Faux Fur Stole: H&M
Coat: Zara
Sequin Jumper: Warehouse
Velvet Skirt: Missguided
Cosy Tights: Primark
Studded Boots: Topshop

Hello weekend! I'm not going to lie - this week has been seriously challenging! I've been feeling under the weather since just after Christmas and took a turn for the worse on Wednesday, the dreaded first day back at work. Cue me sat in the doctors on Thursday morning being told I have tonsillitis - major pain in the back side. Thankfully I'm starting to feel a little more human today probably something to do with the copious amounts of penicillin, thank the Lord for Alexander Fleming.

Today is the boys birthday - anyone who knows me well knows how excited I get about other peoples birthdays, in some cases I get more excited about other peoples than they do themselves! I can't think of anything better than helping a loved one enjoy their celebrations whether it's eating birthday cake, going out for a fancy meal, or more importantly watching them opening their presents. Which leads me nicely onto what I got the boy, as well as some Kiehls goodies and a Pretty Green iPad case we're both hopping off to the capital tomorrow for a long weekend. My parents have very kindly paid for the hotel as an almost joint birthday present to the boy and I while I've booked for us to see Shrek the Musical and go to Jamie Olivers Recipease cooking school to learn how to make pasta as the boys been obsessing over pasta making for quite a while. Far too excited! My tonsillitis really couldn't have come at a worse time but I'm hoping that a chilled out city break with lots of rest and an extra portion of fruit and veg at all meal times will help me feel tons better.

I wore this outfit to a family drinks party on New Years Day - I was dying to have at least one picture in front of the Christmas tree. I was so thrilled when this skirt arrived from Missguided, I've been on the hunt for a berry red velvet skater style skirt for a while after spotting one in Topshop but trying to buy one the week before Christmas was a nightmare. Thankfully I found one on the Missguided website and with change from £20 (and that included guaranteed Saturday delivery) I was sold. As a new shopper with Missguided I was little apprehensive but the skirt exceeded my expectations quality wise and arrived on time, I will definitely be ordering from them again. I teamed my new skirt with an oldie but a goodie, my black knit sequinned shoulder jumper. In all honesty it's a tad long to go with this skirt but I don't think the rouching is too bad. On my legs are a pair of the Primark cosy tights, easily the best tights I've ever bought. I used to be a Wolford girl spending £18-22 a time on a pair of tights but these tights are just brilliant - they have a fleecey lining keeping your legs super toasty and at £3.50 a pair you can't really go wrong. To finish off the look I added my favourite Topshop studded boots which have just been re-released, my faux fur stole (one of my best buys of 2012) and my studded sleeve Zara coat to ward off the chill.

I'm off to consume a curry for the boys birthday and no doubt jugs upon jugs of water (all in the name of celebration) so it's time to kiss goodbye to the two day loungewear look and actually get dressed properly...wish me luck.

Do you love all things velvet like me? What else should I be checking out/buying from Missguided?