New Year Reflections | 2014

It has certainly been a blast this past year, and at the moment I have been seeing a great deal of posts surrounding the new coming year and how much everyone would like to change themselves, their circumstance and generally their happiness and I think that's great, self improvement is where all great things begin in my opinion. But today I personally would like to do something a little bit different and reflect on 2014 in all its glory, because to sum up my past year in a word would be wonderful.

I didn't set any resolutions for 2014 except to just get by, through and enjoy all of the upcoming milestones (I didn't half make life difficult!) and likewise I won't be setting any resolutions for 2015.

First and foremost I graduated from my 4 year degree in Communications and Public Relations with a 2:1 and happily did not fall flat on my face collecting my scroll as I had feared (years of watching Lizzie McGuire face-plant had given me THE FEAR, in addition to those darn You Tube videos we all love to laugh at!)

This unfortunately was followed by a couple of difficult months finding a job, which looking back now I wouldn't trade for the world! (silly me to have left my stable job of 5 and a half years due to a workplace bully and of course to focus on my dissertation) after a couple of stints in various jobs and experiences, which I value as part of myself and my past now, I have found a job which  I have been in for about 5 months now, I really enjoy and allows me to gain valuable experience in magazine writing, editing and general marketing and communication goodness!

Swfitly this was followed by our beautiful wedding which I wish I could relive over and over again as it really was our perfect little day just for us and a few friends and family of course. Admittedly the bridezilla in me did come out and I am ashamed to admit the stress got to me a litte bit you know planning a wedding, completing a degree and looking for a job do tend to get a bit stressful in themselves. But of course as you know it all came together for our intimate ceremony in the Cornish countryside in what we consider to have been our dream wedding.

And of course ladies and gentleman, I started documenting my thoughts, feelings, reviews, life ramblings and memories with all of you in my little piece of the internet that is Granite City Girl and I have loved every minute I have spent as part of this blogging and reader community, relationship thing we have going on and may it long continue!

So 2015, dare I say you have a great deal to compete with but I look forward to your efforts!

I hope your 2014 has been as lovely and eventful as mine and I look forward to venturing forth into this brand new year with you ladies and gents! Be sure to share your best memory from 2014 in the comments below and if you would like to follow me into 2015 come find me on Bloglovin

Until 2015 folks!

H.Elizabeth x

Merry Christmas from Granite City Girl and family!

Hello everyone, hope you're all well and looking forward to the big day tomorrow! As I have been incredibly busy with Christmas shopping, family trips, visits and generally keeping above the festivities that come hand in hand with this time of year I decided that today all I would like to say to you all is thank you for tuning in every week and I really do hope you have a lovely Christmas and Santa is VERY good to all of you! 

Merry Christmas all! 

Until next time folks! 

H.Elizabeth 

Not another MAC post?! | Burgundy Party Line

With party season well and truly upon us, and may I also add almost passed us, I thought what better way to mark this occasion than with a brand new MAC lip purchase!

Recently I've been going through my make up having a bit of a sort through, clear out and general 'I've forgotten what I have' rummage around in my drawers and I realised that I have a few bits and pieces missing from my collection which I would love to have throughout this party season. One of said items I was meaning to purchase during October when the Rocky Horror MAC collection was released, but sadly it was not meant to be and I had to venture forth into my life Rocky Horrorless....

So finding myself at a loose end I decided to take a trip to the MAC store and treat myself, again, to a pre Christmas present from me to me and I walked out with one of their Cremesheen lipsticks in 'Party Line' and one of their 'Burgundy' lip liners to go along with it. Of course I rushed home to try it out as soon as I could (much like Charlie Bucket with his golden ticket)

 

The colour is a bit more intense than what I would usually go for, but I am getting a little more adventurous in my make up use, I say adventurous but I'm hoping the look I'm achieving isn't 'eccentric' Since playing about with it a little I must say I am surprised it hasn't been highlighted as more beauty bloggers party season favourite, it's a classic berry sheen with the perfect balance of shimmer in there and paired with the 'Burgundy' liner along with a slick of gloss it's gorgeous! 

I'm really chuffed with this lippy I think it's going to be a great asset to my collection as it can be dressed up with a perty frock, paired with a sleek hair do you could go very 1950's pin up or you can of course wear it with a slouchy jumper and a hint of liner, it's that versatile! The shade I feel will also go along with a number of different skin tones, it is a very shocking and intense colour against my peely wally skin but the colour is so deep and lovely I think it would look just as lovely on someone with a darker skin tone.

As always I'm really chuffed to find a lippy that won't dry out my lips, stands the test of time and water and of course has such a gorgeous colour. Another thing I'd like to say just before I sign off is that I'm always really chuffed with the way the ladies in the MAC store help their customers out, they really got my requirements spot on especially given I'm usually so vague about what I want and I am terrible at verbal descriptions! In short I highly recommend you pick this lovely little number up for party season and as I say I'm very shocked more people haven't been raving about this sooner!

What do you guys think? Have you got any go to party shades this year or do you even have any MAC recommendations for me, I'd love to hear them? Be sure to drop me a comment below, come chat with me on Twitter or of course if you'd like to see more of me, my reviews and my face be sure to follow me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks!

H.Elizabeth

Christmas at the Cinema | St Vincent Review

For those of you who were wondering, yes I am still very much a cinema geek dating back to my 'cinephile' post a little while back I can tell you with great certainty that nothing has changed. In fact now that my life has a bit of routine in it since leaving university earlier this year I'm a more active cinema goer than ever, and my unlimited card has certainly been through the ringer these past few weeks with the latest in Christmas releases, from Paddington and Horrible Bosses 2 to the Hobbit and the Hunger Games my cinema life has never seen so much action!

But today I wanted to tell you about an unexpected gem that I suspect may go overlooked by many a cinema goer in the coming weeks and just as a word of recommendation from me I highly suggest you see Bill Murray's latest acting endeavour 'St Vincent' 

St Vincent Movie Poster 2014

Now I know what a lot of you will be thinking, Bill Murray is often viewed as a love him or hate him kind of actor and well I love him and my mother hates him, but in this film I can't imagine anybody not being able to muster at least a smirk at his comedic performance as inappropriate aging childminder Vincent!

I will try not to give too much of the story away but in the opening scenes we are introduced to the crass, elderly veteran Vincent de Van Nuys (Bill Murray) who lives out his days drinking hard liquor, wasting his money at the race tracks and generally making others around him a bit miserable. Of course when introduced to his new neighbours, Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her 12 year old son Oliver (Jadeb Lieberher), is nothing but his typical grumpy self. Following unexpected difficulties at school, Oliver finds himself in the care of Vincent after an opportunity to squeeze some cash from single mother Maggie presents itself.

Vincent and Oliver go on to share in all kinds of debauchery and archaic experiences including a few stints at the race track, broken noses and of course Olivers introduction to Daka (Naomi Watts), a 'lady of the night' Throughout the course of the film Vincent and Oliver forge an unlikely friendship which is both heartwarming and endearing to witness. The film has scenes of laughter, love and heartbreak and  I would recommend it to anyone who would like to avoid the shiny shiny of the many blockbusters we have thrust in our faces these days in favour of a gem of a film.

Hopefully this encourages at least one of you to give the film a go, if you do go see it let me know or if this has convinced you to see it drop me a comment below! If this isn't up your street I also highly recommend Paddington, the final Hobbit movie or if it's still in of course do not miss The Imitation Game! Are there any films, cinema, DVD or television you've been loving lately, I always love to hear about new releases, be sure to leave a comment, come share them with me on Twitter or if you'd like to see more Granite City posts come find me on Bloglovin.

Happy watching until next time folks!

H.Elizabeth xx

Where is all of the 'Christmas Spirit?' | Christmas Shopping

It must be said, at this time of year I tend to have a love / hate relationship with shopping , well I say it's shopping but if I'm being totally honest it's Christmas shoppers. I apologise in advance for the unseasonably downer of a Christmas post but I'm afraid the world must be called out on their behaviour and so called 'Christmas cheer'  

I entered with high hopes, my mum had treated me to a slap up breakfast in town and the sight of the biggest and brightest decorations the shopping centres had to offer left me feeling incredibly full of festive cheer and I was incredibly ready and rearing to greet the days worth of shopping. And that's when it happened...

The not so subtle shoving, barging, pushing, lack of shopper etiquette as well as the complete and total abandonment of the much coveted Christmas spirit of the year and so the days events unfolded! If I could pinpoint one moment in the day I began to notice a difference I suppose I would say it all started with a tea set, beautiful, vintage and right up one of my friends/family members street the perfect gift....and did I mention it was also the very last one in store! Having picked it up, examined it for scratches, scathes and general scrappiness I decided, yes, this was the one, but all the while I felt a breath on my neck and a handbag nearly up my backside of another suitor for this tea set and upon discovering, much to her dismay, that I had claimed it as my own audibly sighed, mumbled profanities and shot a look in my direction which can only be described as 'bah humbug'....and that was only the beginning.

Throughout my Christmas journey I encountered similar acts of festive cheer and bah-humbugery of the highest order, such as the lady who decided to stop dead in the middle of the busiest street in town only to tut and titter when everyone maneuvered quickly around her or goodness forbid accidentally bump her handbag or perhaps the tale of the family who decided to use their push chair (child still inside) as a battering ram in order to fully dominate the tiny aisle space in BHS would be a more Christmassy tale. And lets not get started on Poundland (which may as well have a sign above the door which reads, 'Ye who enter here, abandon all hope) where I ditched all of my shopping in favour of sanity at having seen the queuing system, or lack thereof, a pet peeve of mine and the rest of the nation. Or perhaps the most interesting of all the elderly lady in Thorntons  who fully bashed, and made me fall onto the counter, in a bid to show her disdain for her lack of purchase, but not to worry she was quickly shut down by the cashier who came to my rescue as the bumper decided it was in fact my ass that was too big, as opposed to her manners being too few.

Much resembling THAT scene from much beloved comedy Christmas movie, 'Jingle All the Way' (the bit with the ball chasing) my hometown became a bloodbath of red tinsel, festive footwear and frivolous spending (that is the only way I can describe a woman piling handfuls upon handfuls of Christmas gift bags into her paws!)

So today ladies and gentleman I ask, why at the 'most wonderful time of the year', the time we ought to be the kindest, warmest and cheeriest we can be (it is indeed an unrealistic expectation I know) do we behave like animals, abandon all sense of moral right and wrong and simply stress one another out!? I myself have noticed that since the Black Friday madness those of us not living under a rock were forced to endure, shopping and the entire experience has refused to go back to normality and the sales aren't even on any more!

In fact in order to de-stress, cool off, let off some steam and generally calm down my mum and I found ourselves trailing a MILLION bags into the cinema with us to see Paddington, and I tell you it worked wonders, watching a fuzzy wee bear navigate London made Aberdeen and the shoppers look a little bit better.

Everything about the entire Christmas shopping experience this year has forced me to reevaluate the way in which I shop, the next time I shall not be going out armed with a fluffy parka and eyes full of hope, instead my weapon of choice will be steel capped boots and a hard visor! 

As I said I do apologise for the cynical Christmas post but I just wondered if everyone elses Christmas shopping experiences have been similar to mine this year? Or is it perhaps just me? (I really hope not) I would love to hear your Christmas shopping experiences from this year or perhaps you have a funny Black Friday story to share! Either way leave them in the comments below, come share them with me on Twitter or if you'd like to hear more of my Granite City rants be sure to follow me on Bloglovin.

Until next time folks, I'll be here catching up with a little zen!

H.Elizabeth x

Keeping Cosy this Christmas | Winter Essentials

Something I adore about Winter and the colder months is that my perpetually cold state can be appropriately justified and it gives me a fab excuse to layer up with jumper upon jumper under my dressing gown and of course have my heating up full blast without complaint (both a pleasure and a joy for being around those who appear to be constantly hot throughout the rest of the year!)

Given that the colder weather has just hit us in Scotland like a tonne of bricks, and that as a ground floor tenant in a previously council owned flat next to the coast (which of course makes me an absolute expert in heat conservation!) I thought I would share my top picks for keeping cosy indoors this Christmas and hopefully this might help you create your own little burrito of cosiness for this supposed 'weather bomb' coming our way! 

Philosophy Shower Gel, Damart Slipper Boots and ASDA Fairy Lights - Winter Warmers

Fluffy superman dressing gown by George ASDA (Stolen from hubby)

A Christmas 2013 gift from my parents to my hubby...and now it's mine! I actually wear this year long, even in warmer summer evenings (as I mentioned my perpetually cold state earlier!) I enjoy a longer gown as the short "girly" ones just don't do their jobs, when it comes to dressing gowns I go for durability, comfy, cosiness and something super, not sex appeal!

Blanket cape by New Look

Straight from my November wishlist to the comforts of my very own home! I grabbed this one while they were still in store, and you know even now their moment in the Autumnal outdoors has come and past at least I have a lovely cosy blanket to see me through the chilly nights in addition to my superman dressing gown!

Thermal tech slipper boots by Damart

I actually got sent these bad boys by Damart to share with you lovelies and I admit at first I was a wee bit skeptical since I already have a pair of slipper boots I adore and I thought how can they get better? But trust me these are on another level of comfort and feet treat goodness! They apparently have some thermal tech (which I'm not up on since I'm not down with the kids) but they keep your toes cosy with their furry lining and I'm pleased to find a pair of slippers that are durable enough to stomp through the house in without ripping of getting a stray stone through! These haven't been off my feet since they arrived and of course have joined my winter warmer essentials.

Fairy lights by ASDA
These little lovelies are enough to get anyone in the festive spirit! I bought these for about £3/£4 a few weeks ago and wound them around the top frame of our bed which ultimately transformed the entire appearance of our wee bedroom (I don't even think I'm exaggerating!) They are the perfect little night lights for reading in bed on chilly nights and I just love how they look, so much so that I have recently bought another 2 sets and wound one around the tiered storage rack in my wardrobe to make all of my clothes look super pretty.

Granny's apple pie shower gel by Philosophy
When you get in from the cold, darker days it's nice to just chill out and have a nice warm shower (I don't have a bath unfortunately!) and what better shower companion than a great bit apple pie!? Well not quite but this is my favourite shower gel to come home to in the evenings in particular it is such a warming, relaxing scent and sets you right up for bed time and relaxing evenings. You can read my full review of this product here

Homemade cinnamon hot chocolate by me
As you guys know I have been dabbling and experimenting quite a bit in my kitchen recently and I am pleased to report another culinary success in the form of my winter warmer cinnamon stick hot chocolate. It may be the thickest, creamiest and sweetest hot chocolate or general thing I have ever had but it is to die for and it is especially Christmassy with the cinnamon scents and tastes throughout!

So guys I do hope you've enjoyed reading my favourite Winter warmer essentials and I'd love to hear what your strategies are for keeping warm inside in the Winter. Be sure to drop me a comment below, come share your best cosies with me on Twitter or of course you can keep up with my cosies by following me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks.

H.Elizabeth

Christmas Gifting | DIY Festive Lip Scrub

Recently I have been experimenting with various scents, flavours, food stuffs and colours in my kitchen, and as odd and potion like and, well, Breaking Bad as that sounds, don't worry it's all in the name of a cost effective Christmas. From a failed attempt at a gingerbread house, too embarrassing to share, to eventually ending with flour, sugar and all matter of ingredients all over my kitchen, living room and my cat, I accepted defeat at the hands of Baking Mad and moved on to something more my speed.

And so with the incredible success (if I do say so myself) of my own little DIY lip scrubs I thought I would share some of  my more festive scrubs with you so you don't have to go along and shell out £5.50 at Lush for Santa's Cola Lip Scrub (not that I am claiming mine are ANY better than Lush but they are tasty!) This is a super easy DIY and I bet you can find most of the ingredients in your kitchen cupboard, the only thing you may have to go on a little hunt for are small plastic containers to hold you lusciously lovely scrubs in.

Christmassy Lip Scrubs

What you will need

3 Tablespoons of caster sugar

3 Tablespoons of conditioning oil (you can use coconut oil, jojoba oil or extra virgin olive oil)

Flavouring of your choice (make sure it won't irritate your face!)

Small amount of food colouring of your choice (optional and remember your face!)

Small pots or containers (depending on how much you make add a bow for decoration)

What you need to do

 Measure out your oil into a small bowl

Add the sugar and mix well

Add the flavouring and colouring (if you have chosen to do so)

Scoop your finished creation into clean containers and you're ready to scrub!

As you can see I opted for the ever so traditional Red and Green, I had pondered going for a yellow food colouring to go for a gold ish scrub... but then I remembered yellow snow is not such a good look especially not for something to rub across your face day to day (good one if you want to give someone a slightly rubbish gift)

If you are looking to make it a little bit more Christmassy I would suggest adding the juice of some cranberries, which will enhance the taste of your scrub and may even give your lips a little bit of a glow (you will just have to add a bit more sugar to get the correct consistency) Flavour wise I chose vanilla (playing it safe following the gingerbread incident) but you could always go for something a little more festive like cinnamon, or dare I say ginger! And if you're feeling a bit more brave you could add some face friendly glitter or dazzle dust into the mix for added sparkle!

I hope you guys have enjoyed this beauty DIY which will hopefully save you some pennies and of course save you from the chaos that is Christmas shopping. I'd love to see your efforts if you decide to tackle this tasty lip scrub or anything that you have been making this holiday season, have you successfully erected a gingerbread house? Of course as you know I love to hear from you so be sure to drop me a comment below, tweet your photos at me on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up with the latest Granite City antics come find me on Bloglovin

Happy gifting folks.

H.Elizabeth x

Black Friday | ASOS Haul

The night before Black Friday I was anxious, incredibly anxious. One thing my friends and family have come to know about me in recent years is that manners and particularly shopping etiquette mean a great deal to me and sitting on the periphery of the dreaded Black Friday I just knew that all of those famed reservations and snobbish manners of the Aberdonian people was all about to go flying out of the window and there is only one word to describe my beloved Union Square on a sale day, and that is carnage.

Given my nervous disposition and unwillingness to brave the supposed amazing sales (which I was later to find were non existent in the likes of Zara, despite the crazed women who were grabbing handfuls of vests, T's and all manner to stuff into breaking point baskets) I decided this ear was the year I go digital, and that's just what I did. I enjoyed Black Friday from the comforts of my own home, armed with my dressing gown, slipper boots and a recently topped up card I was able to grab a fair few bargains which I thought I would share with you today!

 

ASOS Cyber Sales

Having done my research by looking at what felt like hundreds of articles revolving around the best online discounts during the Black Friday madness, I settled on ASOS as my poison of choice. Throughout the course of 'Black Friday Weekend,' ASOS were giving you 20% off everything using the code CYBERWKND20, which brought me right back to my student days where I could often get 10 - 20% off everything and I must admit I got a bit click - buy happy!

Clothes and Misc

River Island Too Vogue T Shirt £12.00

Only Live Love long sleeve top with lace trim £12.00

ASOS Midi Skirt in Ponte with pocket detail / Grey £14.00

ASOS Full Length Leggings in High Waist / Oxblood Colour £8.00

Happy Jackson YAY! Lunch box / Pink £6.00

Make Up

Eyeko skinny liquid eyeliner / black £12.00

Bourjois little round pots eyeshadow / pink £4.00

Bourjois limited edition vintage little round pots / beige rose £6.99

Price before discount: £74.99

Price after discount: £59.99
Total saving: £15.00

With a saving of £15.00 I think I did quite well, however as much as I do love all of my ASOS goodies and gadgets I have to admit I am suffering a little from buyers remorse because I just know that had it not been Black Friday and had it been any old sale I wouldn't have spent half as much as I have now. Yes ladies and gents at the time I unashamedly got swept up in the madness of Black Friday as I believe many of you did too but now shamefully find myself almost £60 down so close to Christmas that probably would have been better spent elsewhere!

If you are however going to splurge like I very much have, I would highly recommend avoiding the dramas and chaos Black Friday physical shopping brings (very physical judging by some of Tesco's finests customer videos) and spend some quality time with the good ole laptop, onesie and slipper boots and spend yourselves silly!

I hope you've enjoyed reading of my Black Friday buys and blunders and I'd love to hear about some of your best purchases from that weekend of madness? Did you pick up anything in the ASOS deals? Drop me a comment below, come share them with me on Twitter or of course if you'd like to keep up with the latests be sure to follow me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks!

H.Elizabeth xx

Winter Reads | Wuthering Heights

Set the scene: A cold, dark, Granite City night, you come in and shake the snow from your drenched fluffy hooded coat and stomp excess snow and water from your boots drop your bags and head to change into those fluffy pj's that have been beckoning all day.

Pyjama and slipper boots ready you whip up a home made hot chocolate complete with canned cream, mini marshmallows and grated chocolate, throw a blanket around your shoulders and settle on the sofa. Cosy setting at the ready you pick up your favourite annual winter read, in this case Wuthering Heights, and scene.

At Christmas there is really nothing better than grabbing a blanket, cup of hot choccie and snuggling down with a good book. I think this is a tradition that nobody can escape, unless of course you're running about like a mad man trying to get Christmas gifts last minute (tut-tut) So with that in mind I thought I would share my annual winter read, why I love it and what it means to me!

At this time of year I'm afraid Dickens and his Christmas Carol just doens't do it for me, in fact nothing says Christmas to me more than Wuthering Heights (despite there being no mention of the festive season in the book!)

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Overly loved copy of Wuthering Heights

I first discovered Wuthering Heights when I was in my final year of school, so about 5 years ago, during an assignment where our English teacher asked us to abandon our comfort zones and read a genre we traditionally wouldn't (with most of the girls choosing the ever so original Twilight - which they traditionally would have read anyway ugh!) so I opted for one of the classics and decided Wuthering Heights dark undertones and twisted story line sounded far more interesting than the trials and tribulations of Mr Darcy or indeed Edward Cullen! During the assignment I read the book two or three times and so began my long lasting love and Christmas tradition of enveloping myself in Bronte's world.

What draws me so much more to this book than the other classics is that the heroine is a very flawed and real character who isn't like your run of the mill female characters from the classics who quite frankly allow their men to walk all over them. Likewise our anti hero, Heathcliff, isn't all frilly shirts and afternoon tea, you really have to look hard and dig deep to find any real and 'usual' romance in the novel.

Of course as a bonus the scenery and entire landscape which Bronte paints of the moors, which you can kind of see on the cover, Wuthering Heights and the locations the characters find themselves in are just spectacular, so chilling, dark and  wintery which of course explains my need for a hot chocolate whilst reading!

I'm not going to explain the plot in great detail for those of you who haven't read it but still may but I will say it will be unlike anything you have ever read before and it far surpasses the times in which it was written especially from a feminist point of view, and I'm not for a moment saying that Cathy in the book is a feminist role model but for the times it was set and written in, but I'm pretty damn sure she was.

Do you have any winter traditions you uphold year upon year no matter what? Share them with me in the comments below or tell me your best reads on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up with my Granite City musings come find me on Bloglovin

Until next time folks.

H.Elizabeth x

Christmas Time | Granite City Gifting and Special Reader Offer

Aberdeen's Castle Gate at Christmas (Image courtesy of Google - Since we have no snow yet!)

With Christmas just around the corner we've been in and dated with Christmas gift guides for him, her and them as well as the traditional Christmas Tag we've all come to know and love. But I thought I would do something a little different and since I am the Granite City Girl I thought I'd do something a little special for us Aberdonians and do an Aberdeen Christmas Gift Guide.

Also just as a wee side note be sure to stick with us until the end as a brand new local Aberdeen company contacted me recently to offer you lovely Granite City Girl readers a cheeky discount on their products!

Nova Gifts

24 Chapel Street, Aberdeen

Anytime I seem to find myself at a loose end (and at the far end of union street) I always take a gander into Nova because they always seem to have such a variety of cute nick nacks and whoosits and whatsits galore (breaking into song over here!) There is a bit of something for everyone, mugs, beautiful frames and niche beauty products. My top picks from their store would be their Mr Men and Little Miss mugs, their amazing rage of scented candles like Jelly Belly and finally anything from their range of natural toiletry products! Unfortunately you can't order from their store online so this truly is an Aberdeen exclusive (sorry guys!)

Nova on Rose Street

Old Aberdeen Gift Shop

605 King Street, Aberdeen

Shooting across to the other side of the Granite City pond is another cute and quirky gift shop offering all sorts for all kinds! They have lots of geekery products that might be a great trinket or stocking filler for your other half like money banks shaped like an Iron Man helmet or a transformers head water bottle. But my personal pick has got to be their Cupcake Mug with Frosting Lid, to be used for only the finest beverages of course!

Cupcakes by Jo

7a Crown Street, Aberdeen

Now I know what you're thinking, how are they going to even last until I get home?! Let alone putting in a Christmas order and expecting me to give them away. And really I did put them in here as an intention to first of all bring attention to a brilliant up and coming local business and secondly to say go and treat yourself! I recently had a Scottish Tablet Cupcake and a Millionaire Shortbread Cupcake, and their selection doesn't stop there, from good old vanilla to cookie monster coconut these beautifully decorated delights are simply delish! And if cupcakes aren't up your street then order yourself a personalised cake! Go and check out their website to see their culinary creations!

Cupcakes by Jo on Crown Street

Juniper Aberdeen

35 Belmont Street, Aberdeen

Juniper are a small, independent family run business in the centre of Aberdeen who specialise in unique gifts ideas and home trinkets. I must have bought my mum so many birthday and Christmas gifts from here in the past and I have a few pieces of jewellery from there myself. The way I describe Juniper is very Highland, they have a great deal of Celtic designed jewellery and the whole atmosphere of the store is very cosy. My top pick from there would be their cutesy Owl Cushions or their Bunny Ring Holders.

Aberdeen Whisky Shop

474 Union Street, Aberdeen

Something for the men in your lives now! Another wee independent shop again at the other end of town, boasting over 1000 different kinds of Whisky (who knew there were so many?!) there will be something for every Whisky lover. Whisky chocolates, books, hip flasks and those cute little miniatures that are right up my street as a non whisky drinker!

Some of the other independent stores around Aberdeen that are worth taking a gander into are Peapod for vintage lovers, Oil and Glass for artsy folk, Finnies the jewellers who do some beautiful jewellery pieces, MacBeans for coffee connoisseurs, Wowzie for sweetie lovers, and finally a new find for me Eighty7 Design and Living who from their Facebook seem to have some amazing and unique gift ideas!

The Natural Juicing Company Reader Offer!
The Natural Juicing Company are brand new to the Granite City scene and basically do what they say on the tin. Their cold pressed juices are said to retain up to 95% of all of the ingredients nutrients. If you'd like to read a bit more on their company, it's a great story which was recently featured on STV, click on over here!

Definitely one to watch in the New Year and with that in mind we arrive at our special Granite City Christmas offer! Send this as a gift or of course treat yourself to a refreshing detox towards the end of the year with £100 off the Natural Juicing Company's 'five day plan with nutrition guru' for your readers (Voucher code 5DAYGURU)

So there you have it ladies and gents, my top picks for Granite City gifting this festive season! I hope you guys have found it interested and I apologise if you aren't natives but hey at least you know where to come for some cool souvenirs if you ever venture this far North or maybe even gift someone something from one of the website stores!

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this Granite City Christmas post, thank you for making it this far! Share some independent stores and stocking fillers in your area with me in the comments below come tell me about them on Twitter or if you'd like to keep up with the latest Granite City Girl adventures come find me on Bloglovin

Until next time!

H.Elizabeth x