The time is nearly here and this weekend, if you haven’t got one already, I would advise you make your final choice of Advent Calendar for the run-up to Christmas 2017.

It might not be an easy choice as there are so many different types to choose from.

You may have noticed the market has become flooded with advent ideas this year. What started as a joke on Facebook, a tired parent drawing fake windows to open on the exterior of a case of 24 bottles of beer, or adding pretty tags to 24 bottles on the wine rack, has sparked a lot of marketing minds and today we have, wine calendars, gin calendars, beer calendars, candle calendars, cosmetic calendars…you get the picture. Everyone has put a beautiful calendar out there for you to choose from.

I love all of them but…I’m not a huge fan of cosmetics, so I quickly ruled that one out. I was tempted by the alcohol but seriously? I’m heading towards the most indulgent time of the year and I want to lose weight on the run-up rather than put weight on. That thought quickly ruled out all alcoholic versions!

I really enjoyed the candles last year but I already have some candles on the go which I am enjoying so I didn’t need any extra this year. So….

I went back to basics – aka chocolate! I fell in love with Hotel Chocolat’s calendar for two. A unique idea which allows grown-ups to share a small delight of an evening (at least that’s when I plan to open our window). A special chocolate as each day is a new truffle to taste.

I know it’s indulgent but the chocolate is small and it will prevent me from tucking into the big boxes that are invitingly stacked up sky-high in all supermarkets right now, tempting me as I walk past. ‘Buy me! Buy me!”

Just take a look at it and tell me you’re not impressed.

Whilst you’re in Hotel Chocolat, you may wish to select something special for the children too. We went for this version. I think they’re going to really enjoy it.

I have decided that this year, Christmas is all about keeping it small and simple and this is how I propose enjoying advent. What will you go for this year?

Disclaimer: Hotel Chocolate kindly agreed to send me a calendar of each featured for the purpose of this post.

It’s that time of year when I start getting prepared for Christmas. I am buying in Christmas cards to write to family and friends, advent calendars to be ready for the 1st of the month. I have cupboards with bags stashed in them hiding away the gifts I have found so far and lists of others I still need to get hold of.

I baked my Christmas cake last week, it’s sitting in a tupperware box soaking up some delicious Vecchia Romagna brandy from Italy courtesy of Ciao Gusto and I am looking forward to ‘feeding’ it again this Sunday.

With about 4 weeks to go, my life is going to go from hectic to chaotic until I reach Christmas Eve and finally, finally I’ll be able to sit down on my sofa with something alcoholic in my hand and enjoy the moment.

It’s at times like this when I remember past Christmases and our family sofa stories. My brothers regularly fall asleep on it after lunch whilst chaos reigns around them, kids playing, new toys being unwrapped, television on and they sleep soundly through the noise until tea time.

I can picture my lovely nan sitting there and saying, ‘I’ve never seen so many toys in my life!’ She has because she says it every year but in all due respect, I can see how Christmas of today is very different from her family Christmas as a young girl when they were most likely to receive one gift. There weren’t lists of products from the Argos catalogue handed around back then!

One of the funniest Christmas memories I have is when my lovely dad was still with us. I had moved in with Paul but had only been back in the UK a year or so. It was the year dad came to us to spend Christmas and my brother joined us too.

We had the turkey and all of the trimmings, the cupboards were over stocked with festive food and booze and we were ready to spend some quality time together as a family. My brother was in charge of the entertainment and he told us he had a really good DVD for us to watch, he’d been saving it to watch it together on Christmas Day.

How lovely of him.

We tucked in to our Christmas meal, pulled our crackers, read the jokes and lifted our glasses, happy to be together again. It was lovely having dad with us and such a pleasure to see him enjoying himself too.

Once the table was cleared and cups of teas made, we settled on the sofa ready to watch the DVD. That was the moment we discovered it was called 28 days. Brother gaily announced it was a film about the world being destroyed by an incurable virus and only a handful of survivors left who would try to find sanctuary.

Fun!

He was excited as it was a Danny Boyle film and had received a lot of attention by the press and film critics.

We sat down to watch and, well let’s say it wasn’t really Christmas Day viewing. Brother loved it. Dad, Paul and I looked at each other bemused and poured another drink, after all it was Christmas and the day of indulgence.

It goes without saying that brother still hears about that film choice year after year and we’ll most likely bring it up again this Christmas Day much to his delight.

Disclosure: This post is in conjunction with DFS but all thoughts are my own Visit their website to find out more about their great range of DFS Sofas

We are well on the run up to Christmas in our house, I baked my Christmas cake at the weekend and I’m pleased to say, for the first year – I didn’t singe the top. It is now relaxing in an airtight box having been fed it’s first dose of Vecchia Romagna, a delicious brandy from Italy that was in my Ciao Gusto hamper.

At the office we are already talking about the Christmas party, who is wearing what and of course getting plans in place for Christmas Jumper day on the 16th December.

The children will also be allowed to wear their Christmas jumpers into school and take along a donation for the Save the Children fund too.

Matalan have a fabulous selection of Christmas jumpers this year and we were invited to browse them and kit out the whole family for a Christmas Card photo, oh what fun!

Oana and I chose some lovely jumpers with fun images on them, hers a Christmas tree and mine a sequinned dog with a crown. For the children they have some great jumpers with flashing lights on, like the penguin one Bessie is wearing and the Santa stuck in the chimney jumper that Evan has on.

Sophie has a very cute red jumper with a couple of owls having fun and Alice has a lovely reindeer upside down shot which has ‘Oh deer!’ written on the back.

We decided to have a family shot taken together, putting the camera on countdown so Oana could run into the shot on time. We had a lot of fun but the lighting in the room was very poor – storm Angus is to blame this time.

However, Oana is going to play around with photoshop and brighten it up so we can make a family Christmas Card to send our love ones this year. Here’s a lovely family photo of the four of them celebrating their first ever Christmas Jumper event.

For dad we decided on a retro number with ‘Let it snow’ running through it.

Look even Baxter joined in, mind you he wanted to play with his ‘jumper’ rather than wear it. In case you are worrying, it attaches very easily with velcro around the neck and waist, only someone’s waist was a bit too thick and we had to let it dangle. A diet on the cards for Baxter this year.

Disclosure: Matalan kindly invited us to choose some Christmas jumpers from their extensive range and have some fun with them in return for this post, all opinions are our own.

Image credit: John Stratford

Christmas dinner is probably the most important part of the day – as soon as everyone is done opening their presents, they’ll be looking forward to the food! Whether you’re cooking for a few family members or you are having a whole bunch of guests over, there’s no doubt that you’ll want to impress. Here are some tips to inspire you to make the ultimate Christmas feast!

Set a beautiful table

It’s important to make sure that the table is just as beautiful as the food you’ll be serving onto it. You can start off by choosing a colour scheme: do you want the classic red and white or maybe a stylish green and gold? Tablecloths are a great away to keep your table from getting messy while also offering a great design – you might want to add a table runner to spruce it up even more. Try to make sure that your plates and glasses are all matching if you can, unless it’s part of your overall theme! A pretty centrepiece, such as a candle arrangement, can add a lot to the table – John Lewis have a great range of tableware available. And, most importantly, don’t forget the crackers!

Delicious food

After you’ve got your table set up, you’re going to need to fill it with a delicious Christmas dinner. The possibilities are endless: will you have turkey, beef or lamb? And what sort of vegetables do you want to accompany the meat? Whether you are cooking for a few or many, there are lots of great cooking tips floating around on how to make your food taste better than ever. Once you’ve decided what you’re putting on the menu, you can have a look around to find them. Try pushing stuffing between the turkey’s skin and breast so it takes the same time to cook as the legs. And when you’re cooking roast potatoes, squash each potato with a masher to increase the surface area for added crispiness!

Drinks

Now you’re going to need some tasty festive drinks to go with your food. A good wine will always go down well. Perhaps something a bit special for the occasion! These 12 wines are sure to see you through the season in good spirits. And in the realm of pre and post-dinner coffees – if you have a pod coffee machine, this cute disc holder is a great way to display all the options your guests can choose for a hot drink.

Entertainment

One of the most important parts of your Christmas feast is making sure that your guests are entertained. Christmas is all about coming together and spending time with family and friends, so after all the food is eaten, make sure you have some great entertainment planned. Bust out a classic board game, great for all ages are around the table! And it wouldn’t be Christmas without a cracker joke, so make sure you pick up some for the table.

Dessert

You might be stuffed after your amazing meal, but there’s no doubt you’ll find room for desert! If you’ve planned ahead with your own homemade Christmas cake you won’t have to worry, but if not there’s still plenty of options. Yule logs and Christmas puddings are a classic choice, but if you’re feeling adventures there’s many more recipes to try. This chocolate orange & cranberry red velvet bombe is a mouth-watering alternative to a normal Christmas pudding that will leave your guests very impressed.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.