I'm back in Sheffield after a seriously tough weekend full of shopping, singing Spice Girls songs & devouring far too many sweet treats in London- well someone's got to do it! I can't wait to tell you all about my adventures but for now you'll have to wait as I'm dying to do the Christmas tag after spotting it on the lovely Milk Bubble Tea's blog, after all it's just over a week until the big day!
1. What is your favourite thing about Christmas?

 As corny as it may sound my favourite thing about Christmas is spending time with my family and friends. Both the boy & I finish work this week and are off right until January so we'll get to chill out together, take the dogs on long walks, catch up with friends and eat far too much food with family. I cannot wait!

 2. What is your favourite make up look for the festive season?

 Regular readers may have noticed that I usually sport a fairly natural make-up look, mainly because I can't do much else (other than the obligatory smokey eye) so for the festive season I love to wear a dark red or berry lip. My current favourite lipstick is Beguiled from Topshop which featured in one of my Wednesday wishlists and I'm enjoying rocking this with lashings of mascara and a paired down make-up look elsewhere.

 3. Real tree or fake tree?

 I'm all about real Christmas trees, you can't beat how they look, feel and most importantly smell although I realise they're not practical for everyone. As the boy & I are back at my parents this Christmas we haven't got our own real tree this year (sob) but thankfully my mum and dad have opted for a real one and an artificial Christmas tree so I can have a good ol' Christmas perv on them both. The one I've snapped above is the real one- naturally!

 4. Giving presents or receiving presents?

 I definitely prefer giving presents although I'd be lying if I said it wasn't nice to receive them too. I'm usually the one on Christmas day who is trying to get my family to open just one present at a time before taking it in turns to open another so I can see the look on their faces when they open each gift. Unfortunately for me my brother manages to wreck this every year as he loves to open his presents really quickly- did I mention he's 26?

 5. Do you open presents on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or evening?

 My family and I all open our presents on Christmas morning, I'm sure it'll come as no surprise that I'm the one who goes and wakes up my brother and parents (always at an acceptable hour) who then proceed to move very slowly downstairs. Breakfast is usually a quick crumpet, mine is smothered in peanut butter, and a cup of tea which my dad will organise and bring into our living room. Presents will then be opened between sips of hot tea and mouthfuls of crumpet.

 6. Handmade Christmas cards or bought?

 As you may have spotted from my pictures I'm a little lazy when it comes to Christmas cards and always buy them. 9 times out of 10 one of my good friends makes her Christmas cards and I always admire their beauty but I just never get round to making any myself. I do always try and buy charity Christmas cards though, even though such a small amount goes to the deserving cause.
  
7. What is your favourite Christmas film?

 So this is where I become a little predictable, oh and I can't choose just one! My favourite Christmas films are Elf, Home Alone and the Muppets Christmas Carol. Home Alone and the Muppets remind me of Christmas as a child when my brother and I had a ritual of watching the Muppets Christmas Carol just before Christmas, it didn't feel like Christmas until we'd watched it. Another Christmas film I adore is Love Actually, it's definitely not your traditional Christmas film and the story doesn't end happily for everyone but I feel that's more true to life and I always cry when the little girl sings All I Want For Christmas.

 8. What is your favourite Christmas food?

 It has to be the actual Christmas dinner, the main event. I'm not a huge dessert lover (unless it's chocolatey) so I always get more into the nibbles, starter and the main course more than the dessert. As long as I can remember my mum has always cooked a traditional turkey Christmas dinner at our house and there's usually between 4-6 of us, the boy retreats to his family home. One year my mum, dad and I went to my aunties house for Christmas dinner when my brother was away travelling after university- that year definitely didn't feel like a proper Christmas.

 9. What's your favourite Christmas song? 

 Is it cheating to say the entire Michael Buble Christmas album? Michael Buble aside my favourite Christmas song has to be Frosty the Snowman sung by Nat King Cole. Christmas day isn't complete without my mum playing the Nat King Cole Christmas album and my brother and I (he'll kill me for saying this) do a silly snowman type dance to Frosty the Snowman. The whole album is pretty awesome to be fair, really old school. I will pretty much sing along to any Christmas song though, I'm definitely someone who fully embraces the Christmas spirit.

 10. What's your favourite Christmas memory?

 This is easily the hardest question of the them all as I have so many favourites! When I was younger it was going to my mums aunties for a Christmas eve gathering which included a huge spread (buffet). All the family would be cramped into their tiny living room, you were lucky if you got a seat on the sofa but that didn't matter, we'd stuff our faces, play silly games and generally just enjoy each others company.

 Another favourite yet ridiculous memory is that as soon as December the first came every year my brother & I would play a game called lights. This basically involved counting each house that had Christmas lights on our respective sides (we'd always play this in back of the car). It seems crazy now but it was always something we did and I'm sure my mum and dad were pleased as it kept us pretty quiet!

 More recently, one of the most memorable Christmas days was when I was sat with my family opening presents and the boy turned up at the door (I must have been 18). He had a huge bunch of flowers in hand as he hadn't a clue what to get me and he came in and opened the rest of my presents with me which I'm sure included my first ever designer bag, a Chloe Paddington.

 I hope you've all enjoyed the Christmas tag and I'd love for you to comment on this post with links to your blog if you decide to participate in the Christmas tag too.

 What's your favourite thing about Christmas?