How Changing Jobs Finally Allowed Me to Enjoy My Christmas | #ThisGirlEats

Shout out to all the frazzled retail workers: I feel ya. This time of year is awful for you guys – until very recently, I was one of you guys! After my time as an Xmas sales assistant, three distinct experiences spring to mind…

1. The queues. Oh dear God, the queues…

2. The questions. Just so. Many. Questions.

3. The very rude, inexplicably angry customers. “Why don’t you have this in stock?” “I’m actually in a rush, I don’t have time for any of your offers.” “5p for a bag?! Outrageous!” “Why can’t I return this without a receipt? I know my rights, you know!”

It’s shit. You get zero time to yourself. You’re expected to work crazy hours that give the bigwig CEOs – who sit in their comfy offices and work nice, normal hours – cartoonish dollar signs in their eyes. You’re there at the crack of dawn for the early shoppers. You’re there until late at night for the after-work buyers. You’re there on Christmas Eve for the last minute-ers. You’re there on Boxing Day for the sales fanatics. You’re literally always at work.

There’s no build-up for you. No lovely festive shopping trips, no pre-Christmas get-togethers, no cosying up on the sofa for a day of mulled wine and Christmas films. Grabbing a spare few hours between shifts to purchase, wrap and deliver presents is a military mission. You get one day, ONE DAY, to celebrate – Christmas Day. My ‘one day’ had to be split between mine and my boyfriend’s family, so I ended up with half a day to see my ‘rents, my grandparents, my extended family (who I bloody love)… everyone!

It makes getting into the festive spirit really, really hard.

This year I left retail at the very last moment – I was Indiana Jones, rolling under the store shutter and snatching up my trusty hat just in the nick of time. I switched to my first office-based role in December and, thanks to the time of year, I’ve instantly felt the benefits.

The Christmas party, for one. When you’re a retail worker in a shopping centre or central city location, it’s impossible to arrange the perfect time for a Christmas bash – someone, somewhere, is always working and, inevitably, we’re told the party will just have to wait until the New Year… Again. But the office Christmas party – much like the recent Jennifer Anniston flick – went all-out and, for the first time, work felt Christmassy to me.

The computers are decorated with tinsel. Treats sit waiting for you on the desk – a secret santa gift, a thank you from your manager. Everyone wants to go for pre-Christmas drinks after work because, why not, it’s only 5pm. Not to mention actually knowing in advance which festive days you can spend with your loved ones – including Boxing Day and the glorious feeling of not facing the crazy ‘o’ clock shoppers first thing in the morning!

I don’t at all envy those who are stuck in yet another year of Christmas retail. I sympathise – no, I empathise – with you. Who knows, I may well end up back there again one day, the office might not be the place for me after all. Only time will tell. But for now, I know for sure that I’m so, so glad I left my retail job when I did because I finally feel like I can enjoy Christmas, just like everyone else.

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Cute Christmas Gifts for Your Inner Foodie | #ThisGirlEats

This weekend, I spent yet another afternoon perusing a local Christmas market – just try and keep me away from the damn things! This time I found myself in the middle of Canterbury, where the high street has been transformed into an adorable Santa’s grotto, with traditional huts, twinkling lights and cutesy stalls selling all sorts of unique gifts, tempting treats and lovely liquid delights.

I came across countless bits and pieces as I wandered about – mostly completely useless but charming trinkets that would help create the boho boutique decor I one day dream of showering my home in without having any real practicality whatsoever – but, alas, my budget wouldn’t allow such frivolous spending. These are just some of the knick-knacks I stumbled upon that made my inner foodie squeal with excitement…

This lavish sweet treats stall, decked out with literally hundreds of mouth-watering nougat, fudge and cake bars, decorated marvellously with tasty decorations and fun, novelty themes, not to mention sliced and wrapped beautifully.

 

This quintessentially British stall, featuring traditional family board games such as Monopoly and Cluedo on one side and copious amounts of unique alcoholic beverages on the other. Christmas ales, mulled wine flavoured gin, marmalade vodka, you name it, they had it (and they let you try it as well!).

 

This totally f’ing adorable bloggers journal which, no, isn’t technically a foodie gift and, no, isn’t something I found on one of the market stalls, but it’s something that this particular foodie would love for Christmas (guys, take note) and, you know, it came from a shop on the same high street, like right next to the market, soo…

The Do’s + Don’t’s of Navigating Christmas Hangovers | #ThisGirlEats

With this time of year, hangovers are almost an inevitability. From my experience, these are some ultimate do’s and don’t’s when it comes to getting through a seriously bad Christmas hangover.

DO

Keep a packet of paracetamol handy at ALL TIMES. No matter how many scrunched up half-packs you end up having littered between bags, when you wake up on your mate’s sofa in yesterday’s clothes barely able to crack open an eyelid thanks to last night’s mascara, you’ll be incredibly grateful for that scrunched up half-pack.

Gather your trashiest TV boxsets and go nuts. Desperate Housewives? Get stuck into suburbia. Glee? Sing your heart out, baby. Gossip Girl? xoxo. Whatever you like to indulge in when the world gets a bit tough, this is your moment. Binge to your heart’s content, because it’s probably the only thing that can take your mind off of how bloody gross you are.

Try to avoid, at all costs, any remnants of the night before. Just try to ignore it, let it all wash over you and do your best to pretend it’s not happening. None of it. Not the crumbled up pants you tossed aside before drunkenly crawling into bed. Not the ugly-ass photos that are starting to creep up on social media. Not even the unexpected person you may have found yourself with in the morning (now that’s a night out!). Just close your eyes and kid yourself into believing you’re a perfectly functioning human being.

DON’T

Basically anything that I’ve done today, which includes…

Going to work the day after your Christmas party. Alright, we didn’t have a choice – they arranged the party on a Thursday for heaven’s sake. You can’t exactly call in sick pretending you’ve got the flu when the whole office knows the real reason for your sore throat is the lethal cocktail of singing and sambuca, which they all bore witness to. Be smart, plan ahead and never organise a night of Christmas drinking when you’ve got work the next day.

Watching Titanic. You might think, like me, that curling up in bed with one of your favourite movies, one that you haven’t watched for ages but you know will still make you feel all kind of feelings, is the perfect remedy for a hangover. And, like me, you’d be mistaken. My fragile state wasn’t prepared to watch Jack’s beautiful, frozen face disappear into ocean while Rose hogged that door all to herself. I felt even worse after all the emotional turmoil.

Overdoing the Chinese food for lunch when your stomach hasn’t quite decided if it can handle it yet. I work right next to a Chopstix, a Chinese fast food outlet I never knew existed until recently, and I carefully selected today – with my poor, weak, alcohol-infused body crying out for sustenance – to go for it. It was delicious, don’t get me wrong. But I really, really, really wish I’d waited for my tummy to settle down before I stuffed it to bursting point. Now I don’t know if I’m hungover or just greedy.