What These Real Women Really Want For Christmas 2016 – A Gift Guide

My “What These Women Really Want For Christmas” is becoming a regular Christmas thing, so this year  I went back to my trusted contributors to the feature for the third year in a row and asked them what they’d like for Christmas this year. Yet again they introduced me to things I didn’t realise that I wanted or needed and I spent a lot of the time putting this post together adding things to my own wishlist, oops.

This isn’t a “world peace” type wishlist, nor is it a “forvever home with a sportscar parked outside” wishlist. This is real stuff, that doesn’t (always) blow the budget and that is pretty easily available. Maybe it will inspire you for your own wishlist, or for the thirty- to forty- something woman in your life. Be inspired !

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Andrea from Office Mum

First to reply this year was Andrea, the one and only  Office Mum, who recently got a BOOK DEAL!  This lady is the living example of how focus and determination can make your dreams come true.

Here’s what she’d wish for :

andrea-2016

So these are some of the things I’d love to find under the tree on Christmas morning (well, Christmas Eve, because that’s when we exchange gifts)

1. I love this skirt shape and it’s everywhere again this year, which is great for short people like me. Midi-skirts are not my friend. This cord burgundy version is from Oasis. ( Bumbles says: I have a very similar one that I picked up in Tesco, great choice!)

2. You can never have too many bracelets (well actually I do have too many bracelets) but I think this one from Accessorize is really good value at €20.

3. My sisters all read and loved this book, and if I want to join in their conversations, I need to read it too – A Man Called Ove.

4. Christmas necessities include pudding, prosecco, and new pyjamas – I’m hoping for these cosy ones from Next.

5. The Nars multi is a gorgeous product for cheeks and lips, and my old ones are all gone, so this is back on my list.
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Elizabeth from Life on Hushabye Farm

Next up is Elizabeth from Life on Hushabye Farm, have you stopped by her blog lately, she’s gotten a makeover with gorgeous new illustrations and a dotcom address. Elizabeth is a working mum of four and a reluctant alpaca farmer.

 

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So, at the risk of being so shallow you couldn’t drown in me, here is my wish list for 2016

These…I need these boots (1) in my life, no self respecting Reluctant Farmer should be without them, the cost is a bit eye watering but I just know I’m worth it

 

I’m in lust with the Ilse Jacobsen range of raincoats and this one  (2) in particular would be just gorgeous.

 

And for the gift that keeps on giving this cookery course fits the bill.
So they are my top three on my 2016 wish list…whoever said I was a cheap date was clearly mistaken!!!
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Sadhbh from Where Wishes Come From

Sadhbh from the very beautiful Where Wishes Come From  where she writes  about celebrations, shows us crafts and shares snippets from life with her twin girls. Sadhbh has been busy this year working in television and is writing a children’s book. I always love her quirky picks,

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For Christmas this year I feel like I’m actually allergic to getting more ‘stuff’ just for the sake of it. That said, there are one or two things I genuinely need, that will make my life far easier.

 

1. A new hairdryer. So, my old one works still, but it is ancient and makes my hair frizzy and I’m sick to death of fighting with it. I have it on good authority that this one is the bees-knees and it’s not too expensive.

 

2. I really need a decent travel mug too. I only commute one day a week. But it’s a long commute – from one side of the country to the next – and back again – So I feel I deserve something pretty to bring with me. I quite like this one.  Also, if someone could sort out the broken cup-holder in the car that’d be great too…

3. The last thing I’d like falls neatly into the ‘stuff I don’t need’ category BUT honestly, who doesn’t need a little sparkle in their lives at Christmas?:  https://www.etsy.com/ie/listing/398673121/mermaid-pink-shell-enamel-pin-gifts-for?ref=market

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Laura from Dairy Free Kids

Laura from Dairy Free Kids, THE blog for anyone who has kids with dairy allergy intolerance, (and not just my blogging friend but my real-life-before-we-even-had-blogs-friend) is up next. Laura recently launched her new business Laura Kenny Digital so is busy working from home building her digital empire too.

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1. Long purse. I’ve had something like this for almost 10 years and I’ve finally retired it as it was looking shabby . I’m using a smaller one now but would love something like this.  I love these ones from Debenhams.

2. Some good books. Letter from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien and After You by JoJo Moyes (2) These are on my list this year. Also, a grown up Christmassy novel. Loved Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit so would love to give this a go.

3. PJs I always love nightwear for Christmas, I adore these star pyjamas from Next.

4. Busy B diary While I spend most of my time stuck to an electronic device and use an online calendar for work stuff I like to go the old-fashioned pen and paper route for my personal stuff. I love these Busy B diaries with a page per week and an opposite page for notes. Lots of room for kids appointments, play dates, afterschool activities, concerts etc and when I’m finished writing all that I might squeeze in some of my own stuff too. There are also handy quarterly pockets to store notes.

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Helen aka The Busy Mama

Helen, the Busy Mama always has a list that I look forward to reading, she’s a keen cook, a talented crafter and she too has moved job and shaken things up at home settling into her new house this year. Here’s what Helen would like for Christmas.

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On my first two items I’m cheating – as I already bought them for myself! They are all sorts of fabulous – from the luxurious packaging to the miracles they work on my fourty-ish face! They are the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow (€65) and the Mini Eye Wand (€39).  Naturally, I found out after buying these beauties that this is the ‘on trend’ makeup of the moment. I’m so ‘off trend’ I still use phrases like ‘’on trend’. I fell for the promise that they would make me look like I have had a night’s sleep. They do. (1 and 2)

Although I may now look like I get a night’s sleep – but given I don’t, I’m all about the good coffee – and sadly my new office coffee dock isn’t.  My Christmas stocking will be packing a much recommended (3) Aeropress – a fairly no hassle coffee maker that avoids the evil pods.  You can pick these up for about €32 in independent coffee shops or online.

And finally, I am one of those saddos that will always want something for the house. Our walls have just been painted and – if I hadn’t just spent all the money on the painter, I’d totally splash out on something fabulous for my newly painted walls. I’d go for something gorgeous from the wonderful So Fine Art Editions just off Grafton Street in Dublin which I’ve been walking past and admiring. A little something like this limited edition etching ‘Where the Wave of Moonlight Glosses’ by Yoko Akino, (4) which comes unframed for just €390. A steal for something so beautiful (Credit: http://www.sofinearteditions.com/work/where-the-wave-of-moonlight-glosses/)

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Me!

I’ve been very very spoiled this year, what with my (big) birthday and all the presents and then all my “birthday trips”.  I’m looking forward to a Christmas of peace with my husband and the kids (and I might even blog about it too)

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Here’s what I’m thinking:

1. I spend a good bit of time on instagram and always bemoan my lack of props, like every instagrammer worth her salt has a Cinema Lightbox and so should I. I think this one with three lines of text from My Shining Armour is perfect for my purposes. *image from gadgetshop,com

2. I’m nothing if not traditional, or predictable at Christmas a love to get new pyjamas, but this snuggle top from Next for lounging around in just looks perfect (€26).

3. I’ve just become aware of local artist Grainne Kenny’s work. I’ve a slight obsession with the beach and the sea and her Mixed Media Sea Studies have really caught my eye, prices start at €65 and they’re available from Gorey Market House and other local outlets, more information on her website (where I sourced the photo of the piece in the image).

4.This is a practical one. I could kind of do with a work bag that’s not fancy but practical that I can carry files in to and from the carpark. This one from Savida in Dunnes fits the bill and the budget.

5. Books:  A good book- this year’s wish list includes My Husband’s Wife  and I See You by Clare Mackintosh, or Graham Norton’s book, or anything else to let me curl up in a chair and enjoy. but you don’t need to see pictures of them.

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Thanks a million to my blogger buddies who contributed to this post, make sure to check out their lovely blogs. Hopefully our lists will have given you (and yours!)  inspiration.

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I wasn’t asked to link to or mention any suppliers listed in this post and the contributors haven’t disclosed any relationships with the products they recommend either.

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