Alternatives to chocolate advent calendars #2

Remember when the countdown to Christmas was an excuse to have a piece of chocolate for breakfast each day? Nowadays advent calendars aren't exclusively chocolate based. A couple of years ago I wrote this piece here about how advent calendars were starting to be filled with non chocolate alternatives like skincare products, nail polishes and even candles. Now everything imaginable can be found inside an advent calendar. This year I found a tea advent calendar - whatever will they think of next?! Here are - in my opinion - the best advent calendars out there right now:

Reindeer Carousel Advent Calendar - £31.99 //  Christmas Advent Calendar - £24.99 //  Advent House in the Snow - £27.99

Yankee Candle
The ever popular Yankee Candle advent calendar is back! But this year offers not one, not two, but three calendars to choose from. Their Christmas advent calendar (centre) is currently out of stock, but their House in the Snow calendar returns for another year. Although the three vary in price, the candle selection in each is fairly similar. Repeats from last year include Snowflake Cookie and Christmas Eve. This year sees some new ones I haven't tried before which include: Berry Trifle, Cosy by the Fire and Bundle Up

Jo Malone advent calendar - £260.00

Jo Malone
If you're willing to dig deep, this would be a lovely way to try all the different colognes. If money were no object, this is definitely one I'd love to own.

Diptyque advent calednar - £250.00

Diptyque

Opening a door to find a Diptyque candle every other day? Another advent calendar I dream of owning.

Charlotte Tilbury  - £150.00

Charlotte Tilbury
Presented beautifully as Charlotte Tilbury's Book of Make-up Magic. Not actually an advent calendar in the traditional sense on account of only having 12 doors... but when you think about the quality of product you are getting, suddenly just 12 doors is fine by me!

Body Shop advent calendar - price unknown, products reportedly worth £93.50

Body Shop
Aptly named 24 Happy Days, as Body Shop is one of my favourite brands, this would be a very happy 24 days indeed! Their calendar contains a mixture of minis and some generously sized products too, as the doors are all different shapes and sizes. Of these it contains a product from their Fiji Green Tea collection (which fyi I have been dying to try!) and products from their Oils of Life range. I believe this one is only available in-stores though.

Harrods Christmas tea advent calendar - £12.95

Harrods tea selection
Besides traditional chocolate advent calendars, this is one of the more affordable advent calendars I've seen on sale this year. Comes complete with 25 tea bags, offering a selection of organic black and green teas. A tea-rrific idea!

Biscuiteers advent calendar - £55

Biscuiteers
Who needs chocolate when you can have biscuits?! The beautiful home-made touches with this one means that no two advent calendars are the same. For those who question the durability of the biscuits, these reportedly have a decent shelf life so if you wanted to keep some of the biscuits for later in December / the New Year - no problem!

Botanical Ginvent calendar - £124.95 //  Vodka advent calendar - £99.95 //  Whisky advent calendar - £249.95

Advent calendars... with alcohol
24 days of gin, vodka or whisky - the choice is yours! Gin lovers will especially love the Ginvent calendar which includes one base gin and 23 botanicals to add to it. Reportedly some of the flavours include lavender, saffron and nutmeg. Whether it's gin, whisky or vodka that you choose, you'll certainly have a very merry Christmas either way!

Thanks to all of the above, Christmas is sorted. Winter skincare taken care of, biscuits to dip into your tea, candles for those cosy nights in, and alcohol to get you through the masses of Christmas shopping you've left to the last minute... (please tell I'm not the only one?!)

Which advent calendar is on your wish list this year?

How to have a spa night for £50 or less

Lately my mind has been - for lack of a better word - busy. I find myself having to work later and later meaning that I don't get much of a social life, let alone any chance to relax. When Ocean Finance offered me a chance to relax in line with their company ethos of making people's lives as easy and as stress-free as possible, it sounded ideal. I contemplated going to a spa but realised that I barely have any time to relax after work as it is - so having a night in would be treat enough. I lit candles in the bathroom to create a relaxing atmosphere, poured out a glass of wine, put on a nourishing face mask and ran a bath, introducing both my new Lush bath bombs into the water gradually. Their pumpkin bath bar left the water all sparkly whereas the Dragon's Egg was more volcanic and erupted mesmerising swirls of orange into my bath.

I used Body Shop's passion fruit shower gel, foaming it into massive suds onto a bath puff that I picked up for just £1 in Primark. It was so nice laying there, taking my time, not worrying about what I had to do next (I'm notoriously bad for never being able to switch off). I finished my glass of wine and lay there until the Dragon's Egg finished spinning around like a spinning top, and all the bubbles had started melting away. Afterwards I moisturised my skin using Body Shop's passion fruit body butter. I luckily managed to get the shower gel and body butter in an in-store offer for only £9.50.

I also swear by Body Shop's Peppermint foot care range which I used lots at uni to help sooth my legs when I'd been on the go all day. Taking a trip down memory lane, I picked up a bottle of their Peppermint Reviving Leg Gel which is quite honestly a miracle in a bottle. One of the things that makes me feel the most relaxed - and this may sound weird - is having clean and moisturised feet. I picked out a pair of festive socks from Primark - because it's never too early to start thinking about Christmas! - with the softest, cosiest fleece lining.

I went downstairs with M. and the rest of the bottle of wine (Malbec, a personal favourite!) and watched a film with pizza and a bar of Galaxy. There is something so soothing about Galaxy chocolate. If you just hold it in your mouth and let it melt, there's nothing quite like it. I'd ordered Jurassic World using Amazon Prime's next day delivery. Not exactly a typical chick flick for a relaxing night in.... but I find watching any sort of film relaxing!

Thank you so much to Ocean Finance for giving me an excuse to treat myself for once! The beauty of having a night in as opposed to a spa day, means that I have plenty of products left to enjoy multiple bath nights with - and lots of burn time left in those candles!

SHOP THE POST

Lush Dragon's Egg bath bomb - £3.50

Lush Sparkly Pumpkin bubble bar (no longer online) - £3.65

Body Shop passion fruit shower gel & body butter (not currently online) - £9.50
Body Shop Reviving Leg Gel - £7

Primark star candle tea lights - £1 each

Primark pineapple & ginger candle - £2

Primark bath puff - £1

Primark face mask - 90p

Primark festive socks - £2.50

Galaxy - £1 from Tesco

Tesco Finest Malbec - £6

Jurassic World - £9.99 from Amazon

Grand total = £50.04

What's your idea of a relaxing night in?

*although Ocean Finance very kindly provided me with budget for my relaxing night in, as ever, all words and opinions are my own!

Tapas, golf and wine tasting. Not your typical Wednesday night.

When I was first invited for an evening of golf and wine tasting, although I do love a glass (or three) of wine, and I like golf, I couldn't really imagine how the two went hand in hand. But after one of the loveliest nights out I've had in a long time, I can safely say that I was proven wrong! Monarch Airlines kindly invited me for an evening at N1 Golf in Greenwich to spread awareness of the numerous golf holiday destinations they have across Europe. I arrived at North Greenwich (yes, the tube stop right by the o2!) and N1 Golf was a stone's throw away from the station. Google maps seems to suggest it's over a mile from the station and a 30 minute walk, but it's not. We were welcomed with sparkling wine and got the chance to meet everyone there. The sun was setting as we arrived and the floodlights were starting to come on - it was such a beautiful location to be playing golf in. To your left, the city and the River Thames next to you, and to your right, the o2 arena. You'd expect it to be loud and bustling when you play golf in the city, but it was so serene.

After drinks, we moved to the golf bays and received a briefing from the pro golfers, learning the tips and tricks of the trade - very useful as I hadn't played golf in such a long time! Then we had the chance to try for ourselves. I shared a bay with Michaela and Inna who were pros compared to me! We were upstairs on the top level of the driving range and had the most incredible views of London.

During which, there was lots of tasty looking tapas to dig into. We enjoyed prawn carpaccio, Basque style crab, barley, quinoa and pomegranate salad, and a selection of prawn tempura.

As the time to practise drew to a close, the competition of the night began to see who could get the ball the furthest. We finished up our starters and then were escorted downstairs to the restaurant to finish our meal. For the main course there was steak, lamb, tuna steak (the best I've ever tasted!) and sea bream. Most of which came with the most incredible fondant potatoes.

Dessert was a cheese board and chocolate brownies. 

It's officially a good night when there are chocolate brownies involved.

We also partook in some beer and wine tasting. Although it was pretty weird to be drinking beer out of wine glasses(!) I'm not really a beer drinker - although I did really like the first one we drank! - so I was more into the wine. And it was really nice to try some different wines. I would tell you my favourites, but after several different beers and several different wines, my attention span was... slightly lacking to say the least!

Olivia had a good collection of glasses going on....

By 10pm I was feeling pretty good. I had that nice fuzzy feeling inside that you get from a good wine. Or two. Or six. The winners of the competitions that evening were announced. Alex won the driving range one and Olivia won the social media side of things. Monarch flights and vouchers for N1 Golf's restaurant Vinotec Compass were up for grabs - so some really decent prices! Then after that we were all on our (very) merry way.

Thank you so much to Monarch Airlines, N1 golf, Talented Talkers, and Vinotec Compass for a lovely evening, doing something I usually wouldn't do. I've learnt that I'm no Tiger Woods, but it was a really fun experience and it's definitely not PUTT me off playing golf again in the future!

Savvy spending with Think Money

My love of a good sale will come as no surprise to long time readers. The joy you feel when one day an item you have been stalking keeping an eye on has a line cast through the price and instead has a shiny new - reduced - price. When Think Money contacted me about their Basic Bank Account and challenged me to a spending challenge, I was more than happy to oblige in some sale shopping! The idea behind their campaign being to promote how being savvy with your money can help you budget and have the best of both worlds - paying for daily costs such as travel and bills, but at the same time being able to treat oneself to a little bit of luxury.

With life lately being all about house viewings, I knew I wanted to pick up some pieces for my future house. Wherever and whenever that house may be. And like the complete cliché that I am, I adore marble, rose gold, and copper. When H&M hosted a 48 hour sale, I was first in - virtual - line on their website. I picked up these marble plates and chopping boards, really impressed that these were dishwasher and microwave safe - something that isn't always the case with patterned crockery sadly. Lastly I picked up this copper tray as it is such a versatile piece. I haven't yet decided if it will be a food plate or a candle plate, but for now it's a food plate:

H&M marble plates - £6.99 £4.89

H&M marble chopping boards - 9.99 £5.99

H&M copper tray - £24.99 £17.49

These items saw their first run this weekend with a picnic type lunch of rosemary focaccia, edamame beans, black olives and mozzarella. Not sure if it's just me, but everything seems to taste much better when you eat off of beautiful plates!

What I learnt is that a little saving here and there really helps - particularly when saving for a house! I saved an incredible £23.90. And not only this, but these were in fact items I was on the brink of buying before full price - but this way, I got so much more for my money!

Have you picked up anything nice in the sales lately?

* Think Money very kindly provided me with budget for this spending challenge, but as ever, all words and opinions are my own!

Autumn / winter staple // the shearling jacket

I'm sitting inside watching the rain pitter-patter against my window, and I think it's safe to say, that over the next few weeks months, going outside with bare arms and bare legs is about as likely as Boris Johnson changing his haircut. Although temperatures are noticeably becoming cooler, it's still early days for a full on winter coat. My most wanted item for this season? A shearling jacket.

Remember the aviator coat 'boom' of a few years back? You'd have been hard pressed to find a magazine that didn't feature one. Soft buttery leather with a hint of shearling around the sleeves and collar. As with most trends, I buckled and bought myself one. Although I stupidly succumbed to vanity sizing - where you order clothing in a smaller size even though that deep down you know that you require the size up - so my jacket wasn't a great fit. With this sort of jacket you need to size up - think layering in colder weather. If you can fit a couple of jumpers underneath with ease, then that's your jacket right there. You can read my guide on how to layer like a pro here.

My shearling jacket didn't fit the bill so I waved goodbye to it on eBay. I haven't found a replacement just yet, but for the time being I am finding plenty of inspiration on LookBook...

Will you be investing in a shearling jacket this season?