Happy January, Happy New Year!
I hope you had a lovely Christmas! Can you believe January is here? January brings with it a New Year, I’m soo excited for 2019. Before we move forward to January though, I need to reflect on December. There is no better way of doing that than my Monthly Favourites. The month has been amazing, I’ve made some amazing memories with friends and family over the past 31 days.
Missed my November Favourites? Head over here to see what I was loving
during the month.
Shall we get started with my December Favourites?
Oxford Christmas Market | If you read my Christmas Spirit post on Day Six of 12 Days of Blogmas, you’ll know I visited Oxford for their Christmas Market. I adore visiting Markets in December because they’re always soo adorable and it’s all so festive. I get this lovely festive feeling inside of me.
It was such a magical time with carol singing, Bratwursts and log cabins with gifts for everyone. It was finished off with a giant Christmas tree in the middle, all it needed was snow and it would be the perfect Christmas setting. This is definitely another thing I miss about Plymouth, I would definitely go back!
Christmas Secret Santa | I love a good Secret Santa, this month I was thankful to participate in two this month. One with my colleagues at work and a second with a small group of bloggers. I’m soo thankful for all the amazing gifts, I have some amazing people around me and I’m happy my recipients enjoyed their gifts
For Christmas, we spent it with Yasmine’s family in Plymouth, from the weekend before to New Year’s Eve we spent time with my second family. Of course, we had to make the most of it while it last so I felt like a proper tourist in my own hometown! We were able to get up to a lot and I’m very thankful.
Below are some of my Favourites from Plymouth.
Christmas 2018 | It was lovely waking up Christmas Day morning snuggling up with Yasmine. We wasted no time at all in unwrapping our presents and tucking our faces into amazing festive food! It was a little strange having fish on Christmas but it worked soo well and I fell in love. I received some amazing gifts and I’m soo thankful to it all!
RAF Harrowbeer | I’m really not one for staying in the house for longer than two days, by the time Boxing Day came along I was itching to get outside! We invited a couple of our MG Rover friends to RAF Harrowbeer for Coffee, Cars and Ice Cream. It was amazing to spend a couple of hours with these great friends also couldn’t resist a couple of great photos.
Jennycliff Beach | Another place I miss in Plymouth is Jennycliff Beach, whenever we’ve visited it’s always a relaxing and quiet day. Perfect for winding down after the madness of Christmas! Normally we either relax on the grass or beach but this time we did a little exploring across the rocks to smaller rock beaches. It was a lovely day and I adored being so close to the sea!
PS. Do not wear a skirt and tights when rock climbing!
Paignton | We couldn’t visit Plymouth without visiting Yasmine’s grandparents in Paignton. We spent the whole day exploring and spending some time with them, from having lunch in Wetherspoons to exploring the town centre and the waterfront. It was a lovely day and thankfully the rain stayed at bay so we were able to spend time outside.
Christmas Train of Lights | Yasmine is such a big fan of Steam Trains, one reason she loves visiting Paignton is for the Dartmouth Steam Railway. For Christmas this year, they put on a special Christmas Train of Lights, a magical Steam Train with lights covering all the carriages.
It made the train so beautiful and it was pitch black when we took the train so could see all the lights perfect. This is the first time in the UK this has happened so it’s great to be a part of something very special! Also, it was lovely seeing the smile on Yasmine’s face, she adores Steam Trains so it’s a big moment for her.
Aquaman | I adore DC and Marvel movies, they are amazing and it’s brilliant turning drawings into full feature films. While we were down in Plymouth, we had a movie night at Vue Cinema and watched Aquaman. I didn’t go in with high expectations, but in the end, I came out pleased and enjoyed the movie! What made it better, Yasmine and I were on a double date with two of our closest friends.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before | After watching on Netflix, I became addicted To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before from Jenny Han. When I found out it was based on a book I knew I had to pick it up! When organising my wishlist for the Blogger Secret Santa, this was the first item I added.
I became pretty addicted when I started reading on the journey home to Plymouth. Time just seemed to go so quickly and before I realised, I was reading the last paragraph of the book and I was finished! I now need to get my hands on the second and third book to carry on the story. I do wish Netflix would make those two books into films, I’ll definitely watch them!
The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen | For Christmas, I received The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen, I was soo glad to unwrap this. From the moment I saw this first released, I wanted to get my hands on it but it was only available in Finnish, I’m soo thankful they brought the book out in English.
Just like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, I was addicted to this book! Before I realised it, the book was finished, that’s what a week’s holiday does to you. I’m soo glad I was able to finish this as it was such an amazing story. I loved getting to know Kimi a lot more than what you see on TV when he’s racing in Formula 1.
12 Days of Blogmas | I did it! I completed 12 Days of Blogmas 2018! I’m soo proud of myself and this was a big achievement for me. December has been a cracking month for visitors and views here on An Ocean Glimmer, I’m so thankful for all of you that have shared the love. I have enjoyed this soo much and soo glad I went ahead with 12 Days of Blogmas.
2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge | With reading both To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before and The Unknown Kimi Raikkonen I reached my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge! I’m soo proud of myself, I increased my Goal to reach a total of 15 books in 2018 and just before the end, I did it. Now, onwards and upwards for 2019! I will be increasing the Goal.
I hope you have enjoyed this Favourites post! It’s always crazy how much you do over a course of a month. I love looking at my Instagram to help me reflect on the previous month. December has been a cracking month, as you can see it was a long and busy month but wouldn’t change it for the world! I’m excited for January, it’s a new month and year!
I hope you have enjoyed this review! What is one of your Favourites from December?
Also, make sure to follow me on my blog (in the sidebar) and don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin’, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Love Gemma x
An Ocean Glimmer 
This is such a lovely post, it’s so nice to hear about different people’s Christmases! I wish I’d had chance to go to more Christmas markets & see more decorations this year, always gets me feeling so festive. Congrats on finishing your reading goal too, the Christmas period is such a good time to have the chance to catch up and get properly stuck into a book.
Megan | https://pixieskiesblog.wordpress.com/
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