It all feels like gold to me.

Zara coat (old): £30. Oasis ripped jeans: £28. Petit Bateau marinière: €42.50. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale. Tartan scarf: £3, charity shop. Bag: gift from Jazmine. Becca Cosmetics 'Hotel California' lip gloss.

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have noticed that I've spent the last few days in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. We popped over to visit my friend and drink to all things politics before getting home just gone nine last night, when I prioritised cooking pasta (I hadn't eaten for nine hours - that's pretty much a diet) rather than making sure a post was scheduled for today. So, apologies in advance if there are more mentions of the pug I saw at Cardiff Bay than chat about ripped jeans.

Leigh-on-Sea is one of my favourite places in Essex. When we were little, my brother and I knew it as the place we went to first before walking to Southend (photos of it here - my first "proper" outfit post!), claiming a cone of Rossi ice cream on the journey. It's not filled to the brim with clothes shops and bars, and it's distinctly lacking in sandy beaches, but it will always have a little place in my heart reserved for nostalgia, right next to sequinned dance costumes and the water fountains you could jump in at Victoria Park. My mum and I like to drive over there every few months for a browse of the gift shops, a walk along the seafront and some mandatory fish and chips - what could be more perfect?

Are there any places you always go back to, no matter how many years it's been? This isn't your classic "ask people a question at the end of your blog post, it'll drive engagement!!!" thing, I'm genuinely interested in which places people love, so please do comment with yours.

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There's no place I'd rather be.

Gingham co-ord: c/o Laura Ashley (top and skirt). Zara navy coat: £30. Vintage Salvatore Ferragamo shoes: £2.99, charity shop. Vintage bag: gift from Jazmine. Faux fur tippet: £1, charity shop.

"You can wear jeans and a t-shirt to work? You are so lucky!"

Picture the scene: Laura and I are sardined together on a DLR train headed to Bank and I'm the only person wearing denim in a sea of suits (other than someone who looks like they weren't quite expecting the tropical temperatures mid-February in a shearling jacket - pray for them). The office I work in doesn't have a uniform as such, and instead I find myself dressing in everything from casual outfits perfect for a post-Domino's day or pretty floral midis and bardot tees which would fit in with afternoon tea. When Laura Ashley got in touch asking if I'd style up their pastel co-ord I couldn't help but immediately think of how it'd be perfect for a City office, just the ticket for countering the inevitable greys and navies swarming to Pret for lunch. Realistically, I'm much more likely to pair the top with skinnies or the skirt with an oversized jumper for my own 9-5, but there's nothing like pretending every once in a while...

Want to hear how LA'd wear this co-ord? Pop over to their blog!

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We go hideaway in daylight, we go undercover when under sun.

Topshop oxblood jumper: £36. Topshop tapestry skirt: £20. Zara navy coat: £30. Bally Swiss chelsea boots: £8, charity shop. Marks and Spencer floppy hat: £15. New Look faux leather backpack: £23. Barry M gelly nail varnish in Cardamom.

That's it - the first week back of 2015 is over! Resetting those body clocks back to pre-sunrise hours has meant a week consisting mainly of jeans and stripy tees (I've learned to never ever trust sartorial decisions made in the early hours), coffee and maybe a treat - or two! I hope yours got off to a happy, if slightly sleepy, start. Thanks for all your well-wishes on last week's post about my cold, it's so nearly gone right now, so things are already looking up, and making plans with friends for the next few months is definitely giving me an extra incentive to boil the kettle for another lemsip.

In our typical Saturday fashion (i.e. grab a map, point, go), I spent my day in Maldon. With its high street of tea rooms and charity shops, there's no better place to while away an afternoon, before taking shelter from the biting winds in a cosy pub overlooking the river Blackwater. It was as different a day as possible to my last blog post there, but I managed to hold onto my hat and see in the weekend with the golden hour.

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And I hope you're holding hands by new year's eve + a little treat for you!

Anthropologie Lillie playsuit: £98. Anthropologie faux fur bag: £58. Zara coat: £30. Christian Louboutin pigalle: £75, charity shop.

To go out or not to go out, that is the question. When Anthropologie asked me which of the two I'd be siding with this New Year's Eve, it took me all of three seconds to decide. As someone who is always in serious fear of FOMO, I tend to plug for the former, and have spent many a weekend (this one included) raising a glass to friends and shaking a tailfeather. I'm yet to make this year's celebrations concrete, but there's no doubt that a small group of us will make our way into the night, sure to see in 2015 with a smile and plenty of so-good-they're-bad dance moves - irresistible, I know! As a dance floor veteran, I'd like to think I've got my night out wardrobe down to a tee, leaving the stress purely down to how much my eyebrows want to cooperate. LBDs go without saying, the flattering colour hides many a sin and spilt vodka coke, but of late I've found myself leaning towards playsuits in the shade, which are the perfect mid-ground of pretty and dignity-saving. This little lace-trim number is plain enough to dress up with bright jewels, or let your faux fur bag do the talkin' (and you do the strokin', no weird here) instead.

Knowing that we had a new years theme, Sabby and I headed along to the place we knew placed a pretty big importance on time: Greenwich. Just a hop, skip and jump away from the meridian line, we looked over London ("you can see my house!") and made our first resolution to explore more areas of it in 2015.

Want to give that NYE outfit a pretty helping hand? 

Anthropologie have very kindly offered me a £50 voucher to give away to one of my readers. All you have to do is vote for whether you're going out or staying in as the clocks strike the hour on the Anthropologie blog and leave a comment below with your email address letting me know which of the two you favour - good luck!

Looking for what to spend those pennies on? I've created a little mood board of my favourite things online right now - velvet! Embellishment! Lace! - for you to have look over and ponder what you'd add to your wishlist..

Dietrich Printed Jumpsuit | Fanned Moonlight Drop Earrings | Velvet Reverie Clutch | Velvet Reverie Loafers | Golden Flowervine Tank

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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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