When you know you ain't getting any younger.

Primark check coat: £30. Topshop scallop collar blouse: gift. Warehouse denim skirt: £2, sample sale. Bally chelsea boots: £8, charity shop. Marks and Spencer leather bag: £43. Hobbs leather bracelet: £20. MAC "ravishing" lipstick. Barry M "Paprika" gelly nail varnish.

Hello, 2015!

My New Year's Eve was spent at Harry's in London with Jazmine and the Jetts (it's a boyband waiting to happen) and a playlist so carefully curated with 90% of Bowie's back catalogue that we almost forgot to keep an eye on the clock for midnight. After the last few years' efforts, this laid-back approach to seeing in the new year was a welcome change - even if it did mean I didn't get McNuggets on the way home. A few days later it would appear my body's finally decided to let the cold that started over Christmas take a proper hold*, and I'm sipping a lemsip with every full stop. *slurp* So instead of heading to the gym, I'm planning to spend the day in bed with endless cups of tea and catching up on blogs new and old (leave your links in a comment below!) - I'm not sure what happened to that healthy fresh start, but I do kind of like it! Sniffles excluded, obviously.

* These photos were obviously not taken today, where I am currently sporting a rather fetching pyjama set and dressing gown combination - #ootd come at me. 

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I knew this would be on the cards.

Zara coat: £30. Primark fedora: £7. New Look faux leather backpack: £23. Harrods scarf: £3, charity shop. Hobbs NW3 heeled boots: £40, warehouse sale. Rimmel Kate Moss 30 lipstick.

It's my birthday! Today I'm turning twenty-three, and it's the first time I've been home to celebrate it for the last four years. I've spent the morning slobbing about in my pyjamas (come on guys, we all do it) whilst watching vlogmas videos, and will be heading out for lunch in a bit, on the hunt for some proper pub grub. Yesterday I took the day off and my mum and I headed to Pontlands Park for afternoon tea and a quick wander round the grounds. As I live fairly nearby, Pontlands has been a place I've always been intrigued by, and I'd definitely recommend popping in if you fancy a fancy bite to eat. It's absolutely beautiful there (far cry from TOWIE, of course), and I'll be sure to head there when I need to spend my weekends blogging and fancy somewhere other than home - free wifi for all!

I'm looking forward to tonight as I'm heading out with a few people (some of them new to Essex nightlife, eh Jazmine?), so be kind to me tomorrow! Hope you're all having a lovely Saturday, and enjoying your advent calendars!

If you fancy a little chuckle (I certainly did), here are blog posts documenting my birthdays from the archives:

twenty-two

twenty-one

twenty

nineteen

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Don't try to hide it.

Denim jacket: £63, NW3 by Hobbs, Vintage Wrangler jeans: c/o Brag Vintage. T-Shirt: free, American Apparel. Leopard print boots: £27, Topshop (similar here). Bally bag: £9, vintage. Belt: 20p, charity shop. Watch: gift, Rotary. Necklaces: elsie belle, vintage, Topshop. Lipstick: Topshop Really Ruby.

Well, if your front garden overlooked this, could you pass up the opportunity to use it for outfit photos? Admittedly, walking along the river felt like we were in the middle of a wind tunnel, but, messy hair aside, it's a nice change to my last set out outfit photos. Making like Charlie, I took my Brag Vintage jeans out for a spin in East London, as we headed a little bit further down the Thames to see Everything Everything at one of Nokia's Lumia Live Sessions. I've seen them before, but ironically the much bigger city hosted the more intimate gig in Trinity Buoy Wharf. Getting there by clipper from London Bridge (certainly not something you do every day), Sabby and I bumped into Lucy and her pals before heading to the front to see EE whack their falsetto out like no other, and making sure to get a few photos on the Lumia 820, which seems to have instagram filters as standard - making for more acceptable selfies, am I right? We were guided back home by the light of the O2 (surely I'm not the only one who still calls it the Millennium Dome?) and a certain pair of golden arches, content with a pretty much perfect evening combination of cocktails, live music, and good company. Nothing can beat a good post-gig buzz, and I've got two weeks till Arctic Monkeys, then another till Knife Party, so not long to wait for my next one!

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I've been treading water for your love.

Floral shorts: Topshop (old). Jenna blouse: gift, NW3 by Hobbs. Anna boots: £76.50, Topshop. Fedora: £14.99, Missguided. Sara bag: c/o Biba at House of Fraser. Glasses: London Retro at Sunglasses Shop.

Although Essex may now be known for Sugar Hut and vajazzles, I still associate it with the countryside. One of my favourite independent cafés The Lordship sits in the nearby village of Writtle, so when Jazmine came to visit we headed there for scones and a fair amount of tea, even if hot drinks don't seem to be quite weather appropriate. After we'd cleaned our plates, we headed down the road to the village green, only to be joined by rather a large flock of docks who were certainly big fans of the stale hovis one little girl was throwing haphazardly in their direction. We may not have had any food offerings with us, but we certainly tried to make friends, even if we may have interrupted the ducklings' afternoon nap!

As it was quite hot, I opted for my trusty Luella-style shorts that I bought from Topshop about five years ago, a fedora to deflect some of the rays, and my newest bag from House of Fraser's Biba collection. I've always known about Biba as my mum was a big fan of it when she was little (she describes it as like Topshop, but cooler as they only had one store so it was a big deal to save your money and get your clothes from it), so I think she may be stealing this from me whenever she gets the chance! I love the subtle embossing of the brand on the leather and the metal details. And it matches my watch, so four for you House of Fraser.

Speaking of the countryside, I'm heading to one a bit further north tomorrow, and am gracing Kendal for a few days. I've never been to the Lake District, so this is a first for me. I've been told to bring "sensible shoes", which could be interesting as I'm pretty sure I don't own any. Do let me know if you have any recommendations, although I know we're going to Beatrix Potter's house for sure.

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