What I Got For Christmas // 2016

I know we've already started the new year and the Christmas decorations have been packed away, but I want to upload my 'What I Got For Christmas' post so I can look back on it. I know people either love or hate kinds of these posts. Personally I love them so for those who are like me, I hope you enjoy having a nosy into my 2017 Christmas gifts.

In my immediate family, my parents always follow the gift guideline of  'something to wear, something to read, something you want and something you need'. This year my thing to read was Estee's book 'Bloom' which I have already enjoyed having a flick through.
My thing to wear was a lovely maxi dress which I wore on Christmas day (and was then in the wash when I was taking these photos). My thing to need was a portable harddrive which I was desperate for after my dad decided enough is enough and he is making me clear my 1.5TB worth of crap on the family computer. And, my thing to want was some calligraphy supplies which are so lovely. Another Christmas tradition is that we wake up to a stocking on Christmas morning filled with little goodies like deodorant and tissues and my fave shampoo and conditioner (which I completely forgot to include in the photo because it was already in my shower).

I've been trying to get  into my handwriting and calligraphy a bit more lately and you'll notice that I ended up getting spoilt with tools to help me practice. Bryce gave me this gorgeous set from Speedball which came with everything a beginner would need, as well as a pad of paper to get started.  He also gave me a beautiful necklace, an  esky, one of  those inflatable lounges, a powerbank, and a glass water bottle. A perfectly random collections of bits that I love!!

Bryce's family also spoilt me by putting together a little basket of goodies including my favourite journal.

Tiarney nailed it this year and picked out so many things that I love, I was especially in love with this 'swell' waterbottle.

I received this fabulous calligraphy set from our closest family friends and a classic Cadbury stocking which was demolished as soon as I recovered from the Christmas Day food coma.

For my family (cousins etc) we do a present swap and if you don't know what it is - look it up! It is so much fun and is pretty much an alternative to 'Secret Santa'- you buy one gift, you get one gift. I got this cute set from Lush and was also given these UE speakers as a belated birthday present from my Aunty which I was so excited about! My little sister chose this journal and pen for me because 'she wants me to see the world' and my boss gave everyone a bottle of red wine and an Italian cake, plus one of my friends from work gave me this little Christmas candle which was made by her aunty.

 

I was so spoilt this Christmas and had the best time eating so much food, spending time with the people I love the most and celebrating the birth of Jesus. 

 

Here are a few snaps from Christmas day. I woke up and we opened pressies with my immediate family and then headed to church before coming home and giving Bryce his presents once he arrives after spending the morning with his family. We all helped prepare lunch and set the table ready for my Grandpa and Grandma as well as my Uncle and Aunty with their two little boys to come over. After lunch we did presents (and my Grandparents surprised us with tickets to see Aladdin at the Capitol Theatre!) and then all hung out for a while. After that Bryce and I headed to his house for Christmas feast part 2 plus some card games which we brought down from my house. I had made his whole family personalised stockings (you may have seen a glimpse in this post and my gift guide post) and they absolutely loved them, it was so nice to see them excited about something I had spent so long on making.

We had such a lovely day.  I always feel sad when another Christmas is over!

I hope everyone reading this had a fantastic festive season and felt happy, loved and very very blessed.

 

Caitie xx

Beauty Haul // Benefit, Urban Decay, Kiko, Essence

What I Got for Christmas // 2015

Color Tattoos, Powder and Nude Lipsticks // Priceline Haul

Another sale, another $50 spent on makeup. I always feel better about my slightly unnecessary spending if I tell myself that I can do a haul and make a blog post about it so here we are! Priceline had 50% off Maybelline as well as a 'Buy two, get one free' deal on Rimmel so I made use of the sales to stock up on a few more 'Color Tattoos', get my hands on the cult classic 'Stay Matte Powder' and try out some nude lipsticks from the new Kate Moss collection. 

Maybelline 'Color Tattoo Metal' Cream Eyeshadow $11.95 // $5.97 each

70 Barely Branded  //  45 Bold Gold  //  60 Silver Strike

I bought a colour tattoo eyeshadow a few months back and love the formula of it, although it rubs off quite easily until you wait for it to dry completely. These colours are so nice and a bargain when they're half price!

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder $12.95

004 Sandstorm

I just had to pick up this classic after my usual setting powder decided to explode in my makeup bag and leave me with a very shiny face (and a very time consuming clean-up).

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Moss Lipstick $12.95 each

45 Nude  //  42 Nude

 I am still desperately trying to find a nude lipstick that actually suits me and when I saw that there was a new collection in the Kate Moss lipsticks, I had to give them a try. So far 45 doesn't make me look like I'm lip-less so we might be onto a winner!

-Caitie x

What I Got For My 20th Birthday // Birthday Haul

As some of you may know, it was my birthday on the 1st July (this is a little late but hey, better late than never) and I was spoilt with so many lovely gifts! 
I love reading 'What I got for my Birthday' blog posts so I figured I may as well share for any of you nosy curious readers who are like me ;)
I'll try and link where possible.

From my Parents:
Cotton On Body Order- I had been browsing online at Cotton On Body and filled up a wishful shopping cart of goodies which Mum and Dad offered to pay for, for my birthday. I chose some bralettes, socks, a dressing gown, some PJ pants, a flannel, a grey t-shirt dress and some black ugg boots. It was so lovely and I had even forgotten most of the things I'd picked so I was still surprised.

Black Leather Boots- These gorgeous (and super comfortable) black boots which are actually from the horse riding shop that my little sister gets her riding boots from - I'm lucky that shes growing bigger than me because I also inherited a pair of her brown boots as well.They are such a staple and very good quality.

Lonely Planet 'Europe on a Shoestring' Book- My parents bought me this fantastic guide to help the planning of a Europe trip that Bryce and I are hoping to take at some point in the next year and a half. I have the travel bug bad and after having a quick flip through this book, it only makes me more excited to hop on a plane and explore!
Globe Stress ball- I'm a stresshead and a dreamer...and also horrible at geography so this was perfect.
60 Sheets of Polaroid Film- I'm obsessed with taking Polaroids on my Fujifilm Instax camera but the film is just so expensive so I was stoked to open this and get snapping.

From Bryce:
Pandora Black Leather Bracelet- I am obsessed with this beautiful bracelet which I think I'll wear without any charms because I love the simplicity of it by itself.
Miss Shop 'Stud Trim Trilby' Black Hat- I actually already own this hat but it is falling apart because of how much I wear it so I was stoked to see a brand spankin' new one!

Lipstik 'Top Hat' Boots- These are so gorgeous and again, a staple black boot. I haven't worn them out yet so I'm not sure how comfortable they will be but they felt good when I tried them on.

Cotton On Vest & Sports Bras / Water Bottles- These Triumph Sports Bras are so comfy (and come with a free water bottle each - bonus!) and the vest is super warm.

From Emma (Sister):
Pandora 'Darling Daisies' Spacer, Undies, Mini Nivea Deodorant, Mini Nivea Moisturizer- Em chose this particular Pandora charm for my silver Pandora bracelet because this year was the birthday that we had a ton of flowers floating around the house after Mum and I went to the flower markets.

From Sally (Sister):
'Secret Garden' Colouring book by Johanna Basford, Chi Chi Makeup Blending Sponge, Bonds Undies, Mini Nivea Deodorant, Mini Nivea Face Wipes- I've heard so many great things about intricate colouring books and as a babysitter I have a lot of practice and find it one of the most relaxing things to do, I can't wait to fill this book! I've never tried the Chi Chi sponges before but I use the Real Techniques blending sponge and I love it so this will be great to use so I don't have to wash them as often.

From some Family & Friends:
Undies, Socks and Mini Perfume- My friends Sally and Maryanne bought me this little pack of some undies from Bras n Things, some socks and a miniature perfume of Katy Perrys 'Meow' which I have the full size of and love.

Toiletries- Wendy, Emily and Abby made up a little gift of some classic stock-ups! This Herbal Essences duo are my all-time favourite shampoo and conditioner (they smell absolutely amazing) and the rest of the products are just fantastic to have.

Necklaces- My Aunty and cousins gave me these two gorgeous necklaces from Lovisa and some money to treat myslef. I love both of them, especially the bar one.

MAC 'Shy Girl', Bondi Sands Tanning Foam, Lush 'Phoenix Rising' Bath Bombs, Scunci Bun Maker, Colour Theory Mascara, Bobby Pins, Ellure Fake Lashes- I was contacted by the lovely Bec from 'Bec and Beauty' a few days before my birthday to let me know that I had won a birthday giveaway that she had run so I thought I would include the goodies in this post. When Bec found out it was my birthday on the 1st she express posted the parcel so it would arrive on my birthday and even included a little card in it (seriously so sweet). She asked me which MAC lipstick I would like and I requested 'Shy Girl' which is a lovely nude colour and the perfect shade to have as my first ever MAC product!
Check out her blog here, her content is fabulous and she is such a great person. Thanks again Bec!

From Tiarney:

'Secret Garden' Colouring Book by Johanna Basford & Textas/Pencils- I'm going to swap this over for another colouring book (there's a mandala one that looks beautiful) because Tiarney and Sal bought me the same one (it's all good with them for me to swap one over). She also bought me some Faber Castel textas and pencils to use which is fantastic!

Kikki K 'Textured Leather Pencil Case'- Okay seriously, is this not the most gorgeous pencil case? I had been eyeing this off for quite a while so I was so happy to get this!

Cotton On Body Tracksuit Pants, 'Granny Takes a Dip' Lush Bath Bomb, 'Honey I Washed The Kids' Lush Shower Gel & Undies- She knows me so well! I can't wait to try out the lush stuff.

'Boom Boom Balloon' Game- We have seen this on Youtube when Joey Graceffa did this video on his channel, and thought it looked like fun so I cannot wait to give this a go!

Metallic Temporary Tattoos- I can't wait for Summer to test these babies out. The designs of all of them are so gorgeous and I think the pop of blue with the gold is stunning (and blue is my favourite colour).

I felt so so special this year and have been truly spoilt rotten with all the lovely gifts. There were a few more people who also gave me presents which I love but I didn't have some of them when I took the photos. 

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday one of the best ones yet, I am so grateful to have such fabulous people in my life.

If you are curious as to what I got up to on my actual birthday, I did a post on it here.

I'd love to hear the best present you have ever received in the comments below.

-Caitie xx