Dressed Up Birthday Girl

Dress- Closet from Dorothy Perkins

Shoes- Ebay

Bag- Primark

Well if you haven’t noticed already, it was my birthday last week. (If you didn’t notice… where have you been?) This is the final birthday related post I promise! This is what I wore for my birthday cocktails and dinner with the boy. I bought the dress with a birthday voucher and it was an absolute steal! I have had my eye on it for a while as I thought it would be a flattering cut, due to the colour blocking. I think the original price was £35, however it was in the sale at £15, but student discount made it about £12.50! The dress is very fitting, but has a give in it, so was comfortable to wear, even after a large dinner and many glasses of fizz.

The Closet range can be bought in a variety of shops, such as Dorothy Perkins, AWear and House of Fraser. It is actually one of my favourites at the moment, they do a range of fitted, flattering, smart dresses, that I think are quite glamourous. They are great for occasions such as birthdays, weddings or even a reasonable priced graduation dress. I think they resemble some of the tailored designs that Victoria Beckham famously uses, which is probably why I love them so much. Below is my pick of their current range, prices range from £12 to £48;

What do you think of this range? Which dress is your favourite?

Two Birthdays, One Dinner| The Highwayman Restaurant Review

Having just returned from the Lake District after a very busy but lovely birthday week visiting my family, I thought it was about time I got back to regular blogging, so will be writing three posts this evening as well as taking part in #bbloggers chat at 8, two to be published today, and one tomorrow.

The first, this one, is about my second birthday meal that I had in a Restaurant outside of Kendal in the Lake District. As the pictures show, I went with my boyfriend, Mum  and her partner. The photos also show my two dogs, who didn’t go, but looked cute so thought I would involve them in this post. The meal was for my mums partner’s, Steve, Birthday as well; a double celebration.

We went the the HighwayMan Inn, owned by Nigel Haworth and located in the small village of Burrow, near to Kirby Lonsdale, I have never been before but was thoroughly impressed, not only with the quality of the food and service, but more so of the concept of the restaurant. What I love is that the restaurants uses exclusively local producers for their menu. As it is close to the borders of Cumbria, Yorkshire and Lancashire they are in a prime location to use many different local and regional flavours. The restaurant was decorated with pictures of the producers with their produce, giving it a real feel of community. The first picture shown in this post was the placemat, which again was decorated with the friendly faces of the farmers and producers.

We had a selection of starters to share, sort of like an English tapas, which included deep fried cauliflower with curried mayonnaise, cheese soufflé, deep fried fish cheeks with an apple and garlic mayonnaise, and bread with olive oil and treacle balsamic vinegar. For my main I had a cheese and onion pie, and desert a lemon meringue pie (pictured). Overall it was beautiful, I admit not the healthiest…diet starts tomorrow, but definitely worth it!

As I mentioned the diet starts tomorrow, which it definitely must! I’m off on holiday in 4 weeks, and the past week of birthday celebrations has not be favourable to my figure, I’m looking and feeling a little more rounded… oh dear! To encourage my health kick, I will be posting a few healthy recipes that I am going to give a go… I’m an awful cook, so it could be quite entertaining!

Birthday Day

Dress- Dorothy Perkins

Blazer-Ebay

Shoes- Ebay

I am currently writing this post at my parents house in the Lakes. We arrived yesterday, and it has not stopped raining since, quite typical, but not great for my hair! We visited Matalan today, and to be honest was quite disappointed with their summer range, couldn’t find anything of interest, and left empty handed. If anyone has bought anything of interest from here recently let me know.. I may of not been looking hard enough!

From the previous post, you will now know that Tuesday was my birthday… 23! Oh My life I’m getting old! I dressed quite smartly for the day, as I enjoy dressing up for special occasions, so chose something that was confortable but still a little special. This was actually the first time I had worn my new bargain tweed jacket. I love it now; it is a little tight along the back, but that will be solved once I lose my dissertation weight ( library plus deadlines, equals poor diet and no exercise). I bought it for £15, and it came within 3 days, so I am very happy with this purchase.

I chose to sport a tweed jacket with this tan coloured dress, which is really comfortable. It is a chiffon type material, a little heavier, so doesn’t blow up in the wind… good for us girls in the North-East, and can be dressed up or down. I wear it quite often.  The belt is nothing special, I just wanted a plain band around my waist, as the tweed material is the focus, so didn’t want to back the look too fussy. The heels worn are another Ebay bargain… told you I’m obsessed! They are from Dorothy Perkins, so probably cost at least £30 new… I got them for £8.

How you you dress for your birthday? Something special, or dressed down and comfy?

Turning 23| My Birthday in Pictures

Yesterday was a special day for me (Tuesday), it was my 23rd birthday, and my last ever assignment hand-in’s all on the same day. I had an absolutely perfect day thanks to my best friend and gorgeous boyfriend, who both spoilt me rotten. Thankfully for you guys I took plenty of pictures of my day, so you have a better idea about how I spent it.

It actually started at about 1 in the morning,when I managed to convince my boyfriend to give me my present; so he got to see my reaction obviously… not because I couldn’t wait. I was super happy with a Kindle Touch, which I have been lusting after and have not put down since! In the morning the postman visited me on three different occasions to drop off presents and cards… he was like my own little Santa!

I met my friend in town for a surprise afternoon that she had planned for me… I was not disappointed. We first went for cocktails at a favourite restaurant and bar of mine, Babuchios, then wandered across to the Hilton where I was treated to champagne afternoon tea… which was absolutely divine, the manager was a doll, and kept our champagne fully topped up all afternoon. We then went shopping in town, where I picked up a new dress for the evening.

For the evening my boyfriend took me to Mal Masion for custom made cocktails, and then to a beautiful modern Italian for dinner, Gustos. I had Garlic and tomato prawns for starter, then a pizza with roasted peppers, caramelised onions, goats cheese, pine nuts and pesto.. possibly the best pizza I have ever had! We then took a stroll down Quayside and off to a bar for a drink before retiring home. After a long day and many glasses and fizz I was very tired!

I have a few OOTD posts coming up from my birthday, plus a review on some lash inserts I tried, so keep your eyes peeled!