Merry Christmas!

Christmas Party

IT’S CHRIIIIIIIIISTMMMAAAAAASSSSS!!!! Ok not quite but it’s so close I can smell it, trees and lights are everywhere, presents are being wrapped, or in my case popped in to Gift Mate Bags and most importantly the QVC Christmas Party got underway!! What a fun night to get to see all our lovely colleagues and friends all dressed up to the nines, covered in sequins, hair done, heels on (and that’s just the guys) and everyone in a great mood and up for a party.

It’s not often I get to socialise with everyone from work as with two small kids and living two hours away from work I always have to dash back home after a shift so this was a great opportunity to have some fun with everyone. I was however on an early start at QVC the next day so I didn’t get to stay that late but I had time for a dance, a few drinks and of course made time for the photo booth. If there’s no photo booth did the party even happen?!! Here’s a selection of the pics from the booth plus a rather brilliant festive lift selfie I took on my way out of the party.

I teamed my Christmas outfit with one of my favourite coats from Helene Berman, Yep AGAIN! I can’t help myself I just love her coats. This is the Faux Fur Edge Coat with Contrast Lining. I have the black which has an amazing purple lining. These pictures made me laugh because they were taken by one of my directors at 10pm after a few drinks and I had to do a lot of cropping to the pictures as I was almost out of the shot on most of them and perhaps just a little blurry haha!!

Here’s a few more pics of my lovely QVC squad, a mix of producers directors and floor crew and of course the lovely Catherine Huntley, who is always up for up for a party!

What I’ve been wearing – Phase Eight Double Breasted Jacket

One of my latest items from QVC is this rather nice double breasted Heritage Check Jacket from Phase Eight. It’s got a bit of a 90s feel which is of course very now in terms of fashion and it can be worn really casually or teamed with tailored trousers for a smarter look. I have been wearing it with a T-shirt and my Baukjen Boyfriend jeans. This jacket will look great with cream or white shirts and blouses and also roll necks for that ‘home counties’ style. If you want to make it more funky though then a bright colour underneath would be great too, I would go for a bright pink.

TSV – Shark Vacuum Cleaner 30th December

So many of us may be thinking about getting the house in order after all the Christmas festivities and perhaps having a house full of guests. You may even be thinking about the New Year and updating some of the household appliances. Maybe you realised your vacuum cleaner just isn’t made for the tough stuff, like needles from the tree or glitter! So our Shark Today’s Special Value could be perfect timing for you.

We have the Shark Duo Clean Lift Away for you at a great price and I am completely loving trialling it at home. It has two brush rolls in the floor head meaning that you can move from carpet to hard floors in a breeze without having to change any attachments. It also has on-board lights for when you are doing under the table or other furniture. The main body also releases, with its ‘lift away’ feature, from the floor head to make it an easy to carry portable.

You then have an extending tube attachment and long reach arm to do the cobwebs and dust in high corners of the room and ceiling lights etc. It has a cylinder dust bin so no extra bags needed and the power, my goodness, is incredible and also not very noisy at all which is a major bonus in my book. There is even an attachment which is perfect for the stairs and to pick up pet hairs off your upholstery.

Now I know this isn’t the most important feature but can we just discuss the fact that it has rose gold features!!! Silly to be excited by that, but I don’t care, I love that. I have been incredibly impressed with this Shark Vacuum cleaner, I have never had one at home so it’s been a pleasure to give it a proper trial run rather than just seeing it in the studio. I’m actually horrified at the dirt and old fluff that came out of my rugs!!! I hope you’ll tune in to see it in action on the 30th and see what our incredible offer will be.

Spiced Christmas Gin & Apple

This is my Christmas present to you, as promised it’s my Spiced Gin recipe. It’s also a great opportunity to try out 6 O’Clock Gin, which is a Great Taste Award Winner

One Litre bottle/carton of Cloudy/pressed Apple Juice
2 Cinnamon Sticks
3 Star Anise Stars
1 tsp of whole cloves
1 unwaxed Lemon
Classic Gin of your choice

Method

In a large pan pour in the apple juice and warm on a medium heat. Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise. Take a vegetable peeler and slice off a few curls of the lemon skin to add to the mix and then squeeze in the juice of the whole lemon. Leave to warm up and infuse the flavours of the spices.

When the juice is starting to steam you can turn off the heat. Take your glasses or mugs and add your measure of gin. You can of course add the gin to the pan but this way people can keep a better idea of how much they have had! (If using glasses make sure not to pour in boiling juice, keep it at a warm temp. Or use heat safe glasses) Enjoy!!

This is an easy recipe to play around with, you can add or remove any spices you aren’t fond of. You can try it with orange too instead of lemon, or use both and even add some grated fresh ginger!

Well that’s it from me for this year. I can’t believe it’s already nearly over, I think it may have been one of the fastest years ever for me ever. It’s been a weird one too for us, it started with my hospital visit and appendicitis. I had to replace my car after losing my brakes on the motorway, twice! Thankfully I didn’t crash but it meant a change of car to keep me and my family safe on the road. Fred quit his job and went freelance. My parents sold the family home and moved to an apartment and we had a scary week in hospital with Ivy and her lymph gland infection.

So it was a year of bumps in the road and some big changes but it was also filled with lots of wonderful things too. Our trip to Gran Canaria was definitely a highlight, also our half term in Margate. There were Christenings and parties and even a snowed-in Birthday for me which was one of the most memorable that I’ve ever had. Tilda and Ivy continue to make us laugh and smile every day and are growing up into the loveliest little people. Fred is finding his feet being freelance and the bonus is that we get him at home so much more which is brilliant!

As for work, QVC has been so much fun and packed full of excitement. Highlights for me were definitely The Weekend Kitchen which I got to present with Will and our chefs Marcus Bean and Dean Edwards. I’m very happy to say it will be back in March! The launch of the Dyson Airwrap was also a buzz for myself and Jackie as we got to see it under a cloak of secrecy before the launch. I have never seen something sell out as fast as that before!! I love working at QVC and I can’t wait for another fun-packed year, I wonder what will be in store next year?!

I would love to know how you all are too and what you’ll get up to over Christmas, so please do drop me a line below in the comments and as always make sure to keep up with me over the holidays on my Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Sending loads of Christmas love to you all and I will see you all back here really soon.

From me and mine to you and yours, Happy Christmas!!

Love Katy xxxxx