loads of other ones, smaller but equally as beautiful, on each of the stairways.  They apparently have had an upside down tree hanging over the bar before. I'd love to have seen that.

Door to foyer and red carpet.

The place is huge. I'd love to go back sometime that it's not packed! They have a huge outside area too, with a huge tree, all lit up, with bows and presents and everything. It was like a Christmas dream! Definitely worth braving the cold to see.