A love letter Christmas.

River Island faux fur scarf: £28 (now £15, typical). Topshop jacket (old): £27. Luella dress (old): ebay. Over the knee boots: c/o Schuh.

It's happened again. Working in retail, we were finalising our Christmas campaign way back in June, and that Thing in the distance has suddenly clicked its fingers in my face, but instead of digits it was someone spilling mulled wine on my desk. Now it's somehow Christmas Eve, I've started making up for lost time on the mince pies (how gorgeous are these ones from Bettys?) after recovering from the Christmas party, and it'll all be festive cheer the moment it clocks 1 and we finish for the weekend.

Just a quick one from me today, as these wreath-filled photos might be a tad out of season if I wait until my normal Sunday to post, but all my love for the big day - hope you get out of it argument-free and have three times your GDA of roast potatoes! brb, eating five days worth of advent calendar chocolates.

Read more

Take it back and then let it go.

eBay blanket cape: £19.99. Jack Wills blouse: £60 (now £24 in Black Friday sale). Nine by Debenhams jeans. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale.

I've never been that person with the Five Year Plan. When people were deciding their GCSE options based on their parents' decision to study medicine at university, I opted to go for what I enjoyed. When my past relationships have taken a "let's decide dates" turn my #goals have been a little more vague. And god help anyone who has to buy me a present because I'll definitely not be able to give you any guidance. I'm the sort of person that makes personal decisions based upon what I like, what I want, and what is fun. Right now. I'll be the first person to hold my hands up and say 'okay, I'm not thinking about kids and weddings', but I can guarantee to be your first port of call for anything happening, good or bad, big or small; I've got a few boarding passes to Paris and crumpled up receipts as physical proof.

It's getting to the time of year when people are asking me what I 'like'. It's my birthday next week, so have had a fair few queries as to what I want to do, what I'll be doing throughout the week, what presents I've got in mind, etc. I've always been one to have a fairly low key celebration, inviting a few people over for drinks before heading out (normally not remembering coming home), but this year I don't want anything. Call it odd, but I really don't want a marker of this coming of age. Having a birthday in December is tough as it is - people are busy, booking a large table has to be done months in advance, and it's really bloody cold - but this time round I've come to the conclusion that, really, it's not worth the hype at all. Maybe it's getting old (don't hate me, anyone over 27), or maybe it's just coming round to the conclusion that there are more important things to do than celebrate the passing of time.

But, if there is something I like doing, it's spending the afternoon in a country pub (The Hare in Roxwell, shown above, is a personal favourite), and generally avoiding outside life at all costs. It is, after all, the little things rather than the big displays of ostentation that count.

Read more

I only call you when it's half past five.

eBay blanket cape: £19.99. Rust playsuit: c/o lessthantenpounds.com. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale. Mac "Ravishing" lipstick.

Could you be any more cliché? I may be minus the red cup and faux fur hat, but this girl loves a theme. If there's one theme that keeps cropping up when I think about this blog, poor segway aside, I sometimes (read: quite a lot of the time) wonder whether there's much point of keeping this blog going; I don't have the best photos, don't really 'know my angles', only just about keep blogging regularly and weep a little bit every time the mail app starts on my laptop. Yet I know there will always be that "what if?" part of me (and that "you better not bloody give up, you weakling" part of me) which pushes me forwards a little bit longer. I try new ways to take photos, and hope to have improved just a little from last year and the year before. I try new things, even if it's simply adding a bit of information about where the photos were taken or adding in more lifestyle elements. And, possibly most importantly, I try to pop something up I'd like to read myself. Whether it's four paragraphs cracking jokes about dressing like Blair Waldorf or a set of photos that are so tumblr it makes me feel a little queasy, I do hope there's a little something to make you smile. Even if I'm not able to produce a pumpkin spiced latte. Which are disgusting, imo.

PS, last chance to enter to win Newbury Racing tickets and a John Lewis voucher! >

Read more

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...

Read more