COUNTRY CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE- FOR CHILDREN

Hello everyone! Last year I only did a couple of gift guides but this year I've decided to go all out and do six! This one is for children. All products are linked and all prices are taken from corresponding websites and are correct in Winter 2018.

The first thing I spotted for kids are these fleece gilets by Little Grouse UK. These are £35 each (+£5 for personalisation) and are so adorable! I want to buy one now even though I don't have children. Imagine how cute a child would look whilst twinning with their parents! They are available in three colours and available from 3-6 months to 5-6 years.

Schoffel have also started a children's range of gilets which are slightly more pricier (£99.95) but they look fab. Just imagine the whole family kitted out in matching Schoffel gilets for Christmas! How adorable.

I absolutely love this Highland Cow from Jellycat (yes it is mine, don't judge) and think it would be a lovely present for any child (or adult...)
These are available in two sizes. Mine is medium (H23cm) and the other is large (H42cm). The medium is £20 and the large is £50. I really really want the large one as well.

Bath bombs are always a favourite with children. I love Bomb Cosmetics and have used these bath bombs for years. There are a variety of Christmas bath bombs as well as some non-Christmas ones. I'll link a few of my favourites below.

Chilly Willy Bath Bomb

It's Not Easy Being Green Bath Bomb

I love my Sass & Belle cactus water bottle and think they would be a lovely gift for children. They come in different styles such as avocados and flamingos as well. They are £6 each and they're currently buy one get one half price. These would make lovely stocking fillers for children!

I've featured this in the Stocking Guide but thought I'd feature it here too. This portable charger is the best one I've found. It's £11.99 and lasts for ages. So many portable chargers claim to last for ages but this one actually does. It can hold four full charges and doesn't take long to charge itself back up. We all have one each in my family and Callum has one too. Battery lives keep getting worse and worse so these are so handy.

I absolutely love these mugs from Cornishware and am planning on buying a lot one I've finished uni. They are available in many colours and can be personalised too! The Tiny Tot 4oz mug would be perfect for a child's Christmas present! These are only £8 each as well.

Rydale have a fabulous children's range available and a lot of the items match the adult's clothes so you can match with your 'mini-me' over Christmas! The shirts are great quality and are only £8.99 each. Check out the website here for more inspiration.

  Joules also have a fabulous children's range, browse the website here.


Check out my Stocking Fillers blog for more ideas about what to get children for Christmas!

Thank you for reading- I hope it gave you a few ideas. This blog has been fairly short because I obviously don't have children yet so it's been rather difficult trying to find things.

Until next time,
Charlotte x

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN YORK (Imaginarium, Abraham Moon, Wild & Westbrooke & more)

Hello everybody!

Most of you know already that I am based in York for university, which gives me a great excuse to browse the shops and keep on top of my Christmas shopping!
I will be doing a series of Gift Guides this year featuring some of the products sold in these shops.

The back room of The Imaginarium in York has been totally transformed for Christmas. I took so many photos which I will include below. I bought some of the hedgehog decorations for my mum, as well as a highland cow head that she requested (not quite sure where she's going to put it-I'll let you know when she finds somewhere!)
Some of these decorations would make perfect gifts for your friends or family (or even yourself!)

This is the highland cow head that I picked up for my mum (above)

and the hedgehogs (below)

I will post more pictures on my Instagram story and save them as a highlight so you can look at them.


I mentioned Abraham Moon in my September Favourites blog and I'll feature some more pictures here as well. Abraham Moon sells luxury tweed clothing and home furnishings. The shop smells of Jo Malone scents as they have reed diffusers scattered around. I came with my parents and my dad bought a shirt and a jacket. I think the cushions and blankets would make really lovely gifts.

A new country clothing shop called Wild and Westbrooke have just opened in York and I went to pay them a visit on Wednesday. They stock Morris Richardson Watches, Fairfax and Favor, Holland Cooper, Annabel Brocks and Hicks & Brown alongside many more brands.

I got some lovely gift ideas and added a few bits and bobs to my own wish list!

Boots have their 3 for 2 across all gifts offer at the moment and they've stocked up on all things Christmassy! I had a look round and got some ideas and a few bits and bobs as well. Here are some pictures of the York store. Again, I will be featuring some more specific pieces in my Gift Guides.

I found a little shop called Daisy Taylor's in York which sells cards and gifts. It was really quirky and cute and they had a lovely Christmas selection as well. I couldn't resist buying some little Scandinavian figures for my tree to go with my Scandi Santas I got a few years ago. They had lots of tin candles and coasters which would make some lovely gifts. I really liked the Yorkshire mugs and coasters (see picture). Daisy Taylor's also stock Sass & Belle products too!

Other shops in York I love:

• Jack Wills
• Joules
• Superdry
• Azendi
• The Boy Wizard
• The Shop That Must Not Be Named
• World of Wizardry
• Pandora
• Disney
• Primark
• Seasalt Cornwall
• Lush
• The Body Shop

I hope you all enjoyed this blog and it gave you some inspiration. Keep your eyes peeled for my Christmas Gift Guide series which will be launching at the end of October/beginning of November.

Thanks for reading!

Charlotte x

UNIVERSITY FLAT #MyiQLife

Hello everybody!

For those of you who don't know, I am starting to study English Language at York St John University. I moved into my accommodation a few weeks ago and thought I'd share a few pictures of what everything looks like in the flat. I have changed things round slightly since these photos were taken, but you get the general picture. I will link all products, but if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to comment or send me a message on Instagram.


 My bed is a double, you can't see my sheets but they are from Studio, as well as the duvet cover (which I can't find on the website!) The yellow cushion was from Primark, the bee cushion was from Amazon and the bee happy cushion was from Next, but I believe it is now discontinued.

 This is my desk area. My printer is the HP Envy 4500 (the post-it note on the printer is there to remind me which way photo paper needs to be put in!) My coasters and water bottle were from Sass & Belle, the mirror was from B&M. My desk lamp was one that my grandparents had spare. The photo frames were from Next, as well as the wine glasses. My clock was from New Look and the storage baskets were from Amazon. I'll leave a list of the other bits and bobs in my shelving unit below the pictures.

• Magazine Holders- Poundland
• Lever Arch Files- Tesco
• Yellow Mouse- Heart Of The Dales
• Iron- I got mine from Tesco but you can get them here.
• Fake Tealights- Amazon 

I'm not going to show pictures of my bathroom because it's just a standard bathroom and there's nothing much to show. I won't show the kitchen either because that's a communal space and is just a kitchen. I'll leave a link to the IQ website here so if you're really nosy you can see what the kitchen and bathrooms look like.

Links to my 'Uni Essentials' blog series:

• Bathroom Essentials
• Kitchen Essentials
• Bedroom Essentials

Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great weekend!

Charlotte x

AUGUST FAVOURITES 2018

Hello everybody!
Can you believe August is over already? It's sad that summer is coming to an end but I am also really excited about Autumn and Winter. I love the cosy months where you can layer up and start thinking about Christmas. I know there's a huge divide between those who are buzzing for Christmas (me) and those who roll their eyes and groan "It's still Summer for crying out loud!" (Callum). I'd love you to let me know in the comments or over on Instagram which one you are!

I've started looking for Christmas presents and am searching for some brands who would like to get involved with my Christmas gift guide series, so if you know of any, please let me know!

Anyway, enough about Christmas. This month I went on holiday and I took several (seven) books with me. Then I ran out of books. My mum had finished her book and lent it to me to read and as soon as I had finished it, I went on Amazon and ordered the second book. Why Mummy Drinks is a hilarious book about how bringing up children is not as perfect as people make it out to be. There are some huge laugh out loud moments in both books (the second book is Why Mummy Swears). Although I'm not a mum yet, I still found the books hilarious and I could relate to some of the things that the children did because it reminded me of when I was younger (and a pain in the arse, I now realise!)

I recently got my exam results and my mum bought me this Pandora Study Book Charm to celebrate. It is a really lovely piece and I've added it to my black leather bracelet.

I went to York for the pop up Shakespeare Rose Theatre experience. I went to see Romeo and Juliet but I purchased a Coriolanus quote magnet that says "Have We No Wine Here?" The experience was really good, the actors were fab and it was a really good weekend. I started a magnet collection earlier this year but currently all my magnets live on my radiator as I don't have my own fridge yet.

Whilst I was in York, I visited the Primark store and got this letter board which was reduced from £8 to £5. It comes with hundreds of letters to customise the board with. I've chosen a quote from The Greatest Showman at the moment but I can change it up as often as I like. I also got some fairy lights with pegs for £3. I'm looking forward to hanging up some photos using these.

Before I went to York, it was our 6 month anniversary so Callum bought me some lovely presents, including this Adventure Book from the film Up. I'm really looking forward to documenting our story together, like in Up. This has such sentimental value as well as being such a lovely gift!

I got Callum a new belt from Rydale. They have a range of belts available on their website and in store too for really affordable prices! This one is reversible from black to brown. Callum says he likes it and it seems really good quality too!

I got this Wensley scarf from Joules recently in the sale and it pairs perfectly with my black and white Harbour top. As Autumn just around the corner, it makes sense to have a few scarves handy to keep you nice and warm!

My mum ordered me some small baskets for my uni room. These are from Amazon. She also got me a set of 4 Bee coasters from Sass & Belle and a foldable cactus bag. If you've read my other blogs, you'll know that I have several bee themed items already. I also have a (small) obsession with cacti. I've been collecting them since I was around 11 and currently have over 20 in my bedroom.

Finally, this week I went to see Christopher Robin with my family and it was such a good film! I was sobbing all the way through. I won't spoilt it for anyone who hasn't seen it but I really recommend that you all go and watch it!

Thank you for reading! I've got more exciting blogs planned so keep your eyes peeled for them!

Charlotte x