May the odds be ever in your favour.

A new music post for my lovelies today!
The Hunger Games is a massive book craze at the minute (a bandwagon I have currently just hopped onto after reading the first book. I've just been out and bought the trilogy!) and the film of the first book is getting released in March 2012. I'm just as excited for the movie soundtrack. Here's the first released track from it:

Taylor Swift ft. The Civil Wars - Safe and Sound

I love the eerie, haunted sound of this track. I love the scratchiness of the guitar and the musky sound of Swift's voice in this.

The hat of dreams.

I am such an irritating shopper. I try on clothes, I love them, I want to buy them. Then a little voice comes into my head that makes me think "just think about it for a minute, don't make any rash decisions you can come back for it later" and if I follow this little voice and leave the item then come back for it later instead of just buying it...it's gone. Sold out. No more. I irritate myself time and time again, and keep vowing that I will stop this but never do.

And this is my problem that I bring to you.
I want this hat:

buy from: New Look £4.50 (sale)

I tried it on. It looked good. It wasn't expensive, yet I doubted and put it back, and now I don't have it. Even worse, it's gone into the sale. Bargain! I went to New Look straight away on Boxing Day morning to claim this beauty, but there were none to be found.

So, here is my question, should I search every New Look in the region until I find it? (I am prepared to do this for this hat!) Or should I just buy one of these lovely hats instead? And if so, which one? (Vote below in this post for your favourite, or if you think I should not give up on the one I first fell in love with!)

Alternative #1:

buy from: Tesco £7

Alternative #2:

buy from: Debenhams £10 (sale)

Rockin' around the Christmas tree.

Christmas tunes for this lovely week leading up to Christmas!
I can guarantee that you won't feel glum listening to these!
Embrace Christmas!

1.Justin Bieber Duet with Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You 
Yes Mariah Carey has rereleased her famous Christmas tune, with the verses being sung by none other than Justin Bieber. Yes, it is pretty terrible, but I love it all the same.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGFNmEOntFA

2. Glee Cast - Do They Know It's Christmas Time?
This shows the giving of Christmas time. It's upbeat and happy but has a deeper message to remember those around us.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w347aP5z-8s

3. Peter Auty - Walking In The Air (from The Snowman)
My favourite Christmas song. It gives me chills. I've loved this since I was a little girl. I know it doesn't mention the word 'Christmas' in it, but the entire movie is about a snowman and Christmastime, so I think it's allowed to be on my list!
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb-pX7sIjFY

4. Lily and the Parlour Tricks - White Christmas
With an old-fashioned sound and lovely vocals. This is a lovely cover of the famous Christmas song.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kFN_n1mr7E

5. Josh Groban -O Holy Night
This is what Christmas is all about.
link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zh-yR0pbmU

Snug as a bug in a rug.

Hello everyone!

Christmas is less that 10 days away and it's starting to feel very festive, I even saw the first snow of winter today. As temperatures fall and it starts to get all cold and frosty, I've started to pick up my search for the perfect winter cardigan, as there are so many to choose from right now!

Here are my favourites on the high street:

1. Urban Outfitters. £110.

I love this cardigan so much. I love the dark murky colours and the fur trim colour. The price tag however, I really don't like. £110 for a cardigan? No way. Sorry UO but that is far too steep.  

In other news, I've just written an article about UO for a student website. Check it out by clicking here.

2. Miss Selfridge. £39.

I love the fairisle pattern on this cardigan. It looks lovely and it would be perfect to curl up with on top of your pjs on Christmas Day!

3. Warehouse. £60.

The chunky buttons and length of this cardigan tick all the right boxes for me. The muted shades work well together. It would look good with some black skinny jeans. 

Which one would you pick? Or have you already found your perfect winter jumper?

Bucket list.

There's a film called The Bucket List which I have not seen but it's about 'two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die' (imdb.com). They call their to-do-list the bucket list because it's things they want to do before they 'kick-the-bucket'.

Lots of people have to-do lists or wish lists for their lives, and there is a lovely tumblr blog called http://perfectbucketlist.tumblr.com which has lots of images + text with ideas to add to your own bucket list. It's quite morbid if you think about it in terms of 'things to do before you die', so I'm going to think of it as 'adventures and dreams for the future'. There are some lovely ideas on that blog, bordering on plain crazy to just little things that make you smile. Here are some that I would add to my 'bucket list':

And here are some things that I've already done:

And this is what I'm trying to do:

What goals/plans/dreams/wishes do you have?

Chestnuts.

Do you always put up your tree whilst listening to a certain Christmas CD?
On Christmas morning do you make the festive spirit even more cheerful by playing cheesy Christmas CDs?
Do you secretly love it when they start to play the festive music at work/ in the shopping centres?

If you've answered yes to any of the above questions, then I think you should add these CDs to your Christmas collection:

1. She & Him - A Very She & Him Christmas

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFHF5wQoXtY&feature=related

2. Michael Bublé - Christmas

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkN5M-nJx6A

3. Glee: The Music - The Christmas Album Volume 2

link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXxTPeeL1Qg&feature=related

Listen to the links and start getting excited for Christmas!