You wait forever for a black tie event then 2 come at once

When I was younger, I always imagined that when I was older, I'd feel much older. Like when I was 10, 19 seemed like the perfect age to be married with babies by (gross), and then when I was 19, being in your twenties seemed like it would feel like finally reaching proper adulthood. The kind of adulthood where you throw dinner parties and go to fancy occasions and feel like a business woman. Now aged 23, I am a business woman (of sorts) and I do own my own house but it still often feels like I've got a long way to go until I can class myself as a proper adult. And yet weirdly, having an excuse to wear a floor length dress will go some way to doing that. Last Thursday, me and everyone from work were invited to a fancy awards do, where we were up for 3 possible awards, and as such it was time to dress for the occasion.

I really struggled to find a dress I loved because I knew I wanted floor length (with the dress code being black tie) but everything either felt too frou-frou (think lots of layers of tulle), too weddingy (lots of pastels and florals and lace), or too similar to what I wore to my last non-black-tie awards ceremony in London (thigh split, one shoulder style). After buying and sending back a few from ASOS, I had a look on AX Paris and finally found the kind of thing I was looking for. I love this red dress for its statement colour, thigh split and off the shoulder style, and once I added it to the basket, I found it was part of a 50%-off-selected-dresses deal so I got it for only £22! I made my bargain look a little more bling with silver shoes, embellished bag and dangly diamante earrings.

Despite the craziest traffic I've ever seen (it took me half an hour to drive 1 mile through town), we managed to arrive at King Power Stadium in Leicester just in time for the starters to be served (the official definition of fashionably late). The goats cheese and butternut squash "salad" might have been a bit light on salad, but I thought it was really nice (although noone else on my table seemed to like it). Then it was time to call the first award and it was the one we held the highest hopes for. Rightfully so, as we were announced the winners of The Fastest Growing Family Business! It was so exciting and we all jumped up cheering before all 20(ish) of us piled onto the stage for photos and to claim our award!

Our other 2 awards were the last ones to be announced so after a beef main (lovely) and a lemon tart dessert (very lovely), we entertained ourselves by trying to guess who else would win the other awards. Ironically, a funeral director won 'Next Generation Family Business Leader', and I managed to successfully guess that a female-led company would win Best Small Family Business. I also managed to correctly guess who we would lose out to in The Family Business of the Year award, knowing it would be one who had been going much longer than our 3 years. However, we did manage to come second (or highly commended as they called it) in the People's Choice Award!

Thursday may have been my first black tie event but it certainly wasn't my last, as it was time for another one again on Saturday! This time, it was for the Star Trust Charity Ball and I took full advantage of the hollywood glamour theme. To me, hollywood glamour basically means sequins so I was on a mission to find a floor length, sequin dress that was flattering, didn't cost an arm and a leg (plenty of gorgeous £300 ones around) but didn't look cheap. It was a tricky mission but 20% off everything at ASOS certainly helped, as I managed to get this beautiful dress for £80 (still a lot but not too ridiculous). I absolutely love it. Initially, I had my eye on the nude coloured version but it had sold out in my size, which ended up as a blessing as I think the contrast between the dark one and my skin tone was more flattering. Again, I added silver strappy shoes (visible through the high thigh splits), silver earrings and silver rings. And it wouldn't be true hollywood glamour without finishing the look with a cropped faux fur coat (not pictured) and statement red lip.

Again, we arrived late (although it was a little later than fashionably so this time) but once again, we arrived in time for the starters. We had hake wrapped in prosciutto, followed by a beef dish (basically a whole cow on every plate, which was way too much), followed by a ginger sponge pudding with custard. The rest of the evening was bedazzled with a silent auction (although all new bids got announced in shining lights, so it was hardly that silent), a live band and a magician who had previously been on Britains Got Talent. Clearly I got whacked with the unlucky stick before the event because I got picked as a volunteer in a delightful trick that involved me wiggling my hips saying 'I love magic' and then tipping a cup of water over my head (which had, of course, vanished into thin air so at least I didn't get wet). Being a magician's assistance might not be what I consider a magical experience, but the event as a whole certainly was. Stapleford Park Country House was an incredible venue and the event had been really beautifully done (although the twinkling dance floor made you feel you were at risk of falling over as you walked over it).