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Christmas Markets

The fabulous Docklands Christmas Markets kicked off on Friday 3^rd of December and will run until December 22^nd. Now in its fifth year the docklands Christmas market is filled with hundreds of stalls selling an array of Christmas gifts of hand made arts and crafts and stocking fillers. The docklands will host almost one hundred German traders with an exciting mix of African traders too. The evenings come alive with story tellers, carol singers and bands playing seasonal tunes which make this market well worth a visit.

I took a trip to Galway a couple of weekends ago and had the pleasure of visiting the Christmas Markets in Eyre Square. The Markets are alive with Christmas charm and packed full of treats for the festive season. They are well worth a visit if you’re heading west for a Christmas shop. I’m a huge fan of Galway as it is but this market offers a great chance to pick up some stocking fillers, seasonal food, a German beer and soaking up some of the Christmas spirit Galway has to offer.

Christmas Jumpers

Tubridy has set the Christmas jumper standard this year having pulled out a dashing red reindeer jumper for the toy show. Christmas Jumpers are set to become even bigger than any other year with an official Christmas Jumper Day scheduled for December 22.

The event is sponsored by the Gift Voucher Shop and its One4All brand who have teamed up with Barnardos to launch Ireland’s first official Christmas Jumper Day. They’re giving Barnardos €1 for every photo they receive from you in a Christmas Jumper which you can upload to their Facebook page. The best photo each day wins a €25 One4all Gift Card and the best overall photo will win a €250 One4all Gift Card plus the famous ‘Rudolf the Reindeer’ Jumper as worn by Ryan Tubridy on the Toy Show from FunkyChristmasJumpers.com!

For more information and to participate in Christmas Jumper Day, see Facebook.com/one4allireland.

Ice Skating

Every year I tell myself I’m going ice skating this year no matter what. . and it never happens. We were due to go ice skating in the RDS last Friday as part of our Christmas Party but had to pull the plug due to the adverse weather conditions. My first time ever ice skating was in the Rockerfeller Centre last February which I’m embarrassed to admit for someone who was big into rollerblading growing up. This was mostly due to the fact that I didn’t live in Dublin or anywhere nearby that had an ice skating rink.

Over the last couple of years the availability of ice skating rinks has grown nationwide with rinks to suit all ages so now I’ve no excuse not to get my skates on and get on the ice.

For a full list of ice skating rinks nationwide check out
http://www.familyfun.ie/ice-skating/

DVD Box Sets

You cannot go wrong with purchasing DVD Box Sets as a Christmas present for someone.  Whether it’s comedy, drama or crime you’re after, there are a number of retailers of who’ve got the best prices on DVD Box Sets available.

I am a big fan of HMV and they really do have some of the best offers out there and can come in handy if you have a One4All gift voucher knocking around.

I also do quite a bit of my Christmas shopping on Amazon and find they have the best bargains available. I decided to buy my mum the complete box set series of the Soprano’s for Christmas this year. I’m not spoiling the surprise as I accidently texted her instead of my sister a couple of weeks ago to ask her if she thought it was a good choice for a pressie. My mum’s reply was “I’d take Tony Soprano any day” so while I spoilt the Christmas day surprise at least I know she’ll enjoy the hours on end of curling up on the couch with fat tony.

I couldn’t believe the offer Amazon had for the complete series at £49 approx – making a saving of £81 from the original price. They were actually out of stock at the time so I popped into HMV on Grafton street to find out they have ordered 76 copies of the compete box set due to arrive in the coming weeks. While online at Hmv.co.uk the exact same box set is retailing at £119.99 but the sales assistant said the complete box set will be retailing at €64 approx when it arrives.

I went ahead and ordered with Amazon as soon has they were back in stock completely due to fact that it will be delivered here to the office and I wont have trudge through the snow and slush up to HMV to see if their copies had arrived.

Snow Boots

With even more snow forecasted it’s probably time to pick yourself up some proper snow boots. Given the fact that we have been graced with this type of weather two years in a row it is probably worth your while investing in decent pair of boots.

Darren Kennedy put together his top picks from the highstreets which are all stylish and comfy and keep you dry.

1) Skechers Keepsakes Blur knit faux fur trim boots €72

2) Skechers Keepsakes Blur knit faux fur trim boots €72

3) Dakota Faux Fur Lace Up Boots £85 Topshop.com

4) South Bern faux fur flat boots €34, Littlewoods Ireland

5) Moon Boots, €90 Office

Fingerless Gloves/ Mittens

I’m sure I’m not the only one who experienced the annoyance of not being able to use a touchscreen devise with gloves on. You’re on route to work in a snow storm and you’re stuck listening to the one song that you absolutely despise on your iPhone that you were full sure you deleted. I can easily say I’ve lost three right handed gloves as a result. So I decided to get me a pair of fingerless gloves that have an overlap turning them into mittens – a bit of a mouthful to describe so here’s a pic.

To my stupidity and well frankly my lack of disposable income I purchased the €3 set in Penny’s which lasted a whole of 3 days – a euro a day. Not worth it when you can buy a fab range from Dunnes for €5 which have lasted more than 5 days. For those who don’t mind spending a little more for a decent pair of gloves Topshop, Zara and River Island have some really funky fashion gloves that are well worth the purchase.

feel free to leave comments and additional suggestions

Sarah