Hello there! Don't know if its just me, but after the past couple of months flying in so quickly I feel like January is absolutely dragging in. It's a bit belated but here's a photographic run down of what I got up to in the last days of 2013.
My lovely gal Erin came up from London for Christmas and we had a much needed night out in Glasgow. Cocktails and a huge catch up followed by some dancing and weight watchers chicken curry when we got home at 4am (in reality one more takeaway over the festive period wouldn't have mattered but I was feeling drunk and sensible!)
On Christmas Eve I went to the Itison Drive In Movies at Loch Lomond shores. This photo is absolutely rubbish, and makes it look like we were miles away from the screen but it felt a lot closer in person. We arrived about half an hour early for the film at 4.30pm, but were still about 8 rows back, so next time I'd definitely go along a bit earlier to get a closer spot. I initially thought the showing I'd booked was for It's A Wonderful Life... so was a bit confused when Home Alone came on! Woops! I've not seen it in years though so it was still really good. Turns out the 8.30pm showing was It's A Wonderful life, but unfortunately it got cancelled due to the weather so I was quite glad to catch the earlier slot. We had bought coffee and munchies from the drive through Costa on the way to Loch Lomond, but when we got there Street Food Cartel were selling hot food and some other cinema-esque munchies, that were actually really reasonably priced! The sound for the movie was through the radio and you tuned into the station they had advertised at the welcome gate. The wonders of technology eh :) You're meant to keep your engine off but about halfway through the film the rain came on, so I had to put the wipers on but it didn't majorly effect our viewing. I've heard of these drive in movies being held at Valentines and Halloween too, and it was a nice change from the normal cinema (albeit a bit more expensive) and I'd definitely like to try it again.
After the movies I went down to have dinner and drinks with my good pals at The Spinnaker in Gourock. There was a table of 15 for dinner, and about 4 of us left standing at 2am when the bar called last orders. Despite how late we stayed out, I wasn't hungover for Santa coming and managed to get up at a reasonable time the next morning :)
Happy Christmas Day face! Excuse that little bit of burnt bacon, but bacon pancakes (or french toast) and maple syrup has to be my all time favourite breakfast. One of the first pressies I opened was a lovely Joules dressing gown (pictured above) and it was so comfy I actually wore it on top of my party dress for the drive between my Mums, Grans and Dads house. Just cause it's Christmas and there aren't rules when it comes to things like that on Christmas Day... right?
My mum made an amazing rib roast with all the trimmings. I really miss my Mums cooking and safe to say this was pretty epic. We had prawn cocktail to start and home made sticky toffee pudding for dessert (I was too hungry to take a photo of our starter and too tired and full to take a photo of the dessert)
The food coma started to settle in as I got home and changed into my jammies, and got Dexter changed into his unicorn horn which you can tell he loves.
My family and friends were so generous with presents, I couldn't believe how epic a swag I had gathered until I got home and unpacked it all! I know some people like/don't like present pictures, but I have been a REALLY good girl this year (promise) so here ya go. I got a lovely mix of jammies, food, underwear, smellies, books, clothes, makeup, purses, tea and other random bits. Tea and cats definitely seemed to be a reoccurring theme.
One of my favourite pressies was a ticket from John to see Disney Fantasia live in concert, performed with an orchestra as the film played in the background. IT WAS AMAZING. Here's what I wore:
Feeling a bit stuffed after all the christmas and boxing day food, I wore an old faithful Topshop dress which ties just under the bust with plenty of room for your food baby! haha. My Bonnie Bling necklace I featured a couple of posts back matched the little red love hearts on my dress quite nicely.
Tights from my friend Olivia which she bought me for Christmas. I am so happy to have cat tights in my life and I never want to take them off! (they've even got little tails on the back)
Forever Vintage bracelet from Glitzy Secrets. I know this is a totally different style from the red Bonnie Bling necklace I have on in this outfit too, and I don't own much other jewellery as sparkly as this, but I wanted to add a little bit of pretty bling to my outfit for the semi-fancy occassion :)
Finally, some ghd Straight and Tame Cream on my hair to keep it as sleek and straight as possible. I have been alternating between applying it when towel dried, or after blow drying, and I can't quite decide which method works for me best yet! It is definitely making a difference to my hair though, and as a cream doesn't leave any sticky residue on your hair. Of course, this night we made our way to the Hydro and the heavens opened so my nice straight hair didn't last for very long.
We dropped by Bread Meets Bread for burgers and poutine before the concert. There are so many meat restaurants opened in Glasgow recently and this was one we had yet to try. It was so good! We jumped on the train to the Hydro and had a lovely time at the concert. I had actually never seen Fantasia before but recognised a lot of the music from it. The orchestra were magical and it made for a really special concert with the film playing on a massive screen in the background too. Have you ever been to a concert like that?
The theme of burgers and cheesy chips continued into 2014 when I caught up with Olivia for lunch in town last week. I ate a silly amount of food and consumed a lot of drink on new years eve too, and I vowed that this would be my last (the above was at Burger Meats Bun, another meaty fave in Glasgow!)
In the last week or so I have been making a conscious effort to start eating better, it really did get a bit silly over the festive period as I'm sure a lot of you can relate to. Above is a few of my faves from this week - home made red thai curry, poached eggs on rye and linseed bread, and steak on a bed of steamed vegetables with a honey and soy glaze. John has been the best influence when he's came up to stay with me, and I think it's always easier to cook like this when you're doing it for two people rather than just one.
I did get naughty and do a big batch of baking, but it was for Luisas baby shower on sunday! I went for butterscotch cupcakes and they seemed to go down well :) She's from a big Italian family and always puts on the best spread of food. We had chilli, salad, bruschetta, olives and pitta bread. Along with Luisa's amazing oreo brownies. I deliberately kept the leftover cupcakes at Luisa's house because I knew if I took them home with me it would be too tempting not to nibble away. Luisa is due her baby boy in 4 weeks time and I'm so excited for her. Seems like not so long ago she barely had a bump and we were planning her hen do and talking about bridesmaid dresses and a baby on the horizon. It seemed like such an age away, but the time is almost here!
Anyways, I hope when January is out the way this year will start to quicken up a bit. I'm looking forward to getting back into work, snowboarding before the season is over, moving into the new flat, and booking some potential adventures for over the summer. I had quite a tough few months towards the end of 2013, but I've brushed it off my shoulders and I feel excited and optimistic about what lies ahead. I've got good people around me and a spring in my step, so 2014, bring it on! ♥
