How big, how blue, how beautiful.

Primark colourblock top: £13. American Apparel skirt: £30. Clarks leather loafers.

This skirt + wind ≠ a good combination. Mind-bending maths aside, these photos were taken four months ago in very thick tights weather, saving myself from much embarrassment. Heybridge Basin is one of the places I like to go when it's all getting a "bit too much"; pretty much untouched since it was built, there are beautiful coastal walks with views over Maldon, plenty of dog-walkers and an amazing Tiptree tearoom with malteasers cheesecake for afterwards.

Maybe I should get myself back to Heybridge Basin sometime soon as I've been a little out of sorts for the last few months. Things I'd normally let bounce off me and then forget about have been taken to heart, I've not been sleeping well, and generally things have been a bit difficult to deal with. I'm banking on longer days and sunnier weather to help with keeping my chin up, but if anyone has tips on how to take a step back please do leave a comment as I'd love to hear how you guys do it.

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What kind of man.

Boohoo fringed suede jacket: £25. Topshop patterned crop top: £24 (only blue online). American Apparel circle skirt: £15, ebay. Hobbs ankle boots: £40, warehouse sale. Brit-Stitch satchel. Your Fashion Jewellery skull necklace. Charity shop belt: 20p. Essie Lapiz of Luxury nail varnish. Rimmel Kate Moss 08 lipstick.

Who knew I'd be so sold on a trend? I fully expect rolled eyes and people sitting that liiittle bit further away from me when I turn up to the pub in this jacket, but I think I can handle some stick when it prompts a fair few heart-eyed emoji from the people that matter  - yep, that does mean you guys. It's fringed (check) and suede (you got it) so who am I to resist something so perfect? I noticed Boohoo were offering free next day delivery, so there were a mere 12 hours between me and the ridiculous jacket of my dreams. I'd recommend sizing up as this one fits pretty tight, but it'll be perfect for spring and that mythical time when I stop eating bread. When paired with my favourite Hobbs boots which I trekked to Harlesdon to buy and a slick of my current obsession Kate Moss 08, I think the 70s trend might just be something I could get on board with.

Want to try it out too? Be swayed (heh) by my favourite suede picks:

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Once upon a December.

Embellished christmas pudding jumper: c/o New Look. American Apparel double U dress (worn underneath): £36. Vintage bag: £3.99, charity shop. Dorothy Perkins brogues. Becca cosmetics Hotel California lip gloss.

And, just in case you were wondering, Frojo designs christmas cards, Sainsbury's mug and Phoenix cards wrapping paper.

Much like how is it dark that early, I can't help but ask myself just how is it December already? Having had the C word on the brain for the last few months, I've managed to compartmentalise it in The Distant Future department, and now we've got the bare trees, crisp mornings and ready-made excuses to keep Yorkshire Tea on tap before I've even begun to think about my plans for the month. And now we're three days in. Wandering among the evergreen trees made me rather melancholic about knowing we're due to put up a fake tree this year as opposed to the real deal, but it'd be more than a little sad for these grand folks to only be seen by a few people. Even without being covered in tinsel or (inevitably broken) fairy lights, I think they look rather festive, so it was only fair I decided to add a red lip, dig out my oldest and most faithful red dress and pull on a christmas jumper for the occasion. New Look challenged me to dig out some old Christmas jumper photos which has given me the chance to scroll through the archives for a little lol at my own expense. The closest I could find was this little gem (which now lives with my friend Clarity!), but I did love stumbling across this old post, i.e. the first set of photos from my DSLR that I was truly happy with - memories!

Has anyone got exciting plans for this month? I'm happy to have my first non-weekend/bank holiday day off in what feels like forever on Friday for a pre-birthday celebration, but I'm not quite sure how I'll spend it yet. As long as there's red lipstick involved, I'm sure I'll be fine.

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Now you gotta deal with this glitch on your shoulder.

Oasis parka: £20, sample sale. Textured jumper: c/o Warehouse. American Apparel circle skirt: £15, ebay (this is much cheaper). Vintage leather bag: £2.29, charity shop. Bally chelsea boots: £8, charity shop. Rotary watch: gift. Barry M Cardamom gelly nail varnish. Rimmel Kate Moss 107 lipstick.

Photos by Jazmine.

Ah, weekends, you can never quite tell what they'll bring. Last week involved east London pubs, searching for The Wall (illustrated above), new brunch locations and a whole lot of booty shaking - a pretty standard day off cocktail, am I right ladies? Sleepovers with j rox are never going to be your standard marshmallows and chick flick affair, after all.

Pre-meal (obviously), we managed to snag some outfit photos by a wall which serendipitously matched my outfit. Wearing my new Warehouse knit with my old favourite circle skirt, I didn't realise just how closely this outfit resembled one from this time last year - just with better lipstick.

If you're looking for somewhere new to nibble in SW London, I'd definitely recommend Ben's Canteen. All wooden tables and enamel plates, it's a blogger's dream, and the food isn't just nice to photograph it's also amazing to eat. I went for poached eggs with pulled pork which was, admittedly, a bit of an odd combination and I'd probably stick to something more classic next time, but it's all amazing quality and you get a free bloody mary for instagramming your meal, hence the gratuitous food photo on instagram which I'm not sorry about at all.

After a suitable amount of time to let that brunch go down (a tube ride is suitable, right?), we popped over to Tottenham Court Road for possibly the most hilarious gym class I've ever attended - and that does include the time I went to Zumba and lowered the average age by about thirty years. Jazmine had spotted a Nicki Minaj Anaconda dance class, and I thought, being your standard black ghetto chick, that it'd be fun to come along too. It's safe to say I won't be bringing that routine out on a Saturday night, but it sure was fun to learn them and add a few more moves to my repertoire! 

Taking the train back to Essex didn't quite result in a "quiet night in" (namely: it wasn't quiet, it wasn't in my house, although it was night, so 2/3 isn't too bad), but getting home home in the early hours and spending my Sunday spent between home and the gym made for the perfect way to round off the weekend. Now, to see how this one will end...

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I wasn't born last night.

Oasis parka: £20, via sample sale. Urban Outfitters stripy t-shirt: £22. American Apparel skirt: £33. F+F boots (since resigned to bin, too many nights out): £25. Cath Kidston weekend bag: gift.

For some reason, Leeds is one of the northern cities I'd never quite managed to explore, so when my favourite Yorkshire lass announced she was getting married, me and the rest of the uni girls booked our train tickets North for her hen party, packed some pretty frocks and arrived prepared to be drinking for the next twelve hours. We were correct in that assumption. It's been a while since I've had a session quite that long, but self-made long island iced teas followed by something of a nostalgia-fuelled reunion with baa bar (nothing on Liverpool's four walls of complete debauchery, of course) took their course and we somehow emerged unbroken - although the same clearly cannot be said for my shoes, illustrated above. After a rather long (we're talking hours here) breakfast Clarity and Georgia had to head home to dissertations and ice bucket challenges but Sita and I stuck around for a coffee and I sneakily managed to get some outfit photos which magically portray me hangover-free: god bless BB cream.

I thought it would only be appropriate to post these photos while I'm up in Chester celebrating the Coppenhalls' wedding, so here's to more northern adventures and significantly less morose mornings.

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