A love letter Christmas.

River Island faux fur scarf: £28 (now £15, typical). Topshop jacket (old): £27. Luella dress (old): ebay. Over the knee boots: c/o Schuh.

It's happened again. Working in retail, we were finalising our Christmas campaign way back in June, and that Thing in the distance has suddenly clicked its fingers in my face, but instead of digits it was someone spilling mulled wine on my desk. Now it's somehow Christmas Eve, I've started making up for lost time on the mince pies (how gorgeous are these ones from Bettys?) after recovering from the Christmas party, and it'll all be festive cheer the moment it clocks 1 and we finish for the weekend.

Just a quick one from me today, as these wreath-filled photos might be a tad out of season if I wait until my normal Sunday to post, but all my love for the big day - hope you get out of it argument-free and have three times your GDA of roast potatoes! brb, eating five days worth of advent calendar chocolates.

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I had a dream I can buy my way to heaven.

Oasis floral dress: coming soon. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale. Topshop bag: £25. Rotary watch: gift.

There may not be tinsel-covered jumpers and falling snow all over this blog, but it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A couple of weeks back, Sabby and I headed to Newbury racecourse for the Hennessey Gold Cup, and that little Berkshire town seriously knows how to make things feel seasonal. We started the day catching up with Kim and Stew on the way over, before heading to check out the races. We quickly realised that this wasn't 100% our thing (expectations: cosy drinks and a lil bit of entertainment. Reality: actual hardcore races, and people very loudly betting), so took the short walk into town for something a little quainter - including reindeer.

First things first, we stopped by a pub called Lock, Stock and Barrel, which overlooks the river Kennet. It served as the perfect cosy respite from the bitterly cold wind with fish and chips that get an A+ rating from me, and I think I miiight just have recovered from the previous day's Black Friday nightmare. We then took a wander through the town centre, made pals with the bloke above (#onthepull), and spent a little more time and money in Temptation gift shop than I care to admit, but I'm definitely not ashamed. We then travelled back to the big smoke for more festive-themed (read: camembert) activities as we met up with a few more friends to catch-up well into the night. As far as days go, they don't come much more perfect than that.

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Ever since I can remember, I was a great devourer of books.

Barbour William Morris Ruskin Jacket. Next tie bow blouse. Oasis denim skirt: £5, sample sale. Hobbs monk shoes: £70 (similar). Marks and Spencer bag: £43. Charity shop belt: 10p.

Some things get better with age (one of those things is not hummus, trust me on that one, and *insert the sicky face emoji here*). I last visited the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow on a school trip way back when, and it was a little crummy. However, we gave it over a decade and two house moves for it to mature, and it's a had one hell of a makeover. And it's amazing.

As Morris' teenage home, there's no better place to give homage to the development of his love for print and the arts. Obviously there's a little chunk about him growing up in Walthamstow/Woodford (with an interactive map, which prompts you to look for where you live, duh), but I really enjoyed the room which recreated his workshop, with rolls of wallpaper hung from the ceiling. Upstairs things are dedicated to his love affair with printing books and his socialist beliefs, along with a couple of temporary exhibitions. As we exited through the gift shop (and the café's fwis opportunity), I picked up Jazmine's Christmas present, and had a wander through the grounds, now Lloyd Park. I know it tends to be areas like Richmond and Hampstead to receive the good rep for pockets of green in London, but I will always be an advocate of areas a little further East.

Of course, I had to bring along my Barbour Morris print jacket, which felt just as at home here as it did back at Kelmscott Manor. Because a) theme, and b) I've been living in it since October, so was pretty difficult to remove from my back.

Hope you've all been having a good week so far - and, even if it's been crap, it's less than three weeks until the new year and a new start!

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