One of the great things about blogging is getting the chance to meet new people. I always try to make sure that the people I interact with represent a diverse cross-section of society, that's what makes it fascinating for me: I don't really want to hear the same stories or opinions from the same types of people hundreds of times over - I want to hear about different things from different angles, otherwise I become stuck in my own ideas.

Anyways, Boohoo asked me to do a festive-themed look with a friend, and I had a bit of a lightbulb moment -why not ask Fran? I met her via Twitter, naturally, and she's passionate about social media and blogging, as in she actually likes it, which is refreshing for a blogger - and guess what? She actually gave a talk on it - like, wrote it herself and wasn't even trying to sell something. Oh, and she loves cats, almost as much as I do! Last time we met, she'd mentioned that she wanted to introduce outfit photos to her blog, what better opportunity?

Turns out, it was an inspired choice on my part to invite her - we picked out our festive party outfits, Fran going for a beautiful embroidered maxi, and me being the magpie that I am, going for a sparkly, glittery dress which can be found HERE. Then we headed Home. No, seriously now, on a first date?! Give us some credit. We went to Home, in Manchester, which is kind of like a theatre-y, cinema-y, cafe, bar, restaurant, art gallery and events space type thing rolled in to one.

Unfortunately, it seemed we'd picked the only bloody night of the week where a school was having a field trip there, so it was rammed with kids. Two questions: out on a school night? And: Why didn't my school ever take me on a field trip to a theatre-y, cinema-y, cafe, bar, restaurant, art gallery and events space type thing?

But enough of that, we kind of had to rule out all of the edgy looking places to have photos, such as the quirky Scandinavian-style wooden staircase and the solid concrete walls, before the kids started thinking we were some kind of live exhibit - in retrospect, that sounds like it might have been fun. But no, instead we managed to convince the barmaid/barista (she was serving coffee and wine) that it'd be a great idea to let us use their events space, for free, and here are the results:

 

  

 Don't mind us, just hangin' around

  

 Let's be honest, the pink bag makes this shot

  

  

More tea, vicar? 

As you can tell, we had a lot of fun in our private event space, and so did the people on the balcony in the background, I think! The outfits themselves are definitely fit for a festive party - just the right amount of sparkle, ready to brighten up even the darkest, coldest of December evenings.