It’s Christmas Eve, Eve! How. Bloody. Exciting. Today I spent most of my day in York shopping, having coffee, enjoying cocktails, and indulging in afternoon tea – it was the perfect way to spend the festive season, before I start winding down tomorrow and getting all cosy at home.
We had a lovely wander around York which included spending a ridiculous amount of money in Lush… I picked up a huge Rose Jam shower gel, a big pot of Coconut Scrub, two bubble bars, and a Butterbear shower pot. We then ventured down to The Shambes to pop in all the lovely chocolate shops, and pay a visit to the wonderful Harry Potter shop – if you go, please visit, it’s incredible – and I even managed to pick up a couple of bottles of butter beer.
We also had a wander down to The Imaginarium, which is filled to the brim of weird and wonderful homeware pieces, and they even have an entire section of the shop dedicated to Christmas at the moment, where I managed to pick up another super special bauble for our tree.
After all the shopping, we ventured into Carluccio’s for a coffee and a chat.. and also had a gaze over their lovely food gift range. If you still have a last minute gift to get, and you know someone who loves food, I’d really recommend having a look in there – there’s so many wonderful things that would just make the loveliest gifts.
I obviously also indulged in my favourite thing in the world… a Bicerin. If you do read my blog often, you’ll have seen me ramble on about them so much already – so I won’t bore you again. Anyway, it was so lovely and Christmassy in there, so we had a good few hours enjoying a few nice drinks.
After that, it was time to head over to The Grand for our afternoon tea booking, and oh my gosh what a treat it was. The place is absolutely beautiful, and was all dressed for Christmas with some of the most stunning trees I’ve seen so far this year.
We enjoyed a lovely cocktail in the bar first, whilst we waited for the room to be set up. If you’re in York and get the chance to go here, I’d really recommend it. We enjoyed our drinks next to an open fire in huge, cosy armchairs – such a treat.
Then it was into the next room for the afternoon tea buffet. It’s priced at £45 per person (£35 for children), and whilst that is expensive and probably something I’d only do on special occasions – I do have to say it was worth it. The food was laid out buffet style, but the room wasn’t overbooked at all, so people are never queuing, and the food is constantly topped up. They even had a Santa come into the room for all the children, at which one started crying as he was so excited and happy – it was really lovely to see. And although £45 seems steep, you are also given boxes to take as many food remainders home as you wish – so my boyfriend also got to indulge, much to his delight, from it too. I really would recommend it if you are celebrating a special occasion, and it was one of the best ways I’ve ever spent the day before Christmas Eve.
I had such a lovely day in York – the place itself is just so festive anyway, and the afternoon tea was really the icing on the cake. Tomorrow we’re having our family around and I’ve already started preparing the huge feast of party food. I’m super excited and I’m also looking forward to having a nice wind down now, ready to re charge for the new year.
Thank you so much to everyone who has read my blog this year. I honestly love writing it so much, and I think I’d continue even if only my mum read it. It makes me so happy when people tell me that they have read it. I really do hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it, and I do hope you’ll come back, and stick with me throughout 2019 also. Have a lovely, lovely Christmas and I hope all your wishes come true.
