When I look back on Christmasses from when I was younger I always feel overwhelmed with the feeling of how lucky I was, and how generous my parents were (and are). I will always remember the excitement of the weight of a pillowcase full of presents pressing down on my toes at the end of my bed, furiously tearing off reams of wrapping paper and then coming down to more presents lit by fairy lights under the tree and the joy of integrating new things into my collection of toys and belongings – with much loved items making way for new favourites. I’ve mentioned before that my attitude to buying in the past has always been quantity over quality; preferring to own three Primark dresses rather than one Topshop dress for example, and that has always been replicated in Christmas lists – as I grew up my parents always wanted to buy me one special item at Christmas; a lovely watch or piece of jewellery for example, but my seemingly greedy nature meant that I could never give up on the ecstasy of mounds of stocking filler-esque presents to make way for one or two more quality, investment gifts. This year I yet again filled my Amazon wishlist with books, slippers, pajamas etc when my Mum again raised the suggestion of buying me something that would be a really treasured present, rather than things I buy myself every month. Since I’ve been working hard at my recent attempts to ‘buy less, buy better’ I’ve also been making a mental list of ‘investment pieces’ I feel I should own, and ones I feel I should spend out on and treasure the quality of for years to come – much like the lovely Becky’s investment piece wishlist – and it occured to me to pop a couple of these on my Christmas list in case I really have been a good girl this year. I can see how pleasurable it would be for her, or Tom to buy me the Michael Kors watch I’ve been putting £1 coins in a pot for months to save up for, for example, instead of a few Lush bath bombs, books and DVDs. And I can see how amazing it would be for me (and how incredibly lucky I would feel) to be able to look down at, or put on something I feel amazing in and remember Christmas 2012 when it was given to me.
I feel like I’m sounding like a right Veruca Salt in this post and I really don’t want it to come across that way. Above everything I treasure Christmas for the time I get to spend with friends and family, and the majority of my excitement comes from giving presents rather than receiving them. I do feel so lucky that my parents and boyfriend are thinking of things to buy me that I’ll treasure, and believe me, it comes out of their kindness and generosity rather than either of them having a bulging bank balance!
I’ve been nosing around ASOS the last couple of days trying to collate a wishlist of investment items – capsule wardrobe items if you will – and one of the things I’ve been dreaming of is a good quality winter coat. Here are my favourites…
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| 1. French Connection – £120 // 2. Mango – £109.99 3. ASOS – £100 // 4. (large photo) 4. Sessun Sissi – £235 5. ASOS – £35 // 6. ASOS £100 |
And of course what sort of blogger would I be if I wasn’t lusting after a Michael Kors Rose Gold watch? Here is the one I’ve been saving for…
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| Rose Gold Chronograph watch – £199 |
#bestnightever
I actually also received an email yesterday with some exciting news regarding ASOS that I wanted to share with you all. They’ve teamed up with Yourvine, which is a platform that invites people to complete challenges in order to receive rewards, and there’s loads of challenges coming up in conjunction with ASOS that mean you could get things like discounts off your next ASOS shop (25% and 30%), gift vouchers or Premier membership. The challenges (centred around the hashtag #bestnightever) are things like taking a picture of your favourite party outfit, creating your perfect party outfit using ASOS’s fashion finder or pulling together a wishlist for your 3 favourite people. I’ve already signed up and I’m really excited for the launch next Wednesday (21st), especially since the challenges I’ve seen so far are things I love doing to while away time on the internet anyway! If you want to get involved you just need to sign up at Yourvine and they’ll send details of the challenges when it’s launched. I still haven’t quite got away from my scrimping ways and so a 30% discount would certainly take a dent out of some out my wishlist items (and the list of presents I have for other people, yes I will be doing that too rather than just daydreaming about my own presents!)
