Last minute alternative Christmas gifts

Hey loves

So, have you left the gift getting to the last minute and you stumbled upon this post hoping for help. Well sit back, and let me give you a few ideas for some last minute gifts that is a little more special than the latest lippie or the random  voucher (note I do love a lippie and voucher though lol)

I adore gifts that have a meaning behind them, like the star my best friend Joanne named in memory of my mummy the Christmas after she passed, or the gorgeous frame our friends filled with pictures for us.

These next few ideas are either readily available or if ordered asap will be with you for the big day.

Star Gifts

Now I know the science behind it all is flawed, but when my best friend Joanne bought me one in memory of my mummy, it was one of the most special gifts I have ever received.

I think this is a gorgeous gift even in memory or to celebrate a day.

You can buy the stars to name from so many places, this is one I found to be really good value 

Or another unique gift I found when looking into the stars was this from Not on the high street by a company called Greater Skies.  You email the team a time,date and place and the print is the stars that were in the sky at that time. You can also personalise it which again is so special isn't it. This could work for so many occasions and I must admit I have it in mind for an upcoming gift I need to get.

Memory Jar

I found this in my local pound shop for £2 and next year I am going to get Scott and I to fill in a little piece of paper maybe on date night or when something funny had happened. Then maybe on NYE next year we can open it and look back on the year.

You could easily make this yourself with a glass jar, ribbon and some nice paper.

Another idea that would fit in with this is a date night jar. We always try to do date night every month at least and I think it would be great to get a pretty box or jar and put 12 dates in it you would both like to do and pick one out as a surprise every month. Personally, I would love to get this as a gift as it's soo sweet.

A charity gift

My mummy and daddy for years had bought me a goat couple from Oxfam, and I loved getting the wee card every year. Now that mummy isn't with us, I buy a goat in her name every year and send the card to daddy.  There are lots of different types of gifts available for people who like different things, it' a great way to make your Christmas gift to someone really count. Grab your own goat here

Personalised notebook

Now anyone who knows me, knows I adore stationery, like I could literally buy a notebook everyday, and when I saw these available in Next I jumped at the chance. I want to record our trip away so I thought it would be a great idea to get. You could get this and personalise it with so many options, recipes, poetry, blogger ideas. The options are endless. Unfortunately because these are so personalised, they do take around 5 to 7 days, but grab it here and hope for quick postage.

I hope these last minute gift ideas have given some food for thought, and you are online getting some last minute shopping with a glass of wine.

Till next time loves

Keep smiling and shopping

Ali xx

Deerstalker Portrush Review

Hey my lovelies, hope we all are well,and getting used to this crazy cold weather. Please tell me, someone else wants to hibernate till January!

So, today I am back with a review of Deerstalker Bar and Restaurant in Portrush. We recently visited it for Scotts birthday with some of our friends, and I wanted to share a little review. I hadn't ate in the complex since it had changed over to the Deerstalker, but we had heard fantastic thanks, so I decided to surprise Scott with a little get together. Madison and the team could not have been more helpful, they put our party down into the study area, and had set up a gorgeous private area for us, it made it all that little more special.

Most of us started with cocktails, and seriously guys, the cocktails were fantastic, I tried a number of them including espresso martinis, brambles, french martinis to name just a few and we all agreed the cocktails were gorgeous. The bar has a new cocktail menu out at the minute, and I am actually popping in for a ladies night, so I will keep you up to date with the new menu.

The menu itself had a fantastic choice of food, there were a couple of vegetarians in the group and they found it really easy to get a dish that was suitable. One thing I will say is, the portions are very generous in regards to the starter, so in hindsight 2 or 3 people could share a starter, especially the wings or the quesadillas, so it's worthwhile taking that into consideration. We all really enjoyed the starters, quite a few people raved about the wings and Scott said the quesadillas were fantastic. I had the asparagus and I have to admit, looking at everyone elses starters, the asparagus definitely could have been better with presentation.

Another round of cocktails and our mains were ready. The mains all came out at the same time which for a party our size, we were super impressed by, but unfortunately, my friends pork was completely cold and had to be changed which although not great, we understood these things happen at times.

Special mention had to go to the lasagne, I think the chef was feeding the 5000, again the portion was generous, and the 2 people that had it, really loved it. I tried Scotts spicy hake, and had one of those oh I wish I ordered that moments, it was a really flavoursome dish, with lots of spice and fab textures.

We were all really impressed apart from the pork, but these things happen and apart from that we couldn't complain about the meal.

We didn't have any dessert, as between the starter, main, cocktails, and Scotts birthday cake, we were all nicely satisfied! 

Overall, it was a really nice evening and the menu is a really reasonable price. Having the extra privacy down in the study was a really nice treat and it made it feel extra special, so definitely if you are looking somewhere for a nice casual bite to eat, the Deerstalker should definitely be on your list to try.

I won't tell you about going into Lush, to see Paul Van Dyke after the meal, but imagine 4 30 somethings in the VIP bar loving life! 

Thanks to Madison and her team for a fantastic evening, and I will be sure to let you know how the ladies night goes. If you fancy a night out tonight, pop in for a bite to eat and a boogie.

Till next time lovelies, keep smiling

Ali x

Check out the Deerstalker here