26 candles

And just like that, I'm officially over the hill to 30! Not that I mind too much, I only get wiser (and sexier) and more well-travelled with age. Naturally, I celebrated in style (as I always do) and had a simply fabulous time, despite the calendar not being on my side this year and dealing me with a duff Monday birthday.

The week before my birthday (when I was still 25 and spritely), me and the girls headed to the pub to do presents! I wore black straight leg jeans with splits up the side (love love love), bright pink top with fluttery sleeves, cream trainers and pearl detail belt. The girls did fabulously well with the presents, as they always do, and spoilt me rotten - more details on the presents later! I also got a cute extra present from the pub manager who saw we had a birthday going on and invited me behind the bar to make myself a free birthday drink - naturally I went straight for the gin.

One of my favourite things about my birthday aside from the generally nice weather and long daylight hours is the fact that it's smack bang in the middle of peony season! Given that they're my favourite flower, I can always expect a lovely birthday bunch or two. This year it was 2 with Ollie sending me a lovely mixed arrangement and Mum sticking with purist pink (honestly the house always smells amazing around my birthday).

Friday night was date night: birthday edition, so I dressed for the occasion. This top is a new one from Shein and you can't really see in the photo but it actually has a really subtle swirl print that I think adds a nice little something. It's obviously not an ideal top for bras but luckily I have a secret weapon. Seriously girls, if you don't have this Wonderbra then get yourself one - it's so perfect with any low plunging or low back tops/dresses, and it still gives a nice lift. It is kind of an investment (by my standards anyway, I don't like spending loads on underwear) but one that's well worth it in my opinion. With the bra and top combo sorted, I added dark blue jeans, white heels and white queen bee bag. I also wore my hair pinned up for a change, which I have to admit I was kind of feeling.

We went with a restaurant that had been on my list for ages and that I'd heard amazing things about. Mesa in Hockley had a really cool vibe and I liked the big bifold windows that created an indoor-outdoor bar area at the front. I have to say though, I was a teeny bit disappointed with the food, which I'd had high hopes for. The concept of the restaurant is a sharing one without being a tapas style, so we ordered 2 mains and 2 snacks/sides; a chinese-style duck breast, an Asian salmon, some fries and a feta dip with tomatoes. All of the food was nice but it just didn't blow me away; the duck was a little tough and overdone, the salmon was only a half fillet and it was £15 so didn't feel like great value, and the feta dip was just a bit rich for me. So I'm glad I finally tried it and it was nice, but I don't think I'll be rushing back again too soon.

Ollie and I hadn't been on date night (especially in Nottingham) for ages, as we were both away a lot in April and May, so it was really lovely to be heading out together. It was a cocktail kind of night so after dinner, we went for drinks at Hockley Arts Club (where I hadn't been for ages) and had a couple of cocktails before moving onto Boilermaker. I thought Boilermaker had gone when I saw it's signature plain white room had been turned into a coffee shop but it turns out it's still there, it's just lost the secret bar concept (the best in my opinion). So now, the cocktail bar is through the coffee shop rather than through the toilet sink as it used to be, but luckily the cocktails are still as crazily inventive and we had the best time sampling a few.

And then on Saturday it was time to party! This knitted dress is one I've had for ages now but hadn't quite find an occasion for it, and I paired it with bright green heels and bag. Our first stop for the day was bottomless brunch at Magic Garden, which I liked the sound of not just because I'd never tried it before and it's an independent place rather than a chain, but because it sounded a little different. The magical bottomless brunch promised bottomless prosecco and cocktails, a welcome teapot cocktail, tapas dishes (rather than brunchy food), an espresso martini dessert and magic! I would highly recommend it because we honestly had the best time. They were fast and generous on the drinks, the cocktail selection was lovely and light (one problem for me with the turtle bay one, for example, is how heavy and juicy the cocktails are) and the magician was amazing. He did a little mind-reading/character reading for me and Laura that was particularly impressive.

It's always funny trying to choose the next place after a bottomless brunch, given that it's normally still the middle of the day and everyone else is still out shopping and having lunch. We went to pepper rocks (practically as soon as they opened) because it's a pretty chill place and their cocktails are only £5 until 10pm, so it ended up being a great choice!

Last birthday was back when it was table service only and you had to have bookings back to back for any kind of night out otherwise forget getting in anywhere. This year, I pretty much did the opposite; booked the brunch and nothing else. When the girls had asked where else I wanted to go, I said we could just see where the night took us depending on the weather/where looked good, but I did say I wanted to mix it up and not end up in the same bars we always go to. Little did I know that they were plotting behind the scenes to create my perfect night out for me, without me having to lift a finger! Keeping it a surprise until we got there, they'd planned for us to go to Another?, the self-serve wine bar that I'd been wanting to try for ages. It was so cool and made drinking wine fun on totally new level. We all felt very boujee pouring ourselves all the different wines; well it'd be rude not to try as many as possible right?

The next stop was another amazing surprise they'd arranged for me (which Siobhan hilariously, accidentally let slip, 2 minutes after we got to Magic Garden for brunch); karaoke at Roxy Ballroom! I've actually never done karaoke but this was literally the perfect set-up - a private room with practically every song on offer, so we could dance around and sing at the top of our lungs to all our favourite cheesy tunes. Honestly I've never been so exhausted or so out of breath or had so much fun in any given 90 minute period! We literally sang our hearts out and Angels was the perfect last song before we got booted out.

High off of life and music, we stumbled out of the super dark karaoke room to be surprised by bright daylight! We didn't have a plan for where to go past this point but we weren't far from secret garden so we gave there a try for a prosecco pit-stop.

It had been quite a while since brunch at this point so we were getting hungry again. Not wanting to write the rest of the night off with something like a mcdonalds though, we went for the perfect happy medium; Bunk. A destination for cocktails and chicken, we killed two birds with one stone. Plus, we managed to get our order in about 2 minutes before 10 so the cocktails were still on offer!

Then we ended the night with a boogie at Revs. Unfortunately, for anyone else there, we were also still in the singing mood and my voice is probably better enjoyed in an empty room (I'm a very passionate singer but still a terrible one). It was honestly such an amazing day/night and I felt so spoilt to have everything booked and taken care of for me; my girls are literally the best. Who doesn't love a birthday surprise?

Very much to my surprise, on Sunday I felt mostly fine! I hadn't made any plans for the day as I'd expected to be dying of a hangover in bed, so me and Ollie went for a spontaneous sunday funday; shopping and lunch. We ended up at Red's BBQ where I haven't been for ages. I don't often crave that sort of 'dirty' American food but I was really fancying it so it went down a treat! I kept my outfit casual with light blue jeans, white cami, bright pink shirt worn open, white trainers and grey Chanel boy bag.

And then it was happy birthday to me! My peonies had opened in perfect timing, and I had the whole week off work so I got ready for a nice chilled day. These trousers are a new wardrobe addition that I simply love. I'm still on a mission to get a few more quality pieces and these 4th and Reckless trousers are the nicest fabric, the nicest fit and I just love the wide leg style. I added a floaty asymmetric black top, black and white trainers and snake print bag, before heading out. Me and my family enjoyed a birthday breakfast at All Bar One before me and mum went off on a girly shopping day, where she spoiled me to a few extra presents (see also: a lot extra). More on that later!

In the evening, once Ollie was home from work, we headed to my parents for presents and a birthday feast worthy of a queen. It was weird not doing my presents in the morning as I normally always do but it was nice to have the unwrapping to look forward to all day! Everyone did so well and spoilt me rotten and I had the loveliest evening drinking champagne, playing games and stuffing my face with buffet food and cake. The cake was a particular triumph; anything with cream cheese frosting is an automatic favourite and I was impressed with how green mum managed to get this pistachio cake!

Okay so speaking of presents - I thought I'd show you some of the stuff everyone got me! I got a gorgeous straw bag from little Katie, some lovely Quay sunglasses from Staci, a beautiful Radley anklet from big Katie, a pretty rose gold Olivia Burton bee necklace from Laura, amazing perfumes from Aidan and grandma, an all-expenses-paid weekend away from Ollie (which I'm very excited to plan), and a whole host of incredible things from mum and dad, as well as loads of other extra lovely bits from everyone. Everyone knows me so well and always chooses so well!

I thought I'd do a mini try-on of all the new clothes I got, both from people and from mine and mum's shopping trip! This miss selfridge dress was from Ollie (obviously not chosen by him) and I love it so much. It's actually a denim fabric and it fits so perfectly.

This was another miss selfridge number, again from Ollie and it's so pretty - I just loved broderie anglaise and this bright colour will be perfect for summer.

This orange gingham co-ord was a present from mum and I always love a matching set. This one was from Primark and is in a lovely lightweight fabric so both pieces are perfect for holidays, whether worn together or separately.

I really felt like I needed just a little black summer dress so when I spotted this on my birthday shopping trip I couldn't resist. It may be a primark one, but the textured fabric makes it feel a lot more luxurious.

Okay so these two pieces clearly don't go together and this top clearly needs a different bra but I love both pieces individually! I love a Mediterranean tile print and a lemon print so these shorts combine two of my favourite summery things. And this top is a great option for either day or night; I really like the muted colour.

This top was another present from Ollie and was again a miss selfridge one (I hadn't purposely shopped exclusively in that brand but a lot of the things on my wishlist did happen to be from there). I'm obsessed with all the embroidered and crochet detail and I just love how perfect it will be with all my summer items. These trousers, on the other hand, were another shopping spree purchase, and I feel like they're the kind of trousers that will be perfect for travelling in or for cool summer nights.

You can't have too many summer essentials so I picked up these black shorts while out shopping and I love how perfectly they fit. This top was another present from Ollie but unfortunately I didn't think it suited me very well so I've got him to send it back (love the colours though).

This little top was a present from Grandma and she chose very well - I'm loving this neckline at the moment and it's a lovely soft fabric. As are these joggers, which I picked up in Primark on sale. While I don't love the fact that they're embellished with winnie the pooh, they're so comfy and so soft that I had to get them.

And last up, we have these shoes, which were a must-buy! They were a primark bargain and I love a tiny chunky heel for holidays. Plus this colour is so dreamy! As dreamy as the entirety of my birthday celebrations, which were made so special by all the people most special to me. Hello to being 26, I'm excited to see if it'll beat being 25!