Would You Rather: Christmas Edition

I was tagged by the lovely Leah from Love Leah  to have a go at the Would You Rather Tag but with a Christmas twist!

Eat brussel sprouts or cauliflower cheese?
I have to be honest and say I dislike both of these but as it has cheese on it I would have to go with the cauliflower!

Have twinkling lights or still lights?
I have a mixture of both on my tree, but I do love lights that twinkle as it makes me feel really festive.

Eat gingerbread or Ferrero Rocher? 
It has to be Ferrero Rocher even though they have the cheesiest adverts I can't resist them!

Open your Christmas presents with only immediate family or with all your family members?
For me it would be immediate family, when the presents are opened first thing in the morning it is usually just the three of us and then we spend the rest of the day with either side of our families.

Cook Christmas dinner for the whole family or don't eat Christmas dinner at all?
I would cook as for me the dinner is a big part of the day and something I look forward to, and I'm sure Mr S could be roped into help!

Have a real Christmas tree or a Fake Christmas Tree?
My tree is fake as I don't like the idea of finding pine needles for rest of the next year!

Use blue,yellow, white or multi-coloured lights?
I prefer multi-coloured lights but I do have a string of just blue ones as well!

Eat mince pies or Christmas cake?
Always Christmas cake as I love the icing and marzipan.

Wake up at 6am or 10am?
As I have a 10 year old the chances of me being still in bed at 10am are slim to non existent so I guess 6am!!

Drink champagne or hot chocolate?
Champagne as much as I like chocolate I'm not a huge fan of hot chocolate.

Eat Heroes or Roses?
That is tough but it has to be Roses as they remind me of my childhood.

Get a puppy for Christmas or a kitten for Christmas?
As much as I love pets I wouldn't want one as a Christmas present as I don't agree with it, if you want a pet then look to adopt a rescue one and make sure you are fully committed to it's care.

Watch Elf or Home Alone?
It would have to be Home Alone, as much as I love ELF I just howl with laughter at Home Alone.

Only be able to listen to Christmas songs all year round or never hear a Christmas song again?
All year round as I do love a good Christmas song and it just wouldn't be the same without them.

Wake up bright and early and get all of the best boxing day sale goodies or stay warm and cosy in bed wearing your new Christmas pyjamas?
Definitely stay in bed if I want to shop the sales I'll do it online from the warmth of my bed!!

I was meant to tag four people but as I have left this so late please feel free to take part if you fancy doing so!!

Happy Christmas!!

Le Petit Ballon Wine Club*

I am quite partial to the odd glass of wine or two, but I will admit that I actually know very little about wine. I am not a wine snob and I tend to drink whatever is on offer and once I find something I like I stick with it, so when Le Petit Ballon Wine Club got in touch with me and asked if I would like to try their festive wine subscription box I thought well why not! 

The idea behind the company is that Master Sommelier Jean-Michel Deluc has carefully selected all the wines on the site so all you have to do is subscribe and wait for your wine to arrive! 

I was sent two rather nice bottles of wine, one white and one red (which is great as I love white wine and my husband is rather partial to red!). 

The red was Bindi Sergardi La Boncia 2016 Chianti, and the white was Chateau des Bois Macon Milly-Lamartine 2015, which are both wines I have never tried before. Also included in the box is tasting notes for both bottles and this is where the box really shines for me. As someone who is clueless about wine these cheat sheets are a brilliant idea. 

On these sheets is information about the estate the wine comes from, suggestions for food to pair with the wine and tasting notes. There is even a guide as to how long the wine can be kept for (2022 in the case of these two bottles but with Christmas on the horizon I doubt they will last that long!!). 

What appeals to me is the easy to understand, jargon free way these notes are presented making it ideal for those like me who don't have a great knowledge of wine. 

Also included in the box is a little magazine called The Gazette which features recipes, tips and even wine trivia! 

Should you wish to try the service it works in the same way as most subscription boxes in that you can choose to skip a month or cancel at any time. For the box I received the monthly cost is £24.90 and there is an option for a more expensive box at £39.90 per month aimed at those who are more knowledgeable.  In order to find the wines that you will enjoy there is a wine profile for you to fill out which then helps to suggest wines that would be best suited to you. 

Should you wish to buy more bottles of the wine you have been sent then these can be purchased via the website and subscribers get a special lower price for each bottle. 

With Christmas fast approaching it also worth bearing in mind that you can gift subscriptions to the wine lovers in your life!

Overall I like the idea of this box as it has introduced me to wine I wouldn't have considered before and for will appeal to those who are just discovering wine and also to those who have more knowledge.

Bottoms Up and Chin Chin from me!

 

Hello.......

Well it's been awhile since I last blogged and you may have been wondering where I am (or maybe you weren't bothered- I wouldn't blame you if you weren't).

The truth of the matter is my time has been taken up a combination of my actual proper day job, studying for a jewellery related qualification and general life stuff which meant something had to give so sadly it was the blog!

So what have I been doing since we last spoke, well apart from working, studying and joining a mixed martial arts gym not much! Yes you read that right I have joined an MMA gym but that is a post for another day!

Anyway I'm sure most of you are here for the fashion and I will be honest that after what has felt like a few months in the wilderness and losing not only my mojo but also some of my confidence in the last month I have regained a sense of self so bought a new dress for my works Christmas party.

Disclaimer some of these photos were taken at my work place in the staff room before we went out!!

I nabbed this dress from Boohoo for the decent price of £22 and I am so pleased with it, I did pop a camisole on underneath from Primark as where the dress wraps over it was quite low and draped open when I sat down! I also treated myself to my first ever Scantilly bra from Curvy Kate in the black Friday sales and you can see some of the strap details under the dress. I was going to wear some shape-wear to try and smooth out my VBO but in the end I decided sod it there is nowt wrong with my VBO so ditched the shape-wear and got on with it!

Taking my new Voodoo Scantilly bra out for the night!! #scantilly #curvykate

A post shared by NattyNikki 💋 (@nattynikki) on Dec 1, 2017 at 11:53am PST

I had a fantastic night out we went to a pub called The Church, the food was great and the DJ played so many indie songs that I felt like I was a student again!

Sadly this dress is no longer online but there still lots of velvety dresses to be had!

Also huge thanks to Scantilly for finally making a bra that doesn't look like scaffolding but please consider expanding your sizes as I have had to squeeze into a 38HH which is slightly small in the cup but worth it for how the bra fits!

Hopefully I should be back soon and I intend to talk about being plus size and going to the gym!

Stay tuned!