Duck and dive, I'm 25!

Another year older, not necessarily a year wiser, and definitely still making as much of a fuss of my birthday as I did when I turned 18, it’s that magical time of year again! I’ve always loved my birthday and while the last couple of years might’ve put a slight blocker on exactly how extravagant I can be, that’s not stopped me from having an amazing time anyway! While my weekend away in Leeds was the first of my ~unofficial~ celebrations, my official celebrations started the following Friday!

I always like to do a few events, not only because I love being the centre of attention (lol) but because it means that if some of my friends have plans on one of the days, I should be able to still sweep them into another. So with a night out planned for the Saturday, I planned to do a BBQ on the Friday too. There’s no denying that it was the peak of British BBQ weather and with everyone else seeming to be having them every 5 minutes, I assumed it would be fairly stress-free to throw. Well. I was very wrong. As the first BBQ at mine and Ollie’s house, we had to buy a BBQ, coal, BBQ accessories, outdoor table, serving trays, paper plates, plastic cups and a shit load of food (of which I forgot to do about half of it) - that’s not even mentioning the cleaning of the BBQ the next day! And while it may have been far from as easy breezy as I’d expected, it was SO much fun! 

I wanted a fairly casual yet summery outfit so I ended up going with this white puff sleeve top which has a super cute yellow floral embroidery and open tied back. I wore it with nude wrap skirt, white chunky sandals and red lipstick, with my denim jacket thrown on over the top when it started to get chilly.

I was joined by Katie, Katie, Staci, Sian and Laura, as well as Ollie who took on the role of one of the gals (plus group photographer) for the night. We had such a lovely time, my friends spoiled me with amazing presents and we made the most of our new outdoor table by playing a game of beer pong (which I’m still awful at). Plus, as far as I know, no one had food poisoning after our BBQ cooking, which is always a bonus!

And then it was time for the opposite of casual on the Saturday! For a day/night out with the girls, I went with this cute little baby blue blazer-and-skirt set from shein, corset top from pretty little thing (it was originally a bodysuit but I gave it a chop), zebra print heels from ASOS, tory burch inspired bag from shein and statement lion gold necklace, also from shein. I’m a classy woman in her twenties you see, so I’m old enough to wear a classy suit set on a night out but still young and slutty enough to get the girls and legs out.

I’d had a nightmare booking places to be honest. Even 4 weeks ago when I first looked, SO many places were fully booked. I don’t mind the masks and I quite like strangers and their germs having to stay 1+ metre away from me at all times, but the sooner this relentless need to book things years in advance if you ever fancy making social plans is done with, the better! Anyway, despite all that, I ended up booking 2 hours at Be at one, which included the last hour of happy hour. Katie, Staci, Sophia and Paige were all late (as always) so I looked like I had a ~slight~ drinking problem as I ordered 10 cocktails and a bottle of prosecco while being sat on my own. Luckily the girls arrived as the drinks did and one of the cocktails was quite literally a bit of me - as was it’s namesake!

Next up, I’d booked 2 hours at penny lane and I wasn’t sure whether or not the games would be allowed but figured they do nice drinks anyway. But low and behold, the games were running so along with wine and prosecco, we also got a side of competitiveness and gold medals on the camel racing game.

I hadn’t booked anywhere for after that because I really fancied going to coco tang, who were walk-in only. We did have to queue for about half an hour but it was nice once we were in, while a little strange to see chairs and tables all over their iconic dance floor. We enjoyed regina george cocktails, jagerbombs and a shot of tequila as the clock struck midnight and I turned into a pumpkin (well, a 25 year old).

I was feeling a little delicate on Sunday morning as I opened my presents from Ollie. He knew the score on the balloon front and the kitchen was looking lovely filled with balloons and my gorgeous flowers that had arrived the day before! His taste (and budget) in flowers just keeps getting better and better and better. 

Luckily I was feeling slightly less delicate by the time we got to mum and dads for a tuscan buffet fit for a queen. We had a cheese and meat board, stuffed peppers, olives, caprese salad, burrata salad, chicken skewers, prawns, flatbreads, pesto pasta and nibbles. Followed by cannoli, strawberries and the most incredible Italian cream cake which I’d never heard of before but it may have just earned a spot among my favourites with red velvet and carrot cake. Basically anything with cream cheese frosting is a favourite with me! Mum, of course, also knows the score on the balloon front and had got me a gigantic one, along with a lovely bunch of peonies. Everyone had really spoiled me, as had the weather, as it was non-stop sunshine all day!

After a lovely family day, it was time for my birthday date night! Because it was a Sunday night, I wasn't sure about trekking all the way into town so I was pleased when I was looking at restaurants to be reminded of Miller & Carter. A definite celebration meal kind of place but a little closer to home, me and Ollie enjoyed an incredible steak dinner with all the trimmings; lobster, truffle mac and cheese and fries. I wore a teal satin dress for the occasion which I think is very Oh Polly but was a fraction of their prices from shein.

The dining didn't stop there though as then it was onto my family meal out on the Monday night. I'd wanted to try Paris in Nottingham for ages, having seen photos of their food and restaurant on social media adverts and so I figured it was finally time for a trip. It did not disappoint and I'd highly recommend visiting. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with flowers and umbrellas all over the ceiling, the cocktails were fab and the food was incredible. Fancy but not pretentious and even on a Monday night the place had a lovely atmosphere. I'll 100% be making a return trip!

My outfit for the last of my birthday celebrations was one that I'm obsessed with. After watching The Bold Type on Netflix (love love love), it made me so envious of Jane's style that I really wanted to invest in a few intricate lace and crochet tops. This one was from ASOS by Lipsy and I love the crochet trim round the neck and shoulders. It's full length rather than cropped so a little trickier to work with (especially since it's fairly thick on the body section) but it worked well tucked into these blue shorts - maybe not so well into skinny jeans or a fitted skirt though. I added dogtooth square toe heels and then j'adore belt for that little french touch - we were headed to Paris after all.

I've literally been so spoilt by my friends, family and bae and had the best time celebrating with everyone. And I now have enough champagne and prosecco to last me until next birthday (well, maybe next week).