Our housewarming

And so we had our housewarming on Saturday night. And it was beautiful.

I thought I'd be stressed and that people wouldn't turn up and we might end up with a lot of food going to waste. Nope. everything went perfectly and I can't wait for the next party.

I've always been a bit of a hostess but never really had anyone to host. People always want to go out and drink. A lot. I enjoy a good few drinks and was suitably hungover on Sunday, but I prefer good food and good company to shots and beers.

I was hoping for a sophisticated party and that's exactly what I got. Everyone came over to the house, bottle in hand. The food (An assortment of crostinis - king prawn with chilli mayo, goat's cheese & chorizo and coronation chicken. Crudites. Dips. Crisps. Mini sausages (oh so sophisticated!). Wedges. Cakes. Sweets. And a champagne, strawberry, mint and lime cocktail that went down very well) all disappeared - not a crisp left in the bowl. The music was good (the Other Half thinks himself a DJ). Everyone loved the decorations and various lights I'd palced around the house. The Other Half was so helpul all day (thank you!!) and the new table arrived on Saturday morning - which provided the perfect social setting.

I had the best time and I'm now in full hostess mood. I really couldn't have asked for a better night.

And here are a few snaps from the evening if you're interested:

My birthday outfit

So, as I mentioned, this week I'm on the lookout for a pretty dress and some nice new heels for my birthday next month. And as I'm off this week, I thought I'd do some online browsing, as well as pop to the high street.

I tried this dress a few weeks ago in House of Fraser but didn't have an event in mind at the time. Now that I have a posh party which happens to be on my birthday, this would do nicely.

I've also seen this dress on a friend at a recent wedding - she looked stunning in it. I'm not sure how I'll look, but I reckon it's worth a go.

And to go with these beautiful dresses, I'm going to need some new heels. I'm not a big heels girl, but I think this party requires them. Maybe something in nude to keep me going throughout the summer? And nothing that's too high, I already fall over in regular heels! Maybe something like this:

Or this?

Hmm. I love clothes but I'm not so great at shopping - I need some more patience I think.

Wish me luck on my shopping trip this week!