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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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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I must admit I can't explain any of these thoughts racing through my brain.

Zara double-breasted navy coat: £30 (similar). Luella dress: old, ebay. Black leather brogues: c/o Dorothy Perkins. Marks and Spencer oxblood leather bag: £43. Christys fedora hat: £20, charity shop. Rimmel Kate Moss 107 lipstick.

Autumnal colours are back with a vengeance. I hadn't worn this navy coat since flying back from Munich (proved by finding 0,75 euros and a nail varnish in the pockets), but it certainly felt like pulling back on an old friend. We popped over to one of our favourite villages Writtle for a late lunch and a wander round the green and gift shops, and I couldn't resist borrowing this beautiful backdrop of black and white houses for some quick outfit photos.

These brogues appealed to my inner Chung fangirl the moment I saw them. As the first pair I've worn for about a year which haven't absolutely ripped my feet to shreds, these ones are definitely a winner, and they're in the sale right now. Fancy winning a whole year's worth of shoes from Dorothy Perkins? Just upload a photo of you wearing your DP shoes to instagram or twitter with the hashtag #MyDorothyMoment or #DPShoeSelfie for your chance to win - more information here. Because, let's be honest, even if you have hundreds of them lining the bottom of your wardrobe there's always space to squeeze an extra pair in there!

As it's the last day of November, I suppose it's about time I start turning my thoughts towards my birthday next Saturday... Other than the mandatory night out, my friends and I are planning a little getaway early next year. Do you have any suggestions for city breaks? We're deliberating between Paris and Dublin, but are open to suggestions. Answers on a postcard!

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