Festive Essay Writing

Much to my dismay, most of my (admittedly generous but also very much needed) Christmas break is going to be dedicated to essay writing, rather than getting fully immersed in the festive season, as I would have liked. I'm sure this is the case for many people in education, particularly at undergraduate or postgraduate level. I LOVE Christmas so I don't want to compromise, therefore I'm going to work on ways to keep the festive spirit going whilst writing essays (or even studying for exams for that matter!). Hopefully this is somewhat motivating!

• Make you study space festive. Fairy lights, tinsel, baubles, even a little tree... I'm sure you know to make you space look cosy and Christmassy! Or work in an already festive space. I've taken to inhabiting the living room, which is all decked out for Christmas.

Our lovely Christmas decorations! They make me feel just slightly less miserable whilst chained to my laptop

• Christmas music!!! Pretty much a given. It's always fun to sing along while enduring the pain of reaching the word count. Try not to cry thinking about the joy of Christmas while your essays keep you chained to your desk, though!
• Warm, comforting hot drinks- make them festive if you can! A sprinkle of cinnamon goes a long way. There's festive instant lattes sold at some supermarkets (like the Nescafe toffee nut latte at Tesco, which I have sadly yet to get my hands on. I did try it last year though and it's luxury, honestly. Almost as good as the Starbucks one!). There's also mulled wine/cider if you want to push boundaries, though doing your essays under the influence of alcohol is maybe not a good idea so try to avoid going overboard (even if it does numb the pain haha). And if you're feeling particularly naughty and have a few spare quid lying around get a Costa/Starbucks/Cafe Nero or whatever coffee shop coffee you like 'cos why the hell not. 'Tis the season to be indulgent, is it not??

I really wanted a toffee nut latte for this post but I wasn't able to get my hands on any in time, so this is a vanilla latte with a pinch of cinnamon. Still tasty!

• Festive snacks. I'm not going to list festive snacks, I'm sure you have your go-tos. Plus you need the energy, essay writing is draining and essay writing during the Christmas period is just bloody miserable, so obviously you have to eat. I don't think you need much more convincing than that!
• Little trips out to soak up the festive atmosphere. You need a break, so make that break as festive as possible. Take a walk and check out all the pretty Christmas lights, hit up a Christmas market, do a little Christmas shopping (or, on second thoughts maybe don't because Christmas shopping can be pretty stressful...maybe Christmas window shopping?) etc.
• Break out the Christmas jumper (or the Christmas pjs). Christmas jumpers are so fun, great for keeping your spirits up while trying to motivate yourself. You can get 'em nice and cheap from Primark. 

My Christmas jumper, a gift from a few years back. It's hilarious, a fat, grumpy cat all decked out for Christmas. Kind of like me writing my essays this year 

• Festive scented candles. I'm a huge scented candle fan, I've definitely mentioned them in other posts! Around this time there are loads of festive scents around, and you can get them really cheap too (...from Primark, I'm also a bit of a Primark fan, if you couldn't tell).

80p from Primark!! And it smells amazing, it really captures the celebratory elements of Christmas/New Year's (I mean, it's prosecco, duh!)

• Pop on a Christmas movie in the background if you're feeling devilish. Yeah, it's cheeky to work with the TV on in the background so it's maybe a better idea to save the Christmas movie for your breaks but if it makes the process more bearable... 
• Get a log fire going (or, failing that, get a virtual one on your laptop or TV). We have a log fire but we never light it (damn, I wish we did, it would be so delicious). A bright, crackling log fire on the TV is the next best thing... it does actually make the place feel more cosy,  and we all know it's easier to write essays when you're feeling cosy! 

My little TV log fire. It's basically the real thing, provided you have a very active imagination.

I hope essay writing isn't totally killing you and you're also enjoying the festive season. This is going to be my last blog post before Christmas so... Merry Christmas! (and, um, a happy new year too if I don't get round to publishing my other post before then).

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A Collection of my Favourite Gifts

I have a massive amount of essays to do over the Christmas period so I'm not sure how many blog posts I'll be able to churn out over December. I would have loved to have given Blogmas a shot as Christmas is my favourite time of year and  I reckon it'd really put me in the Christmas mood, but I know I'm just not going to have the time with so many essays that are all due at the same time.
However, I still want to post something festive so I started writing a Christmas gift inspiration post but it was honestly getting a bit generic, plus the list becomes somewhat endless- there are just too many possibilities. If I had the time I would have made a creative and unique gift ideas list (because I'm a fan of creative and unique gifts) but that would have taken me a long time to plan and write and I just wouldn't have been able to fit it in around writing my uni essays. However, in trying to create this post I thought about some of the presents I'd received over the years and a lot of them are really cool and make really good gifts! So I've decided that that's what I'm going to post about instead!

• My lava lamp. I mean, it's a lava lamp. Is there anything more I can say about it?

• My star projector. The clue is in the name. It projects green laser 'stars' onto my ceiling and is super cool and pretty. It makes for a really nice atmosphere! Plus it's on a timer, so I can whack it on and fall asleep. It's just like sleeping under the stars, but you're nice and warm indoors. And the stars are green. 

With the blue cloud function turned on, so it looks like a galaxy!

• My Gilmore Girls mug. In the last year I've become a huge coffee drinker, and Gilmore Girls is my ultimate favourite TV show, so it's nice to be reminded of it while I get my caffeine fix. 

I wasn't able to get a photo of the mug because it's in the dishwasher. However,  it's conveniently in this photo that I stole from one of my other blog posts so you can probably see it if you zoom in

• La Prairie 'Midnight Rain' eau de parfum. It's the bottle more than anything, but the bottle is absolutely stunning. I think the bottle is the prettiest perfume bottle I've ever seen! The perfume smells really nice too, though I tend to save it for special occasions. It's definitely the most expensive perfume I own too. 

• Jack Wills gift set. Not because of the brand (I grew out of my JW/Abercrombie/Hollister phase a long time ago) but because of the quality and quantity of the products included. The box came with two face masks, a body wash, a body cream, (both of which smell divine!) two nail polishes, two body sprays and (I've definitely save the best for last here) a blanket scarf, generous in size and width. It's done an excellent job of keeping me warm whilst also being comfy and stylish. I was very impressed with the contents of that box!

A selection of some of the things that came in the box, there's way more,  thought the face masks have been used up already

• Jewellery box. This is a fairly old one- I must have received this Christmas '07 if I remember correctly- but the sentiment behind it is what makes it special- it was intended to be something I kept for a long time and, I'm pleased to say, a decade later and I still have it!

• My Doc Martens. They're robust, durable and generally versatile (though I tend not to use them while driving which is a bit limiting). They saw me through two hikes that were hours longs in the Lake District, so they really helped me out there! They're now over a year old and sturdy as ever- I'm so used to my shoes getting worn down quickly so I'm thrilled with how these have lasted. 

• My Pusheen Plush. Another sentimental one- when I was miserable at uni and away from home my mum and I would send each other Pusheen stickers over Facebook messenger. They were so cute, they cheered me up during a very unhappy period. Pusheen is also really cute and I'm just a tiny bit obsessed. 

AWWW

• A key ring engraved with my car's name. This was a birthday present (confession: about half the things on this list were actually birthday gifts. But gifts are gifts, right?) from a friend. It's so thoughtful, especially as I'd bought my car only a few weeks before my birthday. 

Yes, my car is called 'Miss Patty.' Yes, it is after the Gilmore Girls character. 

• My iPhone 5. It's not so much the fact that it's, well, an iPhone, something that is a typically desirable gift. I mean, it is partly that, but also, more importantly, it's the fact that when the iPhone 5 came out I was planning on buying it with the money I'd saved (which would have wiped out my account haha. I thought it was worth it since I'd been saving for a while), so I was thrilled to find I had been gifted it instead, despite not asking for it! It's really the fact that I wasn't expecting it at all. Sadly, that phone is no long with me (it was nicked from my suitcase. And no, I don't normally keep my phone in my suitcase!). I obviously don't have a photo of it, but I'm sure you have an idea of what the iPhone 5 looks like!

I would just like to say I'm super grateful for all the wonderful gifts I've received over the years. I hope you all have a happy festive period and that this list might be mildly helpful if you're stuck for gifts!