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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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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