Ask me anything 💬

Let's have a nice, big, end of the year chat? Plus Twixmas recommendations.

Annual Santa hat convention (aka Christmas Day parkrun)

It’s December 29th, slap bang in the middle of that weird time between Christmas and New Year. This is the first time I’ve opened my laptop for a week, I feel like I’ve got Baileys running through my veins and the days of the week no longer mean anything to me.

It’s a Sunday though, I’m pretty sure. I did my long run yesterday (a 15 mile parkrun sandwich, furthest I’ve run since August, legs felt like they were going to fall off) which means I could spend this morning eating pancakes and drinking coffee instead. Now it’s nearly 11am and I’m still in my pyjamas, surrounded by Lindt ball wrappers. Nothing says Twixmas more than that, surely?

And on the topic of Lindt balls, quickly, have you tried the new pistachio ones? Delicious, 10/10, wholeheartedly recommend. Still a runner up to coconut though.

My Christmas was a variation on almost every single one I’ve had for the past 32 years. Increasingly, that in itself feels like a miracle. An endless rotation of visits between various grandparents and siblings and cousins and aunts. Stockings full of lip balm (this family loves lip balm). Mum’s bread sauce. The needles falling off the tree. Walks to the pub. Fighting over the strawberry creams in the Quality Street tin. Etc, etc, etc. And some new traditions creeping in too (Christmas day parkrun, mainly) along with new members of the family (hello baby Hannah). I suppose one day I’ll spend a Christmas not in Northampton, but I just can’t picture it yet.

Last night, Mum and I went to the cinema to see the new Robbie Williams film, Better Man. Yeah, the one where Robbie is a chimp. It took a while to get used to him being an ape but then I thought it really worked. Mainly the film made me think thank god I can’t sing, because I’m really not cut out to be a pop star. So many late nights. I found it quite a hard watch in places, and spent all night afterwards worrying about whether Robbie is happier now. I wonder if he had a nice Christmas? There’s a whole Hello! article about him decorating his Christmas tree and Better Man, which came out on Boxing Day, has a pretty amazing 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. Hopefully that bodes well for Robbie but, as the film shows, none of that really means anything.

For a more upbeat Twixmas recommendation, I’ve been reading Think Again. It was like 2003 all over again unwrapping a new Jacqueline Wilson on Christmas morning, in the absolute best way. This is her first book for adults and revisits Ellie, Nadine and Magda from the Girls series. I’ve mostly been reading it under a blanket on the sofa, wearing a new pair of pyjamas. Pure nostalgia.

And a few other things I’ve enjoyed reading/watching/listening to this week: Ella’s boyfriend’s Christmas sandwich review (a perfect piece of writing), the Christmas special of Jessica Knappett's Perfect Day podcast (with the girls from Drifters, hilarious), About a Boy (free on Prime, what a classic) and the Goodnight Mister Tom film (another classic, as much of an emotional rollercoaster as ever). Plus the Gavin & Stacey Christmas special, but that probably goes without saying.

Now I’ve reached that point I always get to, where after the over indulgence of Christmas I find myself really looking forward to January, to a bit less cheese and a bit less Baileys and a bit more structure. I actually really like New Year, the feeling of a clean slate. I’ve written before about how I started running off the back of a New Year’s resolution and it literally changed my life.

But before we get into all our hopes and dreams for 2025, I thought it would be nice to finish off this year with a chat. I’ve never done an ‘ask me anything’ before (and I feel a bit nervous!) but the comment box is open - anything you’re nosy about, topics you’d like to me to write about in the year, highlights from this year you’d like to share, amazing recommendations for things I can watch or read what while I finish off the rest of the cheese. I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for reading and subscribing this year! I love having you here and can’t wait to keep writing in 2025.

Elise x