Blogmas – Literary and Lovely

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas . . .

December 14, 2016by Literary and Lovely2 Comments

Goodness me, I have been a real naughty and haven’t published a single post in December thus far and it’s almost half over!!! Ha, looks like Blogmas isn’t happening this year.

In my defence, school ended on on the 2nd, and then I had finals on the 5th, 7th, and 10th. But now I have a bit of a reprieve until the 19th when I write my last exam. Regardless of what courses I take or how much planning I do, I always, always, always end up writing an exam on the last day of exam period. Does this happen to any of you???

Christmastime this year was heralded by something that hasn’t happened in my city for years: snowfall. And not just the old 1cm light dusting that is washed away by rain the next day. I am talking about 10cm, covering the ground, people driving like right fools on the roads despite the ice and snow warnings, and snow people on everyone’s front lawns. Despite the fact that I live in Canada, snow is not common in my city, so this was a lovely surprise to wake up to. I wish I was a more artsy photographer but I am hoping to learn some tips and tricks in the new year, and I had to snap a few pictures of the gorgeous white blanket:

Is it snowing where you live???

All, Awards and Giveaways, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 24: Last Day to Enter Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette Giveaway!!!

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and LovelyLeave a Comment

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!!

I just wanted to quickly announce that today is the last day for you or any of your friends to enter my Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette Giveaway!!!

As a reminder, the giveaway includes one (1) Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette.

How to Enter:

Like this blog post
Follow my blog if you aren’t already
Comment on this post when you are finished
Additional entry: Follow me on Twitter (completely optional!!!)
Additional entry: Follow me on Instagram (also completely optional!!!)

I have one last quick thing to say. Many people have only completed a portion of the entrance requirements of the giveaway, so please double-check that you have completed all three parts (and additional parts for bonus entries) in order to be entered in to this giveaway. I don’t want to leave anyone out!!!

The winner will be randomly selected through a random name generator on December 26th, 2015 after Christmas, and will be contacted via email or through their blog’s contact page, and will be asked to get in touch. Please note that the winner will need to provide shipping information so the item may be sent to them, but it will remain confidential, and will be destroyed once the items are sent off. The winner will be announced on this blog in a congratulatory post, and I will also announce when the next giveaway will be held.

Once again, thank you all so much for your support, and I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas Eve 🙂 🙂

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 23: Winter Birthdays

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and LovelyLeave a Comment

Greetings lovely readers, and welcome to the 23rd day of Blogmas on Literary and Lovely!!!

Today, my family and I celebrated two very special birthdays: that of my grandfather, and that of my mother. My grandfather turned 86, and my mother, well . . . we don’t talk about her age. Almost everyone in my family was born in a winter month, with my birthday in November, my mother, grandfather, and aunt born in December, and my grandmother born in January, so we try to group celebrations together on certain days to make it easier for more of the family to attend the party.

My grandmother decided to make a sunshine yellow cake, which was both pretty and pretty delicious. However, we did encounter a small problem with the candles. Clearly “they don’t make them like they used to” in the words of my grandparents, because the candles melted right into the cake and actually pooled into a big, waxy mess. We didn’t even have them lit that long, which was disappointing. We ended up having to pluck bits of wax off the cake, but it was still just as tasty, albeit a bit bare in spots.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Christmas giveaway here for a chance to win an Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette!!! Giveaway closes December 24th at 11:59pm PST!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 22: Holiday Grammar

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and LovelyLeave a Comment

Hello there lovely readers, and welcome to the 22nd day of Blogmas 2015!!!

I came across an online quiz through today’s Google Doodle, and thought it was so apropos that I had to share it with you. This online quiz, which can be taken here, tests your knowledge of correct spelling for some of the words most commonly mispelled around the Christmas season, such as ’tis, threshold, poinsettia. See how many you get right!!!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette giveaway here!!! Giveaway closes December 24th at 11:59pm PST!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 21: Giant Wool Haul

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and Lovely2 Comments

Hello all and happy 21st day of Blogmas!!!

As of 4pm this afternoon, I am officially finished my fall term of university!!! I wrote my final exam for my Cognitive Neuroscience class, and now I am free!!!

To celebrate my newfound freedom and warmly re-welcomed social life, I popped into a local wool shop to scoop up some wool bundles for a bunch of projects I am hoping to start soon, and to get working on a few last-minute Christmas presents.

Universal Yarn Uptown Worsted 100g in 100% Acrylic in vibrant pink

Universal Yarn Uptown Worsted 100g in 100% Acrylic in pale yellow

Hayfield Baby Chunky 100g 70% Acrylic 30% Nylon in pale pink

Hayfield Baby Chunky 100g 70% Acrylic 30% Nylon in purple

Lily The Original Sugar ‘N Cream 56.7g 100% Cotton in Red/Green/White

Lily The Original Sugar ‘N Cream 56.7g 100% Cotton in Red

Lily The Original Sugar ‘N Cream 56.7g 100% Cotton in Green

Lily The Original Sugar ‘N Cream 56.7g 100% Cotton in White

Drops Design 10.0mm Needles in purple

Aero 5.0mm Crochet Hook

I kind of got a little carried away as you can see . . . but everything was on sale; how could I not??? It will all be used eventually, and I like having a wide selection of colours to pick from.

What are some of your recent knitting projects???

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette giveaway here!!! This giveaway ends December 24th at 11:59pm PST, and there are chances to have up to 3 entries!!!

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All, Beauty, Blogmas, Holidays, Life

Blogmas Day 20: Favourite Christmas Lipsticks

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and Lovely2 Comments

Happy 20th day of Blogmas everyone!!!

With Christmas Day only 5 days away, many of you will be spending the remaining days planning and hosting a Christmas party or attending one. So today I thought I would share with you some of my favourite holiday lipsticks to give you some lipspiration of the festive Christmas colours that could adorn your lips at Christmas parties!!!

Clinique’s Long Last Soft Matte lipstick in Matte Crimson

BITE Beauty’s Matte Crème lipstick in Mulled Maple

NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella

Clinique’s Different Lipstick in Heartfelt

Clinique’s Chubby Stick Intense in Grandest Grape

BITE Beauty’s Matte Crème lipstick in Sugared Maple

Clinique’s Long Last Soft Matte lipstick in Matte Plum

What festive lip colours are included in your holiday makeup looks???

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette giveaway here!!! Giveaway ends December 24th at 11:59 pm PST!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 19: Christmas Sweaters

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and Lovely2 Comments

Good afternoon all, and happy 19th day of Blogmas!!!

For me, one of the many steps of getting into the Christmas spirit is finding the perfect obnoxious Christmas sweater. I’m talking giant snowflakes, lights, and maybe even a button that, when pushed, plays Christmas music. So today I thought I would round up some of the cutest Christmas sweaters I have stumbled upon on the Internet thus far. I found all these on Polyvore from various retailers, but most are around the $40 price range. Hope you enjoy them!!!

Do you have a favourite Christmas sweater??? Let me know in the comments below!!!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette giveaway here. Ends December 24th at 11:59pm PST!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 18: I’m Dreaming of a Christmas Dinner . . .

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and LovelyLeave a Comment

Hello there lovely readers, and happy 18th day of Blogmas!!!

By this time, many of us have laid out our plans for Christmas Day, whether these include a dinner with family, a party with friends, or a swim in the pool at some tropical island resort. Each year, I spend Christmas Day at my grandparents’ house, opening presents, snacking on some baked goodies, and, of course, indulging in the coveted Christmas turkey dinner.

This is the delicious feast that awaits my family and I on Christmas Day. My grandmother starts getting the vegetables ready early in the morning, and then the rest of the family comes over in the afternoon to help prepare everything else. Fun fact: the pan that we use to cook the turkey in has been in my family for 5 generations!!! It was my grandfather’s grandmother’s turkey pan, and it has done over 100 years of turkeys.

Our Christmas dinner typically includes carrots, corn, potatoes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, homemade buns, stuffing and, of course, turkey and gravy. My grandfather makes the gravy from scratch and it is beyond divine. I swear, I could eat mashed potatoes and my grandfather’s turkey gravy every day and not get sick of it; it is that good.

I love having Christmas dinner with my nearest and dearest, but since not all of my family members can be in town on Christmas Day, we all sit in the living room after dinner and phone those who could not make it to wish them all the best, and thank them for the lovely presents they mailed out.

In the days following Christmas, the leftovers from the giant turkey dinner are combined to make turkey casserole, which is easily my favourite food ever. Plus, then there’s turkey soup to look forward to.

What does your family do on Christmas Day???

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Christmas giveaway here for a chance to win an Urban Decay Gwen Stefani Eyeshadow Palette!!! Giveaway closes December 24th at 11:59pm PST!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 17: The Little Christmas Tree

December 24, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and LovelyLeave a Comment

Good morning all!!!

Today is the day that I will be putting up my Christmas tree!!! As you can see from the picture above from last Christmas, my tree by no means resembles the stereotypical massive Christmas tree. I stand at 5′ 1/2″ (yes, that half-inch makes all the difference) and I like being able to put the tree topper on without having to get a chair and lean into the tree, running the risk that I will lean over too far and fall into it (which did happen one year). So, this little 5′ Christmas tree graces our living room every year. We used to do the whole real Christmas tree thing, but a few years ago we decided to switch to an artificial one after an unfortunate incident where the whole tree toppled over and water soaked into the carpet. So this little tree will be set up later today, and all of our interior Christmas decorations will be put up.

When do you usually put up your Christmas tree???

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Christmas giveaway here until December 24th at 11:59pm!!!

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All, Blogmas, Holidays

Blogmas Day 16: Beauty Gift Guide for Her on a Budget

December 16, 2015July 25, 2016by Literary and Lovely1 Comment

Good morning everyone, and happy 16th day of Blogmas!!! With December just half over, the race to finish shopping and wrapping presents begins. But it is tough to know what to get some people, and a spending cap can complicate things. In my family, we draw names for the person we are to buy a main gift, and then buy small token gifts for the other family members. The spending cap for the main gift is $50, and the spending cap for the token gifts is $25. This makes it so that you can give someone multiple smaller gifts, or one larger gift without having to spend too much, because, after all, it’s the thought that counts. Plus, we alternate each year, so we each get a chance to pick out a main gift for each person. While searching stores and the Interwebs for gifts, I cam across a handful of beauty gift ideas for the ladies in your life for under $25 and under $50. Hopefully these idea collages help some of you pick out gifts for family and friends!!!

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