I don't know about you but these darker, colder nights only mean one thing... It's nearly Christmas! 

Now yes I am aware it's only October but a girl needs to be organised about these things or it can very quickly become stressful and expensive instead of fun. I always start my Christmas shopping early because I can't deal with the crush of people in every shop from mid November and I always try to do as much as I can online to save time and effort.

So in this post I've got a few ideas to share with you as part of a collaboration with Uncommongoods. 

I was really excited about this post because I absolutely love buying people gifts, but I can struggle to find them unique and exciting things that they actually want. But one of the things that immediately caught by eye about Uncommongoods is that their products actually do offer something different. On top of that they are committed to doing good business. By that I mean focusing on sustainable products and packaging, supporting their designers by celebrating what makes their creativity unique and making sure all their staff have a great place to work. 

I always try to get my boyfriend Jared cool little stocking fillers but he can be incredibly hard to buy for. He has very particular tastes and interests and I don't want to get him anything too generic. 

I think he would absolutely love these beer jellies as he is a real foodie who loves to try new things. He really likes chutneys and savory foods like that and as these have beer in them I think they would go down well. I got him a tomato and red pepper chutney last year and he loved it, so I think these would be a winner.

Even though I try really hard with buying presents for Jared, he's not always the best at buying gifts for me. I have sometimes ended up buying things for myself for him to give to me. Such romance in my life *inserts eye roll emoji*. 

That said, I'm sure finding special gifts for your girlfriend can be a bit of a minefield because we can be just a little bit picky. But that is because we usually have a firm idea of what we want. Personally I would love to receive this for Christmas. What is not to love about a cute little tin full of pampering goodness? I can see myself relaxing with this on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I need a little bit of zen time. 

Even shopping for those who have similar tastes to your own can be tricky. I try to get my friends unique and useful Christmas gifts. We've all got enough stuff cluttering up our lives without well meaning friends adding to it.

I think this is the perfect example of the kind of thing you never knew you needed but is fantastically handy. Some of my friends spend a lot of their lives on the road due to their job and after four years living out of a suitcase traveling back between home and uni I think this would be helpful for someone who travels a lot. One of the frustrating things about traveling is no matter how neatly you've packed you can't find the thing you're looking for. By keeping things separated it should also make it easier to unpack once you've arrived. 

Hopefully this was some inspiration to get you started on your Christmas shopping. If you've spotted anything that you've simply had to get someone recently let me know!

*This post is sponsored by Uncommongifts but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Turtle Bay drinks for Immies Birthday

I have literally the most disgusting amount of work to do. And I've spent the past few days in a semi permanent state of tears about it. Hence why I have only just got back up to date with this blog. Apologies. But to distract myself from that I went out for drinks at probably my favorite venue in Southampton: Turtle Bay.

My friend Immie has her birthday in the Christmas holidays which are nearly here and we went for cocktails at the Caribbean rum bar.

Had such a lovely time and it was so great to chat to everyone. Got the chance to meet a few of Immies rowing friends and they were all so nice.

Plus the cocktails there are incredible. Discovered a new favorite called Passion Rum Punch which was DELICIOUS and probably had about a million calories in it because it was so yummy. But who cares. If you are ever in Southampton you have to go to Turtle Bay, make sure to get something to eat because the food is to die for.

A big Happy Birthday to Immie! Welcome to being 21 and having the time of your life xxx

Christmas Cocktail Party

Bit late for this post but who cares, life got busy as I am currently drowning in work.

Last week was the Geology Society Christmas Cocktail Party and my god was it fun.

I've been to this event every year since being at uni and with each passing year I remember less and less of it and they seem to get better and better.

Kicked the night off with girly predrinks at mine getting ready. Found myself doing everyones make up and hair which was great because I LOVE playing around with make up. I also treated myself to a pair of hair curlers so got to work on making my hair EVEN curlier than usual. Fun times.

My housemates (who are not geologists) joined us as I decided to combine this event with my birthday night out as they are so close together. We all headed over to my boyfriends house as he lives just round the corner before heading to the venue itself.

The music was excellent, with yummy cocktails and I had a lovely evening chatting with my lecturers, socializing with my course mates and dancing with my housemates. My non geology friends did ridiculously well on the raffle and someone won a bottle of fizzy red wine. Yes it is as disgusting as it sounds.

The night was only slightly marred by high heel pain as I decided to wear my highest most uncomfortable (but sassiest) heels so I decided to drink to numb the pain. This works but also means you can't stand up in them very well.

Anyway I think the pictures of the night speak for themselves. Big thanks to my housemates for coming and I think we can all agree it was the best night we've had in ages.


But then again any chance to get glammed up is good with me!
Pictures courtesy of SU Photographic Society events team

A super cringy, yet funny pic of the dance floor.

Winchester Christmas Market

Do I look like a tit? Probably.

Spent today exploring the quaint city of Winchester. Having only ever been there on a (stressful) trip to drop off my sister who was visiting a friend I was taken aback by how beautiful and quintessentially  English this little place is. The cathedral is simply breathtaking and the narrow, winding streets with historic buildings made me homesick for my own little city: Salisbury.

While I often rate Salisbury as one of the dullest places to live today I remembered why I love it so much. When visiting Winchester I looked at it through a visitors eyes and was immediately charmed by its comforting familiarity to home.

I visited with a group of friends from uni who mostly consisted of my housemates and after a quick 15min train journey (that only cost £4.50 for a return!) we arrived.

Our main reason for this trip was to visit the Christmas market as Southamptons is a bit shit and it did not disappoint. We've had such a lovely festive day browsing the little shops and admiring all the lovely things that we couldn't afford haha.

All the pretty things...

We've also had some festive food which for me included one of the creamiest hot chocolates I've ever had and doughnuts drowned in chocolate sauce and sprinkled with cinnamon. It was literally heaven. The others had everything from mulled wine to roasted chestnuts.

I meant it when I said they were drowned in chocolate!

I've also fallen slightly in love with the fur headband pictured above but can't decide it I look like a moron in it or not.

While we were there we decided it would be super cute for us to pose in the nativity scene and that we would look cool as opposed to ridiculous. But still, it was fun.

Looking like knobheads #whocares

Winchester, I will definitely be back. There are lots of delightfully preppy shops (ie. Joules) that scummy Southampton does not have and a wide variety of really nice looking cafes and bars to visit.
Also go to the market while its still there. It has an ice rink which we were all too poor to have a go on but it just doesn't get more Christmassy than this!