A couple of weeks ago I posted about the John Lewis blogger Secret Santa that I had joined and today I am sharing not only what I received but what (and how) I chose my gift for my chosen blogger.

We were all randomly assigned a person to buy for and given a short period of time to familiarise ourselves with that persons blog (and instagram and pinterest and youtube.. anything to give a bit of insight) and choose a gift for them. It was TOUGH! Initially I had my eye on big brand makeup, as a beauty blogger if I'm given a generous budget that's where my first thoughts land but I really wanted to tailor the gift to the specific blogger. I spent the best part of a day on the John Lewis site looking for something before landing on this..

My assigned blogger was Beth from Beauty in Beta and a brief scan of her blog will probably explain why my initial beauty heavy idea went south pretty quickly. She talks about a huge variety of topics and overall I felt more of a lifestyle vibe with no one focus so choosing one specific category wasn't easy. Beth started her blog after getting married, after the intensive wedding planning was over she found herself with a lot more time that she decided to use in a creative way with Beauty in Beta. Pre-blogging I filled that time with scrapbooks which have been very much neglected ever since but I understand that drive to plan and  put things together and there was one wish list item that came to mind when I thought of that. Instax Camera! I've wanted this exact model for a couple of years and am still considering picking one up for our holiday in January. Polaroids were fun and popular when I was a kid so there's the nostalgia element to it but more than anything it's the idea that you get one shot to take the picture and then it's a PRINT! I don't know about you but I rarely print the photos I take anymore and so for a special event (or FESTIVE SEASON, *wink*) I think it's such a lovely idea to have real-time snapshot memories. Along with the camera I picked out a cute Kate Spade album to store the photos in and a beauty blogger favourite Lip Cheat pencil  from Charlotte Tilbury to (hopefully) satisfy that makeup element. I really wanted to put together something she would use rather than something she would just swatch.. and I know those of you bloggers among us know what I'm talking about!! Fingers crossed she enjoys what I chose!

SO, on to MY gift! She knew me so well. She chose this beautiful Michael Kors clutch in navy and a pack of Tasty Bone dog chews for little Manny. I've actually never seen this style from MK before but it's perfect for travel, very slim and would slide in to your case/larger bag as an alternate bag option for the evening but I think 'd going to use mine as a travel wallet! It has multiple compartments inside including several card slots and it's considerably more compact (flat) than my current travel wallet. My new passport just arrived so my first bit of packaging might even happen today... for our holiday in January. Don't pretend like you don't all do it ;) I've totally already been shopping for a new case this morning already..

So thanks to Beth for the excellent pick, I'm told I'm tough to buy for because most of what I really want I buy for myself but Beth found me something I didn't even know I wanted.. and I love it. Secondly thanks to John Lewis for inviting me to join in their Secret Santa activities this year.. that's one down, I just have 2 more to go! If you're struggling for gift ideas you can see the John Lewis selection online here.. I also have a very inexpensive gift guide you can watch below. Secret Santa is fun but often difficult so hopefully it helps!

Miss BB

*Gifts provided by John Lewis