December is one of my favourite months of the year. I get inordinately excited about the festive period of the year and often find myself carried away with the prepping and execution of the family Christmas. It is the little details of the season I love to find myself caught up in; choosing the right crackers, neurotically placing baubles perfectly on the tree, selecting the right parfait from the delicatessen, choosing which Smythson Christmas cards to use and wrapping presents as flawlessly as possible. The family and friend aspects of Christmas is also very important to me; it is great to spend quality time with those I love dearly. I am also a fiend for the food and drink; Charbonnel et Walker treats, eggnog cocktails, champagne and copious amounts of port (how I did not gain weight over Christmas is beyond me!). I started the new year as best as I could with Bollinger, my glittery Jimmy Choos and some excellent company. I am really excited for whatever this year may have in store.

Now on to something not so positive but which I feel obliged to cover… An open interest in designer fashion and luxury lifestyle appears to have a social sigma attached to it and it is something I sporadically face criticism for. I generally eschew from touching upon these criticisms because I find it only feeds them and it really does nothing for my anxiety issues (and the fact I REALLY do not have to justify myself to anyone). I get people demanding me to tell them how I can afford or justify myself which quite frankly is not anyone’s business other than my own; I work full time and will spend my money as I wish. Some people see this blog as me shallowly showing off but to me it is sharing and discussing something which I am very, very passionate about. I love it when I go on other blogs covering my interests and I find myself inspired – I hope in turn that is what some people may get from my blog. You would not go on a blog about cars if you were not interested in cars now would you? If you are not interested in what I cover then simply do not look at my blog and do not follow me on any social media platforms – I am not forcing you to do so. If you want to judge me from a select online portrayal of my life you are perfectly entitled to do so; but that is only a small segment of who I am. Just because I do not tweet or blog about it does not mean that my life is perfect. I am a firm believer in painting over the cracks, glossing over the bad and maintaining my façade. In essence I am a firm believer in the Victorian concept of the public and private face. That is just how I deal with life, it is my cope mechanism. If I shared with you some of the hate emails, comments and the like I have had in the past because of this blog you would be simply aghast. I realise I do put myself out there however I do do not entertain these comments or emails generally as it makes things worse and leads to personal attacks – I really could do without someone telling me I need to lose weight, undergo rhinoplastry and that my teeth are wonky (all comments I have had before) so I hope I will not have to touch upon this again. Don’t judge me for how I live my life and I won’t judge you for how you live yours – simple right? . Oh and remember I am human.

So what have you been up to lately? What is your favourite part of the festive period?