I know, I know, I’m six days late and it’s no longer December. I should have posted December’s Little Loves post last Friday but guess what? I was stuck in the ‘Chrimbo Limbo’ fog, the same way that you were.
As my word for 2019 is ‘Gratitude’ and these monthly round up posts fit in really well with this theme, my intention is to continue with documenting all of the things that I’ve loved each month. Even if I am sometimes a little tardy!
Family life has been somewhat tricky for the last few months so it would be fair to say that we kind of ‘fell’ into December. In fact it took us until the second weekend in the month (unheard of for me) to even unearth the Christmas decorations. We got there in the end and I have lots of lovely things to share with you.
Shall we dive straight in?
Watched in December
I managed to persuade my youngest daughter to come to the cinema with me to watch Mary Poppins Returns. Oh my goodness, I absolutely LOVED it! I think the whole world (bar the one grumpy person I came across on Facebook) is in love with Emily Blunt’s Mary Poppins.
I was expecting a complete remake of the original but was pleased to see a whole new storyline and cast (except for the incredible Dick Van Dyke of course). If you’ve yet to see it, please make it a priority in 2019. If my 17 year old enjoyed it, you will too!
I had an evening at home on my own just before Christmas and decided to spend it wrapping Christmas presents whilst watching a double bill of Love Actually and The Holiday. I still can’t decide which one is my favourite – I love them both equally.
Did you watch Mrs Wilson on the Beeb? What an intriguing and utterly gripping storyline! It’s only 3 episodes long so if you haven’t seen it yet, dig it out on Catch up.
Read in December
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in books this month. I’ve got two recommendations for you: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty and One Day in December, by Josie Silver.
Can you believe that I actually completed TWO in one month?! They are both page-turning easy reads, the storylines however are distinctly different. The first is a typical Liane Moriarty with twists and turns to keep you guessing from start to finish and the second is a heart-warming love story.
I got a few new books for Christmas and my birthday back this year so have got plenty to keep me going in January.
Heard in December
Aside from the usual Christmas music, there’s been oodles of time to listen to podcasts over the last few weeks. I seem to have spent half my day in the car, so this has given me plenty of time to listen. Some of my favourites included:
Desert Island Discs with Tom Hanks (only recently discovered that there are hundreds of these in Radio 4’s back catalogue)
Happy – the one where Fearne Cotton interviews Kirsty Young (an incredibly wise woman!)
Hashtag Authentic – ‘Carving Out Your Own Corner of the Internet‘ with Kate Watson Smyth from Mad About the House.
Wore in December
It has to be Christmas jumpers doesn’t it? I’ve built up quite a few over the years but this vintage (circa 2011) one from Fat Face is still going strong. I’m always so sad when it goes back in the cupboard for another year.
I posted something on Twitter a few weeks ago that went slightly crazy – a suggestion that whatever age you are, you can wear whatever you like. For me? It’s this rather gorgeous pinafore from New Look. I’ve worn it to death in December and always feel good in it. It’s roomy, has POCKETS and I can eat whatever I like without feeling like a stuffed turkey – what’s not to like?
Made in December
I didn’t make Christmas dinner but I did make a Christmas wreath for our front door (hence the above photograph of me dragging around half our garden!).
This has become a little tradition of mine and I usually attend a workshop but this year, two friends and I decided to go it alone. Obviously it could have gone very wrong but I was really chuffed with my final creation. What a lovely evening we had, drinking Prosecco and listening to Michael Buble singing his little heart out .
And finally…
We had an unusually quiet Christmas this year so I thought ahead and booked tickets to Christmas at Kew. Have you been? It’s something I wanted to do last year but tickets were all sold out. It’s not cheap but it really was worth the trip. Christmas might have officially finished but seeing all of the beautiful lights and the festive atmosphere extended it for a few extra days. It really was magical.
I would love to hear about your December…how was Christmas for you? Happy New Year by the way, I’ll be writing more on that in due course, I’m sure.
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10 COMMENTS
Lara
5 years agoHappy new year Suzanne. I didn’t know about the Fearne Cotton podcast, thanks, I’ve just had a look and downloaded a few. I find her faintly annoying tho so may not make it through all of them! I’ve read both the books you mentioned and loved them both 🙂
Suzanne W
5 years ago AUTHORI love her on this podcast! Give it a go and see how you get on. Happy New Year to you and yours, Lara x
Sarah MumofThree World
5 years agoKew looks amazing! And I love your pinafore, it looks very easy to wear. I could almost be tempted out of my jeans to try one! I loved Mary Poppins too and Mrs Wilson is one of the many things I wanted to watch, but didn’t. We didn’t manage to watch much TV over Christmas and I’m sure everything we hoped to watch will soon disappear.
Happy new year to you all. I hope family life settles down a bit for you soon. x
Suzanne W
5 years ago AUTHORArgh I’d love to inspire you enough to wear a pinafore dress! It is so comfortable. I now want more! See if you can find Mrs Wilson, I think you’d like it 🙂 Happy new year to you and your family, Sarah. xx
Siobhan Calthrop
5 years agoOoh lots of lovely things to love here! (including your first photo which is ace – LOVE that stripy jumper wheres it from?) I adored Mary P too – best sequel I’ve seen I reckon. It was true to the original whilst being different and even better in parts (although you can’t beat the original score). Never saw Mrs Wilson so thanks for that tip and for the podcasts. That’s something i want to get into in 2019 – trouble is i’m not set up to listen to them in my car. A job for Mr C in Jan! You totally pull off that pinafore, but i fear I’m too tall for one….:-(
Lisa Rutland
5 years agoI now own two pinafores!!! LOVE them!!
Gail
5 years agoHappy New Year Suzanne! We went to see the new Mary Poppins last week and loved it too. In fact, we watched the original, the new one, and then Saving Mr Banks all in the same day! If you haven’t seen Saving Mr Banks I’d recommend it – it makes the original so much more moving when you watch it through again. xx
Plutonium Sox
5 years agoOoh I haven’t seen Mrs Wilson, it looks really good – thanks for sharing the trailer! I might see if it’s still on and watch it this week. Christmas at Kew looks beautiful, good call on getting tickets before they sold out. I hope 2019 is a good one for you all.
Nat.x
Anna-Marie
5 years agoHappy New Year! Sounds like December was a wonderful festive month! I love your dungaree dress! I binged watch Mrs Wilson, it was so so good! It’s a must to watch Love Actually and The Holiday over the Christmas period! Hope you have a wonderful January and hope to see you link up with me at the end of the month x
Mum Reinvented
5 years agoKew looks amazing all lit up, it’s convinced me to book Bedgebury next year, which is that bit closer to us. I loved that episode of Hashtag Authentic and I recently listened to an episode of Happy with Natalie Dormer which was fantastic (although I’m a fan of hers anyway). I missed Mrs Wilson, it looks brilliant on the trailer. And I’m loving your wreath. I’m definitely booking onto a course to make my own this year – my door was boring and unadorned at Christmas, even the little one mentioned it – oops! Hope this month is kind to you x