Preparing For Christmas- November 2021 Overview

The end of the year is fast approaching as November 2021 disappears into the wind and I can’t quite believe it. The weather has got super cold recently and as a result, I’ve got my winter cold in full force, hopefully, it won’t hang around for too long. But being December means it’s almost Christmas time. If you hadn’t guessed I blooming love Christmas. The present shopping and wrapping, the decorations, the festive feeling, the movies and music, everything.

Here’s what I got up to in November 2021.

Our first and only holiday of the year

It wasn’t until we headed away to Bath that I realised I hadn’t had a holiday or trip away for the whole year. And that’s very unlike me, but I guess that’s to be expected after everything that’s gone on. So me and Luke headed to Bath the weekend before our fifth anniversary and had such a lovely time exploring the city.

The city itself is absolutely beautiful. We explored the Roman Baths, went to a comedy night, and ate loads of good food including a trip to Sally Lunn’s. We also headed to the rooftop pool at the Thermae Spa which was super relaxing on a pretty cold day. On our final day, we headed about half an hour outside of Bath for a nice spa day which included a lovely massage, a relax in the pool, and the sauna.

Festivities in November 2021

November 2021 was the month to get prepared for Christmas so thanks to Black Friday weekend pretty much all my shopping is done. I’ve just got to start wrapping which is good.  So as not to overwhelm the kittens I started putting up some decorations in mid-November and they’ve been pretty good overall. We’ve had a few baubles and some tinsel off the tree in the kitchen/ diner, but apart from that it’s been okay. Although as I write this we have our real tree for the living room ready to go up and that might be a different story.

I’ve picked up a few new decorations this month including this little Snow Gnome with Bear* (£19.95). It’s really cute with the little hat and a tassel which the kittens haven’t been playing with (yet!) The ornament is made from cast stone and is hand-painted so has such a pretty finish.

I also have these Snow Stencils (From £8.99) from Snow Windows which have given the french doors in my office a real festive feel. I have the Christmas window* featuring a snowy little village and Santa flying in the sky. Although the final of four sections is on the other side of the door, that’s the part of the village on the other side of town! The stencils were so easy to use and you just need some snow spray and boom it’s done. Plus it’s super easy to wipe clean so if you make any mistakes (like I did) you can clean them up straight away. There’s also some lovely window stickers if you’d rather just peel and place including the Nativity Scene sticker* (£12.99) which is new for this year.

Right at the end of the month, I joined in with one of John Lewis’ virtual events, and it was a Jo Malone Christmas Star-making class. While my stars look like they were made by a primary school kid (hence the missing photo!) I had a fun evening being creative and hearing all about the Christmas sets and scents.

Live music and shows

I had two gigs in November 2021. One right at the start of the month with Luke which was Biffy Clyro who I absolutely love to see live. Luke drove us into London which was a real luxury to do mid-week and not have to battle the trains.

Then at the end of the month, I headed to Wembley Arena with my brother to see The Offspring, a band who I’d never seen before. The show was so much fun and I didn’t realise how much of their music I’d remember. Hearing ‘Pretty Fly For A White Guy’ live was pretty epic!

Then me and Luke headed to our local venue during the month to see comedian Rhod Gilbert. The show was so funny, and it reminded me how much I love comedy shows. It was even better that the venue was less than a 15-minute walk from our house.

Finally, near the end of the month, I headed to the Milton Keynes Theatre to see Six. It’s a show all about Henry VIII’s six wives and a show I’ve wanted to see for quite some time. It was really good fun and the women who played the wives were just amazing. If you get a chance to see it make sure you go!

All the cinema trips in November 2021

Over the period of a long weekend, I ended up going to the cinema five times! On Thursday evening me and Luke went to see The Eternals which I really enjoyed. It felt quite different from other Marvel movies. Then on the Friday evening I went on a solo trip to see the latest James Bond movie which was everything I expected from James Bond.

Then on Saturday, I did a double-bill with Addams Family 2 in the morning. It was light-hearted and fun, but I was an adult in a cinema filled with kids. Then later on the Saturday I took my mum and nan to see Spencer. Now I don’t know much about Princess Diana and I’m not a royalist, but I knew they’d both enjoy it. I rounded off that weekend by heading to see Dune on Sunday with Luke. I really enjoyed it even though there were a few bits I got a bit confused about, but it is a mega movie.

The final movie I saw in November was the new Ghostbusters which was really good. It didn’t try to imitate the original too much, and the cast and storyline was so great. Plus Paul Rudd in anything is amazing.

Everything else that’s happened

Of course, it wouldn’t be a monthly roundup without talking about the beautiful boys above. They’re now 4 and a half months old and doing so well. They were neutered this month as they were old enough to get the procedure done. And other than being a bit drowsy they were very brave and did so well.

I managed to head to an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea with a friend that had been rearranged quite a few times before. It was at Kona which is near St James Park and the whole experience was magical. It was a lovely restaurant with lovely staff and the food was just amazing. Just look at those little cakes above! Everything was amazing.

Then finally I had a work awards night in November 2021. It’s the very first time I’ve been to anything like this but our whole team got dressed up and headed to the event in London where we were up for ‘Best use of digital to an investor audience’, and we only went and won gold! I’m so proud of how far our little team have come and it’s been an amazing 18 months so far.

How was your November 2021?

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