Christmas Archives - Page 2 of 2

Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

31
Dec
2012

Made me smile: the last for 2012!

Kind of a big one today as I missed last weeks so I just shoved the photos into some multi-frames to avoid overloading this post with too many photos!

Callie my baby who brings light to my days with her morning cuddles, chocolate strawberries which although were technically made for a gift still made their way to my mouth…only a couple, hot summer weather which means it’s time for cold salads with grilled chicken and chipotle dressing as well as ice-creams for dessert.

The first swim of summer, a few of my presents, incredible sunsets, amazingly cute Christmas cards
Eating too many pavlova’s at Christmas and not feeling any guilt, staying at Mum’s for Christmas eve with some fluffy friends like Digby and this cute little rabbit called Chewbacca, random and cute presents from family (these taste like cupcake batter…seriously strange but delicious)

Christmas morning hot chocolates with baileys to get through the day, Christmas lunch (just one of the amazing meals I had on the day), making fluffy friends, NZ Christmas crackers
A new mug that sums up my daily life, breakfast with Edd while we are on holiday, iced chocolates cause it’s too hot to drink anything else and more cold salads with ham and pineapple.

Other things that made me smile: having 3 Christmas celebrations on the one day, a new mixer that is far too fancy for our Kitchen but that I can’t wait to bake with, wedding dress shopping and success, reflecting on the past year, Christmas albums, sleep-ins, re-watching Game of Thrones, getting much better post surgery and a family who spoil me rotten!

28
Dec
2012

Friday’s Letters: Coming to an End

categories: Friday's Letters

Dear Christmas: I don’t care if Santa isn’t real, this time of year will always feel a little bit magical. Thankyou for giving me the chance to see three different family groups in one day. Dear Pavlova: it wouldn’t be Christmas without you. Dear Family: We are a crazy, mixed up bunch but I wouldn’t wish for anything different. Thankyou for spoiling me, as usual. Dear Car: Your battery may have died right before Christmas when no-one could fix it except for a very useful step-Grandad, but we all lose our motivation to get the motor started every now and again. I hope this new battery keeps you going for another few years. Dear Edd: Thankyou for my wonderful presents and for remembering things I mentioned that even I had forgotten. Your a keeper. Dear New Mixer: Welcome to the family. You are a little fancier than our other kitchen appliances but I look forward to making many cupcakes and other delicious items with your help. Dear Callie: I am glad you loved your Christmas presents! The treats have been going down very well and you look even cuter than normal in your brand new collar. Dear Summer: If you are going to give us such unbearably hot and humid weather at least give us the sunshine to go with it? Dear Future: Little by little plans are emerging and I now find you slightly less frightening than before. I am also happy that France is still a part of next year. Dear 2012: It has been an interesting and challenging year which has flown by frighteningly fast. Although I happy to start anew in 2013 I am thankful for the things I have learnt and the amazing people I have met over the last year.

24
Dec
2012

Albums of December in Christmas Spirit

categories: Albums of the Month

Hi All!

So I am putting up my albums for December a bit early this month as I have included the two Christmas albums I have been loving and thought it made more sense for people to see what they are before it’s Christmas

There won’t be a made me smile this week, not because I haven’t been smiling but because I have this to put up and I’m currently visiting lovely family and trying to muck around with transfering photos is a bit fussy. Next week i’ll just do another double post. Anyway here are some of my favorite albums of the month.

1. Christmas Classics

This is my favorite Christmas album at the moment as it is full of a huge number of Christmas songs by Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole all of whom I could listen to for hours on end. Their jazzy renditions of a bunch of classic Christmas tunes are fun and catchy without being annoying (which is my usual response to Christmas CD’s). The only thing weird about the album is that their are a couple of songs that are featured more than once (sung by the 3 artists). Other than that this is the perfect Christmas album for me and the only one I could play year round (although I won’t haha).

Songs you should go listen to: Have yourself a merry little Christmas (Ella Fitzgerald), O’Holy Night (Nat King Cole), The little boy that Santa Claus forgot (Nat King Cole) and White Christmas (Ella Fitzgerald)

2. Michael Buble: Christmas

So I think everyone and their Mum loves this Christmas album and its always hard to resist the seductive, sillky smooth voice of Buble and he does some lovely Christmas classics that are very easy on the ears 😉 Not as amazing as my first choice but one that I would happily listen to over the Christmas period.

Songs you should go listen to: All I want for Christmas is you, Ave Maria, Blue Christmas and It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

3. Of Monsters and Men: My Head is an Animal

Okay so I do like listening to non-Christmas music during December as well and this album has been a sure but sudden favorite. After listening to it by accident on Spotify I was obsessed and since then the album is usually played through at least once each day. The first time I heard them was actually on an advert and I had always loved the snippet of song so I was very pleased to come across the album. They are a 5 piece band from Iceland of all places that seem to be getting a lot of well-deserved attention in the music world. The album falls in to the alternative/indie/pop/folk genre but they have a very clear sound that makes them pretty recognizable. I can’t get enough of the loud/quiet contrasts in their songs and the great female/male combinations in the vocals. As usual I find music hard to describe so just go give them a listen on Youtube or Spotify!

Songs you should go listen to: All of them. But if I have to choose a few – Dirty paws, Kings and Lionheart, From Finner and Love, love, love.

4. Birdy (Birdy)

Last up is my most recent find after hearing her cover of Skinny Love by Bon Iver on Youtube (an incredibly beautiful cover I might add) – a 16 yr old with an incredible voice who could take original songs and transform them into something delicate, soft and full of emotion. So far as I know most of the songs on the album are covers but this doesn’t diminish the quality of this album at all that is carefully stripped down to the very evocative and haunting piano chords that allow Birdy’s pure and beautiful vocals to soar through a variety of excellent songs.

Songs you should go listen to: 1901, Skinny Love, White Winter Hymnal and Shelter (my absolute favorite, an excellent cover of The XX)

So there are my picks for the music of December. If I am missing out on any great Christmas albums please let me know!

Today is Christmas Eve here in New Zealand and I hope that whereever you are and whatever you choose to celebrate everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday season

21
Dec
2012

Friday’s Letters: 4 sleeps

categories: Friday's Letters

Dear Nose: We have had our differences but I appreciate your amazingly quick healing. Dear Job Applications: I am not sure why you have to be so complex and difficult but the sooner I get a job and can stop filling you in, the better! Dear Edd: Thank you for buying me pfeffer-nusse and for introducing me to these weird but wonderful Christmas cookies. Dear World: Thanks for sticking around for the time being. I would have been devastated for it all to have ended before I could open all my presents under the tree. Dear Summer: As much as I adore your sunny swims and bright skies the sleepless nights thanks to unbearable heat is getting annoying. I am now walking around half asleep each day. Dear Self: Hang in there. Life is tough and confusing at the moment but its also an exciting challenge. Don’t get taken over by stress and don’t forget to sit and enjoy life every now and again. Life will continue, one way or another. Dear Christmas: 4 SLEEPS! I am so excited I just spend hours on end sitting and watching all my presents. I can’t wait to spend the day driving to 3 different family Christmas events. It will be exhausting but amazing, as always. Dear Callie: Thank you for making me smile. Thank you for waking me up when I am sleeping in and should be doing more productive activities (like petting you). I hope you love your Christmas presents.

17
Dec
2012

Made Me Smile! Recovering

categories: Made Me Smile

Hi All! Another Monday, another week of what made me smile!

So as Christmas fast approaches Christmas presents have been on the mind however my recovery from nose surgery has meant that I have had to take things a little slower than I would like. Regardless Christmas shopping is almost done and I am getting more excited every day. The other key thing this week is that I have started job hunting and today just finished a mammoth of an application form Always seems like such a giant waste of time when I probably won’t get it but I guess it is good practice. Anyway, here is my last week in smiles

Mid week brownie baking. Despite not having the exact ingredients, after a while of no baking I was happy to whip these up to munch on with Mum when she spent the afternoon keeping me company Such a lovely day of green tea, nail polish, endless chats and brownies.

Although the weather is a bit dodgy now last week featured plenty of hot sunny days where I could sit outside with Callie and soak up some sun. I love when she does this and reaches out to touch me while we are resting haha, it always brings a smile to my face (although every thing Callie does results in a smile so that isn’t really saying much).

One of the joys of being too sick to do much cooking is having on-hand excuses to order Thai! I talk about this place (FatBoy Thai in Sandringham) way too much so I’ll just leave you with the picture of the mountain of Thai food we got.

I was finally feeling well enough to venture out to the movies this week so Edd and I went and sat through a very enjoyable Hobbit! I was wary after hearing mixed things but I personally enjoyed it immensely! I am also now making my way through the book which brings back a lot of childhood memories. The popcorn and ice-creams weren’t bad either :p

Saturday Edd and I caught up with his parents for a delicious pub lunch and I was very happy to see Rekorderlig cider on the menu! I tried the Mango and Rasberry for something new and it was delicious but the Strawberry and Lime remains my favorite Seriously though, this drink just screams summer.

Speaking of Summer….Isn’t Brown’s Bay beautiful at this time of year? Now that I don’t live on the East Coast Bays of Auckland I truly miss the beauty of the beaches that line the suburbs I definitely was a bit spoilt being surrounded with beaches and I didn’t really click to how lucky I was until I moved to our current area which has no beaches in sight.

Whilst in Brown’s Bay on Saturday Edd and I popped into one of my favorite pet shops and spent waaayyy too long fawning over the many cute kittens that were all doing suitably cute, cat-like things. Here’s a personal favorite who had covered himself in his bed to go to sleep. Too much cuteness.

photo (58) On a last minute decision Edd and I stopped at the rather giant makeup and fragrance sale that was happening last week out at Greenlane. Here is the OPI table. I was a little overwhelmed whilst simultaneously being in a nail polish hoarder’s paradise. I was also very happy to go around guiding Edd in a few Christmas presents for myself haha. I impressed myself with self-control when surrounded with discounted nail polish and makeup but still walked away with a fair few goodies to put under the Christmas tree.
photo (57) And speaking of Christmas trees here is the biggest one I have seen around Auckland. This one lives at Sylvia Park which was a mall of madness when trying to Christmas shop. Will be sticking to St Lukes from now on I think.

Some other things that made me smile: wrapping Christmas presents up with someone I love, being allowed to drink tea again, pizza night and leftovers the next day, Christmas cards from friends, starting some wedding DIY decor projects, toffee nut frappes from Starbucks and watching old seasons of Survivor.

I hope everyone is having a great week

10
Dec
2012

Made Me Smile: Time for an Update

categories: General/Life, Made Me Smile

So I am pretty sure I owe everyone a bit of an update along with my Monday made me smile! I have been missing in action from MyFoxyCorner for the last couple of weeks due to a nose operation I had (septoplasty and bilateral inferior turbinoblasties in case anyone is interested, hope I got those right :-/). It wasn’t a serious operation at all but was one I had been wanting to get done for ages. Since I can remember I have always had constant blocked noses, colds for 90% of the year and various other sicknesses and the suspected cause of this was a stuffed up nose. After seeing a specialist the operation was suggested and thanks to my private health insurance it was all go! Now I am in recovery period (6 days since operation) and feeling surprisingly well! At first I felt like my nose had been crushed and my whole face had been punched in but gradually the pain has become more manageable (although I can’t say I am looking forward to stopping the pain medication) and I don’t feel as much like fainting every time I stand up! So today I thought it was time to get back to reality and post a few photos from last couple of weeks (mostly pre-op though as I am not one to document my less favorite moments in life).

So before I had operation I was at my dad’s finishing off the two weeks of Nanny work and so made some chocolate cupcakes with chocolate/vanilla buttercream to share with everyone and so that dad had something yummy to come home to. Such a fool proof recipe that works every time I do it, I must get around to sharing with you all!

On the last day when they came home it was time for a dog bath in order to prepare for lots of dog cuddling. Tilly is NOT one of those dogs that like baths. Luckily she only managed to jump out on me once but she was not a big fan of mine afterwards. Lucky she is such a cutie though.

I had to include this action shot of Flick chasing Tilly around the room post-bath! Flick the Cat despises the Dog at the best of times but after her bath Tilly gets quite crazy and runs around, all the while with Flick looking on disapprovingly. This time Flick had had enough of Tilly and so proceeded to chase her all over the house for ages. It was hilarious to watch and I’m glad I got a shot of them in action haha!

Dad and Pip brought back with them a few Essie colours that I had requested as I can afford the $8 US much more than the $26 NZ. These are all gorgeous colours and my two favorites are Fiji (the only non-blue), Go Overboard (beautiful dark teal) and Stroke of Brilliance (the stunning cornflower blue top coat) but I can’t wait to wear all of them! The other ones are beach bum blu (2nd from left) and midnight cami (last).

A delicious breakfast out on the weekend before operation at Buckland’s Beach. Edd had the Eggs Benedict which looked scrumptious and I had the Muesli with fruit and yogurt plus a Soy chai latte, both of which were perfection! This is making me hungry!

And post op my photos mainly consist of Callie who has been my buddy for the past week as I was restricted to bed rest (sounded great at the start but got super boring lol). She has to sleep on me and can’t just sleep beside me on the bed which was annoying but cute I was just happy to have someone home with me whilst the Amazing Edd was busy at work. Edd did an amazing job of taking care of me when he could be home I would have been lost without him!

Yesterday was the first day I dragged myself out of bed to set up some Christmas decorations with Edd! He got out our second hand Christmas tree that is a bit wonky and funny looking but is ours! We never normally do Christmas decorations at home because our old flatmates weren’t that interested and we spend the days around Christmas with family and not in our little flat anyway. Last year however, some family friends who were heading back to another country gave us their little tree and so this year Christmas at our flat was born! $20 of tinsel/lights/decorations later and I was one very happy little fox with a beautiful Christmas tree to sit and stare at! I got so much joy out of doing a bit of Christmas decoration with Edd (who is just as excited for Christmas as me) and now we can’t wait to do some Christmas shopping as soon as I am well enough! Callie was a bit confused but I’m sure she loves it too 😉

So there is my last couple of weeks in smiles! Now I have so much to do but also so much to look forward to and I am very excited! Sorry for skipping out on last month’s favorites but blogging should be back on track now and I have so many posts ready to write out for you all. See you soon!

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