One of my favourite things to do during Christmas time is organising Secret Santa with my friends. We usually do this every year and I think it's a great idea because everyone gets a gift and no one ends up broke! As we get older, we all get busier and don't meet up with some people as much as we would like to. So it's also a nice event which allows you and your friends to get together.

The first thing I bought was the 'Golden Wonder' box from Lush. This includes the Golden Wonder bath bomb and the Star Dust bath bomb. I've never tried either of these bath bombs but they did smell amazing, and Lush never really disappoints. I think the Lush boxes are perfect gifts as they aren't expensive, and they come in really pretty wrapping too! We don't have Lush shops in my country so I thought it would be an even nicer gift for my friend since she can't buy them whenever she wants.

The other two things I got her are both from Primark. First I picked out a plain rose gold necklace which I thought was really pretty. I think jewellery is always a good present cause you can never really have enough, can you? I also picked up a woolen headband from Primark because my friend is going to be abroad for New Year's Eve and I knew she wanted one since it's going to be quite cold.

None of these gifts are anything ridiculously expensive but I would personally love to receive something like this for Christmas. Even though these gifts are quite ordinary and you could give them to almost anyone, I felt like she would enjoy them a lot more because they are things that she wanted and that she's mentioned before. So I think it's always important to be a bit more thoughtful when it comes to buying gifts, which is obviously much easier when it's a good friend of yours. I hope these gift ideas will be helpful to some of you, and I'd love to hear some of your ideas too!

Last month my brother graduated from his Masters degree at the University of Edinburgh, so my family and I went up there for a few days for his graduation ceremony. I've been to Edinburgh quite a few times in the past year, but I had never been there in Christmas time before. I LOVE Christmas but I usually find it quite hard to get into the festive spirit when I'm at home since it's still really hot and sunny outside! So naturally I was super excited to visit Edinburgh at this time of year and it did actually put me in the Christmas spirit.

This was mainly thanks to the massive Christmas market that is found right across all of the shops on the main street. There was everything from a Ferris wheel to an ice skating rink, and everything looked absolutely beautiful. All the stalls in the market had such cute things and if I could I would have probably bought something from each one. Obviously I did not do that haha, but I did buy a few little gifts for some people back at home.

On our last night in Edinburgh we went round the Christmas market all together, and ate a few things from there as well. It was ridiculously cold and it rained a bit too but it didn't make the experience any less wonderful. I also had a waffle with Nutella and strawberries which was probably one of the greatest things I've ever tasted in my life (not even exaggerating).

The Christmas market and all of the other Christmas decorations made the whole trip so much more special. It really helped to make me happy and excited for Christmas even though it doesn't feel as festive here in Malta. My mum and I already agreed that we would love to visit Edinburgh at the same time again next year, so hopefully it won't be long until I'm back there!

xo

This post is way overdue, but I've been ridiculously busy in the past month and now I'm finally getting my life back together. If you've read my previous post you would know that my friend and I were in the UK for a few days at the end of October (aka Halloween!!!!!) We spent two days in Sheffield where we went to a One Direction concert which was probably the best night of my entire existence, and then we went all the way to the beautiful city of Brighton and spent a few days there.

I think it's safe to say that I completely fell in love with Brighton. The best word I can think of to describe it is 'cute'. Everything and everywhere and everyone is just so CUTE. I mean, there were literally little colourful hearts drawn on the floor - who does that? Cute people, that's who. I love all the little quirky shops full of random things that you didn't know you needed in your life; but you do need them, all of them. I loved walking on the pier and by the beach, it was all just really lovely. The weather wasn't even too bad either! I was expecting it to be freezing but the sun was actually visible which was a bit surprising haha. We also went to some incredible restaurants, namely 'The Breakfast Club' and 'Burgers And Cocktails' - amazing!

Every person we met was so friendly and we felt as though we could easily get along with anyone. Strangely enough, most of the people we spoke to asked us why we chose to visit Brighton from all places because they didn't think of it as anywhere special. Whereas my friend and I both agreed that it would be one of our top places to live in. I rarely fall in love with places so much but this was definitely a city that had an effect on me, and I'm surely going to be back in Brighton one day.

xo