Steff in Scotland

A Blogger's Visit From St. Nicholas!

‘Twas the night before Christmas
And in one little house
A lone blogger was stirring, hand on her mouse.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care
In hopes that satsumas soon would appear.

Most people were nestled all snug in their beds,
But visions of new blog posts danced in her head.
With she in her Christmas jumper, and her presents all wrapped,
She figured she may as well Instagram that!

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
She sprang from her laptop to see what was the matter!
Away to the floor her camera did crash, as she tore open the curtains and let out a gasp!

The moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave a lustre like silver to objects below,
When what to her wondering eyes should appear
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer!
With a little old driver so lively and quick,
She thought with a start "Too many gin and tonics?"

More rapid than Snapchat
His courses they came (that’d be reindeer!)
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name-
"On Dasher! On Dancer! On Prancer and Vixen! Now Comet and Cupid!..."
(and the rest...Rudolph didn't come this night, not sure why! ;-)

And then, in a twinkling, she heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As she drew on her robe, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
"Santa" she said ,"that is no longer a good look"
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back, and she hoped for something else in his pack,
For sadly her camera had cracked!

His eyes, how they twinkled, so she gave him a sherry,
She figured it was tough always being so merry!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf
And she envied his lack of diet in spite of herself!

He spoke not a word, so she said with some perk,
“Dear Santa, my camera, it no longer works!”

And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod up the chimney he rose.

He sprang to his sled, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle
She heard him exclaim ‘ere he drove out of sight

“Happy Christmas to All, and you Bloggers should sleep more at night!”


Hello! I was inspired to adapt Clement Clarke Moore's classic A Visit From St. Nicholas* this year as part of my competition entry for the bloggers' competition that Debenhams is running this year - bloggers are invited to write about their Debenhams' wishlist and eight entries will be selected for some truly amazing prizes, including £500 for the winning post. The prize is open until Dec. 4th, so get writing if you want to enter! (see Debenhams' website for full details!). It's a case of being spoilt for choice when trying to narrow down a wishlist from the Debenhams Christmas range, which is organized into many gift guide subcategories to help you find what you are looking for.

Well, first on my Debenhams wishlist is to get something nice for my husband, because Christmas is about giving AND receiving, after all!


Debenhams began carrying Kiehl's in the past year or so, and this was a source of much excitement to me. I used to love going in the original East Village shop in N.Y.C. But it's worth noting they do a great range of skincare for men, too.

Pointless is a popular gameshow in our house, and it's not Christmas without board games so I think this one might be a fun option! The Godiva chocolates are a completely selfless gift on my part, I will definitely not be having any! ;-)

I chose this Daniel Wellington watch because I like its simplicity and classic look, same goes for the Jasper Conran pinstripe pyjamas - am I trying to dress my husband like William Powell in The Thin Man? Hmmm!




I'll be honest, opening my Christmas stocking is really my favourite part of Christmas Day. It's one of those childhood reminder moments, the mystery of what is in the stocking is still deeply exciting to me! Debenhams offers up plenty of choice for stocking stuffers for everyone. I am a dyed in the wool Benefit addict, and their Lollitint lip and cheek tint has been on my beauty wish list for some time. I thought this Rock Chic nail kit looked fun, I am quite useless at nail art so the idea of a kit really appeals to me!

The Nordic red socks are super cosy and festive looking, perfect for a lazy day indoors watching Christmas telly! The spiky rose gold bracelet is by STORM London and caught my eye, I am into bracelets lately and thought this one looked classic with a fun edge to it, too.



Ok so here we are, the big question: "What do you want for Christmas?" Well, believe it or not I do not own a Christmas jumper. I am kind of picky about them I guess, but this Collection polar bear number is frankly adorable to me. It has sold out online in my size already (sob) so I'm actually hoping they still have it in store - maybe an early Christmas present then!

The Lancome Genefique range is one I have tried in the past and been wowed by, so a gift set like this is perfect! Finally, I feel like I am one of the few people left on earth who does not own a Fitbit, and I would like to rectify that! I do think/hope it would motivate me to walk and move more, even in the depths of winter!

Well, aside from the lovely contest, I really enjoyed writing this blog post, it helped me feel more focused on what I would actually like to buy (and receive!) for Christmas, which I hadn't really done yet this year. A girl can dream anyway! Debenhams really has something for everyone, which isn't always easy!

I highly recommend it, do go ahead and enter if you fancy it, and we might get to pay for some of our presents! Also revisiting A Visit From St. Nicholas was a lot of fun, I still remember most of it by heart and it brings back memories of reading it every year on Christmas Eve. What's top of your wishlist this year?





p.s. I forgot to say my Pinterest board for this wishlist is here (I may have added a couple of extra bits! ;-)


*just a side note, I looked it up and this poem has no copyright law regarding usage as far as I am aware because of its age - also its authorship is somewhat disputed - fun fact!