I can’t quite believe I’m saying this but, Christmas will be here before you can say Santa Claus… or in my case ‘pass me the mulled wine!’. Whichever way you look at it December 24th is snowballing up on us, and already the big retailers are starting to stock those festive Christmas gifts. I’m beginning to see those sparkly prezzies of red and green, and although I hate to admit it, I’m now finally giving in to start my Christmas shopping for 2017.

Who would get me thinking about Christmas this soon?  Of course, John Lewis. The creme de la creme of Christmas with possibly the most anticipated festive advert of each year. They recently got in touch for me to have a go at Christmas shopping for another blogger I’d never met! Obviously, this sounded really exciting and a little bit of a challenge – which I’ll always embrace! I would be doing a secret Santa style shop for beauty blogger Elle N Beauty, aka Elena. I won’t lie, I possibly had it super easy. Elena loves everything I do and therefore shopping was almost like shopping for myself at points! She loves beauty and with John Lewis stocking heaps of beauty gift boxes, I found it almost easy to navigate my way through their site. I’d simply add small and larger pre-created gift boxes to give to Elena, my problem was not about whether I could find suitable Christmas gifts, it was about being spoilt for choice. I opted for a couple Clinique giftboxes – because I mean, what girl can resist a bit of Clinique, and even as a fitness blogger I swear by this stuff! I then went for a gorgeous vintage vanity case to pop all her beauty blogger goodies in, an instagram worthy flamingo compact mirror, (sorry Elena, I love flamingos so had to inflict that passion on you), and finally one of my other faves, Kate Spade stationary with her initial on it. At the end of the day, I looked at Elena’s blog and thought, this is very chic, pretty and feminine, my Christmas gifts needed to reflect that and hopefully she thinks they did!

I must admit people either find me Christmas gifts easily, or they really struggle. Elena had it tough because if you don’t know me very well, I’m a bit of a jack of all trades. I generally like a bit of everything and my blog is very much that. She did, however, focus on getting me some fantastic fitness equipment which I couldn’t be more thankful for. I have been hunting for a decent yoga mat for ages, and she picked me up a Gaiam Sundial Grey Yoga Mat. It is amazing quality with a beautiful citron sundial printed on it. I’d normally of picked up a cheap one but this one is such a treat! As I unboxed further I discovered another product from Gaiam in the form of what fitness lovers dread, but bizarrely love at the same time, a massage roller. Even though I have a foam roller, this Gaiam Pressure Massage Roller is for all those hard to reach places. It arrived at a good time because my shoulders were really aching – so they aren’t now!

Moving on to the next gift was a big coffee table book, Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travelist Book. Clearly, my fellow blogger had picked up on my big passion for travel! I love to plan holidays and little adventures, plus I’m always curious about tips and tricks of what to see and do. This will definitely help me when I come to organise my next adventure. Love the Lonely Planet publications, having many already myself, so I’m looking forward to spending some downtime flicking through this.

Last but not least, (and a present that got pinched as soon as I picked it up) was the Luxury Slushy The Snowman dogs toy! My little puppy Winnie snatched it straight out my hand and ran off with it. Luckily I managed to get back off the reluctant puppy, but I can tell you with no hesitation – she loves it so it gets a big thumbs up. Also just to highlight the toy was bigger than the puppy but that didn’t phase her in the slightest! Poor Winnie will just have to wait to get paws on that at Christmas!

What can I say but what wonderful Christmas gifts I’ve just received! Big thanks to Elena and to John Lewis, you’ve completely got me in the Christmas spirit! If you want to join me on the hunt for Christmas gifts this year, take a look at some of the gift list ideas from John Lewis themselves. You can select budget, hobbies and family member – making the Christmas present buying processing easier! Watch this space for some more Christmas gift posts and hopefully festive inspiration.