Month: December 2015

Blogmas day 7 is all about the cinema, Christmas style! 

Yesterday me, Tim, my sister Sarah and my friends Rachel, Sam and Livy went to the cinema to see a Christmas film. It was my first Christmas film of the season.

We went to go see ‘The night before.’ It’s a comedy starring Seth Rogan, Joseph Gordan-levitt and Anthony Mackie.

Here’s the synopsis:

Three lifelong friends embark on the Christmas party to end them all in this debauched festive comedy. 

Ethan, Chris, and Isaac have been best buds since childhood. When Ethan lost his parents14 years ago, they made a pact to spend every Christmas together. But times change and lives move on. Chris is becoming mega-famous and Isaac is about to have a baby with his wife Betsy. So the guys decide to call a halt to their festive tradition, but not before a final outrageous Christmas blowout in New York. Clad in hideous Christmas jumpers, they set off on an epic quest in search of the Holy Grail of Yuletide parties-The ‘Nutcracka’ ball. The 50/50 team of director Jonathan Levine and stars Joseph Gordan-Levitt and Seth Rogan reunite for the ultimate festive party movie. Watch out for the cameo by Miley Cyrus.

I’d give the film ☆☆☆ 3 stars as I did enjoy it and it was very funny in bits but wasn’t quite as good as some of Seth Rogans other films such as ‘This is the end’. But worth a watch for sure!

I love the cinema and my unlimited card, and you can’t beat a Christmas film at this time of year, to get you into the Christmas spirit! There are a couple of other Christmas films that are out at the moment that I would like to see too.

1. Krampus.

Now this is far from your traditional Christmas film as it’s a horror one but I love horror films so I want to see this (even if the title makes me laugh)

Here’s the synopsis:

It’s looking more like a red Christmas than a white one in this festive horror-comedy.

When Max is forced to spend a Christmas with his warring family, his antipathy towards the festive season unintentionally unleashes a monster named Krampus. A demonic force of ancient evil intent on punishing non-believers, the creature invades the family’s house as all hell breaks loose and Christmas takes on a bloody new meaning…
Inspired by the German legend of Krampus, a half-goat, half-demon beast who punishes non-believers, this imaginative horror-comedy comes from writer/director Micheal Doherty, who made a strong impression with his cult 2007 horror, Trick ‘r Treat. Says Doherty: “He’s not the unstoppable monster that kicks down your door and rampages and grabs you. There’s something darkly playful about him. He’s having a good time doing what he does and he enjoys the cat-and-mouse aspect of it.”

2. Christmas with the Coopers.

This is a more traditional Christmas film about family and the festivities of Christmas.

Here’s the synopsis: 

A retired couple invite their entire family to theirs for Christmas, little knowing what they’ve let themselves in for…

Sam and Charlotte Cooper have a large family, made up of lots of children and grandchildren. But when all of them descend on the couples home for Christmas, it soon becomes apparent that it won’t be the joyful, chilled out time they were planning…
This toasty-hearted comedy boasts an all-star cast, including The Hangovers Ed Helms, Tron: Legacy’s Olivia Wilde, Captain America: The winter solider’s Antony Mackie, Little Miss Sunshine’s Alan Arkin and – as the narrator – the great Steve Martin. The movie marks the directorial debut from Danny Collins writer Jessie Nelson and is written by Kate & Leopold scribe Steven Rogers. 

So hopefully I will get to see these ones at some point over the festive period.

What films do you like to watch at Christmas? And what films are you excited about that are out soon? Drop me comment 🙂

18 sleeps to go!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂  

Blogmas day 6 is here and I thought I’d  share an update of how my colouring advent calender is coming along!

Here it is:

It’s going well so far, after 6 days!

The Christmas scene is really coming to life now.

It’s been quite fun colouring this is each evening as I always eat my chocolate in the morning so it’s nice to still have something to open and do when I get home.

My Cadbury chocolate calender has nice little messages and jokes in it each day. Here’s one that made me chuckle!

How do Snowmen get about?

They ride an icicle.

Only 19 days to go!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Its Blogmas day 5! ☃️

Now I’m a fan of getting into my pj’s and comfy clothes as soon as I am home in the evening at any time of the year but, at Christmas as the winter draws in I love it even more. Here are my favorites for the festive month of December.

I got this two piece set a year or so ago from Sainsburys. They are super cosy and warm. I love the cute ears ^^

This is my reindeer onesie! Now I love a onesie, they are so comfortable and snug. This one was brought a couple of Christmases ago, from Primark, to wear as a festive costume for a night out. It swiftly became a staple to wear during the festive season for me and I even wore it for a couple of Christmas dinners with family!

and last but not least… The Christmas jumper!

I firmly believe that everyone should own a Christmas jumper. This is my Christmas jumper that I purchased from Primark last year ready for Christmas jumper day at work. We are doing this again on the 8th of December so that will be fun and festive!

I loved this one as soon as I saw it as it has lots going on.

It even has bells on it that actually jingle! So you can hear me coming when I’m wearing it. Such fun!

I also really like the Christmas lights in sequins, along the collar.

oh and don’t forget your Christmas hat/headgear!

So remember, don’t be afraid to be cosy at Christmas. Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and gets you into the festive spirit!

Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Today, on day 4 of Blogmas I thought I’d share my top 5 favourite Christmas songs.

At this time of year there’s nothing better than a Christmas song to spread festive cheer and they are great to listen to when you are doing Christmassy things such as putting up decorations, baking festive treats or doing your Christmas shopping.

So here goes:

1. Last Christmas by Wham!

I know this is a cheesy one but it’s always been my favourite, it’s so good to sing along to and it’s probably because I like a few boy bands that I enjoy this so much (even if Wham were a bit before my time!)

2. Merry Christmas everybody by Slade

As soon as you hear this one you know it’s Christmas. It’s so upbeat and festive and I love singing along to Noddy Holders ‘IT’S CHRISTMASSSSSSSS’ at the end!

3. Merry Christmas everyone by Shakin Stevens

Such a good sing a long Christmas song! This is always one of the first ones I listen to when Christmas rolls around each year.

4. I wish it could be Christmas everyday by Wizzard and Roy Wood.

This one always makes me think back to my childhood.  I used to hear this song, sing along and think I really wish it could be Christmas everyday!! As a child that sounds like the most amazing thing ever. As an adult I’ve realised that Christmas would quickly lose its appeal if it was everyday but I still love belting this one out all the same.

5. Step into Christmas by Elton John.

This is a really upbeat one and always makes me want to dance and sing along which is why it’s in my top 5. If your ever not feeling festive listen to this one and you’ll soon want to ‘step’ right into Christmas yourself.

So those are my top 5 Christmas songs!

And if there are any Heart radio listeners out there they’ll know that every morning they do ‘sleeps till santa’ which is a musical festive countdown to the big day and me and my sister like to listen to it on our way to work. They put a Christmas song on afterwards too, it puts you in a lovely festive mood early in the morning!

21 sleeps to go!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

I thought I’d just do a quick blog post about something that has made me happy and really motivated at what is quite a difficult time of year for someone trying to get to target.

As you may know from a previous post of mine I am currently doing Slimming World and it was going really well, Id lost 2 stone!! but ever since the summer holidays and our holiday to Italy I have struggled to get back on it and see the loses that I had previously been getting.

This was quite upsetting and I have at times been very unmotivated to continue but I feel like I have really made progress over the last few weeks. After going up and down and up and down (in terms of my weight) since these holidays I have now finally managed to get down to what I weighed before they began, HORRAY!

I lost 1 lb last week and this week I lost 2 lb. It probably doesn’t sound alot but I am so chuffed and because I have really stayed on plan, weighed out my healthy extras I can see that it does still have the results that make it so worthwhile and this will keep me motivated for the coming week.

I’m hoping for a 2 lb loss again next week and I’ll be back to having lost 1 1/2 stone again. I really hope I can do it 🙂

It’s so tricky at this time of year with all the yummy food surrounding us but I will enjoying Christmas eve, Christmas day and Boxing  day so much more if I have worked hard up to it.

So, it’s looking up! I’m getting there and I’m enjoying it alot more recently too.

Thanks for reading.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

Day 3 is here!

Every year I try and make some yummy festive goodies for my family and friends so, I thought I’d share with you some ideas I’ve done previously and some that I am planning on doing this year!

I love mince pies! Any sort are yummy, which is strange because as a child I thought they were horrible.

This recipe is a Slimming World friendly one but don’t be put off they are super delicious…just a little smaller.

I made these last year for me and Tim to enjoy and for my sister as part of her Christmas present.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

low calorie cooking spray
227g/ 8oz plain flour
a pinch of salt
113g/ 4oz butter or margarine,cut into small cubes
16 level tbsp mincemeat
1 level tsp icing sugar, to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5.

Lightly spray some bun tins with low calorie cooking spray.

Make the pastry; Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the fat and gently rub it in with your fingertips.

Add sufficient cold water to mix to a ball that leaves the sides of the bowl clean. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface.

 Cut out 32 rounds with a 7.5cm/3 inch fluted cutter. Use to line the prepared bun tins.

Divide the mincemeat between the pastry cases.

 Roll out the remaining pastry trimmings and make some little stars with a star cutter. Use to decorate the tops of the tarts.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the pastry is crisp and lightly coloured. Cool on a wire rack and dust lightly with the icing sugar.

I’ve made them once so far, this year, here’s a picture of my attempt. Me and Tim really enjoyed them with a cuppa!

Another homemade gift that I’ve made before is ‘Hot chocolate marshmallow stirrers’

These are easy to make and really yummy.

You’ll need the large marshmallows, I got mine from Tesco. (Other supermarkets are available) A large chocolate bar, some chocolate sprinkles & skewers.

Melt some chocolate of your choice, in a bowl over hot water, my preferred method then pop the marshmallows onto the end of a skewer and dip into the chocolate generously!

Once you have a nice covering of chocolate dip the chocolate end into the sprinkles and cool in the fridge until the chocolate has hardened.

I wrapped the Marsmallow with little cellophane bags and tied with ribbon. Tie a hot chocolate sachet in with the ribbon and you have one yummy hot chocolate ready to go!

One last little idea that I love is ‘chocolate dipped oreo snowman pops’
(That’s a mouthful!)

You’ll need lolly sticks, oreos,  white chocolate and sprinkles & choc chips to decorate.

Push the stick into the creamy filling between the oreos.

Melt your chocolate the same way as the marshmallows and cover your oreos in the chocolate.

Stick on your sprinkles & choc drops to make the snow man’s face.

Leave to cool in the fridge! So easy.

I hope this has given you a few ideas, let me know what you think and if you try any of these ideas how you got on.

I’ll be doing another homemade Christmas present post later on in blogmas but focusing on crafty ones as these are one of my hobbies.

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

So let’s talk advent calenders…

I’ve got two this year, but before you think that’s a bit greedy, allow me to explain. One is a yummy dairy milk one, my favourite chocolate, and the second one is a colouring in one.

My dairy milk one.

Tims Lindor one.

Now you may think the colouring one sounds a bit childish but as mentioned in a previous blog adult colouring books are all the rage at the moment, I’ve got three different ones of varying themes, and when I saw the advent calender one I had to get it.

There’s a door to colour in each day and it eventually makes a colourful Christmas scene!

It stands up on its own, a bit like a book, so that when your done you can keep it up as a nice decoration if you want to.

I’m probably going to have my chocolate calender in the morning because I’m too impatient and I’ll do the colouring in one when I get home from work.

I love having advent calenders as they bring a little bit of excitement each day!

Only 23 days to go!

Until next time,

Roseanne 🙂

So, for those who don’t know what  blogmas is let me explain…

Blogmas is blogging everyday until Christmas day! That’s 25 festive blogs talking about all things Christmas.

For my first blog I’m going to talk about my first bit of Christmas preparation for the festive season and that’s putting up the decorations. Now alot of people have told me I put them up too early but, I like to get at least a months worth of festive cheer from them so up they went the 25th November.

Here are some pictures:

The silver hanging garlands are in my hallway but I also have red ones in the lounge.

Lots of lights! These are in my hallway.

Snowflakes!

I love having lots of decorations up, they make me feel all Christmassy amd excited every time I walk into the room.

We put the tree up this Sunday (29th) We waited until then so that we could do it together. Our tree has a traditional theme of red, gold and green.

We did the lights first which really brings the tree to life and I love how the light catches the baubles, looks so pretty.

Next we put on the red beads, red and gold tinsel and then the baubles and decorations.

Red, gold and green.

The finished tree.

The all important star on top!

Our ‘R’ and ‘T’ decorations.

Our lovely baubles from our friends Sam & Livys wedding

I love Christmas and now that our home is decorated and blogmas has begun I’m getting really excited, it’s such a fun, happy time of year!

Happy 1st of December,  only 24 days to go.

What’s the first thing you like to do to get into the Christmas spirit? Let me know.

Until Next time, 

Roseanne 🙂