psychedelic christmas in the opium den

On Wednesday, something that potentially resolved my sticky situation materialised (fingers crossed still. .) Although I will still have to be frugal, I never felt so relieved and thankful. I convinced D we needed to do The Big Shop-- i.e. large haul at the supermarket, a.k.a. one of my favourite activities I look forward to. . and he kept going, "Look how much food there is in. . we're not going to go mad!". Of course, like two crazy people who love food shopping, we did go a little mad. Because of the spark of good news, Christmas would be Christmas after all, and I wouldn't keep holing myself up and feeling Apocalyptic. 

Blue LED lights around the ficcus tree and some white-themed baubles; cards from D's mom, my mom and a student; presents under the tree-- I asked D, "Just to be clear, there are three for me?"/ "Who else would they be for". 

I love my kitchen more than my wardrobe. It is also more diverse than my wardrobe, funnily enough. My snack bar is always loaded with all sorts of munchies-- trays full of chocolates, bags full of chips and boxes of biscuits. A large tin of Quality Street and miscellaneous boxes of truffles complete the feel, together with the Live well, love much, laugh often sign on the exposed brick walls as an everyday reminder. Bottles of booze and two new pints of icecream. . hohoho it's Christmas! 

And a sexy man lighting the fireplace ;)

Vegetables and wine heating up on a clean gas stove. . whilst D keeps laughing at me saying, "Ooh, vegetables" because a year ago, he'd go, "I am going to have words with your mother that on your own you do not buy vegetables at all". Always invoking my mother's name, tsk tsk. And even longer ago when we were friends he'd do that too, and I'd smugly tell myself, "hahaha as though you will ever be in a position to meet my mother". Now I eat my words as I eat my . . vegetables.

 

Really loving this shelf now that I've got the colour theme sorted out. . 

And the extravagant feather lashes I picked out for the night.

all-year gift guide for the girl with everything

original image of Erté's artwork from here, quote by Friedrich Nietzsche, image by Devilishly Pleasurable.

I love giving presents. And I pride myself on giving awesome presents from the heart, unless all the people I've given things to are fantastic actors with their delightful responses and faces that light up being practiced masks. But, I prefer to think better of the near and dear ones (i.e. the only people I bother giving things to, most of the time) and that my Lie Detector Skills are rather sharp. When it comes to the holiday season, often do we associate it with gifting. But, I think that The Art of Gifting should extend throughout the year, whether in terms of dropping in a tiny piece of jewelry in the mail for one of your friends for no rhyme or reason, as a celebratory gesture or for their birthdays. Amongst my friends, I am notorious for receiving this line in all my cards and tags-- What do you get for the girl with everything? But, to be honest, even though I have loads of stuff, I often retort that I am faced with the same headache too. . most of us seem to have everything. Here are some gift ideas for a range of different budgets, which will hopefully inspire or guide you to give a gift that is beyond the toiletries basket (even if I secretly love them) or a generic gift voucher at the mall (even if I love them too). For The Girl With Everything, or The Girl Who Does Not Have Everything, there is always something to be had. Otherwise, you are your own friend. . so give yourself a little treat-- draw up goals and plans to achieve, and reward yourself everytime you meet them!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥