As I’ve mentioned on here previously, this year we are spending Christmas Day with Tom’s parents before going to mine on Boxing Day. Since the house is looking so lovely and Christmassy, and I had a couple of early Christmas presents to give them, I invited my parents round for a little pre-Christmas celebration today.
I love inviting people round for food and celebrations, it feels so special to be able to welcome people into our home, especially when it’s looking so cosy! (Are you bored of photos of my lounge yet?)
I was excited to give them a couple of presents from Treat Republic, who do great personalised gifts and other really special presents. They kindly recently gave me a £30 voucher and I thought my parents both deserved a little treat. These two were nestled under the rather overflowing pile of presents under the tree.
But when my parents arrived, the first order of the day was cocktails! (Never mind that it was only half 11, it’s Christmas!) A couple of years ago, Tom went surfing at Kimmeridge and came upon a sloe berry bush on the way back to the van. He picked them and has been brewing it in gin to make sloe gin for quite some time! Today it was time for the sloe gin to make its grand entrance, and it did so in a delicious cocktail with tonic, fresh mint and blackberries.
And then it was present time! For my Mum, a beautiful baby piglet watering can (£15.75*) and for my Dad, a personalised beer tankard (£14.95*). I think both of them are excellent value, and both of my parents were thrilled with their gifts. Thankyou Treat Republic!
Of course it’s not a proper Christmas celebration without some party foods. These M&S mini Christmas tree pizza bites were pretty special….
Tom also made some amazing sweet potato, feta and spring onion bites which were divine. As well as mini Croque Monsieurs, oozing with bechamel sauce.
After some pork and cranberry sausage rolls and lots of crisps, I made a festive twist on Eton Mess, Cranberry Mess, made with cranberries and oranges. That was also delicious (if I do say so myself!)
We played games (I bought a celebrity name game thing from M&S), watched YouTube videos on TV, listened to Christmas music, drank cocktails and Bucks’ Fizz and generally had a wonderful day. Then we loaded up their car with all of the presents to take to their house for Boxing Day. There is an awful lot of presents! It was such a perfect day and I’m definitely feeling very festive now. After the house was cleaned and tidied this morning I had a long shower and hopped out of the shower feeling really happy and content. I’m really excited to have a nice amount of time off work and be able to share it with amazing friends and family. It’s such a nice feeling to be nearly on top of the to-do list and be able to go away for Christmas feeling like everything is sorted and balanced. I am feeling like a very lucky and grateful little lady at the moment. Life is good.
