

The Christmas period this year has been one of my favourites, and I never would have thought that would be the case during my twenties. I used to love Christmas as a kid – never so much that I couldn’t sleep, but to the point that I would burst out of bed in the morning ready for the day filled with food, family, and fun new stuff. Nowadays seeing friends and family is the focus, and I think that whatever your faith, the Christmas season provides an opportunity to really nourish these relationships.
So, on Christmas morning I was excited to see my grandparents and spend the first full day with my parents and siblings. I’d already seen my boyfriend and his family a few days before, and friends all through the month, so it was great to finally connect with my closest relatives. I spent the day running between the kitchen, dining, and living rooms, and felt honoured to finally take over the Brussel sprout duties from my grandma, who’s very particular about how her favourite veggie is cooked!
In the afternoon we sat around the living room and one-by-one unwrapped our gifts. Here’s what I got:
How To Style Your Brand
…a book for my blog! In 2017 I’d like to improve and refine the content I post on Curiously Conscious somewhat, and this book, How to Style Your Brand by Fiona Humberstone*, is already proving to be the perfect gateway to achieve this. Also, I’m curious about what moving to WordPress would entail and whether it would benefit the blog? If you’ve switched please let me know!
Tech… stuff
Following on with the blogging theme, I was gifted a power bank and pretty little Native Union key cable for charging on the go. This was such a big issue for me running all over the city to events this year, so I’m hoping this will keep me topped up for even more tweets and Instagram stories.
Travel wallet
Also helpful for whizzing around the city is this gold travel wallet from Reiss. I love it as it’s small, useful, and not leather either. The downside to this was that it came with Reiss beauty products (who knew they did cosmetics?!) that aren’t natural at all, but I was able to gift these to my sister. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a bath oil made without mineral oil?
Alphabet mug
I don’t know if I’ve said before, but I love ceramic items. Even better, I love functional ceramic items such as this Alphabet Mug with my initial on it. Thank you to my boyfriend’s grandma for this beauty! I’m looking forward to making hot lemon teas in it every morning.
Time
The final and most important gift came without any wrapping; it was the opportunity to relax with my favourite people without the need to hop away for one reason or another. Despite having a few moments where my mind was whirring with new ideas for the blog (it meant I missed the most part of Rogue One…) I got to spend a good time catching up on things I had missed over the year in other people’s lives. How about you? I hope you also got the chance to spend your holiday with the people you care for most and feel loved!