The Things I Got For Christmas + My Birthday

Honestly, I didn't think I was going to put up this post. But after seeing so many of my fellow bloggers posting their links in the twitter chat last night I felt like maybe you would like to see what I got for Christmas. A little disclaimer, this is definitely not to brag or anything like that. I am extremely thankful for all that I have received over the holiday period. 
We do a secret santa with my family every year where we buy the drawn person items off their wish list up to about thirty-five euros. And then you buy the other members of the family a small gift as well. My secret santa got me some amazing things. I got the Real Techniques Core Collection brush set, some small thin silver rings, a canvas tote bag with a list of my favorite things.
Besides that my mom and dad got me Zara giftcards that will be put to good use in their sale and my boyfriend bought me a clock. Which is kind of an inside joke. Whenever he sleeps over he is extremely annoyed by the ticking sound my clock made. And I say made because he actually managed to break my old one. I kept complaining to him about missing a clock in my room, so he bought me a new one. 
The last present, and admittedly the most amazing one, is a new lens for my camera. I'd been in the market for something nicer because the kit lens that came with my Nikon D3100 is nice, but you can get much better pictures with a better lens. For my birthday I asked all my friends and family to give me money so I could put it towards the 'new lens fund' and I managed to get enough to buy it. I ended up going for the Nikkor AF-S 50mm 1.8f. I'll do a more in-depth post on this lens and its features in the New Year, because I am still trying to get used to shooting with a prime lens. 
That's it, those are the amazing things I got for Christmas and my birthday this year. I love every single thing and I want to thank all the wonderful people that have been there for me. Happy New Year everybody!

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Christmas Hauling!

We have just finished our annual secret santa giveaway at home. We are all gathered around the living room staring lovingly at our lovely new things. Including myself, of course. Yesterday was my twentieth birthday and to celebrate that big two oh, I gathered some of my savings and the gifts I got from my birthday and purchased myself an iPad 2. Which I have basically been glued to ever since I first took it into my hands.

But that is not the only thing that is new in my life. It turns out that my mother had my secret santa this year and she got me some amazing things from my wish list. Below are some pictures.

I love how my mom and dad both got me Zara gift vouchers as a christmas present, they must know that I am in love with that store. I plan to get some amazing things with these cards. The blue candle with stars has been a long favorite of mine. The Blond Amsterdam Vanilla scented candle was something that I was meaning to repurchase for quite some time, mom picked up on this obviously.

The electric blanket. To. Die. For. My parents each have one of these already, and how amazing is it to crawl into bed at night and already have it feeling lovely and warm. Finally I can enjoy this pleasure as well.

And then, not to be forgotten. The Lauren Conrad Beauty book. I have bought the Style book by her about two years ago and absolutely adored it. So when I heard that she was putting out the same concept but now solely focused on inner and outer beauty. I like the quote at the beginning of the book.

"To my mother. Who taught me that being a beautiful person goes beyond hair and makeup... but never failed to remind me to get my roots done."

It pretty much sums up my mother. She really is one of the biggest inspirations in my life. I hope I grow up to be as much of a strong and beautiful as she is.

Let's not forget that christmas isn't about gifts, it's about spending time with the people you love and being gorgeously comfortable.