Strictly Come Skating

The first step is the worst. Ice, freshly polished, looking for it's first slippery victim. And boy was I going to make sure it wasn't me! I grip onto the sides praying to stay upright, fellow skaters wimper and wobble around me as they do their best new baby lamb impressions. In a bid to not be pulled down by the Bambis amongst us, I let go of the hand rail sooner than desired and seized Will's hand, refusing to let go.

We were at Somerset House, carrying out our annual ice-skate. Every year as a Christmas present, Will takes me ice-skating. I guess it's become somewhat of a tradition that once a year we adopt our best Torvill and Dean personas and tackle the ice, usually bum-first. This was our first time within the historially impressive scenery of Somerset House and I can't help but imagine the past Kings and Queens, Servants and Saints that have graced the ancient Tudor grounds. The Tudor era is the period of History that I find most captivating, much of my interest probably owed to the fact that when I was 8, I dressed up as a Tudor Servant for a school trip to a place called Kentwell where you were transported back to a time of Jesters, Corsets and where men wore codpieces to accentuate their own Crown Jewels! And let's face it, who doesn't love a bit of Henry VIII and his headless lady drama.

Anyway, my yearly ice-skating practice was proving beneficial and despite spending much of my time dodging nifty thirteen-year-olds and precarious old men, my confidence was growing. In fact, after busting some questionable skating pair work with my occasional wobbler of a boyfriend, my confidence soon meant I was happy to let go of Will's hand and zoom around the rink all by myself, imagining I was the latest cast member of Dancing On Ice, (A massive improvement from last year let me tell you!). I don't envy those celebs mind you. Every time I managed to build up the slightest bit of speed, I pictured myself toppling head first into the blades of the person infront of me. And those upside down lifts! I'm a liability in heels let alone ice-skates. Good Luck Lauren Goodger that's all I'm saying.

"5 more times round then we'll go in", I said to Will as he checked his watch. So around we went 5 more times.

"Ok, just 1 more", then another and another.

It was only until my confidence became a cocky attempt to swerve from side to side, hands behind my back battling with my balance so as not to face plant the floor, did I realise it really was time to stop. Maybe in another 10 years of Christmas Ice-Skating will I be able to master that!

GIVE AWAY!

HI GUYS!

So I mentioned a few days ago about a Give Away that would be coming to Charlotte's Web in the form of a Tom Daley 2013 calendar! Whilst I love him in an adorable younger brother kind of a way, understandably therefore, he's not really my cuppa tea in a naked kind of way!

It's also a fantastic way to get my blog out there a bit which is always helpful as a newbie! So here is my gift to you, in return if you wish to enter you have to complete One simple thing!

Follow my blog!

It's that easy and this delightful young man could be all yours for 12 months!

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

'Twas the morning of Christmas day, 9 O'Clock to be precise. Not a peep can be heard from the Turner household. Band Aid were right when they asked, 'Do they know it's Christmas time at all?' I poke my slightly disillusioned head above and out of my quilt. He's been! Santa has been!

Traditionally I have always been the first of the Turner family to rise on Christmas morning, opting as a child to camp out on my sister's bedroom floor in order to ensure I had a partner in crime to wake up my parents with come 7 O'Clock (one year by dancing to 5,6,7,8 on their bed, Steps being the CD Santa considered appropriate that year, I'm sure 'he' regretted that later). 2012 was no different although thanks to the two Pinot Grigios consumed earlier that morning, I'd awoken later than usual without any excitable breaks in sleep but with a slightly sore head (lightweight I know) and with less inclination to bust out the boot scootin baby. 'I guess I really am growing up', I thought to myself. I no longer felt the need to hover outside my parents door, willing myself to go in and see if it was time to open presents. You see that was always my job. Despite deploying a partner in crime in the form of my older sister, it always seemed to be me carrying out the crime itself! Me the one having to barge in on my parents at half 6 to wake them up. Me the one rummaging under beds or on top of wardrobes for not very well disguised presents whilst she kept watch. There's always a dodgy dance that comes with such activities too. There's the overactive head bop when searching for presents and the tentative two-step when debating the right time to wake the parents, hovering back and forth over that one squeaky floorboard trying not to make a sound. Then once I'd built up enough courage to bravely enter, I'd be told that it's too early and I'll have to do it all again in half an hour!

Years may pass but the surge of butterflys I get when seeing the Christmas tree surrounded by sparkly wrapping paper, bows and gift bags remain. Don't get me wrong, the thought of receiving presents in the shape of cosy jumpers, shiny jewellery and tickets to the NTA Awards (erm, hello Derms O'Leary), is enough to rival Buddy the Elf, the excitement of giving gifts to others you'd agonised long and tirelessly over is what I really look forward to. God I really am growing up! Saying that however, me and my soon to be 26 year old sister, still receive stockings from Father Christmas. As usual Santa was very generous to me this year, gifts including a Snowman Pandora charm, lots of Topshop favourites and Boo the Cutest Dog in the World (if only he was real). Some less so desirable presents included 'plop' trumps which consist of, well you can guess what it consisted of, and a Tom Daley calendar, whom whilst adorable in a 'ahh look at you in your little speedos' kind of way, I cannot have pinned half-naked on my wall all year long. Sorry Mum but bloggers, look out for a Tom Daley Calendar giveaway coming soon to Charlotte's Web!!

Now after pigging out and stuffing my face all day yesterday, I have to go and polish off the mountain of profiteroles left festering in the fridge. They go off tomorrow, it'd be rude not to!

Hope you all had lovely Chrimbo festivities!

P.S Check out one of the right royal guests who made a brief appearance at dinner, well atleast when we played 'Who am I?' anyway.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Having got the need to hunt down some bargains out of my system (slightly) with a spot of online sale shopping this morning, I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of Mr.Claus. I was obviously channelling the dark, wintery gothic look when I opted for these items below, both Topshop, midst in panic. Although the satisfaction of finding bargains is great, the process in which I do so, I find extremely stressful. Online sales means a lot of faffing and I usually end up making horrendous decisions under the pressure of wishing not to miss out, yes last year's wax fur jacket horror I am talking to you! This year however, I feel happy in my buys, both of which I've been eyeing up a lot during recent shopping trips. The playsuit could work wonders with a chunky sparkly necklace and the sequin top is timeless. Just need some fancy nights out in which to sample them!

Now after a couple of festive drinks at our local, I am tucked up, slightly tipsy and ready for the festivities to begin! I guess there is nothing left for me to say but

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
 

Now maybe just a little bit more sales shopping before bedtime...

Shhh...Not So Secret Santa

Every year me and my three favourite little elves do Secret Santa. Well I say 'secret', whilst there was an attempt to begin along those lines during the first pressie exchange 3 years ago, it wasn't long before the secret aspect of Secret Santa went well, right down the chimney! (har har) So now it's merely Santa or not so Secret Santa as I like to call it.

 

Usually we hijack a restaurant in order to trade gifts but this year due to lack of funds, we opted for a night in surrounded by your traditional Christmas dinner (a Curry of course) and some cheap and cheerful Cava! Digging out our favourite Christmas jumpers or in some cases, interpretations of such (X stands for Xmas duh?) with a dash of tinsel and a festive red lip, we were ready to go! Ho Ho Ho!

 

Although a budget of £15-£20 is placed on present spending prior to present buying, budgets tend to go well, right down the chimney! (I know I made that joke already but it's a Christmas cracker!) In my 'not so Secret Santa' stocking this year, lucky me received some truly festive-inspired Elmo PJs which I've been living in ever since, ginger-bread patterned socks perfect for people obsessed with ginger-bread men, i.e. ME and a pair of deliciously scented bath bombs from LUSH. Other recipients of their not so Secret Santas were treated with pressies such as leopard print cat slippers (Topshop £14) and Bruno Mars' 'Unorthodox Jukebox' album (HMV £10). Whilst the list doesn't end there, it does get progressively wierder, items including undergarments, a YOLO jumper and a tarot card table scarf were also unwrapped!

(Don't you wanna be in our gang?....)

P.S. I thought I'd share with you some shots of before and after pictures of us we found when a little too much wine inevitably became nostalgia city!

 

 

 

Mission: Christmas Shopping Impossible

"Erm, excuse me love, can I get to the machine?"

 

It's 5:30 pm and I'm sitting on a 'do it yourself' photo developing machine stool in Boots, Covent Garden, applying blister plasters to my ravaged feet. Onlookers snigger at the sight of my swollen battle scars; socks, boots, shopping bags afray. At that moment in time I gave the saying 'shop till you drop' whole new realms of meaning and yet I was merely adjusting my armour, preparing to march on, choosing to rejoin the thousands of other last-minute shopping soldiers (or morons, you decide!) to continue on in our quest for the perfect gifts. Why do we do it?

 

From Marble Arch to Covent Garden, Tottenham Court Road to Carnaby Street, me and my comrade in arms (my Mother), set out around midday to brave the battlefield of London and did not cease until 9 o'clock later that evening. Our battle however, was not in vain. After procrastinating in Marble Arch drooling over some beautiful items in Topshop (See previous post), we fought through the crowds of hungry elves in Selfridges to reach the maze of confectionary, the perfect supplement to those presents, i.e. those singing reindeer socks for your Dad, that need just that little something extra. Here we met our first enemy. A woman attempting to sell gourmet jelly beans in the most underwhelming manner imaginable.

 

"Get your Jelly Bellys, everyone loves a Jelly Belly, it's not Christmas without them!"

 

Firstly, I am allergic to jelly beans so a tip for you my dear, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! Secondly, I thought Selfridges was a high end, posh totty kind of place and yet, here this lady was, sounding as though better suited on a stall at Romford market. Third and finally, I think Jesus would disagree with you when you say the gourmet jelly bean is a traditional Christmas dish. #justsaying

 

Next we moved through Bond Street halting at Fenwicks, Calvin Klein and back to Oxford Street, sauntering into the passageway of 'blink and you'll miss it' St Christopher's Place, opting to re-fuel in the form of a very large and very tasty American Romana pizza at Pizza Express. Here we met our second enemy and he wasn't an unfamiliar one either. We'd met before. He'd waited on me and my cousin only weeks previous and taken a fancy to winking and deeming me his senorita. Today was no different.

 

After trekking to Covent Garden, bandaging my wounds and returning to Oxford Circus, bumping into Mike Barnes from Hollyoaks/that guy off Corrie along the way, we collapsed in the EAT armchairs at the bottom of Topshop. Here we met our third and probably worst enemy of all. Ourselves. As a sucker for a stud, sequin and sparkly number and that's just my Mum, even 7 hours of shopping couldn't stop us from running ragged amongst the festive inspired rails.

 

By 9 it was mission complete! Only as I slumped into my seat on the tube did I realise it was back to duty the following day having to wrap it all! Sigh.

 

Same time next year?

 

 

Charlotte's Top Tips for surviving the last minute Christmas rush

 

1. To burst (yuck!) those blister blues, make sure you pack some plasters!  

2. Re-fuel at every 2 hour interval. The amount of time re-fuelling can largely determine one's willingness to proceed so be careful not to rest for too long!

3. Don't do it. And if you do do it, don't waste valuable shopping time trying to persuade a lady that you really don't need any jelly beans!

 

 

Top of the Shop

 

Aside from talking... a lot, my obsession with Topshop is also reaching dizzying heights. So I thought I'd share with you some of the items I was drooling over during my recent (hellish!) trip to their Oxford Circus branch (Post coming soon!).

 

Santa knows what I'm wishing for this year :)

 

 

Knitted Embellished Ray Jumper £50
This was one of those rare pieces that you spot and hope that it is everything you've already cracked it up to be in your head. As soon as I laid my eyes upon this pastel coloured blue number, I felt drawn to it. The stud detailing gives the cosy knit a slight edge whilst the colours ensure its still feminine and not TOO rock chick as I just can't pull that off. I'm hoping this means that pastel colours are on their way back for Spring/Summer as the sweetie palletes are right up my street! 

 

Plain Fedora in Oxblood £25

Hat person? Not a hat person? I'm still trying to work that out whilst taking some risks in the process of doing so. I originally took a fancy to the camel coloured version of this hat but since sampling it upon thy head, I felt a little bit like a cowboy (yeehar!). Then I discovered this beauty. I love the oxblood colour as its very versatile, great for winter and works particularly well with the overwhelming 'creamness' of my wardrobe. (There's nothing quite like a good crispy cream, top that is!) I also think it could give a dash of colour to the outfit below...

 

Oversize Monochrome Spot Shirt £38
This spotty piece I tried on in a size 6 as it is extremely oversized but I loved its simplicity (like this description of it) and thought it could work really well with a red lip.





 

Chiffon Double Sleeve Playsuit £46

Meanwhile I'm in the hunt for an outfit for New Years Eve, you know that dreaded overrated night of the year that you spend months leading up to telling everyone how ridiculously overpriced and a waste of time it is but yet you still want to look fabulous for. Yep that one. Whilst I loved the colbort blue colour of this playsuit, that being the reason why I was attracted to it, this isn't something I would perhaps usually go for. The arms are very batwingingly 60's and felt I needed to give it more consideration. Maybe with a chunky sparkly necklace it could look great.

 

What do you reckon?