The most wonderful time

Christmas is my most favourite time of year. I love the decorations, the markets, and of course the actual day itself. Now that I have my own place I can finally decorate how I want (within reason, the Christmas budget only stretches so far), and when I want (meaning the beginning of November).

My decorations are a mix of old and new. I think I've spent around £20 of decorations this year, but I'm hoping they'll last for a while.

These Father Christmas nesting dolls have been with me since I was a child. I'm not sure if they belonged to my mum or grandma first, but I've loved them forever. Sadly one is missing, and as you can see one is a bit worn. I've learned not to keep these in direct sunlight I'm just glad only the one got damaged.

 I love rabbits; this bunny mug was a git last Christmas from my best friend. The fake flowers I bought in April (I think from the Range), and the acorn sprig (is that the right word?) was from Wilkos.

More bunnies! This as also form Wilkos, they have 3 for 2 on a variety of Xmas decs and I just fell in love with this one. They've got some really cute bits in this year, including a pair of otters that I bought for a friend, which I can't seem to find on their website.
The "let it snow" sign behind was something I bought years ago in poundworld.

 A lot of my decs don't really match, but I still love them all, either aesthetically or because they were gifts, so they all have a place.  I love snow-globes, almost as much as Sylars mum did, so I always have to try and resist them. This one was from Poundworld a few years ago, and I'm surprised nothings happened to it yet. The Starbucks cup & the Paperchase panda were both gifts from my best friend.

 I decided this year that I only need a small tree, maybe in a couple of years I'll get something bigger, but at the moment this little three footer from Asda will do. I also bought a set of baubles from Asda. You can see the tree a little better in my last post, although I have added some foliage from Wilkos since that post to fill it out a little. Because it's a mini tree I decided to use mini candy canes from Home Bargains, I love putting a candy cane in my brew to feel all Christmassy.

And there's my angel. This belonged to my Grandma, it was handmade by her godsons ex-wife and it has always been my favourite Chrismas decoration from my Grandparents house. It's a bit discoloured now, after being around for over 30 years, but it will always have pride of place in my home. The wreath was from B&M, I am a little worried that it might fall apart whenever i decide to move, but it's so pretty. I have it up in my living room, rather than on the door, so it'll hopefully be less likely to fall to pieces.

Have you decorated for Christmas? What's your favourite Christmas decoration?

Love

Rubi xxx

Hello... again

So, it's been a while. This past couple of years has just been hectic, 2019 most of all. At the end of next month I'll write a year in review post to catch you up on all the goings on, but for now some things are still in progress so I'm keeping shtum (schtum? who cares).

Anyway, I was contacted by the guys at Femme Luxe asking if I wanted to review some of their clothes, and I thought why not (weirdly enough I was in Manchester this week and went past a billboard ad for the company, it felt like a sign!). It can help get me back into the swing of things (I'd actually forgotten how much time it takes to take outfit photos, shoutout to my tripod). I chose 4 items and they're not too shabby.

grey jumper* - leggings - black jumper*

First I chose the black jumper dress* on the right. I love jumper dresses, they've been my go to in the colder months for about 15 years. Once I saw it was in multiple colours I had to get a grey one* as well. These jumper aren't particularly thick, but they're great for layering, and so comfy. The only odd thing about them is that on the website they're called "bodycon", but I wouldn't say these are tight enough to go by that name, and when I hold them up they seem to just drop down straight rather than cinch in at the waist.  Maybe on someone more curvaceous they would have that bodycon effect. I still like them, but it is something to keep in mind. They're also very short, at 5'8" I wouldn't be able to leave the flat with bare legs because you would see my derrière.

jumper* - trousers* - scarf (no link, £4 from Primark)

same jumper again* - dress*

The next item I picked out was these black trousers*. Now I will be honest, these trousers will show every lump and bump you have, so if that's not something you're comfortable with you might want to avoid them. They are really comfy though, and they go well with the previous jumper dress.

The final item I chose was the Taylor dress in black*, this dress is available in a variety of colours, but black's classic (it's hard to go wrong with a nice LBD). It's ruched, and quite tight, so I could either wear it as a midi dress, like it's intended, or hike it up and have it mini (much better for dancing tbh). Again, I've worn the jumper over it in the first image; This would actually be an ok dress to wear to work (depending on your dress code) if you were going out afterwards, you just need a jumper or something over the top and the skirt will just look like a pencil skirt. Femme Luxe have loads of gorgeous dresses, and it was difficult to choose just one dress, but I thought a nice mix of items would be better than 4 of the same thing (couldn't resist with the jumpers though). 

Similar to a lot of fast-fashion online retailer the quality of Femme Luxe products can be hit and miss. With the trousers they are quite a thin material, so depending on the light they might be see through.  However with this dress I was pleasantly surprised that it is double layered,  so while it might not keep you warm in the winter months but it does leave enough to the imagination.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go finish decorating for Christmas. It's actually my first Christmas living on my own, and i'm so tempted to go ham with decorations, but I'm going to restrain myself. Mostly because my bank balance won't allow me to go too overboard.

How are all you doing?  Enjoying the brisk winds of autumn? (honestly thought I was going to get blown away the other day).

Rubi xx