My planet or yours?

Marks and Spencer blouse: £29.50 (also in white). Marks and Spencer skirt: £17.50 (similar). Adidas Spezial: £27. Rotary watch: gift.

No, you aren't hallucinating, those are blue skies over Manchester. The long-running "it always rains when I'm in Manchester" joke wasn't quite so funny when I had soggy feet for a solid two months, but the city got the Spring memo just in time for having my mum up to visit and show her the sights. Although I've been here for a while now, I still haven't managed to pick myself up and visit all the places on my list; I suppose that's what moving airbnbs then having to furnish a flat does to a girl's free time. But with a few days off, this was the perfect time to have a little wander round the streets I can now happily call "home". And I didn't need an umbrella. Little miracles.

Whilst waiting for my mum to finish navigating the M6 (rather you than me), I headed off to Manchester Art Gallery to stalk the pre-raphaelites see what was housed in the beautiful building in Chinatown. Living in Essex, there wasn't really that much to do other than go out for food or shopping, so it's nice to have renowned paintings at my beck and call, just a 20 minute walk from my front door - give us a shout if there are any galleries or museums that I need to see! The rest of the day was spent showing my mum round the city centre, before heading to the James Martin restaurant for some amazing grub to set us up for the night. I'd recommend the venison, although there was a six course taster menu for £30pp, which looked like a popular choice on the tables around us.

Because you're totally allowed to act like a tourist in your own city, right?

Read more

Moving for work.

Warehouse blouse (now on sale). Marks and Spencer skirt (sold out, similar). Marks and Spencer bag. Adidas Spezial trainers. Rotary watch. Rimmel Kate Moss 30 lipstick.

“But surely that’s going to be a really long commute?”

Rather than commute to Manchester from Essex every day (seriously? Did people really think I’d do that 4h journey twice in one day??), I took the logical option and moved to be closer to my day job. Last Saturday, I moved into my proper flat rather than diverting my paycheck straight into aribnb’s coffers and it got me thinking – dangerous, I know. I personally don’t see it as a big deal, but apparently moving for a job is something a lot of people simply wouldn’t consider. Relocating adds a few extra steps to starting a new job, but it’s definitely got its pros. So, in true millennial style, how better to execute this blog post than with a bloody good list? Bullet points at the ready.

ALL ABOUT NEW

Hey phoenix, time to shake off those ashes. Now’s the perfect time to start afresh and there’s nothing better than having a completely clean slate.

NETFLIX AND CHILL

“Get up to much over the weekend?” begins every Monday ever. If you’ve just moved into a new place then you have a ready made excuse for vegetating in your pyjamas with a Domino’s deal for a couple of days under the guise of “getting settled” – score.

IT MAKES (HOME) SENSE

We all buy homeware for no reason. Now I’ve got a reason. Even if you move your entire life from one place to another, you’re always going to need some new bits.

CARDS FOR HUMANITY

I’m all for sending stuff in the post (but whyyyy so expensive, royal mail?), and this is the perfect time to send a little pick-me-up. I’m currently on the lookout for change of address cards, so if you spy any decent ones send some links my way.

GETTING TO KNOW YA

When you’ve been somewhere a while, you start to see its flaws (same also applicable to boyfriends, but let’s not get into that right now). Moving somewhere new gives you the chance to make a new place home, and a girl’s got to try all the eateries and bars to find the good ones, right?

MOBILE CITIZENS

I am very happy to report that Manchester has got an amazing blogger scene. I’d never really paid that much attention prior to moving here, but I’m glad PRs have got more than London on their radar. I’ve popped a few photos from the MyBag SS16 preview above just to give you a feel for what’s going on oop norf/an excuse to spend your well-earned dollar on pretty things.

SWIPE LEFT

Plenty more tinder nightmares to screenshot and send to your friends.

I’d love to know whether you’d ever move for a job, and if you have whether you think it was as big a deal as everyone makes it out to be. I’ll try and reply, but this flat’s currently lacking in the broadband department, so bear with me…

Read more

Salford Quays, Manchester.

Primark fedora: £7. Marks and Spencer roll neck: £12. Warehouse faux leather skirt: sold out, similar. Urban Outfitters suede bag: £15 (also in tan). Adidas Spezial trainers: £27.

Photos by Clare and Laura

Hallelujah! 

We're not going into some weird niche (even if that's what every bloody #hashtagged chat on twitter tells me to do in order to have a functioning blog, I just like taking nice photos and having a reason to indulge in poached eggs for reasons other than they're dead nice), we're going into the realms of "mini miracles". Not quite sight-giving levels as I'm still shoving little bits of plastic into my eyes on the daily, but more like reassessing what we've got in an overly positive way. I know, this new leaf me is making even myself feel a little bit sick.

GET APPY

As someone who's been religiously pulling down on zoopla and rightmove for the last three weeks ("last 24h" filter a-go-go), these little bad boys have gone a long way to making sure I have a roof over my head right now. And the asos one's got a lot of my wardrobe to answer for too.

NETWORK RAIL

Anyone who's had the misfortune to follow me on twitter during a four hour delay might find this one a little hard to believe, but now I'm not in the South trains are the BEST. Less than £6 for a return to Liverpool? Sure. I've got an hour, let's go to Leeds. You can even get on a train without buying a ticket. This is probably the past rather than the future, but I like it. A lot.

FOOD SHOPPING AFTER WORK

There is no joy greater than seeing a yellow sticker on both some crusty bread rolls and a tub of peri peri hummus. 

CAPSULE WARDROBE

In the last four weeks I have mix and matched six tops, three dresses, two skirts, two pairs of jeans, a playsuit, a jumper and a coat, and haven't got (100%) bored of them yet. I'm not about to get all Marie Kondo on your ass, but maybe it's time to reassess the entire overflowing wardrobe situation.

LESS STRESS

You know that London life was a bit wrong when you move halfway across the country, don't technically have anywhere to live and start a new job in a higher position with loads more accountability and it's less stressful than what you'd got accustomed to. I know I won't be able to resist London's allure forever, but right now this was the best bloody move I could ever have made.

MOMENTS OF CALM

No, not in a "self help" way, in a "we're at Salford Quays, it's exposed, you're not in a coat and wearing a hat that takes off at any opportune moment" way. I headed out for brunch with Clare and Laura last weekend and we somehow managed to take the above photos without contracting pneumonia or get scolded by passers by for swearing about "freezing your fucking tits off" in February. Would you say my first Manchester photos have been a success?

If you've got any daily marvels to share, please leave them in a comment below and I'll read them and nod along attentively. But, right now, brb eating bread.

Read more

I had a dream I can buy my way to heaven.

Oasis floral dress: coming soon. Karen Millen boots: £25, sample sale. Topshop bag: £25. Rotary watch: gift.

There may not be tinsel-covered jumpers and falling snow all over this blog, but it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas. A couple of weeks back, Sabby and I headed to Newbury racecourse for the Hennessey Gold Cup, and that little Berkshire town seriously knows how to make things feel seasonal. We started the day catching up with Kim and Stew on the way over, before heading to check out the races. We quickly realised that this wasn't 100% our thing (expectations: cosy drinks and a lil bit of entertainment. Reality: actual hardcore races, and people very loudly betting), so took the short walk into town for something a little quainter - including reindeer.

First things first, we stopped by a pub called Lock, Stock and Barrel, which overlooks the river Kennet. It served as the perfect cosy respite from the bitterly cold wind with fish and chips that get an A+ rating from me, and I think I miiight just have recovered from the previous day's Black Friday nightmare. We then took a wander through the town centre, made pals with the bloke above (#onthepull), and spent a little more time and money in Temptation gift shop than I care to admit, but I'm definitely not ashamed. We then travelled back to the big smoke for more festive-themed (read: camembert) activities as we met up with a few more friends to catch-up well into the night. As far as days go, they don't come much more perfect than that.

Read more

My mind would rule my heart.

Vintage check blouse: £6, via Ark. Asos petite shorts: £28. Warehouse lace up flats: £29 with staff discount. Karen Millen patent mini bag: £5, via sample sale (on sale in black and cream). Rotary watch: gift. Topshop 'Really Ruby' lipstick (discontinued :( but similar).

Looking for a lovely, relaxing weekend full of chilled café stops and calm walks along the river? I wouldn't rate Cambridge all that highly (come on tourists, do you need to be in packs of fifty???). In naïve fashion, I'd nagged my mum to go there for about six months as I hadn't been since January 2012 (second photo) thinking it'd be, in the words of that Cards Against Humanity card I couldn't get rid of yesterday, 'sunshine and rainbows'. Don't get me wrong, Cambridge is a beautiful city and I always love visiting, but a sunny Saturday in August is prime slow-walker time and tested my patience more than you'd believe. Unless, of course, you've seen me stuck behind someone who can't use a self-serve till at the supermarket... #21stcenturyrage

As you'd expect from watching all eight Harry Potter films, Cambridge is filled to the brim with beautiful architecture, independent shops (tell me more about this fudge kitchen's free samples) and a load of punts. As far as recommendations go, the shops on Rose Cres are the nicest and the everyman cinema is worth visiting, but on this trip we mainly just wandered around keeping my Moves app happy, rather than spending all the money in Jo Malone/antique book shops. Because seriously, if the above bookshop had been open, I would have spent some serious money on the first edition of Wilde's Earnest. If you know someone who's studying there and are a student too, then I'd definitely recommend staying with them as you get into the colleges free/discounted/pretend to be studying there too more convincingly, as some of the colleges are upwards of £10 to enter at the usual rate, and I'd rather spend a tenner on postcards at the Fitzwilliam Museum. If there weren't quite so many people around it'd be a much nicer place to visit, but, crowds aside, there's no better place to feel smug that you can pronounce the name 'Gonville and Caius' correctly.

Back to Essex, and I'm going to spend today indoors, sparing a thought for the poor souls at V festival in the rain down the road (haha, jk, suckers).

Read more