The queens birthday weekend take #2

As promised (even if it is a little late), it's time for my second birthday blog post. Because the queen has two birthdays and so I do too. Well two birthday weekends at least. And if I tried to cram it all into one blog post then you'd all die of old age before finishing it. For anyone with a birthday coming up, I can fully recommend stretching out your celebrations over a record breaking 9 days; it's been fabulous!

I kicked things back off again on Friday night with a dinner and cocktails thing with all my besties (minus little Katie) at Coast to Coast. I love places that actually let you do mix and match on the 2 for 1 cocktails! I decided on a trousers-and-heels combo and so I wore these camel high waisted trousers (missguided), balanced everything out with black halter neck mesh panel bodysuit and black rock stud valentino-esque heels (both new look) and then pulled it all together with a chunky black belt. I don't actually remember the last time I wore this black leather jacket but it must've been in college so at least 2 years ago if not longer. But it's one of those things that I believe to be a wardrobe staple so I've never thrown it out and that proved to be a good decision because it went perfectly with this outfit. I also matched my lipstick to my outfit (obvs) and wore Persistence by MAC and added some super fluttery Eylure 159 false lashes. We had such a good time and a lovely catch up and they all got me such beautiful presents! Black opium perfume (one of my favourites), Pandora princess earrings and a gorgeous J necklace. Yes, my best friends ARE better than yours. Staci outdid herself on the wrapping side of things though - a Disney princess gift bag and a card with a slogan I pretty much live by. Pat on the back for Staci!

Okay so I know I said that this weekend was with friends but I did have another little bonus family birthday treat squeezed in too. Afternoon tea is my absolute favourite thing ever and so I'm always on the look out for nice places that do it. The larder on goosegate is actually quite a fancy restaurant down in Hockley but the afternoon tea is the same price as they pretty much all are so me, my mum and grandma thought we'd be ladies who lunch (or tea). My dad was a bit put out that I didn't invite him but afternoon tea is no place for a man. It was absolutely amazing and I love when they serve it all on mismatched vintage china although there was definitely too much food - normally it's finger sandwiches, 2 scones and 4 mini cakes each but we also got this plate of giant cupcakes with it too! (which we had to take home because we physically couldn't eat any more). I went for a ladies-who-lunch outfit to match the occasion so I wore this pleated midi skirt (primark) which is white and blue-black, meaning it matches perfectly with both black and navy. So that's exactly what I went for; black high neck top, black heels and navy duster coat. Do you ever have those purchases where you feel like you have no idea what you used to wear before you owned it? That's what this top is like, it's such a lovely little essential that goes with everything!

(Honestly how cute are we in this photo?)

Whenever my birthday is coming up, I always start looking for dresses early because sods' law is that when you have an occasion you actually need an amazing dress for, you won't be able to find one. So I make sure to prepare in advance which is why I bought this missguided dress from ASOS like a month ago. But I'm so glad I did because I love the mauve colour and shiny fabric, it fits and flatters perfectly, and the black ribbing is not only a nice detail but it means it goes well with my wear-them-on-every-night-out black bag and boots. I stuck with my mauve theme by creating an eyeshadow look using my Naked 3 palette and then added Gerard cosmetics liquid lipstick in Cher and lots of pink highlighter (my new favourite urban decay afterglow highlight in aura). I literally couldn't have wished for a better birthday night out; drinking cocktails, shotting tequila and dancing with all the people who mean the most to me. Not to mention it was absolutely hilarious, Katie was on top entertaining form. And me and Staci were clearly feeling ourselves with the number of selfies we took, although we couldn't quite get the hang of the dog filter (aka, the hoe filter). I definitely had a much better birthday night out than last year when I famously didn't even make it to the club and went home too drunk too early. I've still not lived that down. So I've had an absolutely amazing (and lengthy) birthday and I'm pretty sure I'm going to enjoy being 20! Thank you to everyone who's made it so incredible!